A scared mouse scurries through an unforgiving landscape packed with abominations that may be friend or foe. This timid squeaker can join forces with Morsels, strange creatures with offensive abilities that fight at their side. With this help, the mouse travels upward toward the domain of the evil overlords who control this twisted world.
From that simple premise, Morsels presented me with a wealth of visual information and a relentless assault of creatures and environmental hazards. It's a lot to take in and it never really lets up.
An odd blend of Enter the Gungeon and Binding of Isaac, Furcula Games has crafted a twin-stick shooter cum card-based companion collector. The resulting creation is just as bizarre as that sounds.
Starting off in the sewers, you are gifted a morsel at the beginning of each attempt. You assign this friendly creature to a slot, collecting others later that can be added or swapped out. Morsels can level up from use or via power-ups scattered throughout levels.
For the first few runs, I had no idea what I was doing. There is no useful flavour text or tooltips in the game. Aside from a rough guide to the Morsel’s ability set, you don’t really know what you're getting until you learn what everything does. Some are powerful from the start, others have a steep learning curve to master. All of them are unique.
The general trial-and-error nature of Morsels isn’t a detriment. Much like Animal Well, the compulsion to learn more about your purpose in this world is strong.
Death comes swiftly across the densely populated environments. The intricate art style and twitchy gameplay go hand in hand. I found myself trying to dodge benign creatures wandering the maps, jumping headlong into hostile ones spewing projectiles in my general direction. Enemies come in myriad flavours and boss battles are typically chaotic bullet hells. Luckily, each attempt will accrue XP, rewarding buffs that make subsequent runs a bit more forgiving.
Morsels is a pleasingly nightmarish experience, with an oppressive atmosphere and an aesthetic that sets it apart from its peers.
Comments 13
Thanks for the review, will eventually give this a try for sure even though it isn't a priority for me (even less so considering the mentioned cons, but those won't stop me from at least giving it a shot) - regardless, glad that it's finally also on Switch!
Looks very interesting, I will probably give it a go at later date. Thank you for the review
The art and music of this game are remarkable. Devs usually neglect the sound aspect when going for that hazy CRT nostalgia but I can practically feel my childhood TV rumble when I hear the music in this game.
The biggest con of the review is likely a boon to some. I still don’t know what the benefit of ‘more tofu’ is but I’m looking forward to either finding out myself or googling it somewhere down the line.
Gameplay wise it’s neat, tidy, even generic, but it’s the vibes that elevate it.
Man I was so excited by this one. The art direction is great. I’m enjoying it but also It’s a bit frustrating to work with. You get punished all the time and have no idea why. There are a bunch of mechanics that are just super mysterious. I think some of that is totally fine and cool even but there are certain parts that are more frustrating than mysterious.
Otherwise the combat is cool and feels great. I just mostly have no idea what I’m doing or why things are happening
This sounds right up my alley as a TBOI fanboy. That game is also brutal, depending on the chosen character and whatever luck of the draw you have, pick-ups wise.
Will you be doing a video review of this one, too?
LOOKS like awesome, considering that my little boy just closed the Isaac, I will be showing this game for him!!
Another Nuclear Throne like, huh.
Love the art direction. Thanks for the review, that tells me a little bit more about the game, compared to the initial trailers. Will wait for the physical like I always do.
“Furcula Games has crafted a twin-stick shooter cum card-based companion collector.“
This sentence tripped me up
I'm not sure how you can write a review. without commenting on the horrible lag/stuttering of this game, especially at the beginning of scenes. The game itself is fun, but the lag (which sometimes gets you hit if enemies spawn near you) is unforgivable and needs to be patched.
@sockmonkey72 Yeah the lag is crazy, maybe it's just on handheld but it shouldn't be a thing
As a huge huge fan of Nidhogg 2 (in fact I'm a convert who initially thought the change in art style was a travesty until I actually started playing it) I've been super intrigued by this one and will probably end up picking it up even though I'm generally not interested in roguelites or even most top-down stuff in general.
Maybe not on the Switch though if the performance is as bad as people are saying.
The game's so good looking in a gross way and sounds so good, but I didn't last three runs before quitting. The gameplay is so uninteresting. It's a shame
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