Excellent metroidvania with only a couple gripes. Movement felt off at the very start (kinda looked like the animation was the wrong framerate) but definitely got used to it quickly. Only real issues Id say are how the stamina is used and that the currency doesn't matter at all after a while. After the other momodora games and minoria I feel like the devs can be relied on to put out a fun game. Absolutely lookin forward to whatever is next.

Momodora: Moonlit Farewell does not tick the spot (personally.)

Compare to Momodora: Reveries Under the Moonlight (2 previous title perhaps?), the tone was far less gloomy. I remember the first time I jump to Momodora: RUtM the story was vague and mysterious, there are hardly anyone in the game mention anything about the story, yet it make the story to me seem very interesting in a special way. The atmosphere was sombre and grim, the lacks of friendly NPC to interact make the situation the more believable.

But Momodora: Moonlit Farewell (the newest title) in my opinion have the opposite approach to the story. Now you have plenty of friendly faces to interact with, no mad people unlike the previous mentioned title. Also in this title, they try to explain so much about the story that I feel is just the way to ruin the mysteriousness it once has. Not to mention I personally felt the ways stories were told are somewhat considerable as plot hole. Minor spoiler? They mention life exist because part of the moon fell to the earth but "who" can possibly possess that kind of knowledge to tell the story?

The combat in this game is okay, I wouldn't say that Momodora: RUtM has better combat, I would argue that this title does it better. I saw some controversy over the bow consuming SP on full stamina. I personally like this mechanic, it's a way to ditch quick damage in fast paced combat environment, well if you find it difficult to fight on low stamina the simple solution is not to use bow of course. There are also a trick for stamina management for sprinting. If you perform spinning attack: i.e. holding sprint and jump attack, you can carry the sprinting momentum and consume less stamina, it's somewhat just like RUtM cat morph jump attack. A final talk about the combat if you could count as one that is. The environmental hazard in this game was lack luster in term of challenges. There are reasons why Miyazaki love his poison swamp (every soul title have one, sorta.) Well, let say Moonlit Farewell doesn't have poison meter, also water doesn't slow you down. I can understand that it could be an annoying design rather than the feature if the water slow player down, but it could also be presented as a challenge for player.

Lastly, the music. I don't have any particular memorable piece in this title unlike the RUtM the music was good because it compliment the gloomy atmosphere, and there is a piece I like way too much.

Conclusion, if you're looking for Momodora: Reveries Under the Moonlit 2, this isn't the one. Despite giving a negative review, I could actually recommended you to play this game, it's still a solid choice.

Reverie under the moonlight was also short but the upgrades felt satisfying while this one doesn't. The pacing never picks up and feels uninspired.

Map design is tedious. Also really bad frame pacing when parallax scrolling. I think it's 60fps-capped as well.

The OST is nice and the main protagonist has some neat vaulting sprites.

I have thoroughly enjoyed each of rdein's games, and although Minoria probably remains my favorite, Momodora: Moonlit Farewell is a genuinely great game. It isn't particularly innovative, nor is it especially remarkable in design or execution. But that's okay! It plays exactly the way a Metroidvania game should play. It's neither too forgiving nor too cruel, all attacks and movement abilities are intuitive and fun, and, perhaps most importantly for a Metroidvania, every area is memorable and highly distinct in atmosphere. I'd also say the game is the perfect length.

If you're only here because of the Metroidvania tag and have no prior experience with Momodora, you may not find much of interest aside from an enjoyable gameplay experience and beautiful pixel art.
If you're here because you're a Momodora fan, however... you won't be disappointed! Finally, we see some quite substantial world-building on top of the simple story that started 14 years ago. All previous games are acknowledged here in satisfying ways, and I'm very glad I decided to quickly replay Momodora 1-3 before picking up this one.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm stuck at home sick today, so I'm gonna go on ahead and replay Reverie Under the Moonlight now...

The only major flaw I can think of with this game are that with the right build, every boss becomes a DPS rush where you spam the heal and attack buttons to win. the rest of the game isn't that hard either. everything else is a nitpick. the art design, animation, music, character designs, story and actual gameplay are all tight knit and well made. it's a grade A experience as far as indie metroidvanias go.

A fun entry in the Momodora series. My only real complaints are that sometimes enemies spawn unexpectedly leading to cheap hits and that if you stack certain sigils then your attacks can become so heavy with visual effects that it is near impossible to see the animations that warn you of an incoming attack. That didn't bother me too much while playing, though. Momo controls great, the visuals and sound are pretty, and exploring the world is fun.

Excellent metroidvania. Very similar to Hollow Knight