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What would you do if you were woken up one fine day by a dung beetle spirit telling you that you are the legendary hero who needs to defeat a villain? This is the beginning of the story of the several generations of heroes on the island of The Swords of Ditto: Mormo's Curse that, inspired by the classic The Legend of Zelda, subverts the cliché of a warrior's fantastic journey coined by Nintendo in a fun, unusual and challenging game in just the right measure.
Devolver Digital has provided Techlifers with a digital copy of The Swords of Ditto: Mormo's Curse protocols for Nintendo Switch and, after an intense week of gameplay (and many generations of heroes later), we bring you a complete analysis of the game covering all its details, strengths and disadvantages.
Another adventure begins!
Fans of The Legend of Zelda series are familiar with the meta-narrative present in each game in the franchise, in which the hero and villain are locked in an endless battle that restarts. when both are reborn in the new generations. It is from this premise that The Swords of Ditto: Mormo's Curse borrows heavily from Nintendo's popular series, but takes it all a step further, imagining what it would be like if this storyline was infused with elements of the roguelike genre.
The Swords of Ditto: Mormo's Curse follows the story of “The Sword”, a hero whose name, gender and race change with each new iteration, even as the hero's “core” remains the same. The hero's great task is to rid the Island of Ditto from the evil forces of the witch Mormo, who wants to subjugate the land and all its inhabitants under her cruel and selfish rule.
If the Sword is defeated at the climax of the confrontation, 100 years of sadness and darkness will follow as the people wait for a new Sword to rise, while if the Sword topple Mormo, it will enter a 100 year slumber and rise again once again. time she rejuvenates.
The story seems rather simple and cliché at first – and the sarcastic interactions of the characters make a point of reminding you of that – but the more you play, the more you understand that there is so much more behind the scenes of this seemingly simple conflict.
At the bottom of the many treasure chests you find on your adventures are brief records in newspaper articles, conversations, and recordings, which slowly begin to come together to form a larger narrative that provides more context for Ditto and the repetitive situation in which he finds himself. the island is located.
Everything connects to a god called Fate, a race of mysterious deities called “Ancient Ones” and a war going on with an empire called Arcadia, taking the narrative to a darker side - contrasting with the happy, colorful and cute look of the game's places.
It all boils down to a late-game twist that turns out to be surprising, making the successive generations of warriors you have to live up to be worth your time.
Ditto's hero(s)
As you defeat all the villains and discover the secrets of your adventure, your Sword gradually accumulates experience points and levels up, increasing your damage, health, and Sticker Slots, the latter of which lets you equip various stickers that grant buffs and resistances to make your journey a little easier.
With the exception of a couple of boss encounters, most enemies don't pose much of a challenge, but they manage to keep you alert enough to make use of their items and roll a lot to avoid attacks.
The amount and variety of enemies in the game is great, worthy of pleasing any hero thirsty for adventures and combats! Each requires different tactics to defeat if you want to escape unharmed. The Swords of Ditto obviously doesn't raise the difficulty level Dark Souls with its combat, but the title's gameplay is more challenging and engaging than the classic The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, For example.
Unfortunately, the design of the puzzles and dungeons isn't that exciting, although they still manage to satisfy the player in many ways. Those expecting creative puzzles will be disappointed to learn that most dungeons are defined by the classic "light all torches" or "push the blocks" mechanics. They are not boring. They are well made, but not very challenging.
After waking up as a new hero, you can technically run straight to Mormo and challenge her right off the bat (just like in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild), but we highly recommend that you take the time to explore the new generation world and prepare your sword before going to your death.
Each hero's world is procedurally generated – piecing together map pieces from around the world and dungeon layouts alike – and comes with all sorts of monsters, hidden caves, and precious treasures to keep the player immersed in the adventure.
In each generation, there are two dungeons to explore, containing powerful "Toys" that can be used both in combat and in solving puzzles. Finally, there are two more dungeons, with the aim of defeating the powerful bosses that guard Mormo's "anchors" and destroying them, which weakens her considerably when you challenge her in the final fight.
Not every journey is epic
The Swords of Ditto is a straightforward adventure that brings different challenges with each new generation, such as a curse that Mormo can cast where you are constantly pursued by an invincible enemy, plus there are different areas of the world to visit each time, making subsequent races are fresh and interesting enough.
However, there is a sense that this “Rogue-Zelda” formula is a little restrictive, creating a sense that the developers should have focused on both styles of the game. The Zelda side is crippled by the roguelike elements, as the overworld feels too small and the procedural dungeons don't go as planned, while the roguelike elements are similarly limited by the Zelda elements, as each run is measured in hours, not minutes, and randomization does not seem very significant at various times.
An area in which The Swords of Ditto: Morse’s Curse manages to positively stand out is in its presentation, delivering crisp, refreshing visuals that almost jump out at you from the screen. The art style seems to draw inspiration from drawings like Adventure Time, with colorful and vivid environments that have a particularly cute quality.
Wide-eyed characters, expressive animations and beautifully detailed worlds are commonplace, coining a visual style reminiscent of an HD cartoon. The “play” aesthetic shines in almost every way, especially in things as small as the appearance of on-screen text, or the little squiggles of hot dogs and lightning bolts on the edges of the map.
Combining all these artistic elements with an equally brilliant soundtrack that manages to occasionally surprise with its diversity, you have a game that will never be visually tiring or boring. Even if you don't feel constantly challenged, you can be sure that you will play The Swords of Ditto with a smile on his face.
However, it is important to mention that the game has some especially long loading times. Nothing that is enough to detract from the experience, but just enough to annoy the player. Entering and exiting any building or area is certainly always followed by a long black screen as the new environment loads. To be a hero is also to be endowed with the virtue of patience.
Conclusion
For those looking for something to fill the void while you wait for the remake of Link's Awakening at the end of this year, The Swords of Ditto: Morse’s Curse is a solid recommendation, which finds a perfect home on Nintendo Switch.
The game is far from perfect, but it's a charming and fun roguelike adventure, and it's much more than meets the eye on the surface. While it occasionally seems to suffer from combining two styles of gameplay and the puzzle designs are quite disappointing, The Swords of Ditto: Mormo's Curse does a great job in what he proposes to present to the player.
