We play the Early Access of ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mistsequel to Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights, and everything looks like it will be a worthy continuation and will have more than satisfied fans of the first installment and of metroidvanias in general. It has many similarities with the original, but at the same time, it is more ambitious and introduces details that make it a much more polished version.
Judging by its Early Access, ENDER MAGNOLIA is on an excellent path; There are a couple of details that Adglobe and Live Wire must review, but in general it is a delivery that will surely take a short time to arrive, as it is very complete and well made. We will tell you more in this preview.
Welcome to Humelia
The story of ENDER MAGNOLIA occurs several decades after Ender Lilies and it takes place in Humelia, a mysterious world that reminds us of the first installment, but has new areas that invite us to fully explore them. This is good news because, even though we have played the prequel, all the places we discover have secrets, routes and rooms that are completely different from those in Quietus of the Knights.
On this occasion, our protagonist is Lilac, who, like the main character of Ender Lilies, wakes up in an unknown place and remembers little of his past. The main difference is that this mage quickly recognizes that she has unique powers and abilities, so she is much braver and outgoing than Lily.
Of course, Lilac also depends completely on the souls that she purifies as the story progresses and these are the only way we can attack. These are the homonculi, which were created by the scientists of Humelia, and their function was to protect the citizens. This changed when a mysterious mist took control of those creatures and they ended up being very dangerous.
Beware of monsters
Because of this, Humelia is filled with extremely violent and hostile monsters. Its design is similar to that of Ender Lilies, but they behave very differently and have new attacks. In Early Access there are 4 different areas and they all have very diverse and fun enemies to kill. Even those that appear weak can take away a significant amount of life, but once we learn their attack pattern it is easy to defeat them.
Just like in the prequel, the bosses we face in ENDER MAGNOLIA They are one of the strongest points of the game. They are giants, dangerous, wild and difficult, but very entertaining to face. In this demo we find 4 main bosses and several subbosses; We loved them all, from their design to their confrontations. We believe that they have the perfect balance, since they are complicated and beastly but never unfair or impossible to defeat.
That combat is so fun has a lot to do with the skills Lilac gains on her adventure. Just as in Ender Lilies, by purifying certain corrupted souls we obtain movements that help us progress. In this demo, there are few that serve to unlock parts of the map and more that are added to our fighting repertoire; They all contribute so that little by little we feel more powerful and that this section remains entertaining for most of the time.
In addition to the fact that there is a very wide variety of movements, we can modify and evolve them with the resources we find on the map, and it is extremely fun to experiment and identify which combos best fit our fighting strategy. This is how the combat of ENDER MAGNOLIA It is versatile, broad, entertaining and one of its strongest pillars.
To the deepest corner
The other element that made Ender Lilies so spectacular and that translates perfectly into ENDER MAGNOLIA It is exploration. The main difference is that the map is much clearer and more useful. The one from the first game works, but this one helps us see the places we need to explore, the available paths and if there are treasures that we have not yet discovered. It is much easier to decipher by sight.
The change we liked the most is that each area appears in gray on the map, which means that there are still some secrets and, once we have obtained all the collectibles, it changes to blue. Of course, the location of each treasure is almost never marked, which maintains the mystery of the exploration.
The movement is great and, just like the combat, it has different abilities for us to fully exploit. The problem is that, at least in this demo, the actions are recycled Ender Lilies; We are referring to the double jump, the terrestrial dash and another aerial dash. What is worth noting is that the latter is much better polished, since in the sequel it was more of a cartwheel, and we felt that at times it was a little imprecise.
On this occasion, it always works to avoid attacks and gives us a lot of momentum to reach distant corners and edges, because its displacement is much greater than that of the dash from the first game.
Necessary changes
As we mentioned, there are some moves and items that return from Ender Lilies. For example, we find again the sledgehammer blow that allows us to break parts of the ground, some relics have the same effects as in the first installment and, in general, many mechanics are recycled, such as regenerating health and the bench to rest and modify our weapons.
Additionally, the art is very similar to the first title, and even the protagonist is similar, so some might classify this section as weak and uninnovative. What really differentiates these games is the background and tone of each area and the characters, but it is true that there are very few changes between the two. Let's hope that once we play the full version we will confirm that there are many more new details than those reused.
Something that bothered us a little is the sound part. The music is the same or even better than that of the first game, but we are referring more to the sounds of collisions, enemies and more elements. In all the cutscenes, we only hear pieces of music, but aspects like the rain, the characters' footsteps, and more are completely silent. The same thing happens when some monster chases us or we fight them. We understand that it is the Early Access version and they will probably modify it, but one would think that this would be one of the first sections that the developers would have ready.
Brilliant Future
In general, Early Access ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist It is a very rounded, complete experience that lets us see that this title is taking the best possible route. Although it shows us that it shares several elements with its predecessor, it also gives us a few spoonfuls of innovative elements that fit perfectly to this fantasy metroidvania with RPG elements.
In just 2 hours it allowed us to meet interesting characters, explore fascinating areas full of secrets and fight against incredible and merciless bosses and sub-bosses, and all of this left us wanting more. This demo confirms that ender It can be a very long-lasting franchise that in each installment will balance aspects such as maintaining its essence, but also adding interesting and fantastic ingredients to this delicious dish. If you are a fan of the first installment and the metroidvanias, you must add it to your wishlist.
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