To anyone that played the Early Access from Ender Lilies...

[Raxyz]

...did they change the orders the abilities were acquired from EA to full release? We got the air dash WAY earlier this time around, Lilac's entire mobility feels like mid-point metroidvania actually. I honestly love when a sequel doesn't use the exact same progression curve and gives certain power-ups right off the bat as they build upon it, but is the final build likely to still give us those abilities this early?

[watcherofanime935]

I mean. The way i see it. They gave us this stuff so early because we need it. I'm assuming the best is yet to come. Every minute of this game has been really enjoyable.

[Hooligan]

Originally posted by watcherofanime935:

I mean. The way i see it. They gave us this stuff so early because we need it. I'm assuming the best is yet to come. Every minute of this game has been really enjoyable.

I'm with you on this one. Feels more like basic moveset to me that is simplistic, but has a lot of applications that will be built further upon later.

[Quidjibo2021]

yeah, this is my biggest concern so far, but I don't have many of them. The original Ender Lilies was a "true" MV with ability locks; This one is rewarding you with keys after finishing quest milestones. Not a fan, tbh. I prefer the more organic structure of other MVs.

I got the double jump, which comes with an air dash, about 30 minutes or so into the EA version. I found 4 homunculi and NONE of their abilities are "keys" to reaching any part of the map (so far). I reached the end and I'm disappointed that there weren't really ANY ability-gated areas (save one that isn't accessible yet). You get the double-jump with the air dash so early, there's almost nowhere on the map you can't reach yet.

[KoBeWi]

Originally posted by Quidjibo2021:

I found 4 homunculi and NONE of their abilities are "keys" to reaching any part of the map (so far).

One of them is giving ability to destroy floor tumors. We are still missing ability to destroy wall tumors and to go underwater. And given the final game is going to be much bigger, we might get some completely new abilities that aren't used in the Early Access locations. But yeah, the game is also leaning towards story-based key items. So far it seems rather balanced though.

[Raxyz]

I absolutely love when the game's mobility is nutty enough to allow for sequence breaking. While locked doors do tend to limit this possibility, I don't mind it if the mobility is satisfying enough to use (which currently is). It's slow/sluggish movement AND tons of locked or clearly inaccessible areas that piss me off. At that point you're playing a linear game that's just reusing assets for content padding.

[Mydlak]

Now that I think about it, they said on the store page that we are getting 30 unique skills. That means 10 companions and 5 of them are already with us. We might have gotten half of the game already with this early access. I am afraid that Ender Magnolia might be a 7 hour game unlike Ender Lillies which took like 16ish...

[watcherofanime935]

Originally posted by Mydlak:

Now that I think about it, they said on the store page that we are getting 30 unique skills. That means 10 companions and 5 of them are already with us. We might have gotten half of the game already with this early access. I am afraid that Ender Magnolia might be a 7 hour game unlike Ender Lillies which took like 16ish...

playtime will vary widely between players ya know. took me bout 27 hours to beat EL. that's with all 3 endings and a majority of items found. i'm fine with fewer overall skills simply because discovering synergy and how it adheres to the player style is part of the fun. the combos are gonna be insane.

[benj]

Originally posted by watcherofanime935:

i'm fine with fewer overall skills simply because discovering synergy and how it adheres to the player style is part of the fun. the combos are gonna be insane.

Yeah me too, I like this quality over quantity approach with fewer companions that have multiple skill paths. It also makes them and Lilac more of a tight knit group which is really nice.

As for how it affects the game’s length, I think the rest of the homunculi are going to be more spread out. They probably just front loaded the first half of them so the player would have at least one of each skill type right away.

[Mydlak]

Originally posted by watcherofanime935:

Originally posted by Mydlak:

Now that I think about it, they said on the store page that we are getting 30 unique skills. That means 10 companions and 5 of them are already with us. We might have gotten half of the game already with this early access. I am afraid that Ender Magnolia might be a 7 hour game unlike Ender Lillies which took like 16ish...

playtime will vary widely between players ya know. took me bout 27 hours to beat EL. that's with all 3 endings and a majority of items found. i'm fine with fewer overall skills simply because discovering synergy and how it adheres to the player style is part of the fun. the combos are gonna be insane.

Yeah I'm just hoping there will be quite a lot content added, the game is just so good and I am thirsty for more...

[Sur_GalaHad]

I see both sides of it. Personally im leaning more on the happy we got it early team. keep in mind we only have a few areas right now so we have no idea what is in store for the game as it progresses. I think its better to give us the movement now so we can enjoy the game forward thinking and build the rest of the game off said moment in advance as opposed to getting it later then adding massive back tracking.

Having the movement abilities in early game means we don't have to spend hours coming back to the opening areas to get stuff we can get now and save that for areas that are ability gated. Especially since the map will be much bigger this game. I personally dont want to go all thew way back to area one just to dash and jump around because they waited 5-6 areas in to give us dash and double jump. I would rather areas and items be gated by keys and Humunculi abilities instead of a ledge I need double jump to reach

[Robbed tank for buy more milk]

bro there boss that give you ability to destroy tumor
no spoiler but hint just in case you can't fine them
find big evelator in mining area go up then go left you will find them

[deviller]

I don't really mind this game unlock air dash and double jump early. Heck I wish all games start to do this (including sliding). Now for advance move, go ahead to lock them with progression. But for simple move like this, I wish more and more game put it in the beginning of the game.

[EarthwormZim]

Originally posted by Mydlak:

Now that I think about it, they said on the store page that we are getting 30 unique skills. That means 10 companions and 5 of them are already with us. We might have gotten half of the game already with this early access. I am afraid that Ender Magnolia might be a 7 hour game unlike Ender Lillies which took like 16ish...

I realized this early on too but since they said 30 abilities and each companion has 3 each, remember we only have access to the level 1 version of 11 total abilities in the EA, since for two of the companions we haven’t gotten access to any upgrade materials. Then add to that several of the upgrade materials were obtained from mini bosses so it’s possible there will be quite a bit of mini bosses to beat for the upgrade materials. So I wouldn’t say the EA is half the game, worst case scenario would be about 1/3 the game but even that I feel is a little fatalistic.

I also hope there’s enough in one playthrough to max everything this time. That might be my biggest gripe with Ender Lilies.

[Quidjibo2021]

Originally posted by KoBeWi:

Originally posted by Quidjibo2021:

I found 4 homunculi and NONE of their abilities are "keys" to reaching any part of the map (so far).

One of them is giving ability to destroy floor tumors. We are still missing ability to destroy wall tumors and to go underwater. And given the final game is going to be much bigger, we might get some completely new abilities that aren't used in the Early Access locations. But yeah, the game is also leaning towards story-based key items. So far it seems rather balanced though.

which one? I think I got all of them. After posting, I went into the mines and took care of that boss, so I think I have all of the homunculi in the game, but he doesn't grant a floor smash ability.

I really don't see how this game is going to be as long as Ender Lilies at the rate we're acquiring homunculi and how nimble the character already is. I am very disappointed with how locked regions of the map are being opened in this game. I don't like opening new areas by finishing quests and talking to NPCs. The best part of a Metroidvania is getting cool abilities that open new areas. The way doors are opening in this game is less interesting than in the Dark Souls games because at least in those games you have to track down spooky Macguffins.

[TragicJon]

Having most or all of the movement based abilities at or near the start isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's a way of game giving you your toolkit and saying, "Alright here's everything you need to go forth, now let's see what you can do."