If you have been dreading filling your Metroidvania void after finally ending Hollow Knight: Silksong, then we have good news for you. French developer Douze Dixiemes, owned by publisher Focus Entertainment have a brand-new game for you called MIO: Memories in Orbit, and it is here to kick off 2026 with a bang. Metroidvania is one of the toughest video game genres, and just like Soulslike, this genre has hardcore fans who are very difficult to please, but now and then, a Metroidvania comes out of the blue that becomes an instant hit, and this time around, it is MIO: Memories in Orbit. This is our review of the PC Steam version of MIO: Memories in Orbit, in which we explore a gorgeous world as a tiny android and save a giant spaceship from oblivion.
Right from the start of the game, you instantly notice the beautiful hand-made art style of MIO: Memories in Orbit. From the dark insides to the colorful outdoors, the level design is phenomenal. The color shift between different areas is just the cherry on top. On one level, you are looking at dark walls with nothing on them, but the next area becomes this vibrant, open scene bursting with carefully selected colors. The game is set on a giant spaceship known as The Vessel, and it comes with its own ecosystems.
You step into this world as MIO, a robot girl who comes equipped with some skills right off the bat. Most of the Metroidvanias come with a basic jump and attack combo, but in MIO: Memories in Orbit, you have a double jump and a decent attack combo right from the start. You use these abilities to take out enemies that come in your way. MIO: Memories in Orbit is a traditional Metroidvania by design. Which means that it features a large open world, featuring some blocked areas only because you lack certain skills at that particular point. Once you acquire the necessary skills and abilities, you can gain access to these initially unavailable areas.
There are tons of hidden areas in the game where you can find some cool hidden items and NPCs to interact with. You will find these NPCs in different areas, and they are always a treat to interact with. They will give you details on what is happening around the spaceship, and some will give you useful tips as well. Apart from these helpful NPCs, the ship is overrun with rogue AI caretakers who are now on a path to destroy you. These are called Pearls, and they come in all shapes and sizes. The enemy design in MIO: Memories in Orbit is diverse enough to keep things interesting, and even the smallest enemy hits like a tank due to MIO’s limited health.
MIO: Memories in Orbit shines when it comes to combat. For a Metroidvania to stand out from the crowd, it needs to have tight and crisp combat due to the nature of its gameplay, and MIO: Memories in Orbit does not disappoint in this. No matter whether you are fighting a boss or a normal enemy, you feel weight behind each hit. Normal enemies that will come across the world pack a punch too, and if you are not serious with your dodge and attack cycle, you will end up dying again and again. The boss battles are on another level.
These fights are simple yet brutal because you have to understand the incoming attacks and find little windows to land your own attacks. Some of the bosses do not have a set attack pattern, so you never know what is coming next, making the boss battles extremely satisfying to win. MIO’s attacks are fast and quick, making combat smooth as butter. As you explore the world and add more skills to your inventory, combat becomes even better because you get more mobility, and more mobility in tight fights could be a difference between life and death. MIO: Memories in Orbit plays it safe with its combat, with nothing new added to the formula, but this formula is crisp and smooth.
To make yourself powerful and get some added oomph, you can explore the world and pick up Modifications. These Modifications can only be equipped at save spots and depend on available slots. These Modifications grant either an offensive power or a passive power, so they are always a bargain because you cannot equip all of them. Some of them range from passive abilities like the ability to see the health bars of enemies or your own health bar. Depending on your available slots, you may need to equip only one, so the choice comes down to your preference, whether you want to see the boss’s health or your own health.
While I found MIO: Memories in Orbit much more approachable than Hollow Knight: Silksong, it does have a few downsides to it as well. Probably my main concern was the long distance between save spots. I understand that Metroidvania titles need to be tough, and checkpoints just make them easy to a certain extent, but it just adds to the pointless back and forth if you get stuck at a boss. There were numerous times when I died to a boss a few times, and I had to backtrack so much ground that I was about to pull my hair out. Until you unlock fast travel, and even with it unlocked, backtracking is a problem in MIO: Memories in Orbit. There is some backtracking in most Metroidvania titles, but this type of backtracking ruins the gameplay rhythm.
Another issue with the game is aerial combat, at least for the starting areas. MIO only has a limited attack that can deal damage to aerial enemies, and its range is extremely low. Even with double-jumping, taking down the aerial enemies quickly becomes a chore in the game. There were different instances where I preferred running away from aerial enemies because I couldn’t land a single hit, and the enemies kept hitting me. The first few areas have agile aerial enemies, and they really tested my patience early on in the game. This becomes a little easier with some future abilities, but you must look out for them early on in the game.
While the developer Douze Dixiemes might not be known to a lot of players out there, because their previous title was Shady Part of Me, another great game, but it was released five years ago. Five years ago, we had COVID, which feels like an eternity ago at this point. To come back into the scene with a title as good as MIO: Memories in Orbit proves that quality is always better than quantity. If you played the developer’s previous title, you may find some similarities between the two titles, such as the cozy atmosphere and the overall aesthetic. Its gameplay and combat are a testament to the developer’s attention to detail, and it is the perfect title to jump into if you have been looking for a Metroidvania.
One of the best aspects of MIO: Memories in Orbit is its accessibility options. If you always find Metroidvania games tough to tackle, some options in the game make it much easier to complete. These include the ability to ‘pacify’ the enemies, as they will only attack you if you attack them first. Then you can turn on another setting, which allows you to make bosses remember you, so each fight will remember your previous damage, so you can defeat a boss even if you keep dying. These options are great for players who want to start in this amazing genre with an accessible game, and MIO: Memories in Orbit could be the perfect title for them with these accessibility options.
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Final Verdict:
MIO: Memories in Orbit features a beautiful and artistic world, inspired by paintings, comics, and sci-fi, that is rewarding to explore, and the combat is satisfying. It ticks all the green signals of a brilliant Metroidvania and is the perfect game to start your 2026 list of great games to complete. The levels are brilliantly designed, and the enemies are challenging and look cool. It also features an excellent soundtrack with a brilliant audio design that completes an amazing Metroidvania experience. It is still an indie game, and some elements do tend to show that. Still, I loved playing it, and if you like playing Metroidvania titles, MIO: Memories in Orbit is the perfect game for you to jump into.
Final Score: 9.0/10
Disclaimer: A PC Steam review code of MIO: Memories in Orbit was provided by Sandbox Strategies on behalf of Focus Entertainment for this review. Read our Review Policy.
