ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist is a follow up to the highly-beloved cult classic ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights. While the game takes a lot of inspiration from its predecessor, it does feature several improvements and changes, many of which are positive, some of which need some improvements.
ENDER MAGNOLIA is set decades after ENDER LILIES in the Land of Fumes, a large magical kingdom teeming with resources and all manner of Homunculi. Homunculi are magically artificially created creatures who have lost their minds to the mysterious toxic fumes. The game follows Lilac who’s an “Attuner”, an individual who possesses the power to purify and control Homunculi. The game begins with Lilac in an underground laboratory filled with maddening homunculi waking up to find that she remembers nothing. With her power as an attuner, she’s able to recruit her first Homunculi, Nola, and together they set out on a quest to recover her lost memories, defeating enemies and recruiting more Homunculi along the way.
The Story and Gameplay
The story of ENDER MAGNOLIA is not unlike that of ENDER LILIES as both follow young girls who use the help of others to help a ruined kingdom and defeat foes. However, ENDER MAGNOLIA starts off much differently than its predecessor. As it follows an amnesiac, the story is told backwards. While it doesn’t change the fact that the premise is interesting, it still makes the story harder to appreciate and follow, at least from the beginning, as all the critical information, like who Liliac is, what an Attuner is, and what makes her an Attuner are all sparsely defined from the start. This makes it hard to understand what is going on from the onset. What’s worse, is that as the build I played on has no voice acting, I found it hard to be attached to any of the characters despite their stories being presented through short, beautiful cutscenes. However, as you progress the game, pick up lore notes, and meet characters, you start to understand the narrative, and how the remaining mysteries serve as good motivators to see the story through.
Gameplay-wise, the game also plays very similarly to ENDER LILIES, as players collect and fight with several Homunculi, many of whom they first encounter as bosses they’ll first have to defeat before recruiting. These homunculi offer variety to gameplay as some, like Nola, execute fast and heavy attacks, some use projectiles, and others are used for alternate attacks that add status effects like Ice and burning but have a cooldown. Many of these homunculi can also swap to alternate attack types once the necessary part has been found during exploration. For example, players can switch Nola’s fast slash attacks to heavy attacks when a hammer part is found. While these variations add depth to the game, small tidbits like how you can’t swap from fast to heavy attacks on the fly or how you can’t consistently shoot projectiles while hitting targets simultaneously feel like unnecessary oversights. Aside from Homunculi, players can also acquire Relics, which serve as equippable accessories that change up your stats in various ways, nullify elemental damage, and more.
The Good and Bad Gameplay Features
Despite its oversights, I still enjoyed the overall gameplay experience as ENDER MAGNOLIA features many quality-of-life additions that many Metroidvanias lack. A good readable map, an expandable minimap, and the ability to fast travel from any point in the game, to name a few, make the gameplay experience incredibly engaging and pain-free. This is especially while facing the game’s many challenging bosses and minibosses.
Speaking of bosses, while the Early Access build only features about three bosses and four minibosses, each is excellently designed and offers a great deal of challenge that’s tough but fair. Faced with each boss’ vast arsenal of moves and skills, players must learn to counter each move, making each boss battle more exciting than the last. While the minibosses don’t retain this, as each noticeably has a limited number of moves, they do just as well with countering players’ positioning and attacks.
Final Thoughts
In terms of visuals, ENDER MAGNOLIA is by far one of the best-looking Metroidvania games I’ve played in a while. The game offers a fantastic art direction via its picturesque illustrations, great character designs, and amazing backgrounds. Its immersive atmosphere and smooth animations to draw you in, ensuring every interaction feels intentional and rewarding. Lastly, the soundtrack is downright awe-inspiring, featuring several great tracks, including calm melodic pieces for level traversal and epic compositions for boss fights. Each song sounds excellent, and I can’t wait till the full album is released individually.
Overall, ENDER MAGNOLIA is shaping up to be a fantastic Metroidvania title and a great sequel to ENDER LILIES. While the early access build only includes about three hours of content, which is quite short, the content included is highly entertaining and engaging, and I can’t wait to see what the full game has to offer.
