Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist is a 2D Metroidvania developed by Adglobe and Live Wire and published by Binary Haze Interactive.
Released as the sequel to Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights (2021), the game retains its predecessor’s dark fantasy setting, interconnected world design, and action RPG mechanics.
The story follows Lilac, a young boy who awakens in a ruined world filled with homunculi—synthetic beings that once served humanity but have now become hostile due to corruption.
Different from the protagonist of Ender Lilies, Lilac does not wield weapons and instead relies on summoning homunculi to fight for him.
Key Takeaways
- Players control Lilac, who summons homunculi to fight instead of using weapons.
- The game has three large regions: Lower City, Central City, and Upper City.
- The game reduces the number of summonable homunculi from 26 in Ender Lilies to 10, but each has stronger abilities.
A Ruined World Divided into Three Major Regions
The game takes place in a city that has collapsed due to a mysterious catastrophe.
The corruption has spread, turning once-loyal homunculi into aggressive creatures.
The world is divided into three primary regions:
- Lower City – The starting area, filled with broken structures, underground tunnels, and the most heavily corrupted homunculi.
- Central City – A mid-tier region featuring research facilities, factories, and noble estates that provide insight into the city’s history.
- Upper City – The final region, showcasing advanced technology and heavily fortified zones, where the full extent of the catastrophe is revealed.
The world is interconnected, so players must backtrack once Lilac gains new abilities.
Different from its predecessor, Ender Magnolia features a refined fast-travel system, which allows players to move between rest points.
Summoning-Based Combat with Customization
Ender Magnolia’s combat system differs from traditional Metroidvanias.
Lilac does not attack directly but summons homunculi to perform melee strikes, ranged attacks, and counter-moves.
The game features customization since players can assign different homunculi to various attack buttons.
Combat revolves around strategic ability usage.
Homunculi have specific strengths:
- Ranged attackers can hit enemies from a distance.
- Melee-focused homunculi deal serious damage up close.
- Defensive units absorb attacks or create shields.
The relic system further enhances combat.
Relics provide passive bonuses such as:
- Increased attack power.
- Health regeneration upon dealing damage.
- Faster movement speed and reduced cooldown times.
Boss fights require precise dodging and ability management.
Lilac’s dodge mechanic grants invulnerability frames so players can evade powerful attacks.
Difficulty settings can be adjusted at rest points, so players can modify enemy health and attack power.
Exploration and Movement Mechanics
Like its predecessor, Ender Magnolia emphasizes exploration and backtracking.
New areas become accessible as Lilac unlocks additional movement abilities:
- Double jumps help reach high platforms.
- Wall hooks help climb vertical surfaces.
- Dashes help cross gaps and avoid attacks.
The map system has been improved over Ender Lilies.
Instead of only marking visited areas, the map now highlights unexplored sections and identifies uncollected items.
This prevents unnecessary backtracking and improves navigation.
However, some foreground and background elements obscure pathways, so certain platforms or doorways are harder to see.
Storytelling Through Environment and Character Interactions
Ender Magnolia does not rely on direct exposition but rather presents its narrative through environmental storytelling, character interactions, and item descriptions.
Lilac encounters homunculi in different conditions.
Those overtaken by corruption have no chance of recovery and must be defeated.
And the ones still functioning can be purified and turned into allies.
Nova, a robotic guide, provides insight into the history of the city and its advanced technology.
The game explores themes of experimentation, destruction, and the consequences of unchecked ambition.
NPCs reveal fragments of information, so players must piece together the full story.
Hand-Painted Visuals and a Haunting Soundtrack
Ender Magnolia features hand-drawn backgrounds with detailed lighting effects that create an atmospheric world of decay.
The environments use a muted color palette of deep blues, reds, and greys, so the city’s ruined state is visually reinforced.
The soundtrack, composed by Mili, enhances immersion with soft piano melodies, haunting vocals, and dynamic orchestral compositions.
Music shifts depending on the situation, with calm ambient tracks during exploration and intense battle themes during combat.
Major Differences from Ender Lilies
Ender Magnolia improves upon Ender Lilies by refining mechanics, expanding movement abilities, and balancing difficulty.
Key differences include:
- Combat features more customization, with summonable homunculi that provide strategic attack options.
- World design feels less restrictive, with increased movement freedom and more accessible shortcuts.
- The fast-travel system functions more efficiently, so players can navigate large areas quickly.
- Difficulty is adjustable, so players of different skill levels can engage with the game comfortably.
However, some changes limit variety.
The number of summonable homunculi has been reduced from 26 in Ender Lilies to 10 in Ender Magnolia, so build diversity is lower.
Enemy placement has also been altered, with fewer but stronger enemies appearing in key areas.
Combat Strategy and Character Progression
Players must manage homunculi strategically since different enemies require different attack types.
As expected, different characters bring different strengths.
For example, some are built to take down single targets with precision and power.
Crowd control abilities, on the other hand, focus on managing groups, keeping enemies at bay, and dealing with widespread damage.
As the game progresses, players unlock special attacks that use SP energy, delivering heavy damage that’s especially useful for bosses and large enemy groups.
Relic selection is important for optimizing combat performance.
There are relics that increase attack power, but the others provide healing effects, defensive buffs, or mobility boosts.
Status effects like poison and burning require careful management.
Some enemies inflict damage over time, so defensive relics are useful for survival in extended battles.
Compared to some Metroidvanias, Ender Magnolia does not impose a harsh death penalty.
Players retain all collected items and experience points upon defeat, so progress is not lost.
Rest points are placed before major boss fights so players can retry encounters without excessive backtracking.
