MO: Astray is a 2D pixelated, narrative-focused, side-scrolling, action platformer produced by Archpray and published by Rayark Games. Mo: Astray has you taking on the function of a sentient life form that you simply control through brain-racking puzzles looking for answers to questions left unanswered. While you play through MO: Astray you shall be challenged by various environmental puzzles that need some serious thinking and quick reaction time. Personally, I enjoy platformers and this game also packs quite the beautiful and frustration which comes along with these kinds of games. MO: Astray originally released on PC on October 25, 2023, with the Nintendo Switch version to be sold on September 10, 2023.
MO: Astray has you put into a bleak situation while you explore your surroundings, jumping from platform to platform while avoiding hazards. As you search for solutions to your questions, you’re met with dangerous enemies, who you are able to control to help solve some of the puzzles, but additionally give both important key aspects of what happened in addition to random lines of dialogue. MO: Astray checks off all of the boxes necessary for a platformer such as a cute protagonist, plenty of various baddies, challenging puzzles, a compelling story, and of course something out to kill you.
The game mechanics are quite simple in MO: Astray, you use the left analog stay with move, the right analog stick to aim your jump, and then the Left trigger or bumper to leap. However, while you progress through the game, you’ll unlock other abilities for MO to make use of to be able to solve the puzzles or defeat the enemies you're confronted with. The puzzles within this game start off slightly simple, but definitely dive into head-scratching quite quickly, which can lead to you needing to put the game down for any bit and consider how to pass this challenge. There are numerous difficulties in the game, but they simply just add more “lives” for you to lose using the “Easy” difficulty providing you with 6 and also the hardest difficulty “Disaster” providing you with just 1 life to reside.
What makes MO: Astray such a unique game may be the manner in which the storyline is told. As you encounter many humanoid enemies, you are able to interact with them and gain some glimpses to who or what's accountable for the chaos that ensued. Due to this mechanic, it had me holding the “A” button on every enemy I had been in a position to interact with and find out what they needed to say. Also, based on that you interacted along with you would obtain a short cutscene that showed visions of the past that ended up getting the enemies placed where they were placed.
MO: Astray holds a unique devote my heart as probably one of the most beautiful and enraging games I’ve played this season, but don’t take that enraging part negatively. The truth that even on the easiest difficulty you’re still massively challenged to figure out how you can of these challenges even when results in MO being crushed, shredded, eaten, drowned, and much more, simply to finally feel better about yourself whenever you get past that obstacle.
Overall, MO: Astray is a beautiful game having a dark story. It’s fun and challenging as well as the player to consider outside the box sometimes to determine many of the puzzles. After everything, it’s liberating to experience enjoy yourself. So if you enjoy platformers, unique storytelling, then one to challenge the mind, pick this game up!
MO: Astray releases for the Nintendo Switch on September 10, 2023, for $14.99.
