The Mobius Machine

Lots of Metroidvania value, and looks very nice, and movement, platformer, and combat are well done. Hard but not ESPECIALLY frustrating (unlike half the games). So I definitely recommend. However: I am really upset about no map markers, I waste so much time backtracking. it seems like these games want to limit markers, why the hell can't we just make unlimited ones?? Friggin blasphemous made you buy them and there were never enough (maybe hollow knight does too? Can't recall), but at least they had SOME! and powerups come far far too slowly to fix that. Which is another issue, powerups are a problem for game enjoyment. I also kind of hate the combination of cute graphics with absolutely not cute everything else. The music is dire, the situation is grim and often bordering on horror. It just feels unbalanced, like some of the powerups are so "why would it work like that??" It just takes me out of the game. As stated the map is large which is great but knowing where you are and where you need to get to can turn it into a slog especially because you can't mark the map and most of the world is pretty similar looking (not in a bad way which is rare). The base and portals do help, without them I think the game is unplayable but that's probably true for most metroidvanias, because their appeal is huge 2d map unlike side scrolling platformers.

steam deck ok

pretty good game if i didnt 100% the map i coulda finished within 10 hours so keep that in mind beyond that it was pretty fun at times i was extremly frustrated but thats cuz i was trying to be quicker and not being patient to kill all the bad guys in my way

Promising initial impression, but doesnt live up to it past the first 1-2 hours. Its biggest problem is the repetetive level design. It seems to me the developer focused on size of the map and length of a playthrough rather than the quality of the experience. Lost interested after 2 hours and finally gave up at 4. Too boring. You can do better, developer; you will learn from this and hopefully come back with something even better! :-)

Had such a great time with this game. Love the layout of the areas and how the abilities all come together. Love the graphical look of it as well. My favorite thing is absolutely the water areas though once I had the booster. Was just boosting around backwards at speed to get places in those areas. Made me wish the entire game was under water. Such a fun game if you like this style. Another thing that I thought was great was how they used the ladder jump/boost and the parachute instead of a double or triple jump with boost type of thing. Such great design for this IMO. I will mention the map. It can be crazy to go into an area and miss the signs that show you were the map unlock is. I went to sector 4 and had covered much of it. I missed the map and went back later and looked. I did like this aspect. I was going in dark and was not unlocking the map as I went. Really liked that. But for some it would maybe be a problem. Overall I would give the game a 10/10 for what it is. I did not find anything I did not think it did well. Nothing I looked an and thought I would change it. Was just overall really great for this type of game.

very good

I really, really, reaaaaally wanted to give this a positive review... And it is crazy how most of the negative reviews start just like this, sadly. The graphics are gorgeous and very original. 10/10, love it. The controls are snappy and well done. 10/10. The game in general is definitely very polished, and you can tell it was made with love for genre classics like Metroid. Overall, the game would be a 10/10, sitting right up there with the biggest titles in the genre... That is, if it were not for the design choices. The level design is awful, very boring and repetitive, more like a walking simulator. The enemies are, for the most part, damage sponges and not fun to fight at all. Even the bosses are like: "Okay, you have to repeat this pattern over and over, and we will make it harder as you lower the boss's health. But not with a second phase or anything, screw that. He will just shoot more often or spawn more normal enemies. Oh, and you will have to do this for like 5 or 10 minutes because this will be the biggest damage sponge ever." And you better repeat that pattern perfectly, because if you make a mistake when you are about to finish, you are likely to lose half your HP or die and have to start again. On the same note, the bosses I have encountered so far are very forgettable... Most of the game is, because there seems to be no story at all. There is no guidance or clear objective. Do not get me wrong, I enjoy having the freedom to explore, but with how horrible the level design is here, you might end up traveling for 15 minutes before reaching a dead end and having to walk all the way back. There are multiple ways to reach the same point, but not in a good way. I mean that you have to go through the same paths multiple times, back and forth, if you want to explore the entire map. And to make it worse, most of the one way paths close behind you for some reason. I did not see anyone credited for level or game design, which speaks volumes. I only hope the same team works on a new game, but this time they should find someone with experience in that field. Then they could create a true gem.