In the middle of last December we received confirmation of a new indie title for Nintendo Switch. It was about ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights , a metroidvania-style action RPG developed and distributed by Binary Haze Interactive , which was scheduled to hit the hybrid console in Q2 2021.

Later, in the Indie World that took place on April 14, finally The specific release date was announced for this month of June to PC (it has early access on Steam from January 21, 2021), PS4, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Nintendo Switch (coming early July to PS5). Today we will analyze the version of the hybrid console.

Are you ready for this beautiful and challenging adventure?

Argument

Long ago, in the distant Finisterra , the Deadly Flood suddenly fell from the skies, transforming all living beings into impure , undead consumed by anger. With nothing to do in the face of a tragedy beyond human comprehension, the Kingdom was devastated by the Flood, which persisted as an eternal curse. In the bowels of a church, in a world on the brink of extinction, a young woman named Lily opens her eyes.

Gameplay

ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights en a metroidvania-style 2D side-scrolling action RPG that unravels the mysteries of a Kingdom ravaged by the Deadly Flood. It is set in the dark Finisterra , a tragic and beautiful world with imposing royal castles, submerged forests and forbidden and impure underground areas. In this painful journey, fearsome and powerful enemies will await us, with whom a moment of carelessness can be fatal.

This title stars a girl named Lily who wakes up without remembering anything in a devastated world, so she must discover who she is and what happened. We have a large map featuring a metroidvania style , that is, it is divided into various interconnected areas with different paths or routes to explore and the backtracking (return to previous areas already visited) is available of the day, since we will be acquiring skills that will allow us to access new areas, as well as we will find levers to activate certain mechanisms and create shortcuts . Although at the beginning it is easy to move forward, and the way forward is very clear, there will come times when different paths will open and the map will become more labyrinthine, so sometimes we may not know exactly where to continue. Of which there is no doubt is that his level design is magnificent , since there are many secrets to discover, so lovers of exploration will enjoy this aspect very much, being also essential to be able to face the adventure with guarantees.

Luckily, the game will indicate at all times if a room has already been completed (orange color) or on the contrary we are missing something to achieve (blue color), as well as if there are any unexplored routes (red points) or there are different connected routes (white points and lines). This is most useful to be able to return later, when we have new skills and thus access places that were impossible before, such as breaking certain floors or diving.

Throughout the different rooms we will have to face different enemies, called impure (undead consumed by the anger), which have a resistance meter that if we manage to reduce it will leave them stunned . It is important to take this into account, since if we let time pass without hitting them, said measure will recover, so we should take advantage of hitting them as much as we can while they remain in this state. This is particularly important with the mini-bosses and bosses we find, since most normal enemies will be able to erot them before they run out.

Lily can perform various actions such as jump, dodge and healing prayers (which will allow her to recover life a limited number of times). However, as we progress in the adventure, we will improve our life bar and we will also obtain new actions such as double jump, diving, etc. However, the little girl cannot fight on her own, so she will need the help of spirits (some have infinite uses, while others are limited) whom you must summon to help you defeat your enemies. But it will not be enough to just hit, we must also know when to dodge, block or counterattack and, above all, keep our attention at all times, since it is important to know the movement pattern of each enemy.

In this sense, we are facing a combat system that, without inventing the wheel is undoubtedly entertaining, fun and effective. We can equip ourselves with two sets, each of which can be made up of three spirits. That is, we can carry 6 different spirits equipped and alternate between them when we need it. By defeating certain enemies (mini bosses and bosses) we will obtain their abilities (there are a total of 26), including magic techniques, bow and sword. These skills give us the freedom to customize and create our own build , and thus set up different strategies depending on the situation. We have primary and secondary skills. The latter can be used with another primary or secondary, but they need recharge time between each one. In addition, skills can be improved to make them more powerful, although we will need to previously find different materials .

On the other hand, we also have relics , which we They grant different improvements when equipping them, such as increasing our life, resistance, moving faster, etc. However, we must bear in mind that each of them requires a certain amount of spaces , which means that we cannot exceed the limit of which we have available.

For the scenarios sometimes we will find some flowers red and white . The first ones will help us to restore the limit of use of abilities (return to the maximum number of limited attacks of our invocations) and the second ones will help us to restore the number of healing prayers. As our protagonist defeats two enemies, she will fill a marker and when it is filled she will level up . We start at level 1 and the maximum we can reach is 100, that will require a lot of time and above all patience, if you want to achieve it.

Regarding its level of difficulty is balanced , since the game presents a gradual progression that although it increases, at the same time we also improve as players, so it will never give us the feeling that it is unfair, but if we have not passed a certain area or a boss it has been due to our lack of skill, rather than due to excessive difficulty. Of course, boss fights will not be a walk , being in fact one of the aspects that I liked the most about the title. In general, the confrontations against them will have several phases (with transformations in between included), so some will be longer and harder. That means that we have to be very vigilant at all times if we don’t want poor Lily to end up dying. Here knowing their movement pattern for each one and knowing how to attack, dodge and counterattack at the right moment will be fundamental.

Other aspects that What was liked a lot is that the feeling of progression is very satisfactory throughout the entire game and as usual, it will not only be recommendable, but also essential save the game whenever we can. To save our progress we must use the rest points (they appear with a green diamond on the map). Resting restores our HP and skill usage cap, as well as healing actions. Of course, we must bear in mind that the impure that we have defeated will appear again. And of course, they will also allow us to do fast trips around the map and configure the abilities of impure weapons. Basically it would be something similar to the banks of Hollow Kinght.

Finally, it should be noted that this title, like most Switch games, can be played in laptop mode, desktop mode and TV mode . Also is compatible with the Nintendo Switch Pro controller, and the cloud data saving service .

Graphics and sound

At level graphic, the game draws attention for its beautiful 2D art design , with detailed characters and enemies, with good animations and backgrounds precious. In this adventure we will travel a tragic and beautiful world with imposing royal castles, submerged forests and forbidden and impure underground areas, where a sinister setting generally prevails with dark and gray tones, which contrast with the pure white of our protagonist, although there will also be room for other more colorful areas. In fact, its aesthetics are reminiscent of other great titles such as Child of Light (although darker), and it even features certain touches of the saga Castlevania, Dark Souls and Hollow Knight . Without a doubt all good references to consider.

In terms of performance, the game is shown in general very stable and fluid , except in some moments where there are drops in the framerate . The truth is that they occur in very specific moments and are not very annoying, nor do they hinder the progress of the game, but it is fair to highlight them since they make the final result a bit ugly.

On a sound level, the title is a beautiful soundtrack with melancholic and intimate touches , which goes very well with its setting. Of course, it has a somewhat limited variety of songs , so many of its melodies can become quite repetitive as they pass the hours, but with the quality that they distil it is not a big problem either. As for the effects, they are at a good level, and blows, projectiles, explosions, etc. they sound forceful. Finally, it should be noted that the title has texts in Spanish , something that is always appreciated.

Duration

ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights en a game that we can overcome in approximately 15-17 hours . However, as always happens, the duration of the title will depend on different factors.

In the first place if we stop more or less in explore to find his multiple secrets and secondly, of the skill at the controls of each player. If we are comple Tistas or we get stuck at some point it can last us a few more hours, since sometimes there will be no choice but to go around until we find the right path to follow. On the other hand, the title also features a series of internal achievements , which will certainly please the most dedicated players.

Conclution

ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights is an excellent action RPG and metroidvania style, and that despite its occasional framerate drops and little musical variety, it has an interesting story, beautiful artistic design and great control that make it directly into one of the best indies of the year.

ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights is available from June 22 in digital format, through the eShop, at a price of € 24.99. You must have a free space on your console of 1.2 GB to be able to download it .