Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights was one of my hidden gems of 2021. At the time of its release, Ori and the Will of the Wisps had recently celebrated its first anniversary, Metroid Dread was on the horizon, and Hollow Knight: Silksong still wasn’t out yet. It was a good time to be a Metroidvania player—and that was before I booted up Adglobe and Binary Haze Interactive’s inaugural title.
To say Ender Lilies surprised me would be an understatement. Not only did the game successfully capture the spirit and atmosphere of Hollow Knight, but it did so while pulling inspiration from something I never thought I’d see in a Metroidvania: Pokémon. Although light on story, Ender Lilies pulled me in with its world-building and kept me there with its sprawling design and clever combat system.
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist, a new game in what may well be an Ender series, aims to up the ante. Like Quietus of the Knights before it, the game has launched in early access, with a full release planned for several months later. The game is everything you’d expect from a sequel, including refreshed mechanics, challenging new bosses, and an all-new world to explore.
After playing the early access build available on Steam, I’m confident the full Ender Magnolia release will do right by its predecessor. But that’s the full release. What’s playable now is fun, but far from complete—and thus tough to recommend in its current state.
How Long Is Ender Magnolia’s Early Access Build?
I won’t bury the lede here: Ender Magnolia’s early access release is short. The current build took me just under two hours to complete. The game doesn’t “cut to black” like a traditional demo. Instead, you’ll be able to play through the first few biomes of the game before reaching a pop-up message explaining that the area you’re trying to access is still in development.
There’s nothing wrong with this approach. If anything, I appreciate that developers Adglobe and Live Wire are giving players a polished slice of the actual game. However, I must admit I was surprised at just how short this early access release currently is.
For comparison, Ender Lilies clocked in at around 15 hours—closer to 20 if you went for a completionist run. Assuming Ender Magnolia has a similar run-time, that means we’re only seeing a brief sliver of the full experience. (In fairness, Ender Lilies also released first via bite-sized early access, only to drop in full five months later. The developers have ridden this rollercoaster before and come out on top.)
So, if you liked Ender Lilies but are looking to play Ender Magnolia from beginning to end, I recommend you wait for the full 1.0 release in due time. If you loved Ender Lilies and want to support the development team while sampling a sliver of the full game, you’ll probably enjoy this early access release.
Ender Magnolia Early Access Impressions
Still on the fence about whether to buy Ender Magnolia? Read on for more detailed gameplay and story thoughts.
A Realm Reborn
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist takes place decades after Ender Lilies. Whereas the 2021 title took place in a dreary, solitary, plague-infested kingdom known as Land’s End, Bloom in the Mist tells a different story—one with glimmers of humanity and hope.
Set in the industrial Land of Fumes, Ender Magnolia depicts a world that is recovering from calamity. Unlike Land’s End before it, the Land of Fumes shows signs of life: Gone are the empty halls and melancholic vistas of a decaying kingdom, replaced with people, magic, and mysterious creatures known as Homunculi.
You play as Lilac: an “Attuner” able to purify Homunculi that have gone mad due to a spreading toxin. After a brief tutorial segment, you come across the first of several notable additions to Ender Magnolia’s world: a town. Here, you can converse with NPCs, buy items from a vendor, and equip Lilac with stat-altering accessories.
I can’t say much else about the plot—not because of spoilers, but because there isn’t much story to discover in early access. That said, what’s here so far is promising. The new world gives the sequel plenty of room to maneuver, with NPCs and shopkeepers providing a welcome form of storytelling that wasn’t present in the original game.
Ocean’s Eleven
As with Ender Lilies, the gameplay loop of Bloom in the Mist will have you navigating a 2D map in search of bosses to fight, story threads to unravel, and secrets to discover. The basic controls haven’t changed much from controlling Lily in Quietus of the Knights; Lilac is a relatively vulnerable, slow-moving human with little in the way of actual combat abilities.
Two new additions, however, stand out. Right out of the gate, Lilac can perform a double jump and mid-air dash. These tools, small as they seem, provide a layer of mobility that was admittedly lacking in the previous game.
Another sizable update is the way your Pokémon-esque allies function. In Ender Lilies, nearly every boss or mini-boss you fought could be purified and recruited to aid you in your journey. Ender Magnolia, at least in its opening hours, deviates from its predecessor, opting for a leaner list of recruitable allies.
That’s hardly a bad thing. Rather than introduce the player to a bunch of forgettable allies, Bloom in the Mist aims to tell a tighter story. Each of the companions I recruited (six are available in its current state) had three distinct abilities I could unlock with upgrade materials found around the game world. Functionally, this meant I still had access to a wide array of abilities, just with a smaller, more intimate cast of characters.
The early access build shows the potential of this reduced cast. Stop at a save station, and you can engage your companions in short, benign conversations. Don’t expect Fire Emblem-level storytelling; none of these moments were particularly noteworthy, at least so far. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the personality these moments added to the experience.
Sweet, Sweet Bliss
If you’re at all like me, you enjoyed Ender Lilies for one reason over all others—and that’s atmosphere. Quietus of the Knights was a surprising audiovisual feast, supported by striking art and a stirring soundtrack.
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist continues the tradition. The few biomes I explored ranged from industrial complexes to crimson dreamscapes. The game ran smooth as butter on my Steam Deck, and the music felt like a sizable improvement over the (already impressive) soundtrack from Ender Lilies.
From haunting piano ballads to upbeat jazz-rock jams (you read that right), this new soundtrack leans fully into Ender Magnolia’s new identity. Take a listen to two particular standouts for yourself:
In short: If you liked the music and vibes of Ender Lilies, you’ll be in heaven here.
When Will Ender Magnolia Be Released in Full?
Ender Magnolia does not have a set release date for its 1.0 launch. That said, the game was released in early access on March 25, 2024, and the team at Adglobe and Binary Haze have stated that they plan to keep the game in early access for six to 12 months depending on what feedback they get from players.
Take the team at their word, and Ender Magnolia has a tentative release window between September 25, 2024, and March 25, 2025.
How Difficult Will Ender Magnolia Be?
While Ender Lilies had its fair share of difficult bosses, the minute-to-minute enemy encounters were relatively breezy.
This was consistent with my experience playing the Ender Magnolia early access build. In my preliminary two hours, I died several times to some bosses, but hacked my way through basic enemies with little resistance. That said, the developers have stated that they aim to ramp up the difficulty over the course of the full game.
There will also be various difficulty levels available at launch. In early access, however, there’s just a single base difficulty.
Final Thoughts
Is the early access release of Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist worth purchasing? The answer, ultimately, depends on your expectations.
If you want to support the devs and get a glimpse behind the curtain, then by all means, buy in now. However, if you want to play a semi-complete version of the game, I’m sad to say you’ll be disappointed with what’s here.
Don’t misconstrue my words as negativity, though. In the two hours I played of Ender Magnolia, I had an absolute blast. The controls were sharp, the new abilities felt satisfying, and the art and music were exemplary. I’m curious to see where the story goes, and I hope the difficulty puts up a little more bite, but based on the quality of this build alone, I’m in great spirits.
Ender Lilies was slept on. Don’t make the same mistake once Ender Magnolia releases in full.
Score: N/A
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist is out in Steam early access for $19.99.
Disclaimer: A review code was provided by the publisher. Given the game’s early access status, we have elected not to provide a score.
