ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist Review
Metroidvania fans have been eating well for the past couple of years thanks to fantastic entries such as Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, Blasphemous, and Metroid Dread to name a few. The long-beloved genre has delved deeper into the RPG world while mixing in Soulslike elements to keep things evolving. While fans of the genre eagerly await the release of Hollow Knight: Silksong, there’s a wide array of Metroidvanias to scratch that itch, and the Ender series stands high atop the pile. ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist is a follow-up to 2021’s magnificent ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights. It carries all the charm, heart, and atmosphere of the original while adding new mechanics alongside a few minor yet impactful fixes.
As a direct sequel, ENDER MAGNOLIA makes a few mentions of events from the original game, though it keeps things vague enough so new players can start here. While it isn’t required to play the first game to enjoy the latest entry, it’s rewarding to see another section of the world also dealing with the aftermath of the Blight. Players control a young Attuner named Lilac who awakens in a strange metal pod in a research facility. Having lost her memories, she has little choice but to find an escape as she slips past creeping zombie-like homunculi. Before long, she finds the first non-hostile homunculus she can both speak to and tune, and thus finds her first ally.
ENDER MAGNOLIA’s story focuses on Lilac’s journey through a decaying world. While ENDER LILIES focused on a wartorn and Blight-addled nation crumbling under the weight of its despair, ENDER MAGNOLIA touches upon a city where homunculi acted as servants and soon went mad before turning on their masters. The story feels akin to the cautionary tales we’ve repeatedly seen about mechanical slaves and robotic servants rising against humanity. Naturally, the elite class is shielded from the worst while the lower classes suffer the brunt of the uprising. Many affected citizens are either congregating in dilapidated cities or scavenging for scrap in city ruins and murky caves. Much of the story unfolds through flashbacks with gorgeous cinematics, but plenty of NPCs share the history and current events of the run-down world through dialogue and introspection.
As a traditional Metroidvania, ENDER MAGNOLIA takes place on a 2D plane with a focus on platforming and action combat. Much like the original game, Lilac is not the one swinging blades and casting magic. Homunculi serve as her guardians, and each is wildly different from the others. There are four slots (three face buttons and R1) to allow players to mix and match abilities however they see fit. Outside of combat, the general array of Metroidvania traversal moves applies: dashes, double jumps, wall jumps and climbs, swimming, charging through walls, and grappling to certain points. While these abilities tend to unlock quite early compared to ENDER LILIES, the pacing of ability acquisition feels smooth. As is standard with the genre, backtracking with newfound abilities leads to new paths and optional areas. Thankfully, the process is painless due to fast travel and a highly detailed minimap.
Battles in ENDER MAGNOLIA are fairly simple. At first, players only have access to a handful of abilities, yet new moves and upgraded actions become available as the game goes on. Due to the smaller cast of allies, each homunculus gets three abilities to choose from once they’re fully unlocked. Throughout the game, you can find upgrade materials that improve or unlock new abilities. Nola, for example, switches from a light sword with fast straight slashes to a heavy axe with broad and powerful swings that do notable break damage. Lito swaps from a straightforward punch that deals burning damage to a jumping attack that deals AoE frost damage and freezes the enemy. Ranged and counter options also expand as Yolvan and the Shackled Beast obtain their upgrade materials, leading to a wide array of tools for all types of encounters.
Like in its predecessor, the boss fights are superb showcases that test the player’s mastery of their homunculi. Upon getting destroyed by a boss, I found myself tinkering with my loadout to try new things rather than bang my head against the fight with the same build. Thus, a mixture of strategy and experience became my primary weapon as I tuned my loadout towards freeze or burn damage, focused on counters or breaks, or even went with the fastest attacks I could spam in a three-second window. Of course, more mechanics unlock as the game progresses, such as special attacks that act more like a limit break, reflective shields based on precise timing, and buffs that mix in with the primary healing spell. Tools at the player’s disposal are many, and none of the homunculi feel purposeless in combat. Everything and everyone has its place, and that is incredibly rewarding.
ENDER LILIES was one of the most stunningly beautiful games I’ve played in many years, and its sequel continues to carry that crown. Time and time again, I found myself stopping in ENDER MAGNOLIA to admire the view. Yet the game doesn’t just excel in creating gorgeous vistas. Even the most grungy, run-down, and garbage-flooded areas are intricately detailed with hints of former beauty. Every zone could easily serve as a wallpaper or backdrop to a melancholic music video. That said, there can be some awkward puppet-esque animations with NPCs that make the game feel like it came from the Adobe Flash era, but such instances are few and far between.
Much like the original game, the soundtrack is simply stellar. Once again, Mili creates hauntingly beautiful melodies that bury themselves in your head and haunt your thoughts. The tracks are chilling and icy with a slower pace, yet when clashing with a boss, the tempo rises as each phase passes. I often found myself sitting in repose and listening to the music gently flow in the background, with Mili’s vocals serving as the perfect touch to a peaceful rest. Atop the background music lies impressive sound design, with every weapon delivering satisfying impacts and slashes as they cut through flesh and air.
Developer Binary Haze went out of their way to address the primary issues with ENDER LILIES, the most notable being the removal of contact damage. In the original game, Lily was expected to get up close and personal with bosses yet would take a hit upon touching the enemy. Thankfully, that isn’t the case with Lilac, as players can essentially hug the boss and flail away. The original game also had somewhat floaty controls, and while that has carried over to the sequel, they feel far tighter. The occasional awkward character animations can also be a bit distracting, especially in a world that’s so beautifully crafted. Finally, by nature of being a Metroidvania, aimless wandering and backtracking are part of the deal. Still, it can be a bit frustrating to check a dozen areas looking for that one door you finally have access to. Mercifully, the map is incredibly detailed and easy to work with, so the pain is minimal.
ENDER MAGNOLIA is a delightful follow-up to a wondrous game. Not only does it feel like a proper sequel that keeps the heart and charm of the original, but it feels like a solid evolution of the series thanks to the quality-of-life fixes and mechanical depth. In my review of ENDER LILIES, I compared it to how I felt when I played Valkyrie Profile for the first time because of the atmosphere, story, characters, and general concept. As ENDER LILIES has a smaller core cast in a much larger world, the allies have more time to grow and become actual characters rather than utilities. When paired with the focus on new mechanics, ENDER MAGNOLIA feels much like Valkyrie Profile 2 in that regard. ENDER MAGNOLIA is one of the best Metroidvanias I’ve played in many years—rivaled only by its predecessor—and it’ll easily land itself upon my 2025 game of the year list.
