Biomorph review

The amount of incredible Metroidvanias we’ve had release in the first few months of 2024 is frankly absurd. The love that this genre is receiving is great for fans of exploring slowly expanding worlds, though, and I’m definitely happy the flow of these wonderful games is showing no sign of slowing down. Next in the release schedule of is Biomorph, which I can confirm will not disappoint those looking for their next fix.

In Biomorph you play as Harlo, an alien with some pretty severe amnesia regarding current events and two talking hands. In the world of Biomorph the situation is pretty dire, and after an event known as The Fall important resources dried up entirely and dangerous monsters began roaming the land. Upon waking in the safe haven of Blightmoor, Harlo is told about some mysterious ruins that might hold the secret to fixing the situation. That’s all our hero needs to know before heading out on a dangerous quest, and so our journey begins.

At the start of the game Harlo is pretty limited when it comes to combat skills, having only a jump and a dash (which sees them turning into slime) at their disposal. It doesn’t take long for you to find your first combat chip though, which can be equipped to one of the face buttons to unleash an attack. At first you’ll just have the ability to summon a giant first to punch enemies, but as you progress you’ll gain access to magical arrows, piercing spears, and many more combat options you can switch between.

The real hook of Biomorph isn’t anything to do with these weapon attacks though, it’s the fact you can transform into loads of different enemies when you kill them and use their unique skills to get around. This starts simply enough, with a charging bull monster that can break down barricades, and a floating gas monster that isn’t hurt by spikey surfaces, but before you know it you’ll be transforming into massive moles that can dig through dirt, and fish that can swim up waterfalls.

Initially you’ll have to kill enemies to morph into them and will be forced back to your normal Harlo body when you move to another screen, but if you beat and transform into the same enemy enough times then you’ll unlock the ability to change into them whenever you want. It’s a really clever system because generally you won’t need to have unlocked this “change anywhere” skill to progress to your next objective, it’ll just help you find more secrets and side objectives.

Like any Metroidvania worth its salt Biomorph has a ton of bits and bobs to find hidden in its world, from mementos you can equip to grant new abilities like faster healing, or a boost to boss damage, all the way up to important stat boosts that’ll make you stronger or help you survive more hits from the deadly critters that litter its world. The best thing about the collectibles, though, is that each room gets a gold border on your map when you’ve found everything in it, which is just fantastic when you’ve got yourself a new power and want to find the stuff you’ve missed.

Although the different monsters you can morph into do give you the ability to get to some new areas, Harlo also gains all sorts of traditional Metroidvania powers that’ll help you get around. We’re talking wall jumps, and traveling through electric wires, but there are plenty of handy new abilities to gather that will immediately hit you with that wonderful moment of realisation of all the new routes that have opened up to you.

Biomorph has a lot going for it as the hot new Metroidvania of the week, but by far the best are all the quality of life features. Some of these are very standard but still appreciated like fast travel, but for fans of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown the ability to take photos of places of interest and pin them to the map is also present here. I really hope this becomes a staple in all Metroidvania games coming in the future, because it’s such a genius way to ensure you don’t just wander aimlessly when you have a new power.

There’s a lot to love about Biomorph, but it also has a few issues that hold it back from the top spot of the genre. Perhaps the most frustrating of these is how rarely you feel like you’re getting stronger as you progress through the game, with most of the upgrades you unlock providing such small boosts to your overall power and survivability that it’s hard to tell anything has changed. Switching to your monster forms doesn’t help this either, as they’re almost all just too clunky to really be worth using in combat and will just result in getting hit more. It also doesn’t help that enemies deal loads of damage every time you get hit, with your health plummeting from attacks from even the most pathetic of enemies.

This is made more frustrating by the decision to punish you when you die with the Soulslike staple of making you drop your currency upon death and making you hike back to collect it. The plentiful save points (which double as fast travel locations) prevent this from being too terrible to deal with, but it’s just an unnecessary mechanic.

Biomorph is an entertaining Metroidvania with a cool central mechanic and a whole lot of convenient little features. Swapping between different monsters to find your way around the map is always a lot of fun, and finding secrets has never been easier thanks to the ability to take snapshots of suspicious spots. It might be a bit too punishing for some, but if you love Metroidvanias as much as I do, it’s well worth playing.