If you’re looking for a dark, gritty, metroidvania game with an eerily chill atmosphere, look no further than ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights by developers Live Wire and adglobe and publisher Binary Haze Interactive. A wonderful mix of action & atmosphere, there is a beauty in the bleakness of this world that will draw you in from the moment you start and keep you engaged to discover the lore behind this broken world where the rain… the rain never stops.
Story
The developers have handcrafted an ominous tale of a fallen kingdom In this darkened world you play as a Descendant of the Priestesses. Awakening in a dilapidated room, an incorporeal spirit reveals itself to you: a knight loyal to you and all Priestesses before you. Gone are your memories, or any sense of peace that may have once been. Everything is replaced with ruin. You set off with this Umbral Knight to regain your memories, discover the fate of your kingdom, and hopefully, a way to right all that has gone wrong.
Along this perilous journey, you will face many creatures twisted by the endless rain. Some of these fiends, however, are more powerful in soul and spirit than the others. As a Priestess, it becomes clear to you that your duty is to purify these powerful souls and return them to rest. As you do so, some, much like the knight that awakened you, will accompany you on your journey through this corrupted kingdom. As you venture forth, through purifying the souls of the lost and discovering trinkets of the past, you will reveal more of the mysteries that surround the events of the past and discover what your true role in this world is.
Gameplay & Mechanics
ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights is another great example of a game that’s easy to learn, but difficult to master. Utilizing the keyboard there are about ten keys that you will find yourself using, including the arrow keys to move around. Aside from running, jumping, and dodging, you command your Umbral Knight to perform basic attacks. As you purify other Blighted beings, you may sometimes collect a new spirit, to which you may use their special abilities in battle, much like the Umbral Knight. Each spirit has a different attack style, can be leveled up to increase their power or decrease their cooldowns, and during rest stops, you can customize your loadout to have a total of six spirits to accompany you.
adglobe and Live Wire have designed simple, yet dense levels with inspirations from games like Hollow Knight, and a collection of creatures that could easily fit any Souls game. You will constantly find yourself balancing between platforming through maze-like levels, each having differing and various pathways, and battling it out against the endless amounts of Blighted, each with their own attack styles and weaknesses. The developers allow you the option to bull through enemies by hitting them at just the right moment to pause their attack, or dodge and counter their assault like the Lolita ninja that you are. With each enemy slain, you gain experience points that increase your overall level and survivability.
Aesthetics & Sound
ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights has the soul of a Japanese-Inspired Side Scrolling Action RPG. With its focused, minimalistic design and mechanics, The developers placed most of its resources on gameplay, and level design. Where all of everything seems lost and hopeless, you are a literal shining beacon of purity. You stand out amongst the rubble and destruction, an unsullied relic of what this world once was: what it again could be. You are the last remaining spec of light. But even with your purifying powers, not even you seem to be able to restore the spirits loyal to you. Even after joining your side, their forms are not healed. While their minds may be restored, their eyes still hang low. They know that they have become Blighted and will never return from this state.
Even the music in ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights tells its tale. When fighting enemies, the orchestra rarely picks up. This is not a dastardly foe on a quest to undermine your goals, or a wicked beast out to cause mayhem and destruction. The Blighted are just like the music: Quiet & still. They are motifs against the backdrop of this kingdom with no will or purpose; no personality or independence. They are the remnants of those left behind. Like derelict statues they are a shadow of what this world once was. There is no need for swirling trumpets or epic rises. The music, the monsters; they can only be described by one emotion.
Sadness.
Summary
ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights is a brilliant game made by brilliant minds. It is an unmistakable example of what makes the core of this genre of gameplay fun. Aside from a few technical pieces that will surely be smoothed out at full release, the game is effortlessly playable even during Beta. This is a story that needs to be told, and one that will hold your attention from start to finish. Thank you, Live Wire and adglobe, for this humbling experience.
Check Out the ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights Steam Early Access Gameplay Announce Trailer:
ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights will be launching for PC via Steam Early Access tomorrow, January 21, 2021.
For more information, please visit: https://www.enderlilies.com/
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As the (self-proclaimed) King of Casuals, I'm always seeking out new titles to play and experience across all platforms. Eventually, I have ambitions to take the many different styles of this medium to create titles that will wow the masses in fresh, innovative ways.
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