ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist Preview (Steam Early Access)

by Jim Smale · April 10, 2024

ENDER MAGNOLIA Bloom in the Mist Preview, Decades after the events of ENDER LILIES, Homunculi — sorrowful, artificial life forms — roam the land. In this dark fantasy, Metroidvania faces formidable enemies and explores a bewitching post-apocalyptic world. Humans and Homunculi — wha

ENDER MAGNOLIA Bloom in the Mist Preview Pros:

Decent graphics.
1.69GB download size.
Full controller support.
Graphics settings – resolution, v-sync, display mode, resolution scale, aspect ratio, constrain player Hud aspect ratio, fps, fps limit, effects quality, post-processing, anti-aliasing, anti-aliasing quality, and gamma slider.
Can remap controls for both the controller and the keyboard.
Gameplay settings – camera shake, idle camera movements, auto climb, display tutorials, hold a button to activate carapace, display damage and health numbers.
Eight save slots.
Tutorial pop-ups as you play along with pop-up videos and descriptions.
2D action-adventure gameplay.
Beautiful looking backdrops.
Recruit allies like Nola that appear and do the attacks for you.
The game is very stylish.
Familiar controls.
Respites are where you can heal, set it as a respawn point, save your game, and bring back enemies.
Hack and slash combat along with aerial combat.
When sat down at a respite spot you can rewatch any unlocked cutscenes.
Powerful piano-heavy soundtrack.
Tight controls.
The map fills in as you explore.
Has Metroidvania elements throughout especially with the map coverage.
Intel and lore can be found and unlocked within the Intel menu.
Earn exp and level up to increase your stats.
Full inventory system.
Massive boss fights.
The stats screen shows hp, SP, Ark, def, heal of potency, and number of heals.
The map can be brought up as an overlay allowing you to still play with it up or minimise it to show in the corner along with turning off the map entirely.
The break bar is below an enemy’s health bar, breaking it will cause the enemy to stagger or get knocked back.
Get new powers from defeating bosses.
Unlock and enhance abilities.
You can skip the cutscenes.
Unlock and equip different attire for your character.
Find amulet fragments to increase your health bar.
Get new abilities like double jump and gliding quite early on that opens up the platforming a lot more.
Breakable objects covering the world.

ENDER MAGNOLIA Bloom in the Mist Preview Cons:

Feels and looks a lot like the last game.
Slow starter.
Game difficulties are not in the early access version.
No Steam achievements.
The game doesn’t have much voice work so it all feels flat.
Combat can get messy as you have you, your ally, and enemies on screen in fast movement and it’s not great to keep track of who’s who.
No way to have conversations and text auto-play.
Combat takes some getting used to, especially for the evading and countering.
The early game is very stop-start and it’s more of a thing as you don’t get any voice.
The game still has a problem of not helping guide players around and getting the game to flow.
Respites are far and few between.