Imagine a world once vibrant and full of promise, now crumbling and hostile—a hauntingly beautiful ruin. This is the essence of MIO: Memories in Orbit, a game that pulls you into the dichotomy of the Metroidvania genre. It’s a world built for someone else, a place where hope and despair collide, and you’re left to navigate its remnants. But here’s where it gets controversial: while the game’s world-building is stunning, its gameplay often feels like a missed opportunity. Can a game’s story and atmosphere truly redeem its mechanical shortcomings?
In MIO, you play as Mio, a sentient machine aboard the Vessel, a colossal ship designed to carry humans to the Promised Land. But the humans are gone—dead, missing, or something else entirely. What remains are the machines, left to fend for themselves in a decaying world. The Vessel is a character in its own right: its towering metropolis is shattered by ice, its lush gardens overrun with hostile flora, and its inner workings crushed by relentless tremors. It’s a place of both beauty and despair, a dying giant reshaping itself in its final moments. And this is the part most people miss: amidst the chaos, Mio’s journey becomes a testament to resilience and the search for meaning in a broken world.
Mio’s mission is to find the Pearls—the living overseers of the ship, with names like The Eye and The Breath—and gather their Voices. These Pearls are the heart of the Vessel, and through them, Mio hopes to save what remains of her mechanical companions. The world of the Vessel is MIO’s greatest achievement. It feels alive, a grand tapestry of decay and hope. Exploring it is a joy, as you uncover lost diaries, letters, and moments of kindness exchanged with other machines. The writing is simple yet profound, capturing the fear and determination of those who have given up—and those who press on. Mio herself is silent, but her actions speak volumes, offering help to those around her in a world that seems beyond saving.
But here’s the rub: as a game, MIO struggles to match the brilliance of its narrative. Its Metroidvania Soulslike mechanics feel bog-standard. Mio collects Nacre by defeating enemies, which she uses to upgrade her abilities. However, the upgrade system, while intriguing in theory, falls flat in practice. Most players will stick to the same build early on, as the options for customization feel limited and uninspiring. And this is where it gets contentious: Does a game’s combat system need to be innovative to complement its story, or is it enough to simply exist?
Combat in MIO is repetitive and unengaging. Mio’s three-hit combo becomes your go-to move, and while standard enemies fall quickly, boss fights expose the system’s flaws. Bosses share similar movesets—charges, ceiling attacks, teleportation—forcing you into a reactive playstyle. There’s no room for creativity, just pattern recognition. Worse, bosses have massive health pools, turning fights into tedious endurance tests. At times, I found myself taking unnecessary risks just to end the boredom. It’s a shame, because moments like jump-canceling attacks hint at untapped potential, but they’re too few and far between to make a difference.
Platforming fares better, but late-game sections devolve into Simon Says-style challenges, stripping away any sense of player expression. By the end, MIO feels less like a game and more like a test of patience. And this is the part most people miss: Is it fair to judge a game solely on its mechanics when its story and world are so compelling?
MIO: Memories in Orbit is a game of contrasts—a breathtaking world trapped in a mediocre gameplay loop. Its story and atmosphere are unforgettable, but its combat and platforming leave much to be desired. It asks you to imagine the Vessel as a place of wonder, but I couldn’t help but feel trapped in its ruins, longing for more. If only the gameplay had matched the ambition of its narrative, MIO could have been something truly special.
This review is based on a PC code provided by the publisher. MIO: Memories in Orbit releases on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2 on January 20th, 2026.
Will Borger is a Pushcart Prize-nominated fiction writer and essayist who has been covering games since 2013. His work has appeared in YourTango, Veteran Life, Marathon Literary Review, Purple Wall Stories, and Abergavenny Small Press. His games writing has also been featured at IGN, TechRadar, Into the Spine, Lifebar, PCGamesN, The Loadout, and more. He lives in New York with his wife and dreams of owning a dog. Find him on X @bywillborger (https://x.com/bywillborger).
