MIO: Memories in Orbit from Focus Entertainment and Douze Dixièmes is a stylish Metroidvania now on Nintendo Switch 2. Learn more about it in our MIO: Memories in Orbit review!
MIO: Memories in Orbit from Focus Entertainment and Douze Dixièmes is a stylish Metroidvania now on Nintendo Switch 2. As the name suggests, you’ll be diving into the role of MIO, a robot that has a lot of potential. Your mission? To discover the secrets of the Vessel, a vast spaceship that is now set adrift in the void. An issue exists because the AI caretakers of the Vessel have now malfunctioned. With the Vessel’s shutdown now imminent, you must race against the clock to find a solution before it’s too late. You’ll need to revive its lost memories as you use the past to try to change destiny itself.
As you can tell from the trailers and screens in this MIO: Memories in Orbit review, the game has a very interesting art style that makes everything and everyone around you just pop. It’s a look influenced by the Art Nouveau movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which certainly helps it stand out among the other Metroidvanias on Nintendo’s latest console. This publisher and indie studio combo previously gave us Shady Part Of Me, a 2D/3D puzzle platformer in which you’ll be playing as a little girl and her shadow, which I got a chance to review back in 2020.
Once your new journey begins, you’ll take control of MIO using the left analog stick or D-Pad, while using the right analog stick to look around as needed. You can jump and double jump by pressing the B button, and you can attack enemies by pressing the Y button. Press the X button to try to dodge incoming attacks. Press the – button to open up the map, so that you can get a better look at your surroundings and see where you should be heading next.
You’ll later obtain a grapple ability that will allow you to use your hair to, well, grapple onto specific spots, which will lead to some challenging platforming segments along the way. For the grapple to work, you’ll need to aim around you as you run through each area and then press the ZR button to cast it. Do know that it runs on a cooldown, so you’ll need to remain on solid ground for a moment for the grapple to recharge.
Be sure to search high and low and take a good look at all walls, ceilings, and floors, so that you can find all collectibles as well as locate junk piles. These can be destroyed to obtain some extra Nacre Droplets. You can use Nacre Droplets to purchase MODS to aid you. Some examples include the Maintenance Hack, which will allow repairs for the Protective Coat at Nacre Basins to be provided free of charge, or the Effective Dismantlement mod, which, for 200 Nacre, makes it so that enemies leak more Nacre Droplets after being defeated.
Some mods and extensions will require that you also spend Old Cores, which are going to be a bit harder to find, but will be well worth the effort. Since Mods require enough open slots to be equipped, adding a Modifier Extension at the cost of 200 Nacre and a single Old Core is certainly going to prove to be a good investment. You could also procure a Thinner Frame mode that increases the number of modifier slots, but removes one layer of protection. Or maybe you should go with the Reduced Latency mode, which will reduce the recovery time after being hit!
MIO: Memories in Orbit is a stylish Metroidvania now on Nintendo Switch 2. As the name suggests, you’ll be diving into the role of MIO, a robot that has a lot of potential. Your mission? To discover the secrets of the Vessel, a vast spaceship that is now set adrift in the void. An issue exists because the AI caretakers of the Vessel have now malfunctioned. With the Vessel’s shutdown now imminent, you must race against the clock to find a solution before it’s too late. You’ll need to revive its lost memories as you use the past to try to change destiny itself.
As you search every nook and cranny, you can locate Nacre deposits that you can hit to collect the valuable resource, which you can use to purchase new Mods as well as upgrades for your character. You can also find coating components that you can collect to improve your overall protective coating. Find four coating components to add an extra hit point to MOI! Who knows, you might even find the strength needed to increase the power of your attacks.
The game offers some assists for you to consider in case you need some extra help. There’s Eroded Bosses, which will make bosses remember past battles with Mio, and each time they defeat her, they’ll become a little bit more brittle. Pacisit will prevent enemies – not considering bosses – from attacking you, unless you strike them first. The last one is Ground Healing, which will allow Mio to gain an extra layer of protection when she’s on the ground for a short period of time.MIO: Memories in Orbit is out on Nintendo Switch 2 with a $19.99 price tag. There’s also a Nintendo Switch version available for the same price as a separate purchase.
Disclaimer
This MIO: Memories in Orbit review is based on a Nintendo Switch 2 copy provided by Focus Entertainment.
