Momodora I is an independent game developed by rdein. It was released on PC in 2010 and is the first game of the Momodora series. The game is in a challenging "arcade" style, akin to games such as Cave Story and Mega Man.
The game follows the story of Isadora, an orphaned child who goes into a forbidden temple in search of a fabled item said to resurrect the dead. Isadora journies to this forbidden temple in order to resurrect her mother, who was sacrificed as part of a religious ceremony. The cover art of the game was drawn by Temmie Chang.
Story[]
Isadora begins her journey.
"In the land of Koho, common are the sacrifices of maidens,
in hope of recreating the world as a better place to live.
However, Not all accept these rituals.
An orphan girl, who has lost her mother to these rituals,
entered a forbidden land, in search of a particular item.
The legends say that this sacred item can even
bring the dead back to life, but for a certain price..."
Not much else is known about the setting, characters and events leading up to the game other than from the introduction and some character conversations later in the game. In addition to that, some information can be obtained from the short descriptions of the collectable treasures.
You play as Isadora Doralina (Dora for short). The gameplay is simple, yet fluid, involving platforming, avoiding obstacles while simultaneously fighting enemies. There are several weapons throughout the game as well as secondary weapons or “items”. There are also hidden treasures to collect.
As Dora makes her way deeper within the temple, she must use her weapons and platforming skills to reach the end of the temple.
At the bottom chamber of the Temple, Dora must face off against the Underworld Queen and her minions.
Weapons[]
To defeat the many enemies Isadora has to face she uses weapons, which can be found inside the dungeon. There is a total of 5 primary weapons which can be switched at any time. None require ammunition and they appear to have no cooldown, meaning Isadora can attack as fast as the player presses the attack key.
The five primary weapons are:
- Magic Leaf: A short range melee attack which cycles between two attack animations.
- ESP Gun: Shoots an arc-shaped projectile in a straight line.
- Karst Gatling: A low damage automatic gun which fires very fast and slightly inaccurately. The attack key can be held down to fire continuously.
- Chaser Bazooka: Shoots a low damaging missile which homes into enemies. The missiles will travel around blocks if needed to reach an enemy. Has a limited range.
- Colt Single Action Army: Shoots instantaneously in a straight line.
Isadora also has two additional secondary weapons or “items”. They also require no ammunition, but do have “cooldowns”.
Those weapons are:
- Boomerang: A projectile which flies in front of Isadora and will always return to her. It passes through blocks and can be used to activate switches. Only 1 can be used at a time meaning the player must wait for the boomerang to return before using it again.
- Shield: Spawns 4 large shields, 1 at a time. They will orbit the player until it collides with an enemy, dealing damage to it, or a projectile, destroying it. It can only be used when there are no shields already orbiting Isadora. There is a recharge meter under the player’s hp which supposedly indicates the cooldown for the shields, but appears to make no difference and can be used regardless.
Collectable Items[]
All items
There are several collectable items throughout the game which give a brief description of the item, events or inhabitants of the world. There is a total of 15 items. These appear to have no function other than to be collected and provide some insight into the world.
- Magic Leaf: Your first weapon, a magical leaf capable of great cutting powers. Also known as the Green Magic Leaf, this weapon reappears in Momodora II, and Momodora: Reverie under the moonlight.
- Golden Flower: The sunflower worn by the Sun Priestess, Mama Quilla.
- Moon Flower: A legendary rose that shines upon Fullmoon nights.
- Accursed Bell: The bell which calls the demon cat, Bakeneko.
- Hairpin: A type of hairpin worn by the holy maidens from the Eos tribe.
- 2YO Doll: A very stupid doll. Some idiot must have made it.
- Squid Hat (ika): An absolutely cute white hat from the depths of a pixelated ocean.
- White Mask: A plain white mask. Somehow you feel a strange aura from it.
- Purply's Crown: Crown once blessed with the power of Life, previously atop a purple tower.
- Love Letter: A L-love letter?! Who might have sent it…?!
- Bird Statue: The statue of a bird who traded one of his eyes for the ability to fly through time.
- Pause Fairy: A fairy that only appears in the pause screen. She is known for her useless advice.
- Traveler's Journal: The adventure log and memory journal of a traveler.
- Time Egg: Delicious egg if fried… But some prefer to use it as a Time Machine.
- Shell Fruit: Long ago, one thousand of them fell from the sky. Unbelievably delicious, despite the odd shape.
Time Attack[]
In time attack, the objective is to complete the game as fast as possible. The player is only given three hearts and a timer is situated on the upper right corner. The "best time" is set at about 18 minutes by default as a goal to defeat.
Controls[]
- Move: Arrows
- Jump: A
- Use Primary Weapon: S
- Use Secondary Weapon: D
- Change Primary: Q
- Change Secondary: E
- Pause/Status Screen: Enter
- Reset: F1
- Fullscreen/Windowed: F4
- Screenshot: F9
Saves and Death[]
In order to save your progress, the player must walk through blue colored crystals. The only other way to be healed is by finding healing crystals and walking past them. Upon death, the player will be sent back to the main menu where they can load the game from the last save crystal.
Versions[]
- 2010, December 14th: Version 1.4 released (Changed the sound engine so the game will run better in most computers. Also added an intro story.)
- 2010, September 25th: Version 1.3 released (Fixes performance issues in some computers.)
- 2010, August 8th: Version 1.0 released
- 2010, July 7th: Build 0.15
- 2010, June 27th: Build 0.11 released