History VideoGame / Minoria

''Minoria'' is a {{Metroidvania}} game created by rdein of Bombservice, incorporating many elements from their previous work on the ''{{VideoGame/Momodora}}'' series, and sharing its dark tone with ''Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight''. It was published by Creator/DangenEntertainment, and [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/940910/Minoria/ released]] on 27th of August, 2019 for [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]] through UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}, with a UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch port that released on September the following year.

* BloodierAndGorier: than the ''Momodora'' series with blood splashimg with each strike and the bloody remains of the witches' massacres and church executions shown throughout the game.

* SuperHappyFunThingOfDoom: Mercy Cellar is [[spoiler:the Church's TortureDungeon where convicted witches are sent to endure a slow and painful death]].

* SadBattleMusic: ''Every'' boss theme is sad.

* BittersweetEnding: Both endings count, though for different reasons. [[spoiler: In one, Sister Semilla and Fran allow Princess Amelia to execute her sister and are venerated as saints while Amelia continues to lead the genocide of unbelievers and swears to keep burning the Ceremonial Forest for as long as it takes. Alternatively, they stand up to her, but Amelia still manages to kill both Princess Poeme and Sister Fran before being subdued by Semilla. She survives, but is driven out of power, with the Sacred Office calling for a truce. Still, this doesn't undo all the violence you and the others have already wrought.]]

* ADateWithRosiePalms: In St. Hildreth's Cathedral, you can find a note left by a nun with an attractive portrait of a lady above her bed (implied to be Princess Poeme as a human, given its reappearance in the castle and its passing resemblance to the Princess as she is now) that confesses she had 'broken [her] vows of obedience and chastity.' It goes on to explain that she 'was indecent and acted impulsively,' and finishes with the nun wishing she could feel regret but being unable to because it felt good.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: In St. Hildreth's Cathedral, you can find a note left by a nun with an attractive portrait of a lady above her bed (implied to be Princess Poeme as a human, given its reappearance in the castle and its passing resemblance to the Princess as she is now) that confesses she had 'broken [her] vows of obedience and chastity.' It goes on to explain that she 'was indecent and acted impulsively,' and finishes with the nun wishing she could feel regret but being unable to because it felt good.

* {{Gainaxing}}: The breasts of Princess Amelia move visibly even while she's just standing still and breathing. The Witch of Lust's assets shake with her every move.

** While [[CurbStompBattle flawless victories]] are still required to get items from bosses, there are less bosses with special items than in previous games, and most of the magic items found in this game are earned through exploration or the shop system.

* GallowsHumor: Almost certainly intentional. After beating the game, you can visit the dev room in the Library. When Sister Anna Fran is contacted her, she'll cheerily talk about '[meeting our] makers.' She's talking about the dev team in a meta sense, of course, but [[spoiler: in the 'good' ending, Sister Anna Fran is ''dead.'' She is both literally and metaphorically 'meeting her maker.']]

* GallowsHero: Almost certainly intentional. After beating the game, you can visit the dev room in the Library. When Sister Anna Fran is contacted her, she'll cheerily talk about '[meeting our] makers.' She's talking about the dev team in a meta sense, of course, but [[spoiler: in the 'good' ending, Sister Anna Fran is ''dead.'' She is both literally and metaphorically 'meeting her maker.']]

* ADateWithRosiePalms: In St. Hildreth's Cathedral, you can find a note left by a nun with an attractive portrait of a lady above her bed that confesses she had 'broken [her] vows of obedience and chastity.' It goes on to explain that she 'was indecent and acted impulsively,' and finishes by the nun wishing she could feel regret but being unable to because it felt good.

* AccidentalMisnaming: Can be invoked by the player as Sister Semilla when they meet Pin in the gardens, ranging for 'Pen' to 'Poo.' Even Sister Anna Fran will get in on it.

** Against all odds, this actually verges closer to GreyAndGrayMorality come endgame. [[spoiler: For all of the Sacred Office's many, many problems, many of the nuns are innocent women who, at worst, are literally forced to fight by the upper echelons of the order, and those upper echelons ''can'' be coerced into at least attempting a truce with the Witches. Meanwhile, as more information near the end of the game becomes unearthed regarding Archwitch Minoria, the Ceremonial Forest, and the process for summoning the Ceremonial Forest in the first place, the witches come out a lot closer to black than initially presented, as the summoning tears the land asunder and requires an obscene amount of blood sacrifices - including a human skull. As revealed in Poeme's dossier, the Witch faction's stated goal is to 'free the planet from the destruction caused by mankind, and become one with nature,' which doesn't paint the Witches in a positive light, given the homicides necessary to bring about this 'freedom.' They too, however, are willing to at least ''try'' to cease hostilities with the Sacred Office in the end, lending credence to the idea that, for all of both factions' flaws, there is hope for both sides improving.]]

** Against all odds, this actually verges closer to GreyAndGray morality come endgame. [[spoiler: For all of the Sacred Office's many, many problems, many of the nuns are innocent women who, at worst, are literally forced to fight by the upper echelons of the order, and those upper echelons ''can'' be coerced into at least attempting a truce with the Witches. Meanwhile, as more information near the end of the game becomes unearthed regarding Archwitch Minoria, the Ceremonial Forest, and the process for summoning the Ceremonial Forest in the first place, the witches come out a lot closer to black than initially presented, as the summoning tears the land asunder and requires an obscene amount of blood sacrifices - including a human skull. As revealed in Poeme's dossier, the Witch faction's stated goal is to 'free the planet from the destruction caused by mankind, and become one with nature,' which doesn't paint the Witches in a positive light, given the homicides necessary to bring about this 'freedom.' They too, however, are willing to at least ''try'' to cease hostilities with the Sacred Office in the end, lending credence to the idea that, for all of both factions' flaws, there is hope for both sides improving.]]

* BlackAndGrayMorality: You see how ruthless the witches can be from the get-go, as they storm the convent and murder every nun they come across. On the other hand, [[spoiler:you soon learn from the conversations and lore that the Church of the land is just as eager to burn anyone they consider a heretic at stake, and that they were the ones who started the war with the intent to genocide the witches in the first place - though the gray comes back into play given many of the Archives, 27 especially, note that while the Church ''did'' strike first to maintain its authority in the face of theological competition in the form of the Archwitch, the ceremonies performed by the witches were inscrutable and thus an unknown factor in just how dangerous they would be for the world]].

** A stun gauge has been added to enemies, making it more obvious when attacks will interrupt their animations and give the player time to lay into them. Passive bonuses from various incenses can be used to create a build for the player to focus on filling up the stun gauge faster; various offensive incenses like Storm and Northern Sky greatly increase stun buildup; and a weapon, the chain mace, was added via an update to appeal to these 'stun gauge' builds by having a slightly slower combo (and thus, less damage) than the other weapons by dealing increased damage to the stun gauge.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: There are a few little tweaks rdein's made to the formula to make ''Minoria'' somewhat more accessible [[VideoGame/Momodora than its sister series.]]
** While ContactDamage is still in play, there's a small degree of mercy invincibility when you attack straight into an enemy's hurtbox.

** For players who really want to beat bosses flawlessly to get their items but just can't manage to do so, the penultimate boss, if beaten flawlessly, gives out the Calming Sea Incense, which gives the player a barrier that absorbs a single hit from any attack. Witch Deity Parushee, the boss in question, is almost trivial to beat flawlessly, meaning even players really struggling with the game can eventually do it with little trouble if they're patient and don't attempt any dangerous strategies, and the New Game + feature allows the player to take her incense back to the beginning of the game, making flawless victories far more reasonable to achieve, as the Calming Sea Incense also comes with two charges and can bank a third charge by being activated before the player restocks items at a save point, giving the player three free hits against bosses.