Ender Lilies Full Review

[BubbleMuffins]

ENDER LILIES: QUIETUS OF THE KNIGHTS
FULL REVIEW
Because I had more to say then Steams arbitrary review length would allow me to.

It took me 15 hours to 100% clear Ender Lilies (+2 from early access play), and I must say, it was quite the wonderful experience.

GENERAL;
While I am loath to compare it to Hollow Knight, as everyone else generally is, the fact that it is the most popular metroidvania in anyone's recent memory makes it a good point of comparison. Might seem a bit much to compare this game to one of the greatest hits of the genre, and though I know this game will be stuck being niche and never reach Hollow Knight fame, I think it stands among it nonetheless, alongside champions such as Super Metroid or Symphony of the Night as one of the greatest hits of the genre. It possesses more then enough of its own uniqueness to stand out on its own, and I highly disagree that it is at all derrivative of Hollow Knight or any Souls games, even if it clearly draws inspiration from them.

GAMEPLAY; 8/10
Incidentally, the actual second-to-second gameplay is the weakest part of Ender Lilies. Its amazingly fun, but it has a noticeable learning curve. Or learning hill, really, as once you learn the intricacies of the game's movement, it becomes gloriously smooth, but can be a little hard to manage until then. The gameplay is buttery smooth, and the progression is excellent. At no point while playing do you feel like you've stopped getting stronger. You gain levels through combat, which only increases your damage, while upgrades to your health and abilities are found throughout the world through exploration, a treasure hunt that I found to be very satisfying. You constantly obtain new spirits with unique abilities, all of which I found to be viable. However, by making everything pretty equal, there is little incentive to experiment beyond what you are most comfortable with, crafting a moveset that caters to your playstyle and sticking to it.

Really, one of my major complaints about metroidvanias is when the exploration part gets bogged down. Finding powerups is a drag, or knowing where to use that new ability to progress. Neither of those problems are present here. Powerup hunting is a treat, and it always feels good to spot out a secret, as they are most often hidden along the main path, waiting for the keen eye to spot them. This is all helped by the map telling you very clearly if you have everything or not, by lighting the map up blue or orange for incomplete and complete respectively. And for the later items that you'll pick up through backtracking, you have to get creative with your spirit use, and it is incredibly satisfying to solve these late-game puzzles.
Progressing forward is equally smooth, helped by the smaller-then-usual-for-the-genre map and fast-travel. Every movement upgrade is tied to a distinct overworld element, which are all shown to you very early. And when you get an upgrade, you know immediately where you can apply it.

Speaking of movement, one thing about the game that bothered me a bit while I was playing was the lack of ability to sequence-break (which is to say, do events out of order or skip them entirely), something that is a bit of a hallmark of the genre. Of course, it wasn't until I beat the final boss and went back to gather my 100% that I realized I had, on accident, completely skipped one of the main movement abilities. Said ability being the Grappling Hook, the use of which I was able to circumvent by using the knockback of certain aerial skills, mostly the Guardian's Hammer, which I could chain together with jump cancels. I do wonder, if I made a specific effort, how much of the game could be skipped. Speedrunners will have a field day with that.

Which is as good a time as any to talk about the game's battle system. You're squishy. Which makes sense; you are, after all, just a little girl. It is in this way that the more souls-like part of the game shines through. Combat is, while fast-paced to the point of occasionally being frantic, possessed of a heavy weight to your moves that must be carefully measured to not be hit in return, as you are never strong enough to trade blows with most foes, heavens forbid against bosses. Chaining abilities and dodges together is a little hard, and a common complaint for the game, as there isn't an immediately obvious way to cancel your abilities into each other. As long as you are on the ground, you are mostly locked into your animations.
Keyword here being "on the ground". By jumping (or double jumping, the first ability you get, 10 minutes into the game), you not only cancel out your current animation, but also resets your ability to do skills, allowing you to chain attacks together or make a tactical dodge. It's simple enough, a tad tricky to learn, but by the end of the game, you'll be a hopping master of combat.

If there was at all something I could complain about, is the difficulty curve is pretty intense. Death has no penalty, other than putting you back in the last room you saved in. Which is good, because you are going to die a lot, particularly in the last few areas. It could get a tad frustrating at times, but not enough to make me take off any points. And every time you die, you get a little better. And crawling through the last area, or fighting certain bosses, and slowly figuring it out is its own kind of progression, and makes things supremely satisfying to overcome.

Overall, the game is reasonably short, somewhere between a Souls game and your average metroidvania. I beat it in a single sitting binge, and I was able to 100% clear it all in 15 hours. And I think that's good. Metroidvania's are at their best, I feel, with shorter play time. In the end though, I almost wish it was longer, just so I could experience it for more time, even if I think its current length represents its best self.

SOUND: 10/10
Slight bias here, as Mili (whom you may know from Rayark's masterful (and free) music games Deemo or Cytus) has performed this game's soundtrack, and she's one of my all-time favorite artists. Actually, it's because I saw her name associated with the game that I ended up getting it at all, and I sure am glad I did.

The music is, dare I say it, a masterpiece. It captures elements of the narrative, the environment, and the characters all together in a way that tells its own story, in a masterful way that few games can attest to. The game is filled with slow, somber melodies, which fit the lonely aethstetic that pervades the game. Very, very heavy on the piano as well as a lot of strings, it has a degree of whimsy to it, of isolated calm in a desolate land. A lullaby, or a dirge, perhaps. A dirge, for those less musically inclined, being a "song or hymn of grief or lamentation, usually accompanying a funeral or memorial rites", something that fits the overall mood of the game to a T.

As you travel deeper into the blighted lands, the music moves away from its sweet, calmer melodies, into something akin to the Metroid Prime endgame, filled with low, foreboding drones, deep, heavy strings, and "organic" sounds. While it fits the theme of both the environment and the narrative, it's a little less pleasant than the whimsical lullabies of the early zones. This is made up for the Final Boss themes, at least, which are the perfect endcap to the musical bliss this game provides.

I seriously can't overhype this aspect of the game enough. Go listen to the OST. Its on Spotify. Its amazing.

GRAPHICS: 10/10
I'd give it an 11/10, were I allowed to break my own rules. Ender Lilies is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful games I've ever seen. The only thing that even comes close are the two Ori games. Creating such rich, lush, and detailed environments within a 2D game is no easy feat, and Ender Lilies knocks it out of the park.
The game has buttery smooth animations, and uses puppets to such incredible precision and detail that I would often mistake them for 3D models. Were I not familiar with puppet animation, I would likely have thought the models to be 3D renders themselves.
The environments as well are beautiful. I wish I had words to better describe them. They are breathtaking, and the game knows it, regularly disabling the UI in safe areas to show itself off. The level of detail, the layering, the foreground, the background, everything just breathes this game's character. You really have to be there, to see it for yourself, to appreciate it all.

STORY: 8/10
The story is, honestly, not all that much. But it's not what is told so much as how it is told. You play a young girl, accompanied by her nameless spectral knight. The nation of Land's End is dead, with everyone in it turned into undying monsters by the Blight brought on by the Rain of Death. You, as a White Priestess, are both immune to the Blight, and possess the ability to purify it. The story is told through notes collected throughout the realm, as well as through the memories of bosses, as you witness, as you purify them, the thoughts and desires they clung to most dearly when the Blight took them. It's simple, not terribly complex, and doesn't really lend itself to a greater story (although there is one, and it's pretty good too.) The greater story is interesting, facinating even, but leaves out enough that I find myself desperately craving more about this facinating world, the history of Land's End, and of the realms beyond. Its a small complaint, but one nonetheless. And really, the game is a collection of small character pieces anyways. And they are beautifully executed. Even the 10-ish minutes that the minor bosses get tell a story well enough that I get emotionally invested in it. While the major bosses, even more so. Even though they are all already technically dead, fighting them feels bad. Nobody is evil in this game, everyone is a victim. And striking them down, giving them their final rest, feels bittersweet. It's truly wonderful, an emotionally investing kind of battle that I've never seen in a game before.
It's hard to talk too much about the story without spoiling things. Its really something that needs to be experienced firsthand. But take my word for it, it's excellent. If you're looking for a great story though, or even super fleshed out lore though items like Dark Souls, you might want to look elsewhere. At the very least, the story fits in just right with the rest of the game's mechanics, and they all work together beautifully.

OVERALL: 36/40 (39/40 personally)

TL;DR, Ender Lilies is a treat, a feast for the eyes, ears, and heart. In my honest opinion, it is a better game then Hollow Knight in every regard save its movement tech. It's a wonderful experience, and if any part of the game strikes you fancy, I honestly can't recommend it enough.

P.S.
I really hope this game garners enough love to get itself a sequel, DLC, or at the very least, another project from these Devs. They've given us something amazing, and I, for one, am hungry for more.

[Gunlord]

Excellent review! I really loved the game too, although I wish it had more replay value.