I'm going to start this review with the conclusion and work back. This game is fantastic, buy it now !
MO:Astray has been out on PC for almost a year now, I first discovered it by accident and featured it in a "Hidden Gems" article at the beginning of the year. I also reported the announcement of the Switch release in August and have been waiting eagerly ever since.
I am pleased to report that the Switch version is exactly as wonderful, creative, gruesome and cute as the original PC version. With the added benefit of portability.
So what's it all about? Why am I waxing lyrical about this quirky little indie title? Lets unpack and start with the basics.
MO is a blue blob, a bit like the slimes in Dragonquest with ears, or a blue Kirby with ears but without arms or legs...or a blue blob .... with little ears. You get the idea, MO is a cute little protagonist, that is were the cuteness ends. Everything else in this game is pretty dark, creepy and gruesome.
MO starts the game by waking up in a large lab facility of some kind, with no idea where he is, what he is or what he is doing there.
You are guided by a disembodied voice (who tells you your name) who tries to offer assistance and advice to aid your escape.
The game is, at it's core, a puzzle, platformer, metroidvania. But it does each of these component parts so well that it's really a completely different beast.
At the outset MO isn't that mobile, he (i'm just using this pronoun for convenience and consistency, I apologise if MO identifies differently) flubbers and flops along as you'd expect a blob to. The left stick controls his direction while the right can be used to aim in and arc and the trigger is used to launch MO in the trajectory.
MO can stick to a wall momentarily until he slides inelegantly down.
Along his journey MO will gain access to new abilities, in order to surmount obstacles to gain access to new parts of the facility (the metroidvania part).
These special abilities, include the power to take over the motor functions of various creatures in order to solve various puzzles, mid air dashes and even full on decapitation moves.
Another intriguing aspect of the game is that MO can also scan his environment and access flashbacks to try to piece together the true story of what disaster occurred at the facility. The further into the game you get the more information and back story you uncover. Even the Boss like encounters are tied in to the mystery of what really happened. By the end of the game everything clicks neatly into place.
The pixel art, the gameplay, the audio and ambiance of the game are all exceptional, so much so that you really don't notice how good it all is until you look back and reflect on your adventure.
The game puzzles and some of the more "platformy" conundrums can be a little frustrating toward the latter half of the game. But your experience may vary, I set the bar very low with average gaming skills and incredibly short attention span.
My frustration never ticked over into anger and each puzzle was surmountable without anything being thrown or loud potty mouth. The game is fair and quite generous with regard to restart points, you are never put too far back in a section that you feel you don't want to keep trying. The beauty of the Switch version is that you can just put it down for a break and come back to it with ease anytime you want, we are really spolied with the convenience of this form factor.
MO: Astray is available now on the eShop for $14.99 . You can also check out the PC version on Steam where, at the time of writing this , it's available with a 30% discount.
The game supports English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), and Korean language options.
You can check out this video along with others on our YouTube channel and we have quick links embedded on the Video page for convenience.
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