It was actually Alexx who first brought Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights to my attention ahead of his review, saying he was enjoying it. It was odd, as I tend to be the one pledging my faith in Miyazaki-san and begging for more. January 2022 can’t come quick enough. Meanwhile (and understandably) Alexx derides the fans of the Dark Souls series for their infantile attitude towards offering accessibility in Souls-like and Souls games. So, of course, as soon I was able to jump at the chance to play Ender Lilies, I was diving into the 2D Souls-like RPG Metroidvania from Japanese developers Live Wire and Adglobe.

I think the redundancy in that last sentence is “Japanese,” as you play as a young woman who is, by nature, the epitome of innocence and cute. She is soon inhabited by a protector of sorts, a bloke that wouldn’t look too out of place in Bloodborne, whose ghostly form uses his sword to slash and swipe through enemies. This (the combat) is where you first get the “it’s not all that much like Dark Souls” from the so-called fans, who seem to think it needs protecting from other people. Yes, it is a bit slower, it isn’t trying to pierce your navel from a couple of hundred yards away, and it is a bit more ponderous.

That, I don’t think, is the issue. For the life of me, I can’t predict the point where the ones with the shields are going to, more or less, “open up” for an attack. I’ve found it much quicker and albeit healthier to jump and dodge mid-air, get a slash in from behind before they turn around, and repeat. This is possibly also where I bring up the first thing I did when I played the first 20-minutes: I had to change the controls. Of course, it is not a one-for-one with Dark Souls, but it is similar enough that remapping controls to my favor was going to be much quicker than learning the new layout.

Not that it was a big issue, it just made it more comfortable to rely on muscle memory than even attempt to think during boss fights. Not that they are particularly grating; If you’ve played Hollow Knight or Blasphemous, you’ll have come across more complex and interesting bosses. They do put up a mild fight, I’ll give them that, but I think the complexity and overall horror of fighting a boss is missing a touch when the only thing that can really touch me is when I gently rubbing the boss’s leg in a dodge roll. There seemingly was more time spent on designing the character than the fight itself.

While I am on my high horse, gleefully swiping it with what is admittedly flicked boogies to its overall quality, let’s discuss the subtitles. I think it is fair to say when you are playing on a console, you are most likely playing on a TV in a living room, and thus you are a little bit away from the TV which is probably quite large. That was the case when I played the first 20-ish minutes, and I had to stop because I just couldn’t comfortably read without having either squint or put more effort into something so simple in the first place. If anything that’s an issue with dyslexia, though when speaking with Alexx he found similar issues too. I had to sit at my PC monitor with the connected Xbox through that instead to find it easy enough to read.

The other annoying moments came from the birds, often just on the edge of the frame. They are either above or to the side while firing their attacks, which feels rather cheap. Of course, this is when the “Souls fans” turn out their favorite phrase: “casual.” No, the Souls games give you a shield to protect against those arrows coming from every direction, which you can mostly see. When something off the screen in a 2D game is taking chunks from the health bar, that’s an issue. That, alongside flying just on the edge of where you can hit them and an inability to directly aim at them is frustrating in the wrong way.

Despite minor annoyances, some complexity being a little lacking, and the art style sometimes making for a cluttered mess in battles, Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights is actually a fine Souls-like, or Metroidvania. At times it is one of the best looking gothic fantasy worlds in such a game. Maybe it is not as oppressive and downright disgusting as some might desire from a Soul-like RPG, and it may not even be as difficult as some might want. Really, I don’t care, it does its job to some degree in all that it is attempting, yet never perfects any of them to any great deal.

The problem I think that comes from all it is doing is the question of why this over something else. I made the comparison before, Hollow Knight does a similarly cutesy direction from art while downright nailing the Souls-mantra. Equally for those seeking a Roguelike twinge over Metroidvania, Dead Cells is there to fill the spot. If you want to go the full-Souls route the indie market and later triple-A market is full of them. I won’t say I was bored of Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights, but I wasn’t in the mood to continue bashing my head off the wall once I was done. As a nice break and a pretty world to explore it is top-notch, I can’t take that away from Ender Lilies.

An Xbox One 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

8.5

Score

8.5/10

Pros

• An enjoyable Metroidvania.
• A fine Souls-lite, for what is on offer.
• A tight and nice story, textured by the world.
• Tucked away in the dark fantasy realm are care and charm.

Cons

• Lacking in some complexity one might desire.
• A lack of accessibility when it comes to the subtitles.