A gorgeous grind in space
By Paul Hunter
I've play plenty of metroidvanias and it takes quite a bit for a new one to really stand out, and MIO: Memories In Orbit passes that bar with, ahem, flying colours. Developed by French indie studio Douze Dixièmes, and published by Focus Entertainment, MIO hits PS5 with a setting that instantly drew me in. You play as MIO, a small robot exploring the drifting starship known as the Vessel that’s breaking down, tangled with overgrowth, and crawling with machines that have gone off-script.
MIO excels in all areas that make a metroidvania great, whether that's the rich interconnected map, a fascinating and deep story, excellent ability upgrades, and challenging gameplay that will test the skills of genre veterans.
So, let's dig deeper to find out what makes the Vessel such a great place to explore and get lost in!
The Vessel itself is an ark-like starship drifting in ruin, and its original mission stays unclear by design. The Pearls, the guardian AI caretakers meant to keep this place running, have gone offline, and the ship has become a hostile ecosystem of bugs, overgrowth, and machines that no longer behave like caretakers. MIO’s role is straightforward even as the bigger truth stays hidden. She needs to reactivate the Pearls, restore the Vessel’s lost memories, and uncover what caused the downfall that turned this place into a floating space wreck.
The story is delivered mainly through the environment, with machines, monuments and structures that hint at the Vessel's true purpose. You also learn about the ship's history through short exchanges with the few robot beings still present, and text logs fill in key gaps and are definitely worth the read. The tone stays melancholy throughout, with robots mourning what they lost and clinging to scraps that once had purpose. I really liked how the game feeds you tidbits of information, while still leaving enough unanswered for your own theories to grow as the credits get closer.
Speaking of abilities, the hairpin is a standout that lets you grab anchor points and even enemies to reach higher ground. You can also use the hairpin to quickly reposition yourself in battle, and reach flying enemies to zoom in and dish out some damage. Traversal difficulty ramps up quickly in the latter half, where you'll need to use your hairpin, air glide, wall stick, and double jump in fast succession, and what makes this ultra challenging is these abilities drain energy, which takes time to recharge. But thankfully, bouncing on enemies or objects restores your energy in full, and you often need to string together multiple jumps and glides, as well as enemy bounces to regain energy, all to cross treacherous paths.
Combat-wise, MIO has slashing combos and directional attacks for ground and aerial encounters, plus a dodge with a tight timing window that gives a short invulnerability moment. Enemies and bosses have telegraphed attacks with clear tells, so you may need to replay bosses several times to learn their patterns. The great news is there's no boss contact damage, so it often makes sense to stay tight with bosses to dodge attacks and swiftly counterstrike. Runbacks to bosses after you die are usually fair, so long as you've activated a respawn point nearby.
Beyond core ability upgrades, MIO can equip Modifiers that consumes memory slots with capacity limits. This often comes with tradeoffs, like making your third combo strike deal more damage, but you may need to hide your health bar to free up enough memory slots.
The game is punishing by design, but to make it slightly easier there are some great accessibility options. For example, you can make enemies non-hostile until you attack them, or you can activate a protective shield if you stay on the ground for five seconds. The biggest advantage is being able to make bosses weaker every time you defeat them, gradually lowering their total health and making the battle subsequently easier.
The numerous different biomes within the Vessel all have a very distinct look, with clear palette shifts between industrial zones and overgrown areas. There are lush, pastel forests, underground labs with fiery red machinery, serene observation decks, and large mechanical cities, just to name a few. Quite often I found myself pausing at room entrances to soak in the new visuals and also because the layered backgrounds give the ship breathtaking depth.
The soundtrack maintains the same moody tone as the ship, with ambient sounds and electronic beats keeping the tension high and boss battles feeling epic. I also liked the occasional choral touch, particularly in your base hub zone, because it sells the Vessel’s melancholy as it drifts off into space literally and metaphorically.
On PS5, during my playthrough the action ran smooth at a consistent 60fps without any noticeable dips during platforming and boss attempts, which matters when timing is so crucial to success. All in all, MIO is worth playing for the presentation alone, it really is that good.
Final Score: 9/10 - Amazing
Developer: Douze Dixièmes
Publisher: Focus Entertainment
Genre: Metroidvania, Platformer
Modes: Single-player
A key was provided by the publisher.
By Paul Hunter
I've play plenty of metroidvanias and it takes quite a bit for a new one to really stand out, and MIO: Memories In Orbit passes that bar with, ahem, flying colours. Developed by French indie studio Douze Dixièmes, and published by Focus Entertainment, MIO hits PS5 with a setting that instantly drew me in. You play as MIO, a small robot exploring the drifting starship known as the Vessel that’s breaking down, tangled with overgrowth, and crawling with machines that have gone off-script.
MIO excels in all areas that make a metroidvania great, whether that's the rich interconnected map, a fascinating and deep story, excellent ability upgrades, and challenging gameplay that will test the skills of genre veterans.
So, let's dig deeper to find out what makes the Vessel such a great place to explore and get lost in!
Story and Narrative
MIO: Memories In Orbit opens with our little robot protagonist waking up alone on the Vessel with no memory of who she is or why she’s there, and it quickly becomes clear that something went wrong long before you arrived. One early scene even frames the moment as if you’ve been pulled out of storage and tossed straight into the aftermath.The Vessel itself is an ark-like starship drifting in ruin, and its original mission stays unclear by design. The Pearls, the guardian AI caretakers meant to keep this place running, have gone offline, and the ship has become a hostile ecosystem of bugs, overgrowth, and machines that no longer behave like caretakers. MIO’s role is straightforward even as the bigger truth stays hidden. She needs to reactivate the Pearls, restore the Vessel’s lost memories, and uncover what caused the downfall that turned this place into a floating space wreck.
The story is delivered mainly through the environment, with machines, monuments and structures that hint at the Vessel's true purpose. You also learn about the ship's history through short exchanges with the few robot beings still present, and text logs fill in key gaps and are definitely worth the read. The tone stays melancholy throughout, with robots mourning what they lost and clinging to scraps that once had purpose. I really liked how the game feeds you tidbits of information, while still leaving enough unanswered for your own theories to grow as the credits get closer.
Gameplay and Mechanics
MIO: Memories In Orbit is the kind of metroidvania that will make you test every wall and gap. Not only does the game incorporate a visually impressive 3D effect that can "hide" paths, but the Vessel also contains plenty of rooms with secret routes that are high up or cleverly hidden. Once you start unlocking mid-game abilities like air glides or sticking to walls, these off-the-beat-path areas become accessible, so long as you search hard enough.Speaking of abilities, the hairpin is a standout that lets you grab anchor points and even enemies to reach higher ground. You can also use the hairpin to quickly reposition yourself in battle, and reach flying enemies to zoom in and dish out some damage. Traversal difficulty ramps up quickly in the latter half, where you'll need to use your hairpin, air glide, wall stick, and double jump in fast succession, and what makes this ultra challenging is these abilities drain energy, which takes time to recharge. But thankfully, bouncing on enemies or objects restores your energy in full, and you often need to string together multiple jumps and glides, as well as enemy bounces to regain energy, all to cross treacherous paths.
Combat-wise, MIO has slashing combos and directional attacks for ground and aerial encounters, plus a dodge with a tight timing window that gives a short invulnerability moment. Enemies and bosses have telegraphed attacks with clear tells, so you may need to replay bosses several times to learn their patterns. The great news is there's no boss contact damage, so it often makes sense to stay tight with bosses to dodge attacks and swiftly counterstrike. Runbacks to bosses after you die are usually fair, so long as you've activated a respawn point nearby.
Beyond core ability upgrades, MIO can equip Modifiers that consumes memory slots with capacity limits. This often comes with tradeoffs, like making your third combo strike deal more damage, but you may need to hide your health bar to free up enough memory slots.
The game is punishing by design, but to make it slightly easier there are some great accessibility options. For example, you can make enemies non-hostile until you attack them, or you can activate a protective shield if you stay on the ground for five seconds. The biggest advantage is being able to make bosses weaker every time you defeat them, gradually lowering their total health and making the battle subsequently easier.
Presentation and Audio
MIO is one of best-looking metroidvanias ever, which says a lot when the genre includes games like Ori and the Blind Forest, Hollow Knight and Ender Magnolia. The game leans hard into its hand-painted, watercolour look that gives the Vessel a ethereal vibe, while still somewhat rooted in reality with its industrial metal walls, pipes, and broken machinery. Lighting is a big part of its flavour, too, with shadows stretching across surfaces like charcoal, and bright patches of light sliding across rooms like shining rays of hope.The numerous different biomes within the Vessel all have a very distinct look, with clear palette shifts between industrial zones and overgrown areas. There are lush, pastel forests, underground labs with fiery red machinery, serene observation decks, and large mechanical cities, just to name a few. Quite often I found myself pausing at room entrances to soak in the new visuals and also because the layered backgrounds give the ship breathtaking depth.
The soundtrack maintains the same moody tone as the ship, with ambient sounds and electronic beats keeping the tension high and boss battles feeling epic. I also liked the occasional choral touch, particularly in your base hub zone, because it sells the Vessel’s melancholy as it drifts off into space literally and metaphorically.
On PS5, during my playthrough the action ran smooth at a consistent 60fps without any noticeable dips during platforming and boss attempts, which matters when timing is so crucial to success. All in all, MIO is worth playing for the presentation alone, it really is that good.
The Verdict
Douze Dixièmes delivers a metroidvania that goes head-to-head with the best this genre has to offer. From the gorgeous hand-painted art to the moody synth soundtrack, MIO is an audio-visual delight that simply must be experienced. When you add in the divine gameplay and mesmerizing story, the end result is a stunning achievement in artistry and quality that only rare few games can achieve.Final Score: 9/10 - Amazing
MIO: Memories In Orbit details
Platform: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch 2Developer: Douze Dixièmes
Publisher: Focus Entertainment
Genre: Metroidvania, Platformer
Modes: Single-player
A key was provided by the publisher.