BIOMORPH is an interesting new platforming metroidvania game developed by Lucid Dreams Studio, featuring hand drawn art and a large story.
It’s always tricky to review games that are large in scope, so I’ll just start at the beginning. The player wakes up in some decrepit alien facility with a talking weapon on each hand, unaware of who they are or how they got there. And first impressions, are great. The art style of BIOMORPH makes me think of early 2000s cartoons, with very clean lines and detailed backgrounds. The cutscenes are also really well done, often animated surprisingly well for such a small studio. They can be a little bit low quality in terms of compression, but that is really the case for all games unfortunately.
As you progress through the opening level, you gain some abilities. You start off by being able to punch things, and combat feels satisfying with hits having a heavy impact and enemies reacting accordingly. There are secrets to be found and places to explore, to get other kinds of upgrades known as ‘mementos’ which can have various effects. Then you stumble across the games main mechanic – the ability to morph.
After you defeat an enemy, it explodes into bits and it’s shattered corpse is left lying on the battlefield. You can then morph into that creature you just defeated, and now control it. If you do this enough times, you unlock the ability to permanently morph into it, do it some more and you can upgrade it. It’s a really fun mechanic, and sort of works similar to how the same mechanic works in Mario Odyssey.
As it’s a metroidvania, you’ll often come across areas you can’t access or reach. Most of these places can be reached by transforming into a certain creature – and later levels get more complicated as it requires the right combination of morphs to get through the particular obstacles that might lay in your way. It’s a fun mechanic, and I enjoyed experimenting with playing sections differently depending on what I was morphed into at the time.
BIOMORPHs world revolves around an alien invasion of sorts, and the impact its having on a small city nearby. At this city you can take up quests and venture into the world to get blueprints, which you can take back to the city to use to build new buildings. These buildings will often contain new vendors which you can trade with for new weapons and mementos, or other cool effects. I always enjoy it in games when I get to rebuild destroyed areas, as it makes you feel as if your adventures are having a positive impact on the world.
The story too, and the characters are good. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it doesn’t venture into the type of cringe comedy that indie games so often can. It strikes the right balance. In terms of the technical aspects, the graphics are nice and sharp, and often BIOMORPH zooms out, and the art holds up well even when small. BIOMORPH also features a minimap, always handy in a metroidvania, and it’s map shows what rooms have been completed and which still hold secrets. Combat and platforming remains tight and responsive throughout.
Overall, BIOMORPH is a great game. The developers have said they put four years into making it, and you can tell. It has a load of content, is really polished, and bottom line is just a good game. I’d certainly recommend it to anyone looking for a new game in this genre.
You can purchase the game on Steam here. If you’re looking for a more old school 2D platformer, maybe check out Jack Axe.
