ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights is a 2D dark fantasy Metroidvania RPG published by Binary Haze Interactive and developed by Adglobe & Live Wire. The game first made an appearance on Steam (check out our preview!) but has now also found a home on the Nintendo console. As chaos reigns in a ruined kingdom that’s been consumed by evil, you must fight your way through hordes of demonic creatures to find the source of the sinister presence on the land and put a stop to it once and for all. Like most Metroidvania games nowadays, Ender Lilies is a challenge that will put your gaming skills to the test. However, it also brings other promising qualities to it that make it stand out among the others.
The story centers around a young princess named Lily who wakes up inside the ruins of her old castle in the kingdom of Land’s End. She is awoken by the Umbral Knight, a friendly spirit who has come to her aid. Lily discovers that the place she once called home has been consumed by a curse called the “Blight,” which has turned all her friends into monsters. The only way to help them now is to purify their spirits of the blight by defeating them in battle, then they can help her in her quest. As Lily progresses through the deadly depths of her cursed kingdom, she uncovers what truly happened through the memories of the purified spirits and journal entries scattered across the world.
Narratively, the game is true to its genre with the gritty dark fantasy elements that portray a world turned to ashes. What’s heartbreaking to see is a once bustling and carefree village is now plagued by demonic creatures. It becomes even more heartbreaking for Lily when she comes across her old friends who plead for their death at her young hands, wanting the nightmare to finally end. This gives Lily’s mission more weight to it as she sorrowfully reacts to the burden that has been put upon her. While the story choices is nothing we haven’t seen in the past, Ender Lilies still hits you with an emotional gut-punch that you would never expect from a game like this.
As previously mentioned, Ender Lilies doesn’t pull any punches with its difficulty, especially much later in the game, so it’s important to quickly get used to all of its combat mechanics. The first rule is to always keep your composure while playing because it’s super easy to become frustrated with this game (I learned this lesson the hard way). Ender Lilies is spread out with an interconnected map that links to different areas through normal and secret pathways. As you progress through the game and build out your skill list, you’ll be able to access all of these different areas with special Spirit abilities.
While the map’s size may seem intimidating at first, you’ll have access to a fast travel system when you rest at Respite. At these Respites, you can also upgrade your Spirits, equip relics that can boost Lily’s stats, and rest your weary bones for a spell. You can equip up to six Spirits and it’s important that you utilize them to their fullest capabilities during specific battle scenarios. For example, some bosses are too dangerous up close so it’s important to keep them at a distance with ranged Spirits. However, don’t rely heavily on those because they can run out of power faster than you can expect.
Other important mechanics to get adjusted include Lily’s dodge mechanic, which can be used to maneuver away from incoming enemy projectiles and get behind your opponent. While it may look silly to see her bellyflopping across the screen, it’s more helpful than it looks. Another thing you should take into account is the boss’s stamina meter, which is underneath their health bar. After you’ve landed several blows on them, the enemy will collapse to the ground giving you the chance to unload on them. Because of this, it’s important to time your hits and be patient before reaching that point as it’s very easy to lose health by being too hasty. Thankfully, the game usually puts a Respite right next to a boss fight, so even if you die 20 or so times, you can easily get used to their kinks without having to backtrack each time. While Ender Lilies’ combat can be a bit unforgiving at times, they do make things easier than other Metroidvania games with the many Relic upgrades and the healing prayers. This leaves more room to enjoy the other qualities of the game such as its stunning visuals, in-depth narrative, and soundtrack.
Speaking of visuals, Ender Lilies is an absolutely beautiful game. The background aesthetics are what made traveling to different areas of the map much more enjoyable. Each one had its unique feel to them, from the vibrant colors to the powerful lighting, and even the intimidating enemy design. This made it easier to distinguish one from the other and never felt dull to look at. They were also accompanied by a soundtrack that heightened the chilling atmosphere it was going for. Another stylized choice that I enjoyed was making Lily’s character model bright in comparison to the dreary background, which works well with the theme of her being the last hope for her kingdom. Little artistic choices like this are what make this game visually enjoyable and easy to immerse yourself in.
Even if you’re like me, who isn’t much of a fan of Metroidvanias in general, Ender Lilies has so many other incredible elements that make it worth trying out. The game’s story, art style, and soundtrack all truly work well off each other to make it stand out among the other games of a similar genre in the Switch’s library. The downsides that I found were few, which include the repetitive nature of the combat and the difficulty of navigating this gigantic map at times. However, it’s still worth taking a journey into Land’s End to save it from an ultimate evil that lies in the depths.
9/10
Check Out the ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights Trailer:
ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights is available for Nintendo Switch and for PC via Steam Early Access.
For more information, please visit: https://www.enderlilies.com/
Nintendo Switch Review
I've loved playing video games ever since I first played Battletoads on the NES when I was a kid. Since then, I've played a wide variety of games on different systems, including Xbox One, PS4, Switch, and have mostly gravitated towards open-world RPGs and action-adventure games with amazing storylines and character arcs. I'm passionate when comes to writing and interested in working as a narrative designer.
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