Should you thought January was a bit dry for superb new video games and that each one the good things would start to roll out in February, suppose once more. After a stint in early entry, Metroidvania sequel Ender Magnolia has simply hit 1.0 and it’s drowning in reward. This darkish fantasy journey already boasts an eye-watering 98% score on Steam, glowing critiques from the critics, and is having fun with an enormous inflow of gamers.
With its predecessor, Ender Lillies: Quietus of the Knights, already probably the most revered Metroidvania video games round, there was a reasonably excessive bar for Ender Magnolia: Bloom within the Mist to hit – effectively, take into account that bar comfortably cleared. Ender Magnolia is a 2D sidescroller that mixes the darkish fantasy backdrops and themes of video games like Blasphemous with an anime artwork type for its characters. Not like Ender Lillies, it contains a talking protagonist, Lilac who has the facility to repair rampaging beasts often called Homunculi that terrorize her world.
This world, often called the Land of Fumes, as soon as turned to magical forces to advance its civilization, and within the course of the Homunculi had been created as a legion of artificially clever mechanical life varieties. A catastrophe fell upon the Land of Fumes, which allowed the Homunculi to go rogue and go away the world damaged and desolate.
Now, Lilac should traverse this Metroidvania world, meet and save human survivors, and tackle the Homunculi in epic boss battles. To reinforce Lilac in fight, you’ll step by step choose up new abilities from the companions you purchase, discover new objects, and improve your tools.
Even in its incomplete type all through early entry, followers have been going loopy for Ender Magnolia, however now that it’s hit 1.0, it’s experiencing a recent wave of gamers and reward. On its opening day as a full launch, it peaked at round 6,800 concurrent gamers, which is spectacular for any new single-player recreation of its stature.
Its total Steam overview rating additionally sits at a mighty, ‘overwhelmingly optimistic’ 98%, which places it on a par with all-time greats like Stardew Valley and Portal 2. Nonetheless, should you take a look at latest critiques solely, it’s obtained an excellent mightier 99% score. Wild stuff.
Whereas not extensively reviewed by the press, its Metacritic common is a particularly spectacular 89 out of 100, comfortably making it the best-reviewed recreation of 2025 to date (sure, I do know we’re solely three weeks in). Positive, earlier than the yr’s out, it could have a run-in with the most-anticipated Metroidvania of all of them, Hole Knight Silksong – if that recreation ever exhibits up… Regardless, Ender Magnolia has already cemented itself as probably the greatest PC video games of the yr.
If it wasn’t ok already, builders Adglobe and Reside Wire plan so as to add three key options in future updates: a boss rematch setting, a boss rush mode that sees you combat the entire recreation’s huge bads back-to-back, and a New Recreation+ expertise.
Ender Magnolia Bloom of the Mist is out proper now in 1.0 on Steam. You may choose the sport up for your self or be taught extra about it right here.
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