If you’re a metroidvania aficionado, you’ve likely zig-zagged through countless 2D maps, hunting for secret upgrades and soaking in melancholic backstories. MIO: Memories In Orbit aims to carve its own niche by blending hand-painted visuals with poetic science-fiction atmosphere. Having spent several hours in the demo, I found a rich world worth exploring, but it isn’t without rough edges. In this full review, we’ll unpack the story framework, dissect combat and traversal mechanics, assess level design, and weigh the technical performance. By the end, you should have a clear sense of whether MIO will orbit into your must-play list.
MIO casts you as a diminutive robot drifting through the decaying corridors and overgrown decks of the Vessel—a once-glorious starship now overtaken by bioluminescent flora and swirling fog. Rather than spoon-feeding exposition, Douze Dixièmes doles out narrative fragments via terse log entries, fleeting holograms, and murmured AI whispers. This approach evokes the environmental storytelling of titles like Hollow Knight and Axiom Verge, but MIO’s sci-fi lean pushes it into stranger territory. You gather clues about former caretakers, rogue experiments, and an impending system shutdown that haunts every chamber.
While the premise of “ancient AI gone awry” isn’t new, the demo’s writing leans toward the poetic rather than the overwrought. One late-demo tile shows a dying console blinking “I dream in color,” hinting at deeper philosophical threads. That said, some of the quieter zones feel too empty—occasional pacing lulls can leave you staring at a static mural wondering if you missed a trigger. I’m optimistic the full game will refine those beats, but the demo suffers from sporadic narrative plateaus that momentarily stall momentum.
Combat in MIO is deliberate. Enemies aren’t fodder; they demand respect. The initial melee tool is a blunt servoclaw that swings with satisfying weight, but each strike leaves you slightly vulnerable. Later, you unlock an energy blade with faster recovery but shorter reach, prompting you to swap on the fly. Boss encounters in the demo hinted at multi-phase duels, with telegraphed strikes you must dodge—akin to Ori and the Will of the Wisps’ fluid boss fights. However, I noticed hit-registration occasionally feels off, especially when multiple foes converge in a narrow hallway. A few swings connected visually but seemed to register late, leading to unfair damage.
Skill progression is measured. You won’t unlock a full move set in the first hour; upgrades drip in manageable intervals, letting you master each new tool. That restraint is welcome, though some early skirmishes can feel punishing if you haven’t yet earned evasive boosts or energy shields. In one mid-demo arena, I died four times to the same drone swarm before finally timing a perfect parry. Fans of hardcore parrying will celebrate the challenge, but casual players might find the spike too steep without extra checkpoint support.
Traversal in MIO combines wall-climbing, a grappling hook, and a delicate glider that unfurls like a ribbon of light. Each mechanic is introduced with a short tutorial chamber, then integrated into branching routes that loop back on themselves. The map, revealed gradually via console uplinks, strikes a balance between mystery and usability—but it lacks optional markers for player-placed pins, so tracking hidden caches can be frustrating. If you’ve memorized every nook in Dead Cells or Ori, MIO may feel less forgiving without manual breadcrumbs.
The Vessel’s architecture intertwines metallic corridors with vine-choked atriums. Vertical shafts demand precise platforming, while horizontal passages host environmental puzzles—corroded conduits that must be rerouted using your hook. Unfortunately, some puzzles in the demo tested visual clarity rather than logic: a pattern-matching console had buttons too similarly lit, leading to accidental resets. Polishing contrast and hitboxes will be essential for the final release to prevent needless repetition in high-tension areas.
Where MIO soars is in its art direction. Abandon pixel-perfect callbacks for richly textured hand-painted backdrops: molten circuitry dripping like wax, phosphorescent moss carpeting hull breaches, and distant planet vistas visible through fractured windows. The color palette shifts from cold blues and grays in the core reactor to warm ambers and purples in overrun maintenance bays, guiding your mood without overt prompts. Occasional screen-space reflections and subtle particle effects––sparks dancing above broken conduits––add polish on higher-end PCs.
Complementing the visuals is a minimalist, lo-fi soundtrack that alternates between ambient drones and staccato chimes. Composer Pauline Dubois crafts melodies that feel both nostalgic and strange, reminiscent of deep-space jazz. Sound effects deserve credit too: your servoclaw’s iron ring echoes in empty chambers, and distant mechanical groans hint at unseen tremors. I did notice audio spikes when several echoing footsteps and machine whirs overlapped, occasionally causing a brief stutter. A few more passes on mixing levels should smooth out those rough patches.
On PC (Ryzen 5, RTX 3060, 16GB RAM), the demo ran between 55–70 FPS at 1440p with maxed settings. Loading times hovered around 8–10 seconds when respawning at checkpoints, which feels acceptable for a game of this scale. However, I observed frame dips into the low 40s when entering boss arenas loaded with particle effects. Lowering shadow quality stabilized the framerate, so console versions will need careful tuning—especially on last-gen hardware like the PS4 and Xbox One.
Input latency was minimal on my wired controller, and hitboxes for traversal abilities were responsive. Yet, I did encounter one crash returning to the main menu after a lengthy session, and occasional audio desync when toggling fullscreen. These aren’t deal-breakers in a demo, but they highlight areas where QA can’t cut corners once the game expands to its full scope.
In a landscape crowded by standout metroidvanias—Hollow Knight, Ori, Aeterna Noctis, and the more recent Ender Lilies—MIO stakes its claim with mood over sheer combat depth. It lacks Hollow Knight’s massive bestiary or Ori’s ballet-like platforming, but its hand-drawn sci-fi flair feels fresh compared to the typical gothic or fantasy themes. If you crave an atmospheric journey that leans into poetic ambiguity, MIO delivers where some of its peers play things safe.
Compared to Aeterna Noctis, which revels in gaudy technical prowess, MIO is subtler, favoring slower pacing and fewer on-screen enemies. It also diverges from Ender Lilies’ dark-fantasy motifs by marrying organic overgrowth with science-fiction tropes. This mash-up invites comparison to Environmental Storytelling in games like Bioshock: The Collection, but distilled into 2D. Whether this hybrid identity will resonate beyond niche audiences remains to be seen, but the demo’s ambition is undeniable.
MIO: Memories In Orbit’s demo hints at a metroidvania with real atmosphere and mechanical polish, but it stumbles occasionally under its own ambition. The art direction and soundtrack are among this year’s most memorable, and the measured progression prevents overwhelm. On the downside, difficulty spikes and UX oversights—like limited map tools and visual puzzles that blur important details—demand attention. Assuming Douze Dixièmes addresses these rough edges before release, MIO could become a cult standout in the crowded indie sci-fi space.
| Category | Score (Out of 10) |
|---|---|
| Gameplay | 8 |
| Story & Atmosphere | 8.5 |
| Visual & Audio | 9 |
| Technical Performance | 7 |
| Overall | 8.1 |
Overall Score: 8.1/10
If you crave a metroidvania that privileges mood and exploration over nonstop action, keep an eye on MIO: Memories In Orbit. It’s not perfect, but its poetic sci-fi vision makes it a journey worth embarking on—just be prepared to tinker with your map markers and sharpen your reflexes along the way.