MIO: Memories in Orbit
Game Title: MIO: Memories in Orbit
Released: January 20, 2026
Game Length: 28 Hours
Grade: C+
Exploration
Map: After playing Solateria, this Metroidvania feels much more punishing with how it handles your map. For starters, the map does not show rooms as you explore. Even from the beginning, you must wait until you "Attune" with a Network Gate to mark where you have been. There is a chance you will see a faint yellow trail as you move around the environment until then. Red lines are locked gates you have to open using a key or from the other side. Faded blocks represents something inaccessible that can range anywhere from passages that need to be broken using an energy shard or a breakable wall. One icon represents a Crystalliser that turns your Nacre Droplets you obtain from enemies into a more solid Crystallised Nacre that you don't lose after all your protection is gone. A Nacre Basin is shaped like a fan and can restore any protection you might have lost along the way.
Map Markers: One huge drawback of the game is there are no item markers. There are no markers for your upgrade robots, guides, or special characters. The good news is that you are able to add custom map makers in the shape of star, circle, warning sign, or robot head. The bad news is you can only have 16 total of any custom marker for the entire map. It gets complicated when you can't identify what sort of item is just out of your reach either. They can be junk piles, modifiers, curios, logs, skills, overseers, an elevator pad, or a friendly robot. Unless you are able to pan the camera, they only appear as little dots on the screen.
Fast Travel: I want to make this very clear: You can only travel between Network Gates that are relatively close to each other or link through one nearby as long as you have retrieved their Overseers. These are generally easy to find with only a couple like the Promenade Tower overseer actually being moved in a patch. A Network Gate is marked as a diamond on the map and will act as your save point if you lose all your protection or exit out of the game. Upon playing the game again, you will be restored to the last Network Gate you attuned with in your previous play period. This means that you may want to exit to the main menu every time you pass through a tough platforming section to retrieve an item at a dead end instead of spending more time backtracking. You cannot fast travel between the top and bottom portions of the ship. The Pit and Library do not have overseers.
Upgrades
Shop: Early in the game, you will stumble across a strange gal by the name of Mel. She sort of acts as your shop that sells you Coating Components (you need 4 to increase your protective coating by 1), Modifier Extensions that let you slot more modifiers, and various Modifiers. She doesn't care if you use droplets or their more concrete version, but you will need to scavenge old cores from broken-down robots across the ship. You will need to rescue 4 scraplings somewhere on the ship before more items become available. Also as a somewhat spoiler, you will not be able to upgrade during a special event after visiting the Redacted areas when she goes missing. Don't worry, you can go retrieve her for more upgrades.
Advanced Modules: As you traverse the area, you can become acquainted with Samsk, the creepy centipede robot that uses the red pipe system to communicate with you. Amusingly, you can stumble across his resting place just above where you start the game. Normally after you defeat a boss, you can interact with one of these red tubes to call him. He will grab your body and have you enter a sort of side-scrolling training mode to learn a new skill. These include: Hairpin that operates like a grapple with your Tendrils, Dodge that phases you out of space temporarily, the ability to gather energy from things like flowers and bombs through Harvester, Sail that functions like a temporary glide ability, the spider-like movements of Striders, and Slingshot that can break energy shards against special purple energy doors. If you are able to pass the dreaded Crucible section of the ship, you can get Flowing Steps that lets you climb up liquids. As time goes by, you may find someone who looks just like you. Linking up with them will provide a damage upgrade in the form of a Forebears Legacy. Though there are five possible in the game, only one can be found early and two are in deep sections of the ship.
Modifiers: Mio can only equip as high as her Allocation Matrix can allow. You can increase the maximum and use negative Modifiers at the bottom in exchange for some penalty. The amount required for a modifier increases from left to right. Simple ones that show your status and your enemies will only cost 5 slots. Defragmentation is one that you will need to open one very specific door. Protective Overlay is one you can obtain early that adds one more life point. Maintenance Hack is one you may use a lot to make all Nacre Basins free. You can only change modifiers when an overseer is present at a Network Gate.
Story
Heart: The game has a number of pearls that watch over important systems on the ship. Your job as a keeper is to check up on them when they are malfunctioning. Since many will not be able to meet the requirements to see the true ending, learning about the spontaneous events you literally witness when you start the game can help you in the long run. Khlia is getting tired running the ship and can't supply as much energy to everybody as she used to in the beginning. After you explore a good portion of the ship, there will be a tremor that rips through every robot on board. You can lose up to five protective layers permanently this way. It is possible that weak robots you might have encountered in your adventures may not survive a shockwave. One that might have initiated dialogue with you earlier will now be shown as scrap metal on the ground. They cannot be revived. All enemies including bosses will be weaker as well. While some might see this as an advantage, many players find losing health they spent a long time upgrading a very controversial subject of the game.
Blood: The area you explore first is the frozen wastelands of Metropolis. Liho is supposed to take care of the Travelers within the city, but the buildings are locked tight. The slippery ice floor you skate across and the wind turbines that push you within the ventilation can cause any explorer to get a little dizzy. You will encounter a large number of bosses such as Egis the worn out sentinel who gives you the hairpin skill and access to the Silo, Acat the Nacre Engraver, Calderon the Unyielding Furnace that gives you the Old-fashioned key that unlocks the door to the Hall of History, Atmos the weather control unit, Ancile & Targa, and one of Dr. Halyn's experiments Poltergates in the lower chambers. You can take an elevator up to learn more about the pearls from Lura's Seal (that opens the Tuning Chamber for a lore item), but you will have to battle Sol & Vin. They have the unique ability to slice through all protective layers at once. It is humorous that you can converse with one of them in the Pits after winnin the match.
Spine: Connected to everything on the ship is Noden and the band of overseers along the network. They allow you to see and update the map. You will find Shii, the overseer of the vessel and keeper of the Spine, collapsed on the ground. He isn't technically required to make progress, but any Nacre Droplets you lose upon death will automatically be dispensed to his restoration in his Pond. Once he has enough, he will guide you with the vague whereabouts of each eye, vision, pearl, or whatever other terminology that fits the main systems of the vessel. If you do reach the true ending, there is a chance you will have to fight him unless you never restore his system in the first place. You can find a few hidden areas nearby where some kids might have resided.
Breath: Within the vast gardens are a number of visitors who have been eerily waiting a super long time to meet with Amytis. Unfortunately, there is no response to the flora that has overgrown beyond their confines and ripped through other sections of the ship both above and below. You can explore the gardens, fight Crow for the Harvester ability, stumble across a sentinel pearltrap in the feral undergrowth to obtain the Aviaries Passepartout, the intrusive fertilizer Lombre where you find the Promenade Overseer, a unique boss of robots molded together if you manage to obtain the Friendly Invitation item to open their door, and Nabuu the beast who acts as Keeper of the Breath. Once you manage to reach the top of the Bell Tower, make sure to discover passageways to other sections of the ship.
Eye: Early in the game, you will find a shard of Asma dangling precariously just above the Severed Spine. She is hurting and misses dearly of what she once had. You need to find 12 beeswax candles hidden across the ship to rekindle her hope. The more you "atone" with her, the more visions she will share of her past. These aren't fabricated stories. You can explore the deep reaches of where she used to reside at the very top of the Celestial Bay and Observatory. Unfortunately, the Library is only accessible after you accumulated the vision of every pearl on ship. Because of what happened all those years ago, artificial gravity is greatly diminished and your chassis will glide much farther than before.
Special Sections: Once you have turned in all 12 candles (#7 and #9 being the easiest ones to miss), you will obtain a Defective Core modifier. If you manage to collect all 6 fragmented serial numbers in the restricted mid-section of the ship, you can then enter the Manufactory in the Vaults and defeat Vlad the exiled sycophant who is sucking up all the energy (and preventing you from using abilities when you touch his wires). Once you defeat him, equip the modifier to enter The Pit where everything grey slowly dies. There you can find a Fragment of the previous Spine Ailen that can maybe cheer up Estragon the Librarian who ultimately ends up moping after learning the truth by the Nexus Network Gate.
Hand: The only actual pearl doing something, Dr. Halyn is in charge of building all the robots you see on the ship. In order to gain access to the <Redacted> mid-sections of the ship, you will need to navigate through her work space and walk inside & out of the pipe system (that isn't shown on the map) to ask the computer system permission to become her assistant before the doors open for you. If you come to her lab from the right side, she will swiftly dispense you somewhere else as the rat you are. If you were to say run through a section of the ship while a Sawlong monster chases you from the left side, then she might just have her anti-rat (Anra) weapon fight you. Prove your worth and she will surrender herself to you.
Challenge Sections: In order to obtain the ability to walk on liquid in the Canopy and travel up to the Library, you will need to complete the Crucible. This is where many players (including myself) gave up on the game. The first of many steps is to find a severed finger. This will activate the wheel that turns the entire bottom section of the ship around. This will allow you to return the nearby overseer. There are three tubes you can see represented as you turn the wheel that can take you up and down with shuttles. In order to set the one tube with only one shuttle just right, you will need to travel through the network and manually traverse the exposed line. Eventually, you will discover Tomo who is trying to figure out why all the new generated pearls are being rejected. At this point, you must complete the left and right platforming sections. You can spend your time watching this player make it through. After obtaining the test results, you will obtain Flowing Steps.
Mechanics
Movement: When you first start the game, there is very little you can do other than jump and attack with your hair tendrils. There is some flexibility when you can snap onto things like a grappling hook with your hairpin. Everything changes when you learn Striders. You move faster, can shift from one surface to another while holding the button down, and even climb back walls when they are present. There is a place where you can climb up open doors. A somewhat hidden feature is how you can perform a Strider Boost that allows you to temporarily phase out as you move with the dodge button. Being hit from an enemy or touching a hazard will reset you at the last solid platform you stood on.
Energy: Performing any one action requires energy. One use of the hairpin will completely drain your bar in an instant. Using the harvester ability on an object while in the air can replenish your energy. Otherwise, you can slowly replenish your energy bar while on the ground. Using the sail or strider ability will initiate a timed drain, but you can shift between the two until you run out of energy. There are a number of modifiers that can increase (or even decrease) energy depending on the circumstances.
Assists: There are three accessibility options in the main menu that can help alleviate the woes of your typical player. Eroded Bosses slowly weakens enemies after every lost match. Your damage can eventually be doing double the damage after being defeated about 15 times. Pacifist, also known as the "Asma's Will" Modifier, makes standard enemies not attack you until you attack them. This pretty much neuters your experience to a strictly exploration game. Ground Healing, aka the Gratitude Modifier, will add exactly one extra layer of protection while you are on the ground for approximately 5 seconds. This helps tremendously when repeatedly dying from the more difficult platforming sections.