Written by Patrick Orquia
Title: Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights
Developer: Live Wire
Publisher: Binary Haze Interactive
Genre: Metroidvania, Platformer, Action, Adventure, RPG, Soulslike
Number of Players: 1
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: June 21, 2021
Price: $24.99
Before we delve into this game, I would like to share that for the past few months, I have played and reviewed a lot of metroidvania games, with each one having some sort of distinguishing characteristic for it to standout from among the vast sea of metroidvanias out there. I even played a few more metroidvania games that I don’t have to write reviews for, like the seminal Super Metroid, the very much Metroid-like Axiom Verge, the Castlevania spiritual successor Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, and the hauntingly beautiful Ori and the Will of the Wisps. So yeah, I have been on a metroidvania binge for quite some time now, further cementing it as my most favorite game genre.
Lo and behold, a new one falls onto my lap. Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights is the game, and I have to say it straight now: this is one of the very best metroidvania games that I have ever played. The level of polish on this game is just superb, from its superb visuals, excellent gameplay, immersive exploration, and the outstanding musical score. This is game of the year material right here, from start to finish, and it is an indie game. I admire when developers try to go out of their way to deliver the best game that they can possibly do, and this is one of those fine moments.
First off, I would like to emphasize that this game really looks awesomely good. The visuals are really top-notch, with an amazing watercolor-like aesthetics and everything really meld together to make each area detailed and expansive. The areas may look bleak and ruined and miserable but they are very well-presented and really makes you feel the sheer weight of how this world got transformed to how it is now. And to really make everything immersive, the hauntingly good musical score makes you feel the melancholy and sadness of the world with each piano or string chord. The music can be oftentimes subdued but can kick in more during combat, but not really getting too crazy. No heavy metal music here, just pure orchestral music to accompany through your journey.
In this game, you play as the white priestess Lily, a little girl who awakened from a slumber in a dilapidated Lands’s End, a vast world that is constantly being inundated by the Rain of Death. This never-ending rain has transformed people into undead monsters, known as the Blighted. You wake up with all of your memories erased, which you will have to regain throughout the game as you progress. Fortunately, you don’t have to explore this world alone. You are first accompanied in your grand journey by the spirit of the Umbral Knight. He wields a big sword and has sworn to protect Lily at all cost. He is the first of many Spirits that you will encounter in the game to fight with as you progress. They provide Lily different types of attacks and you can mix and match these spirits to suit your needs. Lily on her own cannot fight, only being able to jump, dash, and dodge. She has to rely on these spirits to do the fighting for her and to allow her to explore the world, as some of these spirits give her abilities to open new paths and areas. The Umbral Knight has unlimited number of attacks, while most of the other spirits have limited ones, which makes you decide when and where to use them with the most effectivity.
Yes, this game is also a soulslike, with a high difficulty level in its combat mechanics. Hitting enemies is one thing, and evading them is another, and you will do a lot of evading during combat if you want to survive. There is no stamina gauge that gets depleted when you evade enemy attack, but there is split-second rest period between dodges so as not to be abused. Evading attacks is easy enough, but knowing when to do it, that is tough to master. You really have to focus and quickly memorize enemy attack pattern, which are very well-telegraphed, but still, getting hit is a bummer. You will probably die a lot, and hopefully, you get better bit by bit each time that you do.
In order to have Spirits fight on your side, you have to first fight their blighted forms, and once defeated, you can then purify them, releasing their spirits and have them join your party. Some of these Spirits can attack from a distance while some only has melee attacks. Some can even be deployed while Lily moves away to a safe area. You can equip up to two groups with three Spirits each, and you can switch between the two groups on the fly.
The game has a wide variety of enemies and you have to decide how to fight them with the least chance of you getting hit back. Each new area you visit often introduces new enemy types, with varying attacks that keep you on your toes. Defeating these enemies let you absorb Blight. Accumulated Blight fill up your Blight meter, and you level up every time it gets full. Your attack power increases upon each level up, but most enemies also level up as you do, so as to not make you too overpowered. The outcome of combat will ultimately depend on your skills, and so as the saying goes, you have to “git gud” if you really want to survive this world.
The game has no option for you to drink health potions and the like, but you can pray to replenish a portion of your HP meter for up to three times (or more, later on, when you get the upgrade). Leveling up also do not refill your HP. The only way to fully heal up is by taking a rest at respite points that often looks like a chair or a bench or whatever that resembles something that you can sit on. Here, you can save, and if and when you fall in combat, you respawn at the last respite point you visited. They are scattered across the map, often at strategic locations.
Aside from saving the game, you can also equip Spirits at these respite points. Aside from Spirits, you can also equip Relics that you collect throughout your journey that give you additional skills, like better attack, more HP, faster movement, etc. You can also enhance Spirits here with special types of Blight (the in-game term of “souls”) that you collect from barrels or fallen NPCs. The respite point also allow you to fast travel to other respite points that you have discovered, which makes it easier for you to backtrack to previously visited areas. Since this is a metroidvania game, you will have to backtrack a lot to different parts of the map as you collect new skills the further you explore Land’s End.
Speaking of skills, you get to unlock new ones when you defeat main bosses. These main bosses, like other Spirits, can be recruited once you have defeated them. They are much tougher and will really put all of your acquired skills up to that point to the test. They have powerful but well-telegraphed attacks, and it is up to you to memorize their attack patterns and try to avoid them as you yourself try to hit them with whatever you got equipped. Defeating these bosses also provide you some additional story exposition with cutscenes that play after the battle. Honestly, I find the story secondary to the awesome gameplay, but regardless, the story of this game and how it is provided to the player is also really good. You will also get to collect letters and other documents that also provide some exposition. You can read them under Findings on the menu, if you feel intrigued about how this once lively world end up in utter ruins.
When you are not fighting enemies, you spend most of your time in the game exploring. The interconnected areas are such a fun to traverse, despite the many tough monsters that will try to kill you at first sight. The map shows you different entry and exit points that connect to other areas once you have visited them. Exit points that do not connect yet to another area suggest that there is an area that is waiting for you to reach, and if you are not able to, it makes it easier for you to look back at it at a later time once you have acquired new skills. Most of these yet-to-be-reached areas somehow tease you with what is waiting for you, like maybe a visible collectible or a door that is locked on the other side. The many different areas of this game have different types of biomes and environment, like forested areas or underground mines or ruined castles. They look awesome, with tough enemies to meet you, while the kick-ass music make you more immersed into the world.
Overall, Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights is one hell of a game that deserves to be played. Its level of polish from beginning to end and top quality gameplay gives a lot of AAA a run for their money. Unfortunately, it is an indie game, and though it has been out for some time in Steam as an early access and now as a full release, I don’t think that it is being talked about as much as I hope it would be. I hope that after much is said and done, this game will stand the test of time and will be hailed as one of the very best games in the genre.
REPLAY VALUE: Very High
PROS
CONS
Number of Players: 1
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Release Date: June 21, 2021
Price: $24.99
Before we delve into this game, I would like to share that for the past few months, I have played and reviewed a lot of metroidvania games, with each one having some sort of distinguishing characteristic for it to standout from among the vast sea of metroidvanias out there. I even played a few more metroidvania games that I don’t have to write reviews for, like the seminal Super Metroid, the very much Metroid-like Axiom Verge, the Castlevania spiritual successor Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, and the hauntingly beautiful Ori and the Will of the Wisps. So yeah, I have been on a metroidvania binge for quite some time now, further cementing it as my most favorite game genre.
Lo and behold, a new one falls onto my lap. Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights is the game, and I have to say it straight now: this is one of the very best metroidvania games that I have ever played. The level of polish on this game is just superb, from its superb visuals, excellent gameplay, immersive exploration, and the outstanding musical score. This is game of the year material right here, from start to finish, and it is an indie game. I admire when developers try to go out of their way to deliver the best game that they can possibly do, and this is one of those fine moments.
First off, I would like to emphasize that this game really looks awesomely good. The visuals are really top-notch, with an amazing watercolor-like aesthetics and everything really meld together to make each area detailed and expansive. The areas may look bleak and ruined and miserable but they are very well-presented and really makes you feel the sheer weight of how this world got transformed to how it is now. And to really make everything immersive, the hauntingly good musical score makes you feel the melancholy and sadness of the world with each piano or string chord. The music can be oftentimes subdued but can kick in more during combat, but not really getting too crazy. No heavy metal music here, just pure orchestral music to accompany through your journey.
In this game, you play as the white priestess Lily, a little girl who awakened from a slumber in a dilapidated Lands’s End, a vast world that is constantly being inundated by the Rain of Death. This never-ending rain has transformed people into undead monsters, known as the Blighted. You wake up with all of your memories erased, which you will have to regain throughout the game as you progress. Fortunately, you don’t have to explore this world alone. You are first accompanied in your grand journey by the spirit of the Umbral Knight. He wields a big sword and has sworn to protect Lily at all cost. He is the first of many Spirits that you will encounter in the game to fight with as you progress. They provide Lily different types of attacks and you can mix and match these spirits to suit your needs. Lily on her own cannot fight, only being able to jump, dash, and dodge. She has to rely on these spirits to do the fighting for her and to allow her to explore the world, as some of these spirits give her abilities to open new paths and areas. The Umbral Knight has unlimited number of attacks, while most of the other spirits have limited ones, which makes you decide when and where to use them with the most effectivity.
Yes, this game is also a soulslike, with a high difficulty level in its combat mechanics. Hitting enemies is one thing, and evading them is another, and you will do a lot of evading during combat if you want to survive. There is no stamina gauge that gets depleted when you evade enemy attack, but there is split-second rest period between dodges so as not to be abused. Evading attacks is easy enough, but knowing when to do it, that is tough to master. You really have to focus and quickly memorize enemy attack pattern, which are very well-telegraphed, but still, getting hit is a bummer. You will probably die a lot, and hopefully, you get better bit by bit each time that you do.
The game has a wide variety of enemies and you have to decide how to fight them with the least chance of you getting hit back. Each new area you visit often introduces new enemy types, with varying attacks that keep you on your toes. Defeating these enemies let you absorb Blight. Accumulated Blight fill up your Blight meter, and you level up every time it gets full. Your attack power increases upon each level up, but most enemies also level up as you do, so as to not make you too overpowered. The outcome of combat will ultimately depend on your skills, and so as the saying goes, you have to “git gud” if you really want to survive this world.
The game has no option for you to drink health potions and the like, but you can pray to replenish a portion of your HP meter for up to three times (or more, later on, when you get the upgrade). Leveling up also do not refill your HP. The only way to fully heal up is by taking a rest at respite points that often looks like a chair or a bench or whatever that resembles something that you can sit on. Here, you can save, and if and when you fall in combat, you respawn at the last respite point you visited. They are scattered across the map, often at strategic locations.
Aside from saving the game, you can also equip Spirits at these respite points. Aside from Spirits, you can also equip Relics that you collect throughout your journey that give you additional skills, like better attack, more HP, faster movement, etc. You can also enhance Spirits here with special types of Blight (the in-game term of “souls”) that you collect from barrels or fallen NPCs. The respite point also allow you to fast travel to other respite points that you have discovered, which makes it easier for you to backtrack to previously visited areas. Since this is a metroidvania game, you will have to backtrack a lot to different parts of the map as you collect new skills the further you explore Land’s End.
When you are not fighting enemies, you spend most of your time in the game exploring. The interconnected areas are such a fun to traverse, despite the many tough monsters that will try to kill you at first sight. The map shows you different entry and exit points that connect to other areas once you have visited them. Exit points that do not connect yet to another area suggest that there is an area that is waiting for you to reach, and if you are not able to, it makes it easier for you to look back at it at a later time once you have acquired new skills. Most of these yet-to-be-reached areas somehow tease you with what is waiting for you, like maybe a visible collectible or a door that is locked on the other side. The many different areas of this game have different types of biomes and environment, like forested areas or underground mines or ruined castles. They look awesome, with tough enemies to meet you, while the kick-ass music make you more immersed into the world.
Overall, Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights is one hell of a game that deserves to be played. Its level of polish from beginning to end and top quality gameplay gives a lot of AAA a run for their money. Unfortunately, it is an indie game, and though it has been out for some time in Steam as an early access and now as a full release, I don’t think that it is being talked about as much as I hope it would be. I hope that after much is said and done, this game will stand the test of time and will be hailed as one of the very best games in the genre.
REPLAY VALUE: Very High
PROS
- Superb visuals, with amazingly detailed world design and watercolor-like aesthetics that makes the art style breathtaking and immersive
- Haunting musical score that excellently complements the visuals
- Amazing story and narrative style, with multiple endings depending on your choices in the game
- Awesome gameplay and combat; the Spirit mechanic is really unique and gives you lots of options on how you want to fight enemies
- Wide customization options
- Wide variety of enemy types
- High difficulty level in combat but it is fair and it encourages you to get better every time
- Solid performance both in docked and undocked mode, with only very infrequent and negligible frame rate drops when the action gets too crazy on the screen
- Plays very well in handheld mode
- Very good use of HD rumble
- Lots of challenging boss fights that put your skills to the test
- Expansive world with lots of secret areas to discover
- Tight platforming
CONS
- Very slight yet quite noticeable audio delay
- No voice acting
- Bosses and most of the enemies level up as you do which sort of gives you a false assurance of you getting more and more powerful, but in reality, combat with still depend on your fighting and dodging skills; this aspect of the game, however, can make the game more frustrating and tedious as it should be, especially near the end game, when the level of difficulty as just becomes absurdly high
RATING: 5/5 spirit knights and tough monster fights
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