After Morbid Metal released its trailer featuring Eku, I've been keeping an eye on this game. On one hand, aside from Warframe, there aren't many mecha martial arts-style games on the market. On the other hand, the combat gameplay showcased in that trailer was visually quite appealing.
However, after completing the initial "Early Access" content, I feel that this game is still quite far from its complete form.
It features a relatively rare and solid core gameplay experience, presenting the high-speed slashing mechanic well. However, it encounters issues in both its action and Roguelike aspects, causing the initial content to inevitably slide into repetitive boredom during the mid-to-late game.
The thrill of high speed is the most praiseworthy aspect of this game.
From the very beginning, the game heavily emphasizes speed. Whether it's character running speed, movement agility, or combat pacing, Everythinggj reinforces this sense of velocity, immersing players in a high-speed environment from start to finish. To match this pace, the game not only features faster-paced combat but also deliberately increases the distance between combat points, while designing varied terrains, hidden exploration spots, and traps. Players can freely run, jump, and dash between battles, exploring the map under the pressure of constant motion.
More than the combat itself, the free-running experience of "speeding at seventy miles per hour" feels like the foundational tone of this game. Beyond the intense stimulation of speed, the thrill of soaring through the air, diving underground, and agile maneuvering is a distinctive feature that sets it apart from other action Roguelites. Even though the game doesn't enforce strict time limits on levels, players will inevitably fall into a constantly accelerating rhythm akin to parkour games.
Meanwhile, the game's combat design incorporates many signature elements from high-speed ACT games, such as the soft-lock group combat from the Ninja Gaiden series and the flashy combat actions from the Devil May Cry series.
The combination of rich ACT flavor and speed creates the game's most iconic high-speed slashing combat experience. However, while delivering this experience, the game significantly lowers the operational barrier as a Roguelite. Players don't need to memorize complex move lists like studying for an exam; each character has only one fixed normal attack module, two normal skill slots with cooldowns, and one special skill slot that requires charging.
These "one-button combo" skills represent all the action modules players need to understand. All players need to do is construct their own combos within these limited actions. In the current version, there are three characters that can be switched at any time during combat, with two options available for each skill slot per character.
Since each character's skills have long cooldowns, the basic combo flow in this game is: use normal skills as your main damage output, finish a full skill set, then switch to another character to execute their set, using normal attacks to fill the remaining cooldown windows, and deploying a character's special skill based on the combat scenario.
This flow allows players to enjoy the cool visual impact and button-mashing satisfaction expected from action games without extensive practice, while also providing a foundation for subsequent Roguelite builds.
Unfortunately, while the positive feedback from easily achieved high-speed slashing satisfactorily supports the combat flow in the early game, the unsuccessful Roguelite design causes a significant drop in replayability during the mid-to-late game.
The game's Roguelite build system is quite standard, divided into three categories: "Devil's Bargain," "Prime Body," and "Protocol." "Devil's Bargain" offers short-term buffs with accompanying debuffs, lasting only a few battles. "Prime Body" acts like equipment, providing pure stat boosts. "Protocol" is the most common type of enhancement in Roguelite games. The first two can be found in reward rooms or roadside chests, while "Protocols" are obtained through "choose one of three" rewards after clearing rooms.
In terms of importance, "Protocols" are the most crucial build system in this game. They provide various types of enhancements for each character and offer additional mechanics beyond the inherent traits of the three characters.
In the initial playable content, the most significant problem with Morbid Metal's build items is their scarcity. For Roguelite games to ensure different experiences in each run, the primary method is to provide a large number of upgrade items, allowing players to create different builds every time.
However, Morbid Metal offers far too few build options in this regard. It's so scarce that players encounter duplicate upgrade items in almost every run. By the mid-to-late stage of a second run, players quickly realize they've already selected all available useful upgrades, leaving them to choose from unwanted leftovers.
The "choose one of three" has become "choose the only one."
This issue is quite fatal in a Roguelite game because it directly leads to repetitive single-run experiences. Players face similar levels and enemies in every run, choosing largely identical strategies. The direct consequence is that players must reach the first half of the second large map to unlock the third character, but by then, the freshness brought by the early game has completely worn off.
The insufficient amount of Roguelite content, which allows players to exhaust all options during the current "Early Access" phase, is the biggest issue with Morbid Metal at this stage. Meanwhile, other design missteps by SCREEN JUICE are further exacerbating this problem.
First, the number of upgrade items players can obtain is limited. While this is a common design in some Roguelite games—not all follow the infinite item stacking route seen in titles like The Binding of Isaac or Risk of Rain—in Morbid Metal, once players reach the upgrade limit, they cannot replace old upgrades with new ones. Instead, they simply lose the opportunity to choose any further upgrades.
Upgrades now just give you money.
This means that every choice a player makes within a single run is irreversible. Even if forced to pick an unwanted upgrade, there's no way to correct it later. This design heavily impacts the selection of "System Protocols." As mentioned earlier, the number of upgrade items is limited, so while the impact of being unable to swap "Character Protocols" isn't severe (since you can eventually collect most of them anyway), the inability to change choices significantly restricts flexibility.
However, the "System Protocol," which is universal across all characters, is an exception. It is the only enhancement system in the game that allows players to form a "build," and its quantity far exceeds the player's maximum of 8 slots. Therefore, when players cannot replace their chosen enhancements, the possibility of forming a BD (Build) through "System Protocol" selections drops sharply—especially since players cannot refresh their upgrade choices in the game.
In challenge stages where stronger "Protocols" are available, this inability to make effective choices becomes even more frustrating.
If the repetitive experience caused by limited and unchangeable choices is a fatal flaw, then the minimal impact of Roguelite builds on gameplay is another critical issue.
Admittedly, some of the provided upgrades do introduce additional mechanics, such as the "Destruction Orb" mechanism that deals damage upon switching characters, or the "Leak" mechanism that adds DOT (Damage Over Time) to skills. However, none of these upgrades fundamentally affect the core gameplay. Within a single run, the player's strategy remains unchanged throughout: cast skills, switch characters, and unleash ultimate abilities.
Player character skill effects, modules, etc., do not change significantly with upgrades. The action mechanics that effectively influence the battle outcome are fixed right from the early stages of gameplay.
Even if the intention was to emphasize action over Roguelite elements, Morbid Metal fails to deliver a satisfactory answer. With only two skill sets per character, there isn't enough depth to support repeated playthroughs.
As a result, gameplay expansion in Morbid Metal hits a deadlock after the mid-game. Both the Roguelite and action aspects quickly become tedious after a few hours of play, as developer SCREEN JUICE has failed to provide content that motivates players to continue.
Therefore, as an action Roguelite, Morbid Metal is fundamentally flawed in its design. From start to finish, it successfully delivers only the most core and narrow experience of high-speed slashing. All expansion designs built around this core experience are in a severely unfinished state. Although the game is currently in "Early Access," it feels more like a slightly larger demo.
Beyond its inherent design issues, the game also suffers from some production problems.
The most prominent issue is the camera, a challenge in all high-speed action games but particularly pronounced here. Many skills require targeting a single enemy, but during fast-paced combat, the camera often loses track, making it difficult for players to smoothly plan their combat movements. This stuttering severely affects combat fluidity and often leads to unnecessary health loss.
Additionally, the game suffers from serious optimization issues. As a game emphasizing speed, problems like slow loading times between maps and unstable frame rates disrupt the player's flow.
Overall, I acknowledge the game's success in shaping its core gameplay experience. This sense of speed is indeed rare in Roguelite games, especially 3D ones, and the mecha theme offers a distinct aesthetic appeal. However, due to the game's low level of completion, I do not recommend fans of this genre play Morbid Metal in its current state.