Ender Lilies, a dark 2D action RPG was brought to life by Binary Haze Interactive. The game was initially released on Steam but eventually found its way to Nintendo Switch. Within the depths of a derelict kingdom, the player must battle their way through to discover what chaos destroyed everything in the first place – and how they can stop it from happening again. Despite Ender Lilies seeming like just another Metroidvania in a clutter amongst Nintendo’s eShop, this game stands out as one of the most promising.
How the world fell to ashes
You take on the character of Lily, a princess who awakens within the ruins of her castle. ‘Land’s End’ (the kingdom in which you spawn) has been cursed by what’s referred to as ‘Blight’. All the people you once knew and even referred to as friends are now against you. But luckily you’re not alone. Alongside Lily is Umbral Knight. Lily is essentially useless on her own, with no combat ability, so the help of spirits along the way aids your battle against the blighted. Umbral Knight is the first spirit of many which you encounter throughout the game. As you progress, Lily is able to purify the blighted spirits and they are able to join the journey.
Much like Bloodstained: Ritual of the night, these spirits can all be used across two menus in battle. At first it’s a bit confusing to remember which spirit does what and which button to press to activate, but after a while you certainly get the hang of it. Unlike Bloodstained, these spirit menus are customisable and a little easier to use. Upon reaching the various checkpoints scattered amongst the map you can switch and change which spirits to use for combat.
As you begin to explore the world of Land’s End, Lily comes across a multitude of written artifacts. These all play into understanding what has happened to the kingdom, and occasionally feature key elements to understanding the story. But sometimes these elements aren’t easily obtained. Quite a few features are hidden where you cannot reach until you have gained certain spiritual abilities.
A fight with all you have left
Ender Lilies is an aesthetically beautiful game throughout. Lily stands out in white against such a monochromatic colour palette, and even the Blighted seem pleasing to look at. Nothing takes too long to load, and battles are high strung and tense with accompanying music. It’s a sombre masterpiece, and everything runs exceedingly smoothly. Especially during combat, where you really have to focus as nothing comes easy. It’s the right level of challenge without being controller-crushing frustrating. But practise makes perfect, and these battles certainly aren’t easy.
The most important controls are combat and dodging. Each spirit you gain on your adventure is capable of different attacks in battle, and sometimes they hold vital moves in order to unlock new elements of the map. With the allocated spirit menu, it lists the buttons needed to summon certain attacks. There aren’t any combos to master, but the buttons can be a little confusing when you have two rows of three spirits and all of them do different things. Over time you’ll get used to this and you’ll be bringing all spirits to battle.
Dodging bullets
Dodging however is a little difficult. Most of the time it works fine, you’ll miss attacks and be able to bring the pain. But sometimes it just seems hit and miss. Half the time, you dodge too soon and end up throwing yourself into the enemy and taking quite an unreasonable amount of damage. The other times you dodge directly into where your enemy is landing their attack. It’s one of those controls where if you don’t hit it just at the right time, it’s not going to work. This comes with practise, but with the rest of the controls running so smoothly it’s a shame that this small thing lets it down.
Aside from challenging encounters, there is an extensive amount of platform jumping within Ender Lilies. These can be executed fairly successfully since Lily is more than capable of pulling herself up a platform if your aim is a little off. Most of the time I didn’t think I’d make a jump but Lily grabbed a hold of the edge and hoisted herself up. Upon gaining the ability to double jump, all platform elements are fairly simple. Unlike games like Hollow Knight where one slip up can send you spiraling to the other side of the map. Ender Lilies gives you a little leeway with fumbles, so it’s not as perilling when you accidentally lose a battle or plummet into a pile of spikes.
Graveyard whistling
Ender Lilies is accompanied by a haunting soundtrack to mirror the sombre appearance of the game itself. Boss battles are accompanied by high strung, tense pieces of music. Sound design also subtly hints at approaching threats or the unwanted second form of bosses. Even when the game falls silent you find yourself clenching your jaw awaiting what is next to come. In a way, Ender Lilies utilises how important audio is within games and uses it against the player. Causing tension where there doesn’t need to be, leading you towards boss battles whilst you think you’re avoiding them, it all leads to you sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for the next move.
During one of the first encounters with the blighted spirits, when he takes his second form in battle the game falls silent. Whether this was done to allow you to focus or to make everything more nail-biting, it certainly works. The switch is also equipped with absolutely fantastic rumble input during combat. Although, this put me to shame more than once as the epic rumble that occurs when you lose all health is incredibly intense. It definitely had heads turning when I was playing around others.
However, none of the cast is narrated. Ender Lilies relies quite heavily on the audience’s engagement with it’s subtitles. These appear quickly and are very often missed since it doesn’t stop you from moving. On more than one occasion I missed Umbral Knight trying to tell me key backstory passages because I was too busy double jumping away from the blighted. The environmental and written additions to the story are not narrated either, so be prepared to do quite a fair bit of reading.
A visual masterpiece
The same level of intensity has been poured into the game’s visuals as well. As mentioned, it is extremely aesthetically pleasing. It’s dull and dreary and all things gothic literature. Despite the game being 2D there is an extreme amount of depth implemented in all levels. Enemies are massive in comparison to Lily, and their designs are worthy of a mention as well. Each enemy is equally as intimidating as the last. Whether you’re fighting fungal sorcerers or demonic demons in churches, they’re all as terrifying as you’d imagine. Unfortunately these immense encounters lead to a slight drop in frame rate. It’s not enough to hinder your fighting performance but it certainly sticks out when the rest of the game is capable of running so smoothly.
Final thoughts
I am not ashamed to say that Ender Lilies has rapidly become one of my favourite games. I’d argue it to be one of the strongest Metroidvanias in 2021, and it most certainly suits the Nintendo Switch. In a kingdom full of melancholy, this game is still bursting with life. All elements of Ender Lilies are strong, from gameplay to story to combat, it’s all excellent. There are few faults to list, and to any fans of games such as Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night or any fans of the Castlevania franchise I cannot express enough how much you need to give Ender Lilies a chance. It’s the right level of challenge, with a beautiful soundtrack and a compelling storyline. So when are you jumping in to save Land’s End?
