If I was forced to choose my favorite type of game, I’d likely go with the Metroidvania. When done well, there’s little in gaming that I find as satisfying. Whether delivered in 2D or 3D, my favorite games in the genre hook me with freeform exploration that rewards my curiosity with well-hidden secrets. That love comes with some high standards, though. I have a very defined idea of what makes a great Metroidvania. I can be picky about games that don’t fully conform to those rules if they aren’t bending them in a meaningful way. But when a game hits all the right notes, there’s nothing better.
Only one month into the new year, Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist has already delivered exactly what I crave. It’s a fantastic sequel that understands what makes the best Metroidvanias tick, all while threading in its own distinct voice and RPG systems. If you’re still impatiently counting the days until Hollow Knight: Silksong’s mysterious release date, consider popping into one of the best Metroidvanias I’ve played this decade.
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist is a sequel to Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights. Ender Lilies was a bit of a cult hit when it left early access in 2021. It was the kind of hidden gem that hardcore genre fans would take any chance they got to talk your ear off about it. It’s a 2D action RPG filled with tough boss battles, deep customization, and memorably moody art. I really enjoyed my time with it back when it launched, but I had my nitpicks as a genre purist. It felt a bit more invested in combat than exploration, almost teetering into Soulsborne territory.
It’s as if developers Adglobe and Live Wire heard my gripes, because Ender Magnolia addresses every issue I had with its predecessor. That starts with its tone. Ender Lilies took place in a dark fantasy setting filled with muted grays that didn’t do its art style justice. Ender Magnolia delves deeper into sci-fi, creating more colorful biomes poking through industrial decay. Its story, centered around a race of Homonculi driven to madness in a post-apocalyptic world, remains a complicated lore salad that I struggle to get invested in. To its credit, though, the sequel taps into Nier: Automata’s dreamlike tone to give the series a more palpable air of mystery. That same feeling is one that’s present in many of my favorite Metroidvanias, from Metroid Prime to Axiom Verge.
Ender Magnolia takes the right notes from that lineage when it comes to its refined gameplay. The sequel is far more balanced between combat and exploration, with the latter playing a much bigger role this time around. Early on, I’m given a mission prompt to explore the Lower Stratum, but no marker appears on my map. I begin poking around every path I can, only to discover several distinct biomes that I’m free to explore in a nonlinear fashion. It takes some of the rigidity out of the genre, as it feels like I can stumble on upgrades and bosses in any order (even if that’s not entirely true). It’s a little overwhelming at first, but I come to love the freedom I have to poke around.
For me, the best Metroidvanias are ones that encourage curiosity, not punish players for it. I’ve always struggled to click with Hollow Knight for its punishing corpse run system. Whenever I get deep into a winding area only to die and drop all my resources, it makes me scared to travel off the beaten path. Ender Magnolia doesn’t adopt that trendy idea, instead letting me freely explore to my heart’s content with a variety of unpredictable abilities, long enormously high jumps, that eventually let me reach places that seemed impossibly far off. There’s a lot to find, too: Shop currencies, relics, lore snippets, health boosts, and more can be found in secret passageways that require sharp spatial reasoning to find.
For those who love scouring every corner of a map for collectibles, Ender Magnolia makes sure that your time never goes to waste. All of these tools feed back into the multilayered action RPG side of the adventure. Like its predecessor, this is still a game filled with challenging bosses with devastating attack patterns. Vanquishing them isn’t just about pure skill, but about crafting a powerful build out of everything you’ve scavenged through the world. There are several weapons that can be slotted into four attack slots and then upgraded with rare materials. Relics provide passive buffs, and more can be equipped at once depending on how many Magic Vials players discover. Cash can be spent on equipment like stat-altering rings. There’s a lot of room to grow outside of standard level ups.
I felt the power earned through vigilant exploration by the end of my playthrough. With a full set of relics and fully upgraded weapons, I had crafted a damage heavy build that could stagger enemies quickly with high powered ground and aerial attacks that also healed me. I had plenty more options to toy with too, from carapaces that granted me defensive barriers to entirely different core weapon skills that I never touched. The experimentation that opens up once players have a full suite of options makes all that exploration worthwhile.
All of this makes Ender Magnolia one of the finest Metroidvanias of the 2020s so far, ranking up there with Animal Well and Metroid Dread. It’s a mystifying sci-fi fantasy hybrid that finds a more harmonious balance between its genre inspirations. It all comes together in an eerie, beautiful sequel filled with rich 2D vistas that are sure to stick with me for a long time. Do yourself a favor and try it for yourself before a busy February begins.
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.