I might come back to this later, but I couldn't really get into this one. Combat is weak, with your attacks having pretty poor feedback and lacking any impact. Level design is pretty uninteresting, consisting almost entirely of rectangular rooms that tend to be bigger than they need to be. The only thing that makes the game difficult is how janky dodging feels. You just kind of flop onto the ground and the animation makes it difficult to tell when you're invincible and when you're vulnerable to damage. The whole game, despite having great art and music, has a feeling that I can only describe as something that would have been on Newgrounds in the early 2000s.

You get a bunch of different combat abilities that you can mix and match which is neat, but there are just way too many other metroidvanias out there that do what I think this game is trying to do way better. Good presentation and atmosphere can only get you so far.

With that said, I did only play about 3 hours. I've heard it gets better, but I'm not willing to sit through mediocrity for the chance of quality at the moment.

So before I moved to Southern California I almost never ate fast food. Living in New York if I needed something cheap and fast in the middle of the night I'd just get a slice of pizza, or maybe Chinese food, hell maybe even a bodega sandwich. Then I moved out here and started grad school and found myself eating Taco Bell or Jack in the Box 2 or 3 nights a week because it was the only thing open at 1 in the morning. I guess it became a habit because now getting fast food and eating in my car in the parking lot next to the drive-thru is like a weekly occurrence. My go-to spots are Taco Bell, Wendy's, Popeyes, and In-N-Out, and I can't really eat at Jack in the Box anymore cause I had too many of the gnarly 2-for-a-dollar tacos and now everything from there makes me nauseous. (Psychosomatic?) When I first moved here I'd never tried Del Taco before, and my first experience I remember being like "this is awful, it tastes like nothing." The mild sauce tastes like someone literally just squeezed a tomato onto your food and the hot sauce tastes exactly the same but it makes your tongue tingle. The ingredients are all pretty fresh. Unlike Taco Bell it doesn't feel like you're eating a simulacrum of human food. It just kind of feels like someone made one of those Old El Paso taco kits, but they somehow lost the seasoning packet so they had to raid their own spice cabinet but all they had was salt and some cumin powder that expired 3 years ago. After that first experience I figured I'd never eat there ever again. But every once in a blue moon I'll find myself getting a craving for it. I eat at Del Taco probably once every 3 or 4 months now, and it's nice. I wouldn't say it's "good" or "tasty," but in some weird way it hits the spot.

ANYWAY! This was like... fine? Got to the final boss and kind of just didn't feel like finishing. But it wasn't a bad experience, just kind of a bland one. If they ever make a sequel I'll probably play it.

The controls are tight. Cool, diverse skill set. The enemy and level design are nothing special but aren't terrible. Some decently challenging boss fights. Lots of goodies to collect. A little on the linear side for a Metroidvania. The art is really well done, if not exactly my taste.

Does not tug on the heart strings or 'make ya think' as much as it seems to think it does. There's an area of the map filled with poison gas that quickly kills you if you don't have a special mask item, and it's straight up called "The Verboten Domain." That's the level of poetry we're talkin' about here lol

Also: Games have GOT to stop doing the Dark Souls "have a bunch of flavor text vaguely point toward a story rather than just telling you a story outright" thing unless they actually know how to write evocatively and have a lore that's WORTH BEING CURIOUS ABOUT!! Like idk, I'm an obsessive completionist so I picked up all of the notes or letters or engravings or what have you and what I can tell you is that this game is about princesses. Who are sort of like clones, maybe? And there was like a plague or some shit, for sure. Turned people into zombies, sort of? A king went mad at some point, definitely. I don't know who "The Ancients" are but they're definitely important. And some well meaning (?) wizards did some evil experiments or something? Whatever, who care.

✨𝒄𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒍𝒆 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔✨

M.I.D

Metroidvania
Inconvenientemente
Dgenerico

All-round a very solid soulslike/metroidvania. And this game deserves those two genre labels more than most. Ender Lilies is so heavily influenced by other games in those genres that it almost comes off as some hybrid or compilation. The theming and enemy design is very Dark Souls, the story is very Hollow Knight, the boss design is very Bloodborne and the art style reminds me of Salt and Sanctuary, albeit a fair bit better. Don't get me wrong, Ender Lilies is good or great in almost every aspect, but it can feel like it isn't bringing a whole lot new to the table.

I guess the main innovation/gimmick that EL:QotK does contribute to the genre is the spirits system, where you unlock new moves by beating associated bosses / minibosses and recruiting their spirits to your side, and then equip up to six of these at each bonfire/bench/respite. I do quite like this system, it leads to a lot of build variability, but it does feel a little out of place alongside the other RPG elements (a copy of the charms system from Hollow Knight and a character levelling system that... I never worked out what it was doing). It makes combat pretty fun and varied, and some of the most satisfying I've played in the genre (at least once you get the dash, because the basic dodge kinda sucks to use).

I'd say the game probably puts the most effort into building its atmosphere; but I think it perhaps goes a little too hard too fast. The first couple of levels of this game are just so damn sad, and not really in a good way. You're thrown in at the deep end with an extremely bleak and hopeless seeming world before you have any time to get invested in anything, and the game doesn't offer any NPCs to talk to to show any faint sign of life or reason this world deserves saving. I dunno, I didn't feel this way by the end once the game had earned my engagement at a story and setting level, but this kind of thing has completely thrown me out of other Metroidvanias before now (main example being Ori and the Blind Forest), so I think the feeling of 'unearned atmosphere' I got from the start of this is worth a mention.

But yeah, other than that and its lack of originality at times, Ender Lilies is just good all-round. Beautiful art, great music (I particularly like how it dynamically changes between different rooms in an area), spot-on difficulty curve and no major glaring issues to point at. Pretty much the exact definition of a 4/5 game to me.

9/10.

Que história comovente!

Eu sou aquele cara que jogo pela história, porém este jogo é um ótimo metroidvania, merece mais reconhecimento.

Foi uma experiência muito afável e sofrível malditos corvos!
Gostei bastante do combate e exploração, os signos visuais e entrelinhas na temática de lillie são muito boas, elas evocam algo muito maior em seu final, resultou se a mim lágrimas.

nao teve jeito é o tal do peak.

Ender Lilies is a game that I had my eye on since it had came out earlier this year. I finally got around to playing it, and I am glad that I finally did as this game was amazing from start to finish. Aesthetically, the games visuals, and music are outstanding. The visuals are amazing to look at, and the music works with the visuals to give it a dark, gloomy vibe along with being appealing to listen to. The game itself is very fun, giving the player a plethora of different weapons and abilities throughout the game to keep fresh. This also goes hand in hand with the new enemies that get introduced throughout the game. This game is a must play for fans of the Metroidvania genre.

Otro intento de emular al fenómeno del momento, ya sea Dark Souls o, en este caso, Hollow Knight, sin contar con la elegancia necesaria para ello.

Pros:
- El sistema de combate basado en espíritus otorga bastantes posibilidades de buildeo.
- Todo va muy fluido. El personaje se controla bien en todos los ejes.
- Las peleas contra bosses son destacables, aunque entre ellas hay que pasar por el peor elemento del juego, explicado en el siguiente punto.

Contras:
- Su forma de introducir dificultad es rellenar todas las ubicaciones con ochocientos cuarenta y tres mil enemigos. Para más inri, el 50% de los enemigos disparan proyectiles de seguimiento.
- El diseño artístico de los escenarios es muy pobre. Si bien al principio parecen destacar por su belleza, se acaban repitiendo hasta la saciedad a lo largo de las zonas.
- Su forma de entender el género metroidvania consiste en permitirte ir constantemente por rutas cerradas para tener que hacer backtracking constante.

Um baita de um metroidvania! Impressionante como eu não conhecia o jogo e só de ver uma screenshot já o quis comprar logo de cara, e deu muito bom. Ender Liles é absurdamente imersivo e recheado de inspirações, seu mundo desolado e solitário me lembra bastante Nier Automata, somado por seu lado Dark Fantasy que é bem voltado pra Dark Souls, e indo mais a fundo, da até pra tirar uma pitada de Shadow of The Colossus aqui, visto que nossa protagonista, Lily, está em um mundo no qual ela não conhece muito bem, purificando os Corrompidos, e a cada chefe principal purificado, sua aparência vai ficando mais e mais devastada e corrompida.

Antes de tudo num Metroidvania pra mim, o principal foco é ter um motivo pra explorar, seja achar alguma arma, equipamentos, armaduras, etc. Aqui não usamos armas, já que Lily não ataca, apenas anda, pula e desvia, a função de ataque traz um grande diferencial sensacional pro jogo, que são os Espíritos Corrompidos. Cada chefe do jogo derrotado se torna seu aliado, sendo usado pra combate. Basicamente eles funcionam como stands, equipamos ele num set de skills (no meu caso X, Y e B) e o resto é óbvio. Ou seja, todos os chefes do jogo (com exeção do último) são suas armas, e isso é sensacional, pois tirando os bosses principais, o jogo tem toneladas de opcionais e cada um com uma skill diferente abrangendo varios estilos de jogo e estrátegias, um atira um projétil, outro arranca pra frente, outro ataca em diagonal, outros que combam e por aí vai, a lista é grande e o combate se torna muito varíado graças a isso. O jogo definitivamente não é fácil e exige bastante cautela, os inimigos machucam, e no último ato alguns inimigos te matam com dois golpes. Os chefes variam, eu tive problemas com uns dois, espcialmente o último que tive que ir upado no talo, aí virou passeio.

Depois de tudo, Ender Lilies entrega tudo, o jogo é lindo de morrer, tendo uma paleta de cores bem escura com ambientes de encher os olhos de tão lindos, trilha sonora no piano solene e melancólica que ajudam ainda mais na imersão, uma lore muito bacana com toneladas de arquivos de texto pra agradar todos que gostam de se aprofundar, acompanhado da história linda, e claro, seu combate diverso e divertido. O jogo foi um pouco longo, platinei em 25 horas, embora eu não tenha ficado entediado em nenhum momento, achei a exploração e a progressão bem diversificada e intiuitiva, por exemplo, o pulo duplo é um dos primeiros upgrades, com isso você acha que vai fazer a festa achando novas áreas, já que esse upgrade geralmente é um alívio quando se pega em qualquer metroidvania, mas o jogo consegue trancar bem a progressão pra que tudo pareça orgânico, e a cada upgrade novo, a movimentação acaba ficando cada vez mais divertida, e quando se pega o gancho é a cereja do bolo. Uma coisa meio estranha é que no mapa, a sala não vai se formando conforme você anda, e sim já fica um bloco inteiro representando que você está ali, isso faz o backtracking ficar meio confuso já que o jogo tem várias salas que são gigantes mas em contrapartida, o jogo é bem intuitivo marcando blocos laranjas pra áreas completadas e azuis pra não completadas, sem falar que marca em vermelho rotas fechadas.

No fim mais um jogo indie que deu um verdadeiro show, um joguinho que vai deixar saudades e que definitivamente merecia mais reconhecimento.

Pros
- Nice music
- Combat is decent

Cons
- Poor level design
- Bad map
- Ability collection feels all over the place in relation to the metroidvania aspect
- Takes a while for combat to pick up

I randomly came upon one of the endings after beating a boss and I didn't feel the need to go back and collect the rest of the abilities and beat the remaining bosses. That moment kinda captured how I felt about the game overall.

What a wonderful journey; I'd recommend this game to anyone really, even if you don't like Metroidvanias (although it's an excellent one). The art and music are breathtaking, every single upgrade is fun and gives you plenty of secrets to find. The story is bittersweet and is sprinkled throughout the world, a lot of it is interesting but it does require piecing it together through notes and certain dialogue- Similar to another dark fantasy game which I don't think I need to name right now. All in all, Ender Lillies is a gorgeous game that everyone should experience

Le jeu propose un super système de combat, au lieu de choisir une arme on choisi trois fantômes chacun associés à une touche qui attaquerons à notre place, avec la quantité de fantômes disponibles cela permet d'imaginer pleins de synergies et combos uniques entre les fantômes. Les combats sont donc variés et se renouvellent à mesure que l'on collecte de nouveaux fantômes et qu'on expérimente en plus d'offrir une variété d'ennemis correcte. Le déroulement du jeu est assez linéaire au début mais nécessite néanmoins du backtracking à plusieurs reprises pour avancer dans l'histoire. La mini-map est très mini-maliste mais aussi très efficace pour communiquer au joueur quel endroit il n'a pas encore exploré et indique si l'on a trouvé tous les objets dans une salle très pratique pour les mordus du 100% comme moi. On déplore l'absence d'une ost marquante bien que de bonne facture. On peut aussi reprocher un level design assez banal, le jeu se concentrant bien plus sur le combat que la plateforme. L'ambiance elle est réussie, on se trouve dans un monde en proie au désespoir et cela se ressent dans la musique et la direction artistique. Le lore ne casse pas trois pâtes à un canard mais il est suffisamment intriguant et mystérieux pour qu'on se plaise à découvrir cet univers. Définitivement un jeu de choix si vous êtes en manque de metroidvania et avez déjà touché au classiques du genre.

Gran Souls-Metrodvania que mezcla un precioso apartado visual con una dificultad perfectamente medida y una historia emotiva junto a tus tristes compañeros.
Lo que no me ha gustado.
-Pocos jefes finales.
-El último nivel.

Lo que me ha gustado.
-El lore.
-Tus compañeros y técnicas de combates.
-Combate que podías mezclar con dos estilos completamente distintos gracias a todas las variantes que ofrecía.
-El mapa.
-Su apartado visual.
-La banda sonora.

Nota final: 9.

Ender Lillies wears its influences on its sleeves. The gameplay is more combat focused than I like in my Metroidvanias, but the various abilities and challenging boss encounters kept my interest. The visuals and music are exceptional, with inspirations taken from a variety of sources including Castlevania, Nier and even Metroid Prime (looking at you, Phenandra Drifts sounding track that plays in the Verboten Domain).

The games starts off fairly slow, but picks up in the second half, with more interesting locales, additional movement mechanics and some vicious bosses. I had a good time with this, it's definitely worth going for at least Ending B; if you stop at Ending A you'll likely miss 50% of the content.

Difficulty: 5/10
Time to platinum: 30-35 hours
Platinum N°: 112

A metroidvania game that puts us in the shoes of Lily, the last maiden of a kingdom ravaged by an eternal rain that turns people into the undead. We must explore the corners of this kingdom, try to figure out what happened and find the source of the rain.

The art of the game is beautiful and exudes an air of melancholy thanks to its music and the images of the devastated place.

Trophies are what you expect in a game like this: go 100% around the map, find all the relics and all the notes. But You also have to reach level 100, purify all the heroes, raise 5 skills to the maximum and see the 3 endings (it is not necessary to play it 3 times), among others.

It is not a revolutionary game or anything like that, but among so much game of this style, it is definitely one that is worth playing.

A solid Metroidvania with beautiful art and music. The combat seems pretty tough at times, and there are a few difficult bosses, but for the most part, the difficulty seemed pretty fair, especially if you hunt everything down like I did. The story was the only kind of bland part of the game; most is delivered in notes you pick up, so be prepared to do a lot of reading. If that's your thing, then all power to you! But during the last rooms of the game, my eyes were glazing over starting at walls of exposition. I wasn't the biggest fan of that.

It took a while for me to really get sucked in compared to similar games in the genre, but it was very similar to Hollow Knight, which is great!