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A Solid Metroidvania, But The Biomorphing Could Be More

It's not hard to see where Biomorph draws its inspiration from, mostly Hollow Knight and Ender Lilies. The game puts all the familiar ideas together and on top of that, adding a little twist into formula. You can become the enemy you just defeat. While the mechanic certainly makes the experience solid and bends the rule of gating-abilities, the execution feels off for me. Biomorphing doesn't streamline your combo and the overall combat. And a lot of monster forms are treated as one-trick ponies, a one-and-done deal. That being said, I cannot just down vote the game and move on. Despite my negativity, I still have fun exploring the big alien worlds the developers created. Tons of secrets and scavenge hunts encourage you to use all of your abilities to the fullest. Overall, Biomorph is a solid metroidvania to playthrough. It's just that I think the mechanic could've been better or at least well-used.

Things I Like About Biomorph:

Other Compliments
→I like the western cartoon art style.
→Quite a few interesting NPCs and side quests.
→Exploration is often rewarding despite the terrible map system.
→All 39 Scargatoes have their own cute description.

Things I Like And Dislike About Biomorph:

The Gating-abilities
→Like: There are actually two types of gating-abilities: first type is the usual reward that players can find at the end of the level or after the boss fight, and the other type is related to the biomorphing. For the first type, I am glad and actually surprised to find out Biomorph doesn't just hand out the regular gating-abilities like Double Jump right away. The design choice immediately sets the game apart from other metroidvania. Of course making your protagonist less mobile means the level design cannot be too difficult to navigate, but Biomorph circumvents this issue by introducing biomorphing, in other words, a second set of gating abilities. Each monster forms have their unique attacks and special quirks to help you on your journey when transform. You may not walk through a long spike trap, but Scarbyttle can hover any of them; when the level gets too big, Oddwing allows you to fly for a few seconds to places you otherwise cannot reach. This mechanic makes me feel very excited every time I see a new monster, wondering what abilities will it grant me once I slaughter I mean morphing into it.
→Dislike: Three things really bothers me about the biomorphing. First, biomorphing doesn't feel smooth to use in combat. Most of the monster forms are clunky to use. You can hardly combo your chip attack into biomorphing Ben Ten style. Second, every monster form is a one-trick pony. Their usage only last for their responding level. Outside of said level, there really isn't any incentive to use them beyond you liking their look or their attack pattern. Some do possess valuable quirks like Ombre Blanche has triple jump and Jawfish can swim under water, yet this design reinforces my last point: some monster forms should just be enhancement for existing ones instead of being a standalone. Jetrunner's ability to swim against the stream should just be integrated into Jawfish swimming capability; any wall-bashing monsters should just be one being with upgrades. Same deal goes with any secrets-revealing monsters. By combining monsters together, it would be much better to organize the equipped biomorphs. Players wouldn't run into the awkward situation which they would find a secret area that requires a certain ability of a certain biomorph, only to find out they don't have the right one equipped. So they would have to teleport back to save point, equip the right one, and go all the way back to the point of interest.

Things I Dislike About Biomorph:

Other Complaints
→Biomorph upgrades do not convey clear information.
→The map system is the worst. Tons of plain rectangles really doesn't make me realize what I miss, especially when a portion of the area can only be accessed from another area that I have no way to know because the map is unclear about it.
→Some secrets do not have any subtle hints at all.
中文小簡評
→一款內容實在的類銀河系惡魔城，只是其中的機制可以做得更好。
→雖然主要機制的設計我覺得沒有很好，但是光就本作完整性，還是值得一玩。
→西洋卡通畫風很有特色。
→許多有趣的NPC及支線任務。
→地圖中藏有許多秘密和道具，探索起來很充實。
→39隻史來喵有各自的個性小簡介。
→關鍵技能分為兩種，角色本身的技能沒有像其他同行一樣直接屈服於二段跳，而是巧妙地運用怪物變身間接的讓關卡逛起來更有趣，同時鼓勵玩家多多運用及蒐集不同怪物化身。
→然而變身怪物這個系統個人覺得做得不好，戰鬥中不太能隨時切換打連擊，諸多變身功能僅限其會出現的關卡有用，其他地方毫無用處，僅有少數變身有好用的技能。
→許多變身的能力太過單一，應該設計成其他變身的升級版。如此不但能方便玩家選擇想要的變身，也能解決玩家要來回跑存檔點換變身的窘境。
→變身升級給的資訊過少。
→地圖看來很糟，僅用大方框來標示關卡而沒有多一點細節，容易導致玩家繞了半天找不到興趣點，而那興趣竟然是要從另一個地方才能到達...
→完全沒有提示說這牆可以被打壞。

---see where this game landed on my Metroidvania tier list beneath this review!---
Biomorph is like if Haak or Hollow Knight had a baby with Kirby. It's a quality release.
The game is kinda easy, from the boss fights to the platforming.
On top of your regular powers, you can morph into creatures that have powers of their own.
You can equip 3 Biomorphs at a save point. It is mildly annoying when you are scouring the map for 100% and encounter a barrier that requires a specific Biomorph power, because now you're forced to run back to the save point to equip the correct Biomorph, then run all the way back and use it (And then possibly all the way back to the save point again so you can teleport to your next area to work on).
100% achievements is very easy to get in this game.
The map updates to mark completed rooms, making it easy to keep track of where to look for new things. Completed rooms are surrounded in a Yellow border and that's a little harder to spot than say, if incomplete rooms had an exclamation point instead in games like Ender Lilies. Alternatively I wish the yellow colour that is used to surround the rooms could have had some more detail to stand out more. I was actually missing 1 collectable at the end of the game and I checked my map 10 times and could not discern the room that was incomplete. I eventually uploaded my map and another player was able to spot my incomplete room.
Music and sound were fine. The only tune that really did anything for me was the sad and somewhat moody town theme (Which sounds a tiny bit like "No Man's Land" from Aeterna Noctis"). This comes down to me preferring melodic music that plays in the foreground, as opposed to gentler music that plays it safer hiding in the background. I much prefer soundtracks like Castlevania, Astalon or Monster Boy than the style that games like Biomorph and Ori use. To me its all just safe, subtle background music that doesn't really get me going.
I won't speak in any detail about the story. There was too much dialogue for my liking that I just ended up skipping through it all (Game lets you skip it). I much prefer succinct and to the point with some quirkyness, which you find in games like Astalon.
Here I will go on a tangent not specifically aimed at Biomorph because it managed to trigger a pet peeve of mine, just skip ahead past the italics part to get back to the review!
{For me a story can elevate a game I like if it isn't making me swap from playing an action platformer to reading a novel and so in most cases: Games that don't have any dialogue are doing the story better for me. Explore map, kill main bad guy = win. I get it, and too much dialogue about it just feels like I'm reading someones attempt to convolute the storytelling process, like they feel they have to write a book or something, and I'm just not interested, it's not why I play action platformers. I'm not saying there can't be more dimensions to a story or that you can't have dialogues, but I don't want the action slowed down for too long because I bumped into an NPC somewhere in the middle of it and they have 20 text boxes to throw at me, it's an unpleasant interruption to the gameplay and in 95% of cases I just don't care what they have to say.
I would even say that a compelling soundtrack and diverse areas do more for an action games story for me than dialogue ever can. It's the audio-visuals and area design triggering your imagination, with music that pulls at your emotions. Just like books can be: videogames are 'interpreted and imagined' worlds and stories that are much bigger in your mind if you are sold on it. Not everything needs to be explained or drawn to look realistic.
I would pit Donkey Kong Countrys story over 99% of platformers that have characters speaking dialogue all the time despite barely having a story. I was more emotionally invested in Donkey Kong defeating King K. Rool and freeing his island and rescuing his monkey pals.
I play other genres that involve a lot of dialogue, such as point and click adventure games, FMV games, RPG's, but that's not something that works for me in an action platformer. Another metroidvania that had me invested in the story somewhat was Depths of Sanity. Most of its dialogue took place between chapters (A role sometimes occupied by cutscenes in other games), while keeping it more minimalist and succinct during the gameplay sections.}

..So despite Biomorph not having a banger soundtrack, being very challenging or roping me in with its story, it is the best side-scrolling metroidvania that I've encountered this year so far. I rate my overall enjoyment a B+, ahead of Rebel Transmute, Prince of Persia, Ultros and The Mobius Machine. It's just very well made and I enjoyed exploring its map.
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My Metroidvania Tier List (PC) (excluding Metroid & Castlevania titles)
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-Not an objective list, purely how much I enjoyed the games-
S+ Aeterna Noctis |
S Tier (Truly Special) Astalon: Tears of the Earth | Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom | Hollow Knight |
S- Blasphemous 2 | Cathedral |
A+ Afterimage | The Last Faith |
A Tier (Amazing) Elderand | Ori and the Will of the Wisps | Doomblade^ |
A- Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights | Depths of Sanity | Environmental Station Alpha |
B+ Blast Brigade | Haak | Biomorph |
B Tier (Really Enjoyed) Alwa’s Legacy | Steamworld Dig 2 | Islets | Blasphemous | After Death | Pronty^ | Mortal Manor* | Escape From Tethys | Outbuddies DX* | Monster Sanctuary | Elliot Quest | Rebel Transmute |
B- Haiku, the Robot | The Mobius Machine | Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown | Ultros |
C+ (Fun) Lone Fungus | Ghost Song | Death’s Gambit: Afterlife | Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night | Kunai | Kingdom Shell | Axiom Verge | Rabi-Ribi | TEVI | Treasure Adventure Game |
C Tier (More or Less Enjoyed) Flipwitch | Infernax | Plague of Yamorn* | Column on the Sea | Jrago* | MF-01 Aerostrike^ | Laika: Aged through Blood | Xanthiom Zero | Carrion^ | Chasm | Wuppo | The Mummy Demastered | Momodora 4 | Momodora 5 | Catmaze | Castle In The Clouds | Omega Strike | HunterX | HunterX: code name T | Aggelos | Midnight Castle Succubus | Sheepo |
C- (Meh) Ato | EldritchVania | Cookie Cutter | Elephantasy | Rusted Moss^ | Grime | Moonscars | The Messenger | Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth | Iconoclasts | MindSeize | Ebenezer and the Invisible World | Luna’s Light* |
D Tier (Didn’t enjoy enough to play through) Castle In The Darkness | Alwa’s Awakening | RIN: The Last Child* | Pharaoh Rebirth | Yoku’s Island Express | Guacamelee! 2 | Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse | Beholgar* | Phoenotopia: Awakening | Insect Adventure* | Clunky Hero* | Headlander | Strider | Minoria* | Souldiers | Bone Appetit | The Witch & the 66 Mushrooms | Transiruby | Destroy Space Aliens | La-Mulana | Guacamelee! | 8Doors | Gato Roboto | Super Panda Adventures |
E-Tier (Didn't like) Ex Vitro | Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap | The Weird Dream | Ginsha | Dandara | Vernal Edge | Blaster Master Zero | Medusa* | Lost Ruins | Sundered | Salt & Sanctuary | Valdis Story | Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet | Touhou Luna Nights | Chronicles of Teddy | B.I.O.T.A. | Shadow Complex | Timespinner | Rex Rocket | Aquaria | Nyaruru Fishy Fight | Apotheon | Future Fragments | Gungirl 2 | Bad Pad* | Chakana* | Lootbox Lyfe | Slavania* | Angel’s Gear* | Fearmonium | Magicians & Looters* | Tres-Bashers* | Dust: An Elysian Tale |
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^ = Mouse & Keyboard are STRONGLY advised.
* = Very raw indie or contains some jank or lack of polish.
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Solid, albeit average, metroidvania. I have my issues with it but I've played so many of those that I might be pickier than most. It's a far cry from the pinnacle of the genre like Hollow knight or Lost Crown, but it's a decent time until Silksong comes. It just doesn't do anything that hasn't been done better elsewhere already. If you're looking for a decent metroidvania for a weekend, you could do worse. I give this a thumbs up a bit reluctantly.
the good:
- music is top notch, seriously great stuff
- combat sfx are punchy and satisfying
- pretty big map and decent biome variety
- very distinct visual identity.
the bad:
- pretty much all the forms I unlocked so far (12-ish) are flat out boring to play as and pretty much useless in combat. They're used constantly for traversal and then you ditch em to actually fight. People calling this a "kirby-like" are completely off track, in those games, the transformations are the star of the show IN AND OUT of combat. Here, I end up never using them unless I'm strictly forced to and glad when I'm done using most of em. They are slow, cumbersome and many have such ultra specific abilities for specific obstacles that they feel forced. Would've much preferred to have like... 10 forms with more varied movesets and allowing a variety of playstyles. *People expecting kirby-like powerups will be very disappointed*
- Not enjoying having only 3 slots for the memorised forms too, you always end up having to backtrack to a save point, change your loadout to get the form you need for a specific obstacle then go back. It gets old very fast.. and since pretty much all the forms are useless in combat, I'm never using them and I see no point at ALL to keep levelling them up just to run 10% faster or jump 1/4th of inch higher.
- map / area design is painfully average. The 5-6 biomes I've explored so far feel like every other average metroidvania I've played. I usually really enjoy exploring every nook and cranny in these games, here, not so much unfortunately... there's just very little surprises to be had, it's all very .... average.
- Bosses are boring: Their movesets are SO limited. They do 2-3 things on loop till 50% HP then add a new move or two. That's it... unless it changes later.... Their visual design is original, but the fight themselves are just "meh". They go down in no time flat with very little resistance. You can figure them out in the first 20 seconds of a fight. As far as metroivania bossfights go, it's pretty low tier.
- Could change later but the powerups you find are also not very exciting. Riding powerlines is not bad though.
- Story is quite forgettable so far and does nothing to push me forward. NPCs talk a lot but little substance, didn't take long before they veered into insta-skip territory.
So much more could've been done with this concept. Feels like a missed opportunity. It's not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination, clearly a lot of love was poured into this game... but with the flood of metroidvanias in the last decade and them saying they took inspiration from things like Hollow Knight, I'm saddened that they couldn't transfer what made these games so revered. Once I finish it I'll update my review if my feelings change.
**** Update after 10 more hours ****
Well, sadly I won’t finish this because I’m bored out of my mind. Changing my review to thumbs down
This simply is the most by-the-numbers average metroidvania I’ve played in a long time. I’m usually 1:1 in agreement with Demajen’s rankings but here I’m just baffled. This is near bottom of the barrel for me. I feel most of the positives reviews come from the visuals, which are pretty good… but peel that layer off and it’s a bland uninspired mess.
The world is just so boring to explore. Every zone nearly feels the same to navigate or just tedious to go through. It’s just a very blocky architecture that borderline feels procedurally generated at times.
My opinion on the forms after getting all of them has not changed, they all uniformly suck and are not fun to use. Upgrading them is pointless and is barely noticeable outside a few very specific cases. These shouldve been the star of the show. It’s so unfortunate.
The chips and mementos too, every one I unlocked I was curious to try but always came back to the first three (fist, gun, lance) because it’s just what’s most effective. The mementos effects are not thst exciting either. Upgrading either is just …. Making then a bit stronger, more charges, etc. No new effect or anything exciting.
The bosses somehow got worse. This has to be the worst set of bosses I’ve seen in a game of this genre. No challenge, none of them impressive in the slightest. Practically all of them left me a “that’s it?” impression. Basic, uninspired and incredibly limited movesets.
The needing to find those blueprints to get the mats needed to upgrade the save points for fast travel is a mind boggling design choice. There is zero point to it, it’s useless friction with no purpose. Now i’m missing a blueprint to get another set of upgrade mats and all the new save points I’m discovering, I can’t fast travel to, causing tedious backtracking that has just no reason to be. You should be able to fast travel to previously discovered SAFE spots.
Anybody looking for a good metroidvania, look elsewhere, this is absolutely not it and misses the mark on practically every metric outside visual and sound.