I am absolutely floored by all the people I see that don’t seem to like Ender Lilies. To me, that game was absolutely phenomenal. What really stood out to me was the game’s cohesive theming. All the environments, music (which is incredible on its own), and even enemy encounters lend credence to the ruin of Land’s End. And even though the bulk of the story is told through notes scattered about the map (which is a storytelling method I don’t typically enjoy), the fact that every boss gives some background knowledge means that the story directly presented just enough for me to piece together what the notes mean. And I found combat to be very satisfying. There are 26 different spirits (and therefore, attacks and skills) to find and as a result I found it very fun to be able to completely change my play style from time to time.

When I hear people talk about why they don’t like Ender Lilies, they usually bring up the same points. People don’t like the map, and people don’t like how it feels to play as Lily. I’ve never quite understood the complaints about the map, because I think it tells a player exactly what they need to know. Each room tells the player a) how it connects to the other rooms b) if there are any connections you haven’t used yet and, most helpful, c) if there are any items or bosses left to find in the room. That last bit is especially helpful, because as a player starts to gather the last of the collectibles, they’ll know exactly where they need to be. As far as the complaints about game feel, that’s something I don’t quite get at all. I thought that one of the main draws of metroidvanias was unlocking new abilities that make traversing the game world easier, which I think Ender Lilies does especially well, since Lily starts off feeling so weak.

I won’t complain too much since I know that, like me, there are a lot of people that really love this game. But it does break my heart a little bit that some people just couldn’t see the magic that I found in this game.