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Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is a Soulslike fan’s must-play, and could be a good option for fans to cut their teeth on if other titles seem too difficult.
72%Game Brain Score
gameplay, story
grinding, replayability
74% User Score Based on 902 reviews
Critic Score 69%Based on 4 reviews

Platforms

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Discover Mandragora on the official PlayStation website - screenshots, trailers, story, features, purchase options and more details

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Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree screenshot
Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree screenshot

74%
Audience ScoreBased on 906 reviews
gameplay73 positive mentions
grinding99 negative mentions
  • Incredibly beautiful art style and visuals that create a captivating atmosphere.
  • Engaging combat mechanics with a variety of classes and skill trees that allow for diverse builds.
  • The game offers a rich world to explore with plenty of secrets and lore to uncover.
  • Frustrating platforming mechanics, including excessive fall damage and poorly designed sections that lead to cheap deaths.
  • Long runbacks to bosses can be tedious, especially when combined with difficult enemy encounters.
  • Some bosses and enemies feel unbalanced, with certain classes being significantly stronger than others.
  • gameplay
    264 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of "Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree" is a mixed bag, with many players praising its visuals, class variety, and deep skill trees, while also criticizing frustrating mechanics such as instant deaths, clunky controls, and repetitive combat. While some enjoy the challenge and exploration reminiscent of metroidvania and soulslike games, others find the gameplay shallow and tedious, particularly in later stages where mechanics become overly punishing. Overall, the game offers a blend of engaging elements but suffers from design flaws that detract from the overall experience.

    • “Each class has a deep tree to invest in, and there is a quite interesting mechanic where trees are effectively placed adjacent to each other and some talents bridge between them, which means you can progress from a tree and eventually tap into its neighbor and continue from there, multiclassing.”
    • “Great gameplay, combat feels smooth, intuitive and impactful, so many game systems keep things interesting, just really a great game.”
    • “Fluid gameplay, fun spells/skills, fantastic art, solid crafting, and likeable NPCs.”
    • “It looks good, but the gameplay feels pretty bad. The controls, combat, movement mechanics, and progression system are all more frustrating than anything else.”
    • “For 40 euros, you get about 25 hours of mediocre gameplay unless you level up everything and do all the side quests, which would provide you with a few additional hours of fetch quests for useless rewards.”
    • “The gameplay is a joke, sadly. I hope they will balance things out.”
  • story
    245 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it serviceable but not groundbreaking. While some appreciate its intriguing elements and atmospheric presentation, others criticize it for being predictable, lacking depth, and featuring one-dimensional characters. Overall, the narrative serves as a decent backdrop for gameplay, but it often feels like a missed opportunity for more engaging storytelling.

    • “The story is generally better than most of its peers.”
    • “The story writing gives hints at what might happen and shows a plethora of different characters with a wide range of personalities.”
    • “The story is compelling, the ambience is great, and it runs great on the Steam Deck.”
    • “While the main quest has higher development, it becomes a series of chores with predictable outcomes that are not fascinating.”
    • “The storytelling was, in my opinion, blunt and straightforward.”
    • “The story is dull nonsense, and the voice acting is atrocious.”
  • graphics
    185 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game have received widespread acclaim for their stunning art style and atmospheric presentation, often described as gorgeous and reminiscent of high-quality 2.5D visuals. Players appreciate the detailed environments, character designs, and the overall aesthetic, which effectively enhances the game's dark fantasy theme. While the visuals are a standout feature, some reviews note that gameplay mechanics and controls may detract from the overall experience.

    • “The graphics are fantastic - from the biomes and environments to the characters and enemies.”
    • “The game boasts great visuals and high production value, clearly showcasing a lot of care in its presentation.”
    • “The gorgeous art style, the story, the classes, talent tree and class skills, the peculiar way the NPCs level up, the exploration and the blasphemous-inspired world map, the well-connected level design and shortcut openings and main bosses design are great positive points.”
    • “I wanted to like this game; I love metroidvania and souls-like games, and I love the graphical look of the game... but I've put 14-ish hours into this, and the longer I play it, the less I like it.”
    • “I had low expectations (the visuals already made me realize that I shouldn't expect much from the game), but I'm still disappointed.”
    • “Apart from the art and graphics, nothing really pops up for me.”
  • music
    110 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game has received a mixed but generally positive reception, with many players praising its atmospheric quality and ability to enhance the overall experience. While some found the soundtrack memorable and fitting, others noted that certain tracks were forgettable or repetitive. Overall, the music is often highlighted as a strong aspect of the game, contributing significantly to its immersive environment and artistic presentation.

    • “To further wrap the present in candy, music is absolutely stellar and a truly fantastic job by the composer.”
    • “Every zone is dripping with atmosphere — dark forests, haunted ruins, crumbling castles — all brought to life with richly drawn 2.5D art and ambient music that perfectly matches the setting.”
    • “The art direction, voice acting, and music is pretty sweet.”
    • “I wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to the OST like I do with other games.”
    • “None of the standard music or boss music are things I can recall, and I love a game with a nice soundtrack to add to my playlist and listen on occasion.”
    • “There is a music track with annoying mouth noises in a vampire castle, and in the last area you will be driven mad by the sound of bells.”
  • grinding
    100 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The grinding aspect of the game has received largely negative feedback, with players describing the crafting and vendor leveling systems as tedious and poorly designed. Many reviewers noted that excessive grinding for materials and levels detracts from the overall enjoyment, making progression feel artificially padded and frustrating. While some players found enjoyment in the combat and exploration, the overwhelming sentiment is that the grind becomes a chore, particularly with long runbacks to bosses and the need for repetitive farming to unlock crafting options.

    • “I'm level 71 and only changed my equipment twice throughout the whole game with no farming at all.”
    • “The game requires you to level up all the vendors to unlock more useful crafting options, but the process is painfully slow and demands excessive grinding.”
    • “Great build variety; artificial padding and progression through grinding for materials and levels with crafters that really bogs this game down.”
    • “Crafting seems tedious, having to create useless items to level up to get what you actually want, and grinding the ingredients isn't easy.”
  • atmosphere
    63 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its stunning visuals, immersive sound design, and rich environmental storytelling, creating a captivating dark fantasy world. Players appreciate the art style and ambient music, which enhance the overall experience, despite some criticisms regarding gameplay mechanics and story depth. Overall, the game's atmosphere is considered its strongest aspect, effectively drawing players into its beautifully crafted environments.

    • “The art style is gorgeous and atmospheric, and I adore it.”
    • “The atmosphere pulls you in early on, supported by a mostly fitting soundtrack.”
    • “The atmosphere loses its grip, and repetition, pacing issues, and frustration take over.”
    • “It's especially strange to hear from developers that they were inspired by 'Salt and Sanctuary' when this game doesn't have even 1% of the atmosphere and depth of gameplay from it.”
    • “While the game has its flaws, its incredible visual style, sound design, and a charming dark fantasy atmosphere made up for it for me.”
  • humor
    18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is a standout feature, with players appreciating the well-written, quirky NPCs and their engaging dialogues that often elicit genuine laughter. While the game balances serious themes with light-hearted moments and cheeky references, some humor may feel repetitive or forced, particularly in gameplay mechanics that intentionally frustrate players. Overall, the humor adds a unique charm, making the experience enjoyable despite some criticisms of pacing and design.

    • “If you are looking for a fun metroidvania RPG with lots to explore, funny conversations, and challenging combat - this is the game for you.”
    • “The NPCs are interesting, they have unique personalities and conversations, and I found myself chuckling more than groaning as I listened to the dialogue.”
    • “Has managed to make me laugh out loud a number of times already, which most games aiming for any amount of humor usually fail to do as frequently.”
    • “Teleporting to the witch stone and ending up in an empty void is not funny.”
  • replayability
    17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the game is praised for its high replayability due to diverse class options, build variety, and engaging gameplay mechanics. Many players appreciate the depth added by gathering blueprints and materials, while some express a desire for additional features like New Game Plus to enhance replay value further. However, a few critiques mention that the game's length and progression systems may detract from its replayability potential.

    • “The importance of gathering blueprints and materials adds a lot of depth and replay value.”
    • “With a rich gameplay loop, excellent design, and high replayability, I highly recommend it.”
    • “Rogues and ranged builds feel different again — there’s real build variety here, which adds strong replayability.”
    • “I will be finishing up the game in the next few days and I will update this review and my recommendation accordingly, but in summary there's an amazing game under here. I hope it opens up in the next few hours because it's getting boring. This game should be much shorter, and the replayability with the different classes should be where the game length comes from, not the artificially inflated progression systems and artificially hardened boss fights. I think the devs did a great job with this one, but lost focus along the way trying to make the game longer because the premise and core of this game is truly great.”
    • “Replayability is weak (5/10).”
    • “- no respec, poor replayability, flat progression.”
  • optimization
    17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the game's optimization is highly praised, with users reporting smooth performance across various settings and platforms, including excellent compatibility with the Steam Deck. Players noted minimal crashes and bugs, with many experiencing stable frame rates even at high resolutions. The game's graphics and gameplay mechanics are also well-optimized, contributing to a solid gaming experience.

    • “Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is a beautiful, well-optimized action RPG that blends soulslike difficulty with metroidvania exploration.”
    • “Steam Deck compatibility is phenomenal, looks and runs great on the SD (much better than the demo did - the UI is 100% readable, and the performance is great by default (mostly well above 60, sometimes a touch below it)), and the game itself after the first couple of hours seems to be interesting as well, plays well, the skill tree is interesting (I feel like every direction makes sense, the choices feel meaningful), they managed to get a good balance between painful and easy (for a souls-like, this isn't an easy game).”
    • “Super smooth performance, not 1 frame dropped below 144 so far.”
    • “My only complaints are the recycling of mini-bosses and Steam Deck performance.”
    • “1, battles are dull and boring... you will have limited attack methods for a long time... and due to how shallow your stamina is, most of the time you are just swinging, swinging, and rolling. That's 90% of battle performance, because you don't want to deplete your stamina; that's where the punishment starts.”
    • “Performance-wise, it only crashed one time as opposed to other games I've played, and when I turned off my Bluetooth mouse and didn't charge anything on my PC, then the crash didn't happen.”
  • stability
    12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the game's stability is a mixed bag; while it runs smoothly on various platforms like Steam Deck and high-end laptops without crashes, players report frequent glitches affecting gameplay mechanics such as ledge grabs, dodging, and jumping. Despite these issues, many users find the game visually appealing and responsive, suggesting that performance may vary based on individual experiences.

    • “The game looks and runs great; there is no complaining there. You can upscale if you need it, but if you are within the game specifications, you should not have problems running it.”
    • “Plus, it runs great on Steam Deck, Legion Go, and my 4060 laptop, with zero crashes.”
    • “Steam Deck compatibility is phenomenal; it looks and runs great on the device (much better than the demo did - the UI is 100% readable, and the performance is great by default, mostly well above 60 FPS, sometimes a touch below it).”
    • “One moment you're doing fine, and the next a ledge grab glitches out, or you enter a door on accident because you tried to sprint, or you don't grab a ladder while holding R1 when it works every other time and you fall to your death randomly.”
    • “The dodge-roll and damage mechanism are buggy where the i-frames and hit-boxes seem off.”
    • “There are issues with the double jump, trophy problems, and occasional glitches.”
  • emotional
    9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The emotional aspect of the game is mixed, with some players experiencing frustration due to gameplay mechanics and a lackluster story, which detracts from the potential emotional weight. While the atmosphere, music, and voice acting are praised for their depth, many feel that technical issues and tedious exploration undermine the overall emotional experience, leaving them feeling unrewarded and disrespected. Conversely, a few players found the game to be an emotional rollercoaster, highlighting its unique vibes despite the frustrations.

    • “What I got was an emotional rollercoaster powered by moonlight, eldritch vibes, and mushrooms that probably weren't FDA-approved.”
    • “10/10 voice acting, 12/10 emotional damage.”
    • “Then the game itself turned out to be quite an emotional roller coaster due to many annoying sections in between and - after beating the game - leaving me with the feeling that the devs haven't learned yet how to respect the players and their time.”
    • “The story felt flat and uninspired, leaving me emotionally disconnected from the characters and their journeys.”
    • “I found the gameplay to be monotonous, which made it hard to engage with the emotional aspects of the narrative.”
    • “The exploration was lackluster, and the bosses were forgettable, making it difficult to feel any emotional investment in the game.”
  • character development
    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game is a mixed bag; while it features a rich story and impressive character and enemy designs, many players feel that the depth of character progression and storytelling is lacking. Some appreciate the varied character classes and skills, but others express a desire for more meaningful development and payoff from side quests. Overall, the game's artistic elements are praised, yet the character development aspect leaves room for improvement.

    • “Like Salt and Sanctuary on steroids, rich story and character development.”
    • “Interesting story and beautiful character design, as well as the enemies.”
    • “There were lots of little side-quests, but the payoff and character development was rather weak.”
    • “I would have gladly traded that entire mechanic for more depth in character development and storytelling.”
    • “You can feel the character development.”
  • monetization
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized for misleading advertising and invasive data collection practices, with players expressing frustration over the requirement to delete game saves to opt out of targeted ads. Many users are calling for a more ethical approach to monetization in the indie game sector.

    • “The monetization model is fair and doesn't feel exploitative.”
    • “I appreciate that the game offers plenty of content without pushing for microtransactions.”
    • “The in-game purchases are optional and don't hinder the overall experience.”
    • “The support agent from the game's website refused to even acknowledge the misleading advertisement.”
    • “Icing on the cake is apparently invasive privacy collection for targeted ads that would require me to 'just delete your saves and restart the game' per the dev's own words to opt out of.”
    • “Keep that predatory monetization system out of the indie game space, please.”

69%Critics’ scoreBased on 4 critic reviews

Buy Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree

25h Median play time
23h Average play time
16-40h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 12 analyzed playthroughs

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