Ender Magnolia, Early Access
Apr. 22nd, 2024 07:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingLast week, I played an early access version of Ender Magnolia, which includes about three and a half hours of content. So far, I really like what I see.
Ender Magnolia is a sequel to Ender Lilies, a Soulslike Metroidvania published by the Japanese developer Binary Haze in January 2021. In Ender Lilies, you play as a young girl named Lily who wakes up alone in a ruined kingdom built on the edge of a much older kingdom. The blight that plagued the kingdom of the Ancients spread to Lily’s kingdom untold decades ago. As the last of a line of priestesses, Lily’s job is to purify those affected by the blight by laying them to rest. Since Lily is defenseless on her own, she’s aided by the spirits of the blighted whom she’s purified. Essentially, every boss or miniboss the player defeats contributes to Lily’s moveset, which is completely customizable.
Although this isn’t 100% confirmed in the early access version, there’s strong evidence to suggest that Ender Magnolia is a prequel that takes place during the last days of the kingdom of the Ancients. This kingdom has clearly seen better days, but it boasts a sophisticated fusion of magic and technology that led to the creation of artificial lifeforms called homunculi. Homunculi are able to resist the influence of the blight rising from underground, but only to a limited extent.
You play as a young girl named Lilac who is an Attuner, a formal title that designates someone who possesses the magic necessary to repair homunculi and purge the influence of the blight. Where Lily purified decaying zombies in Ender Lilies, Lilac attunes renegade humanoid robots. While Lily’s purification allowed the blighted to rest by allowing them to die, Lilac’s attunement helps homunculi regain their sanity.
Since they’re still alive after attunement, the defeated robots don’t automatically join Lilac as companions. If I had to guess, I’d posit that the relatively limited number of Lilac’s companions in Ender Magnolia is probably Binary Haze’s response to a common criticism of Ender Lilies, namely, that there were too many companion spirits and not enough upgrade resources to experiment or use them all effectively. Thankfully, this excess of choice doesn’t seem to be an issue in Ender Magnolia, in which Lilac’s attacks are still fully customizable but much more focused on a core moveset.
Although none of the minibosses join Lilac, they’re still fun to fight, as are the challenging area bosses. Whereas there were major spikes in difficulty in Ender Lilies, Ender Magnolia seems to be more balanced and linear in terms of challenge. According to the developer notes, the full version of the game will allow the player to customize the difficulty, but the standard setting worked just fine for me. I still died a lot (affectionate) and was grateful for every available character stat upgrade.
In Ender Lilies, Lily was the only living person in the entire kingdom, so she didn’t have any need for money. This is not the case in Ender Magnolia, where there is a central hub village hosting a small shop where Lilac can buy bracelets that boost her defense and other upgrades. Money isn’t directly received from defeating enemies, but must be found in the environment or offered as a reward.
The game’s economy is supported by numerous NPCs who can be found in the central hub, as well as scattered across the map. Some of these NPCs are human, and some are homunculi, and some seem to be visitors from the “upper stratum” of the city, like Lilac herself. The player can still find scraps of text with background lore hidden in the environment, but there are also living people directly sharing their experiences. Some of this text is relevant to Lilac, but I appreciate that most of it isn’t. As in Ender Lilies, the game contains a lot of smaller stories that have very little to do with the player. This world is clearly in decline, but the player also gets a sense of there still being something for Lilac to save. She’s a very sweet girl, as is her main companion, a stern but elegant sword lesbian. I’m looking forward to all the tears I’m going to cry as their tragedy unfolds.
Like Ender Lilies, Ender Magnolia is intensely atmospheric. The primary aesthetic of Ender Lilies was ruin and decay, while Ender Magnolia seems to be more rustpunk, or whatever you’d call what’s going on in Final Fantasy VII. There’s a big beautiful city above, but you begin the game in the slums, which are filthy and decrepit. When the rusty browns of this aesthetic are interrupted, such as in an abandoned castle overgrown with brilliantly scarlet maple trees, it’s a sight to behold. The sound design and music are also marvelous. To me, the way the game designers use the beauty of the environment to inspire the player to overcome challenges is the hallmark of Soulslike games, and Ender Magnolia nails this perfectly.
I know I keep comparing Ender Magnolia to Ender Lilies, but it’s not necessary to be familiar with Ender Lilies to enjoy and appreciate what’s going on in Ender Magnolia. In fact, I’d say that Ender Magnolia is much, much more accessible to newcomers, at least based on what I’ve seen so far.
Meanwhile if you, like me, have done multiple completionist playthroughs of Ender Lilies, Ender Magnolia still feels fresh. It’s significantly different than its predecessor in ways that are fun and interesting and not just new for the sake of change.
I’m really excited about Ender Magnolia. To put this in the strongest terms I possibly can, I bought a Steam Deck just to play this game on early access, and I have zero regrets.
Also, and perhaps most importantly: Not only can you pet the big fluffy robot zombie dog, but he also serves as your method of fast travel. What a good boy!!And did I mention that your main companion is a sword lesbian, truly Yuri Jesus died for my sins so that I may live in eternal joy forever amen.
Ender Magnolia is a sequel to Ender Lilies, a Soulslike Metroidvania published by the Japanese developer Binary Haze in January 2021. In Ender Lilies, you play as a young girl named Lily who wakes up alone in a ruined kingdom built on the edge of a much older kingdom. The blight that plagued the kingdom of the Ancients spread to Lily’s kingdom untold decades ago. As the last of a line of priestesses, Lily’s job is to purify those affected by the blight by laying them to rest. Since Lily is defenseless on her own, she’s aided by the spirits of the blighted whom she’s purified. Essentially, every boss or miniboss the player defeats contributes to Lily’s moveset, which is completely customizable.
Although this isn’t 100% confirmed in the early access version, there’s strong evidence to suggest that Ender Magnolia is a prequel that takes place during the last days of the kingdom of the Ancients. This kingdom has clearly seen better days, but it boasts a sophisticated fusion of magic and technology that led to the creation of artificial lifeforms called homunculi. Homunculi are able to resist the influence of the blight rising from underground, but only to a limited extent.
You play as a young girl named Lilac who is an Attuner, a formal title that designates someone who possesses the magic necessary to repair homunculi and purge the influence of the blight. Where Lily purified decaying zombies in Ender Lilies, Lilac attunes renegade humanoid robots. While Lily’s purification allowed the blighted to rest by allowing them to die, Lilac’s attunement helps homunculi regain their sanity.
Since they’re still alive after attunement, the defeated robots don’t automatically join Lilac as companions. If I had to guess, I’d posit that the relatively limited number of Lilac’s companions in Ender Magnolia is probably Binary Haze’s response to a common criticism of Ender Lilies, namely, that there were too many companion spirits and not enough upgrade resources to experiment or use them all effectively. Thankfully, this excess of choice doesn’t seem to be an issue in Ender Magnolia, in which Lilac’s attacks are still fully customizable but much more focused on a core moveset.
Although none of the minibosses join Lilac, they’re still fun to fight, as are the challenging area bosses. Whereas there were major spikes in difficulty in Ender Lilies, Ender Magnolia seems to be more balanced and linear in terms of challenge. According to the developer notes, the full version of the game will allow the player to customize the difficulty, but the standard setting worked just fine for me. I still died a lot (affectionate) and was grateful for every available character stat upgrade.
In Ender Lilies, Lily was the only living person in the entire kingdom, so she didn’t have any need for money. This is not the case in Ender Magnolia, where there is a central hub village hosting a small shop where Lilac can buy bracelets that boost her defense and other upgrades. Money isn’t directly received from defeating enemies, but must be found in the environment or offered as a reward.
The game’s economy is supported by numerous NPCs who can be found in the central hub, as well as scattered across the map. Some of these NPCs are human, and some are homunculi, and some seem to be visitors from the “upper stratum” of the city, like Lilac herself. The player can still find scraps of text with background lore hidden in the environment, but there are also living people directly sharing their experiences. Some of this text is relevant to Lilac, but I appreciate that most of it isn’t. As in Ender Lilies, the game contains a lot of smaller stories that have very little to do with the player. This world is clearly in decline, but the player also gets a sense of there still being something for Lilac to save. She’s a very sweet girl, as is her main companion, a stern but elegant sword lesbian. I’m looking forward to all the tears I’m going to cry as their tragedy unfolds.
Like Ender Lilies, Ender Magnolia is intensely atmospheric. The primary aesthetic of Ender Lilies was ruin and decay, while Ender Magnolia seems to be more rustpunk, or whatever you’d call what’s going on in Final Fantasy VII. There’s a big beautiful city above, but you begin the game in the slums, which are filthy and decrepit. When the rusty browns of this aesthetic are interrupted, such as in an abandoned castle overgrown with brilliantly scarlet maple trees, it’s a sight to behold. The sound design and music are also marvelous. To me, the way the game designers use the beauty of the environment to inspire the player to overcome challenges is the hallmark of Soulslike games, and Ender Magnolia nails this perfectly.
I know I keep comparing Ender Magnolia to Ender Lilies, but it’s not necessary to be familiar with Ender Lilies to enjoy and appreciate what’s going on in Ender Magnolia. In fact, I’d say that Ender Magnolia is much, much more accessible to newcomers, at least based on what I’ve seen so far.
Meanwhile if you, like me, have done multiple completionist playthroughs of Ender Lilies, Ender Magnolia still feels fresh. It’s significantly different than its predecessor in ways that are fun and interesting and not just new for the sake of change.
I’m really excited about Ender Magnolia. To put this in the strongest terms I possibly can, I bought a Steam Deck just to play this game on early access, and I have zero regrets.
Also, and perhaps most importantly: Not only can you pet the big fluffy robot zombie dog, but he also serves as your method of fast travel. What a good boy!!
