Humanity? That’s long gone. The sight of seeing the golden sun bracing the thin, wispy clouds with its sweet illuminated warmth exists only in the pages of those books waiting for the touch of their rightful owners.
Your once radiant kingdom that used to pride itself upon its magnificent castles that touched the sky now stands upon the pillars of salt and pillars of sand.
All that exists is dreadful darkness with the incessant sizzling of stinging rain that suddenly lures you into its pit of misery. Lifelessness has enrobed itself to everything in its sight.
All the prophecies that the seers used to get laughed at for sharing are now a bitter reality that Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights brings to light.
ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights is a dark fantasy Metroidvania fairy tale from publisher Binary Haze Interactive. This 2D action RPG was released on 21 June 2021 and has racked up over 7,000 total reviews ever since. It has received a stupendous 94% “very positive” rating.
The game houses a colossal labyrinth that, while giving birth to haunting visuals, overflows with superb new abilities waiting to be unlocked for boosting your character’s goliath strength.
If Metroidvania sets your heart on fire, then ENDER LILIES: QUIETUS of the Knights is just the game that would make you feel at home!
The Indie Sphere is doing one hell of a job by delivering supreme Metroidvanias one after another. But with the entire market engulfed with this sub-genre, things are bound to get tedious.
Luckily this isn’t the case here. With its straightforward yet well-crafted combat and discoverable hidden secrets, ENDER LILIES isn’t just another brick in the wall.
1. Hauntingly Beautiful Atmosphere: The Deadly Blight and ‘Land’s End’
The once-great reaches of Land’s End kingdom have turned prey into the hands of a cursed rain. This “Rain of Death” makes your serene countryside as empty of life as a crypt. Worst of all, the citizens of Land’s End transmogrify into unearthly creatures who are glittering with resentment called the Blight.
The world’s beyond recognition! Be it houses, air, or the people; everything is decaying. In the midst of such unprecedented calamity, whom can humankind look up to but you?!
You start playing the game as Lily, a young White Priestess, who woke up by herself in the cellar of a Church. She has no memory of her life and is the only human unharmed by the curse of the rain.
Therefore, the responsibility to bring back normalcy has befallen upon Lily. Consequently, you will have to embark on the cruel journey of killing grim monsters in a 2D world to cleanse the burden of this excruciating disease.
The fact that Lily oozes a white light kinda gives it away, doesn’t it? Every biome packed by the game is dark and inhospitable. Then you have Lily with her pure halo in the center of your screen. This way, the game lets you know how she’s like the light at the end of a tunnel!
Moreover, the weight of restoring peace doesn’t lie alone on Lily’s shoulders. Her protector, the spirit of the Umbral Knight, also joins hands with her to exorcise the ghouls.
Defeating these formidable monsters will help you put an end to their perpetually agonizing curse to ultimately joining hands with them and becoming allies.
It’s always irritating when the story gets in the way of gameplay. Luckily, this isn’t the case here. This engrossing plot is demonstrated via beautiful video sequences that, despite being brief, perfectly interpret the tragic tale.
2. A Vast and Highly Customizable Combat System
Lily isn’t the fighter here. She’s just a small child who’s as clueless as us and wants to gather clues to get to the bottom of mysteries that the game presents.
What does she do then, you may ask?
The Umbral Knight, Lily’s protector, is her weapon who appears when invoked by pressing the attack button and slashes anyone who dare opposes Lily with his mighty sword. All in all, Lily lays back and watches the Knight get his hands dirty for her. Initially, the Knight’s attack can seem a bit underwhelming, but it starts to grow on you. It can be upgraded too. This way, your combos will last longer and hit more convincingly.
But the combat system isn’t this limited.
As you keep moving forward, Lily is able to acquire the core abilities and powers of more and more Spirits by purifying their soul. Such generosity by the cursed bosses and mini-bosses is going to be a lifesaver as you learn more about Land’s End.
The game will allow you to equip two sets of three spirits each. This will grant you some super cool attacks that involve razor-sharp swords, sturdy maces, and bewildering magical spells.
To top all of this, the powers lent to you by spirits will let you double-jump, wall jump, speed dash, swim underwater, use a shield, and so on. All this will open countless windows of opportunities for you to move forward with the most practical skillset.
You can acquire as far as 26 varied techniques that bring their own distinctiveness and strengths to the table. ENDER LILIES will provide you with complete freedom when it comes to customization and juggling of these abilities. This ultimately gives birth to a myriad of strategies that you can form to complement different sorts of gameplays.
It must also be noted that some spirit attacks are limited and can be exhausted. To replenish them, one must rest at a save point that is the in-game benches. These save points let you restore health, prayer and improve your spirits with the powerups you obtain. Just remember, when you rest, your foes reappear. Even the dead ones!
3. Formidable Yet Uncomplicated Boss and Mini-boss Fights
If you are to succeed in ENDER LILIES, you must study your enemy meticulously. Pattern recognition is of utmost importance to turn the tide in your favor. I’m not saying start making notes, but a basic idea about the opponent’s movement is the key. Learn their behavior, and you’re golden.
With a vast arsenal of powers at your disposal, think carefully. Some abilities are meant to make your life easier by wiping out certain enemies and being extremely useful in particular situations.
There are nine bosses to fight, and the challenge posed by them in ENDER LILIES is more entertaining than challenging. You will become worm food only if you’re not focused. Don’t lose patience while battling it out for the world. All it’ll take is one foolish move for you to kick the bucket. Dodge as much as you can, block, counterattack, and when you spot an opening, I’d say go CRAZY!!!!
Thus all I can say is that ENDER LILIES does justice to both offensive and defensive aspects of the game, something I find incredibly satisfying.
As you progress, the bosses will take it up a notch. Luckily, a boss’ strength is directly proportional to your skillset, so stop complaining already!
4. Eerie Maps, Platforming Appeal
With emphasis given to 2D side-scrolling and platforming, ENDER LILIES will make every Metroidvania enthusiast drool. The mammoth map combines gothic lure with a complex, labyrinthine environment that’s bridged together by open and secret passages, rooms, shortcuts, traps, unlockable doors, and breakable walls.
As you explore the immersive remnants of this kingdom, you’ll uncover countless disturbing secrets, discover alluring treasures and fight daunting foes. Moreover, the artifacts and diary entries will make you understand the adversity your kingdom went through.
The sprawling map contains nine aesthetically unique biomes that incorporate White Parish, the Cliffside Hamlet and Witch’s Thicket, the Catacombs, Stockade, Twin Spires, and more. Thankfully, covering the huge zones is an uncomplicated affair as hook points, double jumps, and underwater navigation will all make traversal satisfactory.
A map is also present to make your travels a little less tangled as it depicts the entire layout once you visit the zone. On top of this, the maps are color-coded to let the gamers know about the rooms that are yet to be explored or still contain secret items.
Garnish some melodious music tracks for each of these zones, and you have a to-die-for experience in your hands. The soundtracks chime perfectly with each biome’s melancholic setting and make you resonate with Lily’s heavy heart.
The fact that fast travel unlocks super early in the game is an added bonus, too, as it takes the frustration out of backtracking.
5. Is ENDER LILIES: QUIETUS OF THE KNIGHT Worth Buying?
While ENDER LILIES isn’t exactly a game that revolutionizes the Metroidvania sphere by breathing a breath of fresh air, it is definitely worth buying. Its storyline and visuals are a work of art. Despite being a game that deals with death, innumerable elements of the game brim with life.
For this testament, the game should thank its vibrant, picturesque aesthetics and music that makes you feel emotions you thought never existed by creating a sense of calmness amidst calamity.
The bothersome enemies, customizable loadouts, and blood-soaked battles add up to make electrifying gameplay in an expansive map swamped with mysteries and secrets.
Devoting roughly 15 hours to the game is definitely time well-spent. The game won’t punish you, yet you wouldn’t be able to relax. There are hardly any cons to list. ENDER LILIES is easily one of the gems to grace the Metroidvania genre.
Land’s End is dying for your help. Wake up, Lily!
6. About ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights
Developed by Live Wire and Adglobe, ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights is a dark fantasy action RPG. The game was released on June 21 and is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Microsoft Windows.
This 2D metroidvania fairy tale’s plot revolves around an unforeseen Rain of Death that transformed all living beings into monsters. Your once-great kingdom of Land’s End is in a state of turmoil!
Playing as a young lady called Lily, only you can save the world! You will fight formidable bosses, exorcise them, and recruit them as allies.
ENDER LILIES will make you venture out in the depths of your ruined kingdom that includes a submerged forest, a foul underground cavern, and a grand castle.
Fight your way across these hauntingly beautiful locations to uncover the dramatic conclusion to this gripping narrative.
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