I’m always curious about the differences between various console ports. Sometimes a PC version works great, but a PlayStation or Switch version crashes constantly. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a good example of this, as the Switch version crashes quite frequently. Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights doesn’t seem to have that issue, and in fact, I think the Switch port just might be a superior version all around.

In Ender Lilies, you play as Lily, a young girl who has the ability to purify blighted creatures. The world has been consumed by an undead presence known as the Blight, which has infected people through the rain. Lily awakens with no memory of who she is and is guided by a spectral knight to find answers and perhaps use Lily’s power to eradicate the Blight.

When I reviewed Ender Lilies on PC, I commented that it felt more like a Souls experience than a Metroidvania. Having had further time with it testing out the Switch version, I see it differently. It feels more like the Hollow Knight style of Metroidvania than a full-fledged Souls-like. There is still an emphasis on learning boss patterns and unforgiving bosses in general, but that is tempered by an emphasis on exploration and experimentation.

It also has a large amount of versatility and variability in your combat choices and mechanics. Like a pure Metroidvania, it rewards you for exploration, often giving you treasure like amulet shards for max HP or Rosary beads to equip more relics. Relics have various effects, from increasing your damage to decreasing the damage you take. They are like accessories or artifacts in other games.

As for the actual gameplay, as you progress and kill bosses, you gain new “Spirits” for Lily to purify and command. There are Main Spirits (which have no cooldown) and Sub Spirits who may have limited uses or cooldowns. There is a lot of variability in how you can build Lily up with various combinations of spirits. In fact, considering that the Main Spirits give you new exploration capabilities, there is a lot of incentive to explore and experiment as well.

However, there is one major problem with Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights that I could see really turning people off. This is something I’ve observed after playing more of the game in my free time, both on PC and Switch. I took a little extra time on the Switch version because surprisingly I find that it runs as well if not better than the PC version.

Enemies have such a large health pool, that they tend to be damage sponges. For each level Lily gains (from killing enemies) she gets 2 points to her attack stat. That may seem like a decent number, but her defense value doesn’t change, her speed doesn’t change, etc. Relics can alter those other stats, but her main leveling doesn’t seem to affect much.

Because of that, bosses tend to be more imposing and frustrating. You either have to grind a ton in order to get extra damage value to hopefully kill a boss faster or search every corner of every level to make sure you get enough amulet shards and collectibles to make Lily’s health higher and her prayers restore more health.

There were several times that I got to the point where I just felt like I had hit a wall. Leveling didn’t seem to do much, I had found all the collectibles I could find, and I couldn’t progress without killing a specific boss. I could see people getting frustrated and quitting after experiencing this, though I do think that Ender Lilies’ story is worth the perseverance.

Because of that, I would say that if you liked Hollow Knight, or you don’t mind a bit of a grindy challenge, Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights is a great option. This is especially true on Switch, as it is great to carry on the go, or simply on your TV. It looks great, it sounds great, there are no bugs or crashes, and overall I think it just might be the best version I have played.

I think that in all the versions (Switch included) the developers should consider some rebalancing opportunities or maybe even some options for players to adjust the difficulty. It could be done not only to make the barrier of entry less steep but also to provide options for accessibility and ease of enjoyment for a wider variety of players.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights was provided by Binary Haze Interactive for this review.

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Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights

$24.99 USD

9.5

Score

9.5/10

Pros

• Engaging Story
• No Bugs or Crashes
• Great on the Go
• Fun Exploration and Gameplay

Cons

• Enemies are Damage Sponges
• No Voice Acting