Momodora Moonlit Farewell is RDein's masterpiece. Having played Reverie Under the Moonlight, Minoria, and a bit of the first game, I can see the years of experience that went into designing the game. Minoria's combat was too overpowered, so Moonlit dials it back, giving the gameplay more weight and challenge so that the player can build up to that level of power. Reverie was a masterpiece, but getting 100 percent could be quite difficult without a guide, and the map was rather simplistic.

Perhaps it's because the last two games were such big hits, but RDein and his team were about to craft a much more detailed map. This isn't to say that Reverie's map was bad, but you can tell how sectioned off pieces were. Minoria had the same problem, but that was likely due to them using 3D models over pixel art, and wanting to focus more on improving the combat from Reverie. The extra customization options were also a massive improvement from the previous games. Reverie didn't lack customization options, Moonlit simply expands upon it.

There are also a lot more bosses than previous games. The bosses are always great, and thanks to improvements in gameplay and design, they're some of RDein's best. The final boss especially. WIthout spoiling, but the previous final bosses have felt lacking in their climactic feel. Moonlit gives one of RDein's best final bosses of what I've experienced. Hit boxes are also a lot better, as Minoria and Reverie had a few bosses where the hit boxes for enemies or for their attacks were inflated in places, leading to some cheap deaths or overly easy battles. These were minor issues, but it's great to have them fixed for this game. Some enemies are troublesome though, as there's a section that's just incredibly, almost cheapily difficult. it wasn't awful, but it had enemies with larger, faster attacks, mixed with smaller spaces. Reverie had some of these as well, so I'd put them at about the same.

Then there is the art style. The dev room outright states that they changed artists a bit. RDein is still clearly involved, but you can tell something's different. Minoria and Reverie had more colors that popped against darker backdrops. Reverie had one of my favorite styles, with so many blacks and reds. Moonlit is much more colorful and varied. It's a beautiful game in every sense of the word, I wouldn't say it's better than Reverie, though I do prefer the blacks and reds of Reverie. The settings aren't as to my tastes either, as Reverie had more gothic architecture, while Moonlit takes place in nature. It's very lovely and rustic, which is refreshing and appearing for a metroidvania, since most don't go for such a simple, down to earth feel. I do prefer a bit of gothic architecture though. They both blow Minoria out of the water. Minoria was very lacking in color in places and the 3D models looked fine, but were lacking compared to the simple pixel art.

Now with two more points, the metroidvania design itself. This is connected to the world, but RDein really knows how to make a smaller metroidvania work. There will be rooms and hallways that have nothing or just add some imagery. That, I feel, is a key component to making a metroidvania work. If everything is tightly designed, that works, but the bits of additions really help make the world alive. While it's not Hollow Knight levels, RDein is able to really make a world feel real with the more limited size. Momodora: Moonlit Farewell is one of the best gaming experiences I've had this year, if not in a while, and I hope I have more opportunities to play it again, as well as see what RDein does next.

Also, a personal gripe. I really wish RDein would give his games some yuri. His female characters tend to really have chemistry and are often hot. The writing also just always feels like it's one step away from Yuri in places. At least, since Minoria. I just kind of want to see that lol

A great follow-up to Momodora: RutM that aspired to be twice as ambitious in it's art and animation. This is a gorgeous game. You're also in for a straightforward, inoffensive metroidvania with a cool videogamey story. I only beat the game on its normal difficulty, but unsurprisingly there are additional difficulties to play through if you're in the mood to revisit the game or to just jump right back in. That means you could get a solid 10+ hours of the game and there are some decent challenges in store in the post-game and alternative difficulties!

Finalizando a saga, Moonlit Farewell oferece uma experiência encantadora, divertida e tranquilizante. Mecanicamente, o jogo é surpreendentemente fácil, não apresentando um desafio verdadeiro em nenhum momento. No entanto, há momentos genuinamente contemplativos ao longo da jornada, seja pelos encantadores NPCs ou pela ambientação deslumbrante.

Sinto que a franquia evoluiu de forma natural até este ponto. Há homenagens claras aos eventos passados e o sentimento de conclusão permeia toda a área final. Considero Momodora como um dos Metroidvanias que deixará um legado positivo para aqueles que o jogaram com mente e coração abertos.

Recomendo bastante para os que gostam de produtos do gênero.

Pretty good game.

I love the pixel art style, the OST has some nice tracks but excluding some area themes, there are nothing too remarkable, actually the same can be said for almost everything in this game, is not bad but nothing exceeds, but i really felt that it had this potential, i think the game can get kinda too easy when you get all the cards, i made a build that completely oblitarated the bosses so the final bosses got extremely easy, to the point of not getting hit in the final battle...
Over all i enjoyed the great majority of the playtrough, not all games need to be hard everytime, it felt almost like the difficulty was on pair with SOTN again, is a relaxing and pleasant journey. But truth be said it could benefit of a hard mode that is not a 1 hit kill card.
Also a personal complaint: why is the bow and arrow and the "devil trigger" a combination of directional keys + button?
you could simply put the map in the "select" button, and put L1 and L2 for these purposes.