ENDER LILIES Quietus of the Knights
- January 21, 2021
- Live Wire
- 20h median play time
Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights Review – Slaying In The Rain
In "Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights" , players explore a devastated kingdom overrun by the Blighted after an unstoppable rain of death. As young Lily, players uncover the truth while journeying through haunting landscapes, battling powerful bosses, and recruiting them as allies. The game features challenging gameplay, stunning visuals, and an intriguing narrative.
Reviews
- Stunning art style and visuals that create a haunting atmosphere.
- Beautiful soundtrack composed by Mili, enhancing the emotional depth of the game.
- Engaging combat system that allows for a variety of playstyles through the use of spirits.
- Map design is simplistic and can be confusing, lacking detailed layouts of areas.
- Combat can feel clunky at times, with some attacks having long animations that leave the player vulnerable.
- Difficulty spikes can be inconsistent, with some bosses being significantly easier or harder than others.
- music4,352 mentions
- 62 % positive mentions
- 36 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The music in "Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights" has received widespread acclaim for its hauntingly beautiful compositions, primarily crafted by the musical group Mili. Reviewers highlight the soundtrack's ability to enhance the game's melancholic atmosphere, with each area featuring distinct themes that evoke a range of emotions, from serene to intense during boss battles. While some players noted that the music can become repetitive over time, the overall quality and emotional depth of the soundtrack are frequently praised as standout elements of the game.
“Ender Lilies is a visually and aurally captivating game that drew me in with its beautiful artwork and haunting soundtrack.”
“The soundtrack shifts between soft, melancholic tunes and eerie, oppressive pieces that amplify the sense of unease.”
“The music is haunting and fits the theme of the game perfectly.”
“The music quickly becomes repetitive due to low variety and all-too-quick looping... and the story quickly loses its spark due to how flat everything feels.”
“The music is really really bad and repetitive.”
“The music, which was produced by mili, is spectacular and fits the grim-dark fantasy vibe perfectly.”
- story3,305 mentions
- 45 % positive mentions
- 52 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The story of "Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights" is a haunting and melancholic narrative that unfolds through environmental storytelling, collectible notes, and cutscenes after boss encounters. Players piece together the tragic backstories of characters and the lore of a fallen kingdom plagued by a mysterious blight, creating an emotional experience that resonates deeply. While some find the storytelling method reminiscent of other titles like "Dark Souls" and "Hollow Knight," the game is praised for its beautiful art, atmospheric music, and the way it evokes feelings of hope amidst despair.
“The story will truly tug on your heartstrings and stick with you.”
“The atmosphere is wonderful, the music is on point, and the story is also very nice.”
“The story is engaging, becoming clearer as you progress, especially through optional logs that provide valuable context.”
“The plot is generally incoherent, and reads like they just grabbed a bunch of elements from Dark Souls and slapped them together without any understanding of deeper meaning.”
“That being said, the story is told in notes lying around, and while I’m sure there is so much more to this story, if you don’t reread notes and piece it all together, you will end up with fragments, not a complete story.”
“The only downside is probably the story and lore because it's way too generic and boring.”
- gameplay2,254 mentions
- 47 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights" is generally well-received, characterized by a compelling mix of metroidvania exploration and souls-like mechanics. Players appreciate the unique spirit system that allows for diverse combat strategies, although some find the combat mechanics can feel clunky or less fluid compared to other titles in the genre, such as "Hollow Knight." Overall, while the gameplay may not innovate significantly, it offers a satisfying experience with beautiful visuals and a haunting soundtrack that enhances the atmospheric storytelling.
“The gameplay loop is addicting and the story is wildly compelling when the pieces of the puzzle start to reveal the overall picture.”
“But it's still fun nonetheless as it leaves room for experimentation with its combat mechanics, and every boss feels rewarding to beat.”
“Ender Lilies is a masterpiece in the metroidvania genre, combining beautiful art, a haunting soundtrack, and a deeply emotional story with tight, rewarding gameplay.”
“However, its gameplay does little to innovate within the metroidvania or souls-like genres, and at times it feels unwieldy.”
“The gameplay is repetitive, boring, and unengaging, and I'm not talking about the obligatory metroidvania backtracking.”
“The combat is dull, the enemies and level design are dull, and the gameplay consists mainly of endlessly repeating things.”
- graphics1,834 mentions
- 66 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 1 % negative mentions
The graphics of "Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights" have been widely praised for their stunning, hand-drawn art style that beautifully captures a dark, melancholic atmosphere. Players appreciate the intricate details in the environments and character designs, which enhance the storytelling and immersion. The accompanying soundtrack further elevates the visual experience, creating a cohesive and emotionally resonant journey through the game's world.
“Ender Lilies is a visually and aurally captivating game that drew me in with its beautiful artwork and haunting soundtrack.”
“The graphics are absolutely breathtakingly beautiful with an incredible use of bright yet somber colors with plenty of little details and incredible set pieces that just make you want to stop and stare at it.”
“The art style is gorgeous and the soundtrack is beautiful, creating a very unique atmosphere that enhances the overall experience.”
“The graphics, level design, environment visuals, and some effects are the weakest parts of the game.”
“The art style tries to be very unique but sadly feels very muddy and unclear most times.”
“While the graphics, art, gameplay, and music do deliver a mediocre - even good at times - experience, the progression is an absolute mess, lacking any modicum of balance.”
- atmosphere883 mentions
- 61 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 1 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of "Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights" is widely praised for its haunting beauty, effectively combining stunning visuals, a melancholic soundtrack, and a deeply immersive world. Players appreciate the game's ability to evoke a sense of sorrow and intrigue, with many noting how the music enhances the emotional weight of the narrative and environment. Overall, the game's atmosphere is considered one of its strongest aspects, drawing comparisons to other atmospheric titles like "Hollow Knight" and "Dark Souls."
“This atmosphere is perfectly reflected in both the visual art and the music.”
“The atmosphere and music are all top notch, and they give a great melancholic feeling as you explore the ruined world.”
“The atmosphere is dark and foreboding at times and would feel oppressive if not for the beauty interspersed throughout the game.”
“The atmosphere is deeper and darker than any other games I've played, the story is a great interconnected one that, well, you can actually find and decipher, and most importantly they nailed a good balance between how you can fight your enemies and how your enemies can fight you.”
“The atmosphere is depressing, and really surrounds you in the feeling of being in this dead kingdom that has been overrun by this blight.”
“The atmosphere and story this game has can't even be compared to other games, and it is by far my favorite metroidvania I've played.”
- emotional297 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -1 % neutral mentions
- 1 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of "Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights" is widely praised for its deeply touching narrative, haunting soundtrack, and beautiful art style, which together create a poignant atmosphere that resonates with players. Many reviewers noted that the story, while simple, effectively evokes strong feelings, often leading to tears during key moments, particularly in boss encounters and character backstories. However, some critiques mention that certain storytelling elements, like the lack of voice acting and occasional absence of sound during pivotal scenes, can diminish the emotional impact. Overall, the game is celebrated as a heartfelt experience that successfully intertwines gameplay with a compelling emotional journey.
“Set in a world ravaged by the blight, the game takes you on an emotional journey as a young priestess tasked with purifying corrupted spirits.”
“The soundtrack is nothing short of breathtaking – a perfect blend of haunting melodies and serene piano pieces that amplify the game’s emotional depth and atmosphere.”
“Ender Lilies is a heartfelt and beautiful game that was well worth the 17 hours I've put into it; I hope it can be for you too.”
“The emotional moments feel forced and lack genuine impact, making it hard to connect with the characters.”
“The game tries to evoke feelings but ends up being more tedious than touching, leaving players feeling indifferent.”
“Pair that with a boring story, scenery, and enemies, and there's very little to hold your attention or entice you to keep playing.”
- grinding213 mentions
- 6 % positive mentions
- 4 % neutral mentions
- 90 % negative mentions
The reviews indicate that grinding in the game can be a mixed experience, with many players finding it tedious and frustrating, particularly in relation to exploration and combat. While some appreciate the minimal grinding required for achievements and leveling, others criticize the excessive backtracking and repetitive enemy encounters that detract from the overall enjoyment. Overall, the game is seen as having a balance between exploration and grinding, but many players feel that certain aspects, especially boss fights and enemy health pools, contribute to a tedious gameplay experience.
“It was interesting that there's next to no farming in this game; by the time I got to the end, I was nearly at max level and had most of my abilities highly upgraded, though only a few of them were maxed.”
“Fortunately, the game respects your time and always puts checkpoints right before boss battles, so there's no tedious runback each time.”
“Fights are manageable but challenging, and backtracking is pretty nice, making fast travel points not too tedious to get to.”
“It is a fundamentally tedious and demoralizing experience that does nothing to respect the player’s time.”
“The game demands the most tedious kind of aimless wandering until you randomly stumble into the one path that leads anywhere and isn't blocked by you not having some dumb mechanic from the endgame.”
“The boss fights are either too easy or frustratingly tedious.”
- replayability89 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 73 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The game's replayability is generally viewed as decent, with features like New Game Plus (NG+), customizable difficulty settings, and various challenge modes such as boss rushes enhancing the experience. However, some players feel that once the game is fully completed, including all endings and achievements, there is limited incentive to replay, as many aspects can be fully explored in a single playthrough. Overall, while there are options for replaying and experimenting with different builds, the game may not offer enough content to sustain long-term replay interest for all players.
“The game offers replayability and it entirely depends on your skill level and the route you take on how long you need to finish the game.”
“Currently learning to speedrun the game and pretty much everything from subtle mechanics and general combat being very rewarding of creativity and mastery, to the atmosphere with its amazing music and art style, on top of the sheer amount of content there is to this game, including post-game challenge modes and a new game + that provides a completely new experience compared to one's first playthrough, all make for a game with a lot of replay value and appeal to a lot of different players.”
“The variety in available spirits to equip to act as your attacks is pretty wide, and therefore also provides a great avenue for replayability.”
“The only real complaint is that the game doesn't really have much replayability yet; I say yet because this is easily fixable with some harder modes or even speedrunning or if the devs decide to do it a boss rush.”
“Being that I completed all the achievements, there is no reason to replay the game really; it doesn't have much replay value.”
“The bad: the short length (can be 100% completed in as little as 15 hours) and lack of strong replay value (no ng+, boss rush, etc).”
- character development50 mentions
- 72 % positive mentions
- 22 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is highlighted by its stunning character designs and rich lore, which together create an engaging atmosphere and emotional depth. While many players appreciate the unique and beautiful character aesthetics, some feel that certain characters, like Lily, lack significant development, impacting emotional investment in the story. Overall, the integration of character design with gameplay and narrative elements is praised, contributing to a cohesive and immersive experience.
“Ender Lilies succeeds in creating a rich and evocative atmosphere right out of the gate, from character design and drive to an overarching narrative with several different endings that all seamlessly work with one another. The aspect of the story is fully realized and one of the strongest elements of the game.”
“Combat starting stiff and becoming more and more nimble as the game progresses made me feel the character development in Lily as she is just a kid awakened from deep sleep at the start of the game.”
“Excellent character design and wonderful environmental art all come together to create a beautifully cohesive visual style that really captures the corruption of purity that is one of the game's main themes.”
“Lily has no character development whatsoever, and there isn’t anything so far to make me want to emotionally invest in her journey.”
“Seeing the trailer, my first thought was that the character design was kind of stiff and it didn't appeal to me.”
“Attention to detail in atmosphere and attention to detail in character development for story.”
- optimization42 mentions
- 48 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
Overall, the optimization of the game has received mixed reviews. Many players praised its excellent performance, noting smooth gameplay with high frame rates and minimal crashes, even on lower-end systems. However, some users reported issues like stuttering and frame rate drops, suggesting that while the game is generally well-optimized, there are occasional inconsistencies that detract from the experience.
“Performance was perfect, had zero crashes occur on desktop and Steam Deck, and battery life on the Deck (OLED) is superb; I can get 5+ hours easily with graphics maxed out at 90 fps.”
“The performance optimization of this game is perhaps better than any I've ever played.”
“Extremely well optimized.”
“Despite complying with system requirements, the stuttering seemed contrived.”
“This ensued for my entire playthrough, prompting me to consider that the optimization may be subpar at best.”
“There is definitely something missing, and/or there are clear flaws in performance.”
- humor26 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by its cute and quirky animations, such as the protagonist's exaggerated dodge moves and amusing boss encounters, which often lead to unexpected and funny moments. Players appreciate the blend of humor with challenging gameplay, noting that while some mechanics can be frustrating, they often result in laugh-out-loud scenarios. Overall, the game successfully combines a lighthearted tone with engaging gameplay, making for a humorous experience.
“This game takes a lot, and I mean a lot from Hollow Knight, especially in the lore department, being so similar that it's actually kinda funny.”
“A very funny metro soul-like game about a girl named Lily.”
“Main character dodge animation is funny as hell... I can't stop laughing at how she dodges every time.”
- stability14 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 79 % negative mentions
Overall, the game demonstrates strong stability, with users reporting smooth performance and minimal glitches, even on platforms like the Steam Deck. While some minor issues, such as occasional sound problems in cutscenes and slight lag with the Dualsense controller, were noted, they did not significantly detract from the overall experience. Players appreciate the game's polish and optimization, especially in contrast to many other titles that suffer from bugs and crashes.
“Runs great on Steam Deck.”
“Beautiful game, runs great.”
“The verdict is it's a good game that doesn't have any bugs, runs great, and it's a lot of fun.”
“DualSense is an alternate option that works flawlessly when catering to this project, save for occasionally intense and unyielding lagging and glitches.”
“To me, this deserves a mention, since so many games these days are just buggy or not polished enough, either not running well even with a powerful CPU and GPU, slowly lagging after an hour or two, or just randomly crashing.”
“But make it consistent; it is a buggy behavior.”
- monetization6 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players criticizing the reliance on advertisements and perceiving it as a cash grab, while others argue that it was designed to stand on its own merit rather than solely capitalize on genre popularity. Overall, there is a sentiment that the game's quality does not justify its promotional efforts, leading to disappointment among some users.
“This game honestly feels like a cheap cash grab at the popularity of the genre.”
“Don't believe the hype, this is an all around bad game, horrible hit boxes and hurt boxes, very stiff and unresponsive controls, nonsensical level design that is at best boring and at worst convoluted, limited uses and cool-down timers on abilities makes no sense, pointless leveling system and more. The graphics look good, and that's all most people care about these days, that and advertising are the only explanation I can think of for people liking a game this poorly made.”
“I only found Ender Lilies because of a lucky advertisement on the PlayStation Store not long after its release on consoles (then obviously ended up buying it here as well).”
Critic Reviews
Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights
Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights Review – Slaying In The Rain
85%Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights review
Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights is a compelling, surprisingly charming little adventure. It may look dark and oppressive, but Lily is a likeable heroine.
85%Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights Review
Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights is a well-planned and executed game from Binary Haze Interactive. It has some repetitive shortcomings, but the fun boss fights and massive levels will help you get through the grind.
85%