Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist (Dark Fantasy Metroidvania)
For fans of the Metroidvania genre, Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist is a game that shouldn’t be missed. Its predecessor Ender Lilies already dazzled with its art, aesthetic, and world design. This one carries on that tradition, and then some. The music in this game is not just good, it’s to die for, and nearly every melodic line is so memorable that it’s bound to get stuck in your head. But the clear standout is the piano that plays throughout the score. Lilac’s movement repertoire comes right out of a magician’s training manual: she jumps, rolls, and sprints with the dexterity of a dancer and the confidence of a warrior. Her initial death weapon is a simple sword, but with each progressive victory, you unlock new skills, new weapons, and new abilities that mostly come down to showing the game’s bosses who’s really the boss. Combat can feel tricky and tight, but it’s not if you think about it, so don’t think about it. Dodging, blocking, and striking with just the right timing is how combat works with Lilac. Enemies telegraph their attacks, and those who don’t telegraph much still give off more than a few lead-up cues.
While you traverse the game, you’ll amass equipment, acquire abilities from the foes you best, and discover artifacts that enhance Lilac’s already impressive powers. Although the world can seem a bit mind-bending, there’s a certain logical progression; obstacles in your path are frequently Lilac-sized, and you can’t get past them until you learn new moves that make Lilac even tougher (and trickier) than she already is. One nice feature is the game’s auto-map, which ensures that even the most pathologically lost player never really loses hope. The coverage of bosses in this game could fill its own chapter: these encounters are graphically impressive and replete with enough variety that they wouldn’t force you to repeat any musical numbers from the first act if you were to stage them as a concert. Are you feeling a little run down? Don’t stress just go sit your 1 HP life down lol, just locate a park bench and catch your breath. In the game, benches function as save points. When you sit on one, it preserves your progress up to that moment. Resting on a bench restores your health and provides a much-needed rejuvenation for the player character; a kind of woodland therapy for spooky bug people. Although the game is still early in development, the combat system is the only aspect of the most impressive package that feels a bit rough. The developers got sidetracked in their attempts to make Ender Lillies a more hard-hitting experience, but Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist revamped and embraced the polished combat we’ve come to expect from this genre’s masterpieces, like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Hollow Knight. If you adored Ender Lilies, then this sequel is likely to delight you. This game builds on its predecessor in all the right ways and then some, presenting an even more intensely challenging side-scrolling combat experience; an even more rewarding world of secrets; an even more difficult, demanding, and delightful set of boss fights; and an accessible, fun-to-control protagonist who puts the “heroine” in “Metroidvania.” Ender Magnolia offers two to three hours of gameplay in its current state.
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist Official Steam
Written by Toni, Gatherer of Bones
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist
Adglobe, Livewire (developers), Binary Haze Interactive (publisher)
4.3 / 5
