Other than a few tragic runs of Nethack, my first experience playing a Roguelike was with The Binding of Isaac. This game absolutely hooked me with its random elements and huge number of builds and upgrades, and I’d go as far as to say it’s about as close to perfect as a video game could be. My Isaac fandom is so great that my first ever tattoo was inspired by the game, and even playing Fortnite this evening I was using my Duke of Flies emote to upset my defeated rivals. The reason I’m getting all sentimental about The Binding of Isaac today is because Morsels feels incredibly similar to this influential Roguelike, but Isaac has rather large and tearful shoes to fill.
In Morsels you play as a small mouse, surviving off scraps in a cruel world. In this version of Earth magical cards once fell from the sky, and the evil cats that gathered them rule as barons. Small pieces of these cards still remain though, and by collecting them you can transform into different creatures capable of fighting foes and maybe even take back power from the cats. It won’t be easy though; not in the slightest.
Before you start your first run of Morsels, you’ll need to choose your starting monster. The three options all have their own strength, but I personally tended to pick the up close attacker of the bunch because of the sheer amount of damage it dealt. Once your decision is made it’s time to explore the charmingly ugly world and try and survive its various hazards, of which there are many.
Controlling your mouse and the creatures it can transform into is simple, and will be immediately familiar for my fellow Isaac fans. Twin sticks control your movement and firing, and you’ve also got a handy dodge roll that you can use to avoid damage and get over gaps. Each Morsel also has a special attack it can use too, and only by using every tool at your disposal will you stand a chance of surviving far into a run.
Above all else, my initial reaction to heading out into the sewers to start my Morsels adventure was just to be overwhelmed. So many elements are thrown your way without any explanation, from tickets you might eventually learn you can use to ride on cat buses, to holes that lead to “break the target” style arcade challenges. In some ways these incredibly random and unexplained elements make the game exciting, but they can also just be frustrating. Take for example the insect that was unkillable and followed me forever shooting bullets my way, which made me want to cry.
A lot of things about Morsels didn’t make me openly weep though, like the fact it features a little bit of creature collecting. At any time you can have three different creatures you swap between, and they all have their own health and even experience levels. It’s a really interesting twist to a well trodden Roguelike formula, although I have to admit I liked all of the starting creatures more than the weird other options I gathered on my journey.
If there’s one thing that Morsels isn’t lacking it’s depth, with so many different power ups, evolutions of creatures and even difficulty levels for those who manage to overcome this particularly challenging Roguelike. This is absolutely a game that those hardcore players could still be playing for years, I’m just not sure I’ll be one of them.
I really wanted to enjoy Morsels more than I did, but it just has a few too many frustrating elements to become one of my comfort Roguelikes. My biggest bugbear with the game is that all of the different creatures you play as can only fire a few shots before having to pause to recharge. It’s hard to put into words quite how annoying this stop and start offense feels, and it really detracted from my enjoyment of the game. Coupled with the many unexplained elements and often frustrating enemies it makes Morsels more of a slog than it needs to be, and is a mighty shame.
Morsels is a tough as nails Roguelike that many will pump dozens of hours into, but I found it has too many frustrations to really hook me. The central premise of having multiple creatures to swap between and level up is great though, and there’s plenty of depth and variety to find across your many failed runs. If you’ve played too much of The Binding of Isaac and need something to scratch that Roguelike itch than Morsels might be it, just prepare yourself for some annoyances along the way.
