HomeReviews4.5/5 ReviewENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist Review

ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist Review

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A Dark Fantasy World Awaits

As a sequel to ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights, ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist takes place 50 years later in the same dark fantasy world of the first game. The fluid combat, beautiful visuals, and incredible soundtrack of the first game make their return, and anyone who was a fan of that one can go ahead and buy ENDER MAGNOLIA now.

Ender Magnolia Bloom in The Mist Review 1
Head back to the ENDER world

For those who aren’t familiar with the series, as mentioned before, ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist takes place in a dark fantasy world. In this world, humans make use of Homonculi, artificial humans, for various jobs and tasks in the world. However, Fumes now plague the land, causing these Homonculi to succumb to madness and attack the very humans who they worked alongside.

You play as Lilac, a young girl and attuner, a group of individuals that have the ability to purify those afflicted by the Fumes. Lilac awakes at the start of the game with no memory of who she is. Shortly after waking, she encounters the first Homonculi of many that she will encounter throughout her journey. After attuning this homonculus, Lilac sees a glimpse of memories that set her on a journey to not only help save the land from the Fumes, but discover her origins as well.

Fluid Combat and Responsive Platforming

As a metroidvania, the gameplay has heavy emphasis on exploration, platforming, and combat. The movement actually feels a little better compared to ENDER LILIES and the dodging in particular feels a bit more fluid in ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist. The platforming is responsive and comfortable to engage with.

Combat abilities are tied to the Homoncoli that are recruited throughout the game. Each one has a unique ability that focuses on melee, ranged, defense, or even automated attacks. These abilities can all be upgraded, and each Homoncoli actually has alternative skills that can be unlocked and used to change your play style. The melee attack starts with a balance between speed and power, but can be changed to a slower, heavier hitting axe attack if desired.

Homonculi Abilities, Relics, and Traversal in ENDER MAGNOLIA

Four different combat abilities can be equipped at a time, and the wide selection means your play style can vary wildly from the start to the end of the game. Beyond the variety of combat abilities, there are relics that can be found and equipped to modify stats, increase experience gain, and provide other benefits.

Traversal abilities are unlocked in much the same way as combat abilities. Upon defeating certain Homonculi in combat, once they are attuned they will provide new abilities for getting around the map.

Ender Magnolia Bloom in The Mist Review 2
Various combat styles

Mapping Your Progress

Speaking of which, the map is fantastically done for a metroidvania. On the map, each room starts shaded grey, but after collecting everything in the room it becomes a rich blue. Each area in the map will also be marked when everything is fully collected in it. This makes scanning a large map much easier, especially when trying to find where else to explore.

Blockades and special locations are also automatically marked when playing and any obstacles that need to be passed will display a “???” if the ability needed to navigate past it is missing. However, as soon as the ability is unlocked, the obstacle will instead display the name of the ability used to clear it. It’s a great quality of life feature, as there are plenty of games in the genre that fail to make their map readable. Metroidvanias revolve around backtracking and exploring previously unreachable areas, and the harder the map is to read, the more frustrating the entire game becomes.

ENDER MAGNOLIA’s Frustrating Portal Rooms

However, there is one complaint I have about the map in ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist, and that would be the number of rooms that use portal/teleportation mechanics for traversal. These rooms are segmented into various sections that are completely isolated from each other. Some sections may become accessible by unlocking doors, but the vast majority of them can only be accessed by using various warp points scattered throughout the room.

These rooms can only be navigated through trial and error and are near impossible to build a mental map for if they need to be revisited. They slow down the exploration and feel more roundabout than other sections of the game. This also happens to be the only thing that isn’t marked on the map for traversal. Warp points do appear, but where they are linked to never populates.

Ender Magnolia Bloom in The Mist Review 3
A great metroidvania

Customizable Difficulty and a Stellar Soundtrack

It’s frustrating, but by no means ruins the experience of the rest of ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist. The platforming is solid, combat is fluid, and the story and characters are interesting and engaging. ENDER MAGNOLIA also features a highly modifiable difficulty level. Presets exist for easy, medium, and hard difficulties, but it’s also possible to adjust specific parameters like damage taken or dealt to fully customize the difficulty. For someone who wants to just enjoy the story and world, this is sure to be a welcome feature.

Even if the story doesn’t interest you, the fantastic music is enough of a reason to play ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist. Mili is the artist that created the music in ENDER LILIES, and it was incredibly beautiful. From sorrowful piano pieces to the themed scores found in each of the more unique locations, each one fits perfectly. The soundtrack in the first game was one of the reasons I enjoyed playing it so much, and ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist features even more stellar music.

A Beautiful and Engaging Metroidvania with a Few Minor Quirks

Overall ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist is a great metroidvania, perfect for anyone looking for a new game to try. While it shares a world with its predecessor, there isn’t any need to play ENDER LILIES before starting this one. That being said, both are worth playing and if you like one, then the other is sure to please.


Embark on a Journey of Redemption and Uncover the Truth in ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist – https://www.thexboxhub.com/embark-on-a-journey-of-redemption-and-uncover-the-truth-in-ender-magnolia-bloom-in-the-mist/

Buy ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/ender-magnolia-bloom-in-the-mist/9pffs71hnmgg


SUMMARY

Pros:
  • Combat and traversal are fun
  • Map is incredibly readable and well designed
  • Fantastic music
Cons:
  • Some rooms are confusing to navigate
Info:
  • Massive thanks for the free copy of the game, Binary Haze
  • Formats - Xbox Series X|S (review), PC, PS4, PS5
  • Not available on Game Pass Day One
  • Release date | Price - 22 January 2025 | £20.99
Ryan Taylor
Ryan Taylor
Grew up playing the Nintendo 64 where I fell in love with the Legend of Zelda series. As I got older though my console of choice changed, first to PS2, and then finally to the Xbox 360, which I've been playing on for over a decade now. And since my first day booting up my Xbox, I've upgraded consoles and even built a gaming PC. Because at the end of the day I just love gaming.
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<b>Pros:</b> <ul> <li>Combat and traversal are fun</li> <li>Map is incredibly readable and well designed</li> <li>Fantastic music</li> </ul> <b>Cons:</b> <ul> <li>Some rooms are confusing to navigate</li> </ul> <b>Info:</b> <ul> <li>Massive thanks for the free copy of the game, Binary Haze</li> <li>Formats - Xbox Series X|S (review), PC, PS4, PS5 <li>Not available on Game Pass Day One <li>Release date | Price - 22 January 2025 | £20.99</li> </ul>ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist Review
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