Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knightswas a surprise hit in 2021. The challenging metroidvania featured a beautiful piano-driven soundtrack which was the perfect accompaniment to the dreary environment. Not long ago, a sequel,Ender Magnolia: Bloom in Mist,was announced, much to the delight of fans of the original. How much this new title ties in with its predecessor is uncertain at this time, aside from taking place after the events ofEnder Lilies.An Early Access version ofEnder Magnoliais available on Steam, and a couple of hours offers a hint at what can be expected in the full game.
Review: Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights
Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights is a must play for fans of the genre as it’s simply one of the best metroidvanias ever developed.
Continuation of the Story
Ender Magnolia: Mist in Bloomtakes place in the Land of Fumes, set a few decades after the events ofEnder Lilies: Quietus of the Knights.The Land of Fumes is known for having vast quantities of magical resources. In an attempt to advance the kingdom’s development, artificial lifeforms known as Homunculi were crafted. But much like other tales of advancing artificial intelligence gone awry, the toxic fumes drove the Homunculi to madness. Under the influence of the fumes, artificial lifeforms that were designed to increase prosperity have turned into monsters, leading to a scenario that has hints ofTerminatorif Skynet dabbled in spell craft instead of robotics.
The player assumes the role of Lilac, an Attuner who holds the power to save the Homunculi. After waking up in an underground laboratory, Lilac becomes acquainted with one of the Homunculi that was involved with the kingdom’s downfall. The Homunculi and Lilac decide to team up and explore the ruins of the kingdom. The two travel together to help Lilac recover her memories and lost friends, while befriending other Homunculi in the process.
Explring Familiar Territory
Much likeEnder Lilies,Lilac herself is powerless in a confrontation against other Homunculi. In order to defend herself, she can “equip” up to four Homunculi who carry out attacks for her. Having a variety of Homunculi adds a layer of strategy to the battle and also makes it more fun. One Homunculi can carry out fast melee attacks with a sword, while another can launch a forceful attack that is capable of stunning them. A third can chip away at the enemy’s health bar with projectile attacks. Using the different Homunculi strategically, Lilac can greatly improve her odds of survival.
Ender Liliesis a challenging adventure, butEnder Magnoliaseems to potentially be easing the difficulty. From the Early Access build, sayingEnder Magnoliais easy may be a stretch as most things will still kill Lilac in about three hits. The journey seems less perilous because collision damage isn’t an issue anymore. During the boss fights, Lilac still has to time her jumps and air dashes properly to avoid the attacks of the powerful Homunculi, but merely passing through the enemy’s sprite causes no harm to her. While they were not available in Early Access, there are going to be multiple difficulty settings in the final version ofEnder Magnolia.Presumably, this means the player will have the option to make the game easier or harder to suit their preferred challenge level, but for now this is just speculation.
The current version ofEnder Magnolia: Bloom in Mistcan be completed in a couple of hours. There’s only a few major boss battles, so there isn’t a great deal of content on which to judge the game. But the content that’s available suggests that everything that made its predecessor so memorable will be present in the sequel. Lilac gracefully moves across the desolate ruins of the Land of Fumes as the hand drawn art style brings humans and Homunculi to life. The melancholy soundtrack is the perfect accompaniment to the bleak environment that was once a prosperous kingdom. The world in which Lilac explores is a bleak one, but there’s an element of beauty to it.
Traveling through the Land of Fumes is more convenient as well. Early on, Lilac gets the ability to double jump and air dash, making several hard-to-reach areas more accessible. Early on, Lilac can pet a dog at one of the settlements, which allows fast travel to any respite that has been previously visited. The metroidvania exploration is still a crucial feature in the game, but the ability to fast travel greatly reduces the need for tedious backtracking. As Lilac explores more of the Land of Fumes and unlocks more items and abilities, the convenience of being able to quickly return to a previously inaccessible area is great.
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in Mistdoes not have a release scheduled, but the Early Access build is currently available on Steam for $19.99. The full release will be available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch and Xbox Series X|S. This early build offers a few hours of the early portion of the game and is a good entry point for fans that are eager to get some early hands on time with the sequel. The overall impression of the first few hours is favorable as it maintains all the qualities we loved aboutEnder Lilieswhile showing signs of building upon them.
