The Metroidvania genre features some of the best games of all time, which draw you into their mysterious and lore-rich worlds. Hollow Knight, Blasphemous, and Ori are some of the best examples of the genre. Such games give great inspiration to other indie developers to create timeless pieces of art and challenge, and Douze Dixièmes just did the same with their new title, MIO: Memories in Orbit. It is a fresh and original Metroidvania action-adventure video game that excels in portraying beautiful visuals and uncompromising difficulty. This is our review of MIO: Memories in Orbit.
NOTE: The developers provided the review copy of MIO: Memories in Orbit.
You play as MIO, an android looking to restore The Vessel, a decaying Ark Spaceship. The Vessel has been overrun by rogue AI machinery and has lost all of its memories. MIO must revive the ship’s memories and prevent its collapse. The in-depth lore of the Vessel and the decaying procedure is found through exploration. As MIO explores through numerous levels of the Vessel, she will come across numerous collectibles. Each collectible gives insight into the story. Gathering the collectibles will help you with the in-depth lore, which is one of the best ways of figuring out a mysterious world.
With the decaying Vessel, the Devs have done an exceptional job of making a surreal atmosphere. It emphasizes the overall anatomical environments that you get to experience in each level. The painterly beauty and haunting sci-fi tone enhance the game’s setting.
The core gameplay of MIO: Memories in Orbit is close to that of any great Metroidvania game. You explore, fight, rest, and repeat. With each area you progress through, you will witness a unique environment, level design, and encounter newer types of AI threats.
The main highlight of MIO: Memories in Orbit is exploration. Exploration rewards you with hidden caches, NPCs, and vendors. MIO does not have access to the map initially, but you must find an NPC and fix him to unlock the map. The game places this NPC right at the start of the game in the Workshop, but very easily missable. You must offer Nacre to this NPC to fix him. After fixing the NPC, the map unlocks, allowing you to navigate through levels and spot hidden patterns easily. Moreover, throughout the exploration, you will come across Overseers. Helping these NPCs will send them to attunement gates, where you can upgrade abilities and fast travel to other gates. So, if you do not find Overseers, you will not be able to fast travel among discovered places.
You fight with MIO’s long hair/wires, which makes the overall combat a bit simpler. Pressing one attack button to perform combos might not feel awful in the starting hours of the game, but the newer abilities open new ways to engage in combat. Not only that, the game offers numerous Modifiers. The modifiers help you tailor the abilities and playstyle. If you are hunting for Nacre, you can put on a modifier that grants additional Nacre on defeating enemies. Moreover, several bosses require the use of certain abilities in the fight. Tackling these tougher foes will make you adapt a unique playstyle to take them down.
The sound design in MIO: Memories in Orbit greatly emphasizes the sense of isolation and mystery aspects of the game. A mix of lo-fi and choral themes fits the overall surreal atmosphere. Speaking of atmosphere, the visuals are some of the best highlights of the game. The whole visual style is inspired by comics, anime, and watercolor painting, giving a unique look to the atmosphere.
MIO: Memories in Orbit is a solid Metroidvania game that stands out as visually stunning, rewarding, and challenging. Its merciless difficulty might throw off players, which is why it is not for unseasoned players. The players who enjoy mastering the intricate worlds will absolutely have a blast with MIO. Despite the combat being as simple as mashing a button to perform combos, the usage of abilities makes it somewhat unique. Moreover, if you are someone who enjoys stories, MIO will not read you its lore. Instead, you will have to explore on your own to figure out the lore.
MIO: Memories in Orbit is now available on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2.
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