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[kpopSuperstar]

It may be a 2D Metroidvania, but there is something about the soft angelic music and inertia that made me feel like when I played Nier Automata.

It came out in January and it has been lost in the shuffle, and it seems all the game sites and award shows are ignoring it, but this is the real deal.

Who played this and are you as high on it as I am?

 

[Paasei]

Haven't played it. Looks quite fun and I'm not (yet) bored of metroidvania's. Still working my way through Silksong and the 2 Blasphemous games. Still didn't get around to play Ori either.

 

[Hohenheim]

I didn't quite click with the first one, but will definitely check this out at some point. Love the style of it.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Ender Magnolia is pretty good. Gameplay is better than Ender Lilies but I prefer the vibes of the previous game.

Play Nine Sols, the best indie last year and a real challenger to Team Cherry. Criminally overlooked. To me it's right there at the top of the genre.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

 

[Sensei]

Played both Ender Lilies and Ender Magnolia, but neither really resonated with me. They're not bad games by any means, just not GOTY contenders for me.

 

[The Cockatrice]

After Silksong I doubt I can touch any other metroidvania this year because I might just hate them since they're all going to be super inferior to it.

 

[SolidQ]

Both games superior Finished them 100%
Hope there will be 3rd game

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

After Silksong I doubt I can touch any other metroidvania this year because I might just hate them since they're all going to be super inferior to it.

The one I said, Nine Sols, has similar quality in bosses, story, art direction and combat. IMO it's just a notch below. I bought it in a recent sales and felt like a steal. Knowing its quality I'd have paid full price.

Also, it has the best final boss in the genre and one of the most challenging in any videogame, on par with Isshin from Sekiro. Every boss is hard and unique but the final one took me hours to beat without feeling frustration. Combat is that good.

 

[The Cockatrice]

The one I said, Nine Sols, has similar quality in bosses, story, art direction and combat. IMO it's just a notch below. I bought it in a recent sales and felt like a steal. Knowing its quality I'd have paid full price.

Also, it has the best final boss in the genre and one of the most challenging in any videogame, on par with Isshin from Sekiro. Every boss is hard and unique but the final one took me hours to beat without feeling frustration. Combat is that good.

I played Nine Sols and it was decent up until the final boss who completely ruined my enjoyment of the game and I have no issues with super hard bosses and it became even worse because I was forced into the true ending and thus an extra garbage phase that had broken hit detection. There are quite a few upcoming ones that I'm interested, but imma leave them for next year. Had my fill of metroidvania genre for a while.

 

[Lokaum D+]

 

[NoobSmog]

It's a really good game if you like metroidvania's, also one of the better ones. Easy recommend if you're looking for one to play.

 

[WoeIsMe]

Have had my eyes on this, not really sold on the esthetics and animations though.

The one I said, Nine Sols, has similar quality in bosses, story, art direction and combat. IMO it's just a notch below. I bought it in a recent sales and felt like a steal. Knowing its quality I'd have paid full price.

Also, it has the best final boss in the genre and one of the most challenging in any videogame, on par with Isshin from Sekiro. Every boss is hard and unique but the final one took me hours to beat without feeling frustration. Combat is that good.

I played Nine Sols and it was decent up until the final boss who completely ruined my enjoyment of the game and I have no issues with super hard bosses and it became even worse because I was forced into the true ending and thus an extra garbage phase that had broken hit detection. There are quite a few upcoming ones that I'm interested, but imma leave them for next year. Had my fill of metroidvania genre for a while.

Nine Sols last boss is fantastic! Took me a while to beat it, what a feeling when everything falls into place, zen-mode. Wish Silksong had something similar in the boss-departement(although Silksong overall is a better game, but still, Nine Sols is fantastic!).

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Nine Sols last boss is fantastic! Took me a while to beat it, what a feeling when everything falls into place, zen-mode. Wish Silksong had something similar in the boss-departement(although Silksong overall is a better game, but still, Nine Sols is fantastic!).

Though much easier fights, Karmelita and the First Sinner gave me that kind of fencing frenzy. I enjoyed them so much.

Spoiler

Lost Lace

is excellent, but input detection and some broken hitboxes spoilt it a bit for me. The same happened with Nightmare Grimm.

Eigong is the hardest of them but it's a question of learning her many patterns, no cheap moves detected.

 

[Giallo Corsa]

Ender Magnolia is pretty good. Gameplay is better than Ender Lilies but I prefer the vibes of the previous game.

Play Nine Sols, the best indie last year and a real challenger to Team Cherry. Criminally overlooked. To me it's right there at the top of the genre.

Got 9 sols the other day and...it's fucking amazeballs, good art direction, great music and sound production, great gameplay loop/combat...

Don't care for the story (8 hours in) but so far it's an 8 out of 10 game easily

 

[GymWolf]

Enjoyed both games a lot.


If you like aquatic themes another very decent one is pronty

 

[ChoosableOne]

I have the first game in my library. I never started it because the two characters move side by side and it's hard to tell who's doing what in the videos. I'm sure it's not an issue while actually playing, but I feel like it would've been better with a single protagonist.

Play Nine Sols, the best indie last year and a real challenger to Team Cherry. Criminally overlooked. To me it's right there at the top of the genre.

It had great gameplay, but it felt too hard(navigation and combat wise) for me so I dropped it after a while.

 

[Itchy Tickles]

I was hooked on the first reveal for Clair Obscure and was shocked that it turned out to be so fantastic. So many game trailers and "gameplay" videos really go the mobile route and lie right to your face, but this game was so much more than they showed.
Mafia also shocked me with its pretty steady quality throughout. It wasn't my GOTY, but it did have me worried it would be pretty bad, but I was happy it turned out that good.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Yes, I was waxing poetic about it when it released:

As there isn't an OT I guess I'll post this here. I'll start with a simple statement: Ender Magnolia is the first must-buy game of 2025 and it's a crying shame that on a supposed "hardcore" gaming forum more people aren't talking about it.

Now let me take a step back. Ender Lilies was a *good* game, a competent Metroidvania with nice art and some fun mechanics but overall nothing special. I enjoyed it but I didn't *love* it. Ender Magnolia is exceptional from top to bottom, a turbocharged sequel that is superior in every single way. I'll start with the visuals, a picture is worth a thousand words:

The art in this game is gorgeous, it's use of colour, it's attention to detail, it's care put into both the background and foreground, it's refined elegance. Quite simply, it's amongst the most beautiful games I've ever played and it absolutely *sings* on my OLED TV, I frequently stop playing when entering a new area to marvel at the splendour around me. There is something Vanillaware-esque in it's overall aesthetic but I believe it's ultimately different enough to have it's own identity.

The soundtrack is sublime and early contender to add to the OST of the Year shortlist. Eclectic, moody, vast, grandiose, tinged with melancholy and sadness. Whether it's channeling Nier:




Or radiating menace:



Quietly contemplative:



Or something out of a fairytale:



Truly great stuff

The gameplay/combat is a lot more creative anddynamic then the first game with a much greater emphasis on customizing your combat style by mixing/matching your different companions who all have 3 unique attack types to choose from (which can all be leveled up further with unique resources), a distinct "super" skill and of course myriad equipment/relics that can drastically change your method of engagement. Want to play more of a ranged character? You can do that. Want to be focused on breaking enemy armor as quickly as possible in order to stagger them? The tools are there to do that too.

The Metroidvania elements are mostly your standard fare starting with getting the ever important double jump early on and greatly expanding from there. There is something unique about how many of them are implemented though to fit this magical world. And this is a generous game, after 16+ hours my progress tracker shows 60% story completion. If you're like me and want to grab every secret, explore every nook and cranny to 100% map completion then rest assured there is a lot of game to get through here.

In conclusion I'll say this is on track to be one of my top 10 Metroidvanias ever, it deserves more exposure and should be championed from the rooftops. If this post sells a single additional copy I'll consider it mission accomplished, give these devs the love they deserve!

I got the plat trophy, loved every minute of it. Having said all that, 2025 has been an exceptional year so Magnolia doesn't even enter my top 5 (Silksong does), it *might* make my top 10, haven't sat down to consider the bottom half of my list. In any case, it's a must buy

 

[Poppinfresh]

Picked up the Lillies and Magnolia based on this thread.

I also picked up Nine Sols.

I've never been a huge Metroidvania fan (outside of the OGs - Metroid and Castlevania), but all of these games look great.

As an aside, the first NES game I ever beat as a kid was Castlevania II, which I guess is supposed to be the hardest or at least the most obtuse of the original 3 games.

 

[mayham2199]

I'm not a massive metroidvania fan but I like a few of them here and there. Ender lillies was one of them and I went ahead and got the plat. Haven't played this one yet but I plan to eventually.

 

[Cert.in.Death]

It was good, thoroughly enjoyed it (from what I remember, Quietus was trying to be more challenge-oriented, or maybe that's how I remember it because I hadn't quite pinned down the mechanics).

Would like to get one more before hoping the team looks at other creative opportunities.