Wow, all in all this was an excellent Metroidvania. Combining the staples of the genre with some influences from RPGs and the Dark Souls games, ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights may not be the most innovative search action game, but it is an absolutely phenomenal execution of one.
To start, the combat is just excellent. You start off with a basic sword combo and can build from there as you go throughout the game. What's cool about this is since you're just a little girl, you use spirits to fight for you, including that starting sword combo. You build out your repertoire bit by bit with more main and supporting spirits by exploring the world for mini bosses or beating the main bosses of the game. It's a great system that allows for some great customization of builds (you can have two presets at once that you switch between) based on how you play and what you've found so far.
The bosses also give you a new ability each time you beat one, allowing you to overcome more obstacles. In classic Metroidvania fashion, you use these to both move on to the next level and to backtrack and find further goodies in previous levels. This backtracking is made all the more convenient by the map showing a different color based on whether you've found everything in a room or not. I had fun going back and gathering all the powerups I missed.
It all really boils down to the fact that this game feels really damn good to play. Both the combat and the platforming are tight and responsive, with only a few points where I felt like the game didn't react to an input (and honestly, I was probably just late pressing the button). It's a blast especially to zip through levels that you're now way overleveled for to explore. You'll want to as well to get upgrades to your health, Relics which give you added bonuses and effects, and more slots to equip more relics. There's also a fun side collectible you'll need if you want to get the game's true ending, though I won't spoil more here. I've been a bit repetitive on this point, but I can't emphasize enough how well the game executed this tenant of the search action genre. So much so that I went out of my way to 100% the map and Platinum the game, which I don't normally do.
I've talked a lot about the gameplay, but that's not the only great part to this game. The presentation is stellar as well. The art style is a beautiful gothic anime-inspired look that's drawn to great effect here. For the most part, each level is unique in its look too which gives a sense that you're exploring an entire world and not just one small pocket of it. The only exceptions were a couple of later levels that were incredibly similar, which is even more noticeable if you do them back-to-back like I did. Regardless, you get a great sense of sorrow and almost misery from the world you explore, which matches the interesting and well-written lore.
You'll want to read the notes you find throughout the game, as they further flesh out the world, characters (including bosses), and story. Getting all 3 endings while knowing what's happening is definitely a plus.
The only nitpick presentation-wise I would have is with the sound. The soundtrack for the most part is stellar with some truly awesome tracks, and the sound design is solid. However, there are some weird misses and gaps. Whenever you're in a room between levels, the music just cuts out completely. It's a good way to signal you're about to enter a new area, but it is also jarring. There were a couple times I thought it was a legitimate glitch only to realize what was happening a second later. There are also some dud tracks, especially the BGM for the Stockade level. It's a much more ambient take compared to the rest of the game's melodic style. I understand why they did it for this level, but I still don't like it.
There really isn't much to complain about otherwise. There were maybe a couple other enemy types that had some bullshit hitboxes (and I mean the very few where this was actually true and not just me raging because I was playing poorly lol). Those were so rare though that it's hardly a factor. Overall, this is a phenomenal game from a clearly talented group of people, and I look forward immensely to what they do next!
To start, the combat is just excellent. You start off with a basic sword combo and can build from there as you go throughout the game. What's cool about this is since you're just a little girl, you use spirits to fight for you, including that starting sword combo. You build out your repertoire bit by bit with more main and supporting spirits by exploring the world for mini bosses or beating the main bosses of the game. It's a great system that allows for some great customization of builds (you can have two presets at once that you switch between) based on how you play and what you've found so far.
The bosses also give you a new ability each time you beat one, allowing you to overcome more obstacles. In classic Metroidvania fashion, you use these to both move on to the next level and to backtrack and find further goodies in previous levels. This backtracking is made all the more convenient by the map showing a different color based on whether you've found everything in a room or not. I had fun going back and gathering all the powerups I missed.
It all really boils down to the fact that this game feels really damn good to play. Both the combat and the platforming are tight and responsive, with only a few points where I felt like the game didn't react to an input (and honestly, I was probably just late pressing the button). It's a blast especially to zip through levels that you're now way overleveled for to explore. You'll want to as well to get upgrades to your health, Relics which give you added bonuses and effects, and more slots to equip more relics. There's also a fun side collectible you'll need if you want to get the game's true ending, though I won't spoil more here. I've been a bit repetitive on this point, but I can't emphasize enough how well the game executed this tenant of the search action genre. So much so that I went out of my way to 100% the map and Platinum the game, which I don't normally do.
I've talked a lot about the gameplay, but that's not the only great part to this game. The presentation is stellar as well. The art style is a beautiful gothic anime-inspired look that's drawn to great effect here. For the most part, each level is unique in its look too which gives a sense that you're exploring an entire world and not just one small pocket of it. The only exceptions were a couple of later levels that were incredibly similar, which is even more noticeable if you do them back-to-back like I did. Regardless, you get a great sense of sorrow and almost misery from the world you explore, which matches the interesting and well-written lore.
You'll want to read the notes you find throughout the game, as they further flesh out the world, characters (including bosses), and story. Getting all 3 endings while knowing what's happening is definitely a plus.
The only nitpick presentation-wise I would have is with the sound. The soundtrack for the most part is stellar with some truly awesome tracks, and the sound design is solid. However, there are some weird misses and gaps. Whenever you're in a room between levels, the music just cuts out completely. It's a good way to signal you're about to enter a new area, but it is also jarring. There were a couple times I thought it was a legitimate glitch only to realize what was happening a second later. There are also some dud tracks, especially the BGM for the Stockade level. It's a much more ambient take compared to the rest of the game's melodic style. I understand why they did it for this level, but I still don't like it.
There really isn't much to complain about otherwise. There were maybe a couple other enemy types that had some bullshit hitboxes (and I mean the very few where this was actually true and not just me raging because I was playing poorly lol). Those were so rare though that it's hardly a factor. Overall, this is a phenomenal game from a clearly talented group of people, and I look forward immensely to what they do next!