I have limited time and need to pick which one I should play next. Which is the better MetroidVania? I love Dark Souls as I believe both games have Souls' aspects in the game.
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Blasphemous or Ender Lilies
- Thread starter LoveBug566
- Start date
Can only speak for Blasphemous, but that game is really good and feels even darker/bloodier than Dark Souls in places. Also this game got tons of fixed and free Dlc over the years so it's now in a pretty much "definitive" state. Should also be cheaper than Ender Lillies.
I like Ender Lilies a bit more. I liked the story, gameplay, and setting. It's a bit depressing, but changing spirits help mix up the gameplay.
I'd go with Ender Lilies. Blasphemous is okay, it's just REALLY by-the-numbers. To the point where I felt like I could have been playing literally any other indie Metroidvania.
Ender Lillies. It's a really good game (one of my favorites of the year) that does everything well (outside of the awful map). Easy recommendation.
I am just about finished with my run of Ender Lilies and I have really enjoyed it. The art, the music, and the gameplay are all great. The combat is tough and unforgiving, but it never feels unfair. It's easily making my top 10 list for the year.
I never liked the way that Blasphemous feels to play. It is something about how the animations make combat feel unresponsive and like others already said, it is not a Metroidvania. Ender Lillies is great but has some lacking areas (but that is common in most Metroidvanias) and the combat feels more fast-paced and responsive.
Strangely enough, that's exactly how I feel about Ender Lilies at the moment. Blasphemous was a bit too weighty for my liking, but it still felt more satisfying to play. The art and music have been decent so far in EL, but there's just something lacking in the game for me to make me excited to go back to it.
Having played through both in the past month, I'd say Ender Lillies is the better game but Blasphemous is the more Soulslike experience. Both are fantastic though, and well worth playing.
As others have said, Ender Lilies is probably a slightly better game. However with all the free updates, Blasphemous is a much larger game and still extremely good. So really eeeeh, I would get whichever one you can find is cheaper.
I know you probably don't want another recommendation, but Deaths Gambit is also similar. I am playing it at the moment because they dropped the new free dlc and it is also extremely good.
I know you probably don't want another recommendation, but Deaths Gambit is also similar. I am playing it at the moment because they dropped the new free dlc and it is also extremely good.
OP
OP
Yup, it is on switch! Whichever is on sale I would buy, but entirely up to you. I am only part way through Deaths Gambit but I am liking it quite a lot at the moment.
I haven't played Ender Lilies, but the footage I've seen hasn't entirely convinced me, because the gameplay and level design come off as kind of lackluster. Great looking environments, but the framework of it looks a little plain. I've seen some of this repeated in the more critical responses to the game, but it's hard to say without hands-on time. I'm personally a little wary.
I have played Blasphemous however, and it's damn good. They did a lot since release to improve that game, and it was a blast pretty much start to finish. Really satisfying combat and fun levels. I had some minor issues like how it handles ledge grabbing in its platforming, but overall I had great time and the issues I had were overwhelmed by its positives. I'd also recommend it over Death's Gambit, which was suggested above. Blasphemous's world is more interesting to navigate imo due to greater variety in layouts and its verticality. Its art and animation also look better to me, but that's more of a personal preference.
Similar to Souls, Blasphemous certainly channels a sense of mystique, grandeur and beautiful grotesqueness. I think the story is a little too abstract for its own good, but I genuinely enjoyed a lot of the little vignettes told through items. Lots of cool/unsettling stories that remind me a little of twisted old fairytales. It's also all based on an overarching Catholic theming and aesthetic, which I felt give this game a very unique identity far beyond "dark fantasy". So yeah, while I can't really say much about Ender Lilies, if you do go for Blasphemous rest assured that it is very legit.
I have played Blasphemous however, and it's damn good. They did a lot since release to improve that game, and it was a blast pretty much start to finish. Really satisfying combat and fun levels. I had some minor issues like how it handles ledge grabbing in its platforming, but overall I had great time and the issues I had were overwhelmed by its positives. I'd also recommend it over Death's Gambit, which was suggested above. Blasphemous's world is more interesting to navigate imo due to greater variety in layouts and its verticality. Its art and animation also look better to me, but that's more of a personal preference.
Similar to Souls, Blasphemous certainly channels a sense of mystique, grandeur and beautiful grotesqueness. I think the story is a little too abstract for its own good, but I genuinely enjoyed a lot of the little vignettes told through items. Lots of cool/unsettling stories that remind me a little of twisted old fairytales. It's also all based on an overarching Catholic theming and aesthetic, which I felt give this game a very unique identity far beyond "dark fantasy". So yeah, while I can't really say much about Ender Lilies, if you do go for Blasphemous rest assured that it is very legit.
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+1 for all of this. I had never heard of Ender Lilies before this thread, so I just watched the trailer and find the art and animation to be off-putting. I enjoyed the shit out of my time with Blasphemous (and still need to finish it, which I guess I might try to do this weekend).
Loved ender Lilies and will be higher on my GOTY list than Dread (personally). Never played blasphemous though. I also second the Deaths Door recommendation.
I haven't played Enders Lilies yet, it's on the list, but I finished Blasphemous yesterday and it's one of the best recent metroidvania I've played
The game has the most gorgeous pixel art I've ever seen, the bosses are cool fights and a treat for the eyes. The soundtrack is amazing. The sense of place in Custodia is great. All of that has even more weight if have a catholic upbringing
And yes, I played Hollow Knight
The game has the most gorgeous pixel art I've ever seen, the bosses are cool fights and a treat for the eyes. The soundtrack is amazing. The sense of place in Custodia is great. All of that has even more weight if have a catholic upbringing
And yes, I played Hollow Knight
For what it's worth, I don't think the trailer does a good job of showcasing the gameplay or the absolutely beautiful areas in the game.
Ender Lilies doesn't feel great to play at all and the art style seems to copy and pasted from others, it's an okay game overall though. Have not played Blasphemous yet but have it installed
I really liked both but Blasphemous edges out for me. I just overall had more fun playing it and its got all that dlc (including an 8-bit mini game ala classic Castlevania which I am a sucker for). Ender is still cool though.
Blasphemous is more Castlevania than Metroid. That being said, I'd say it's one of the best indie games of the past few years.
The OST is also absolutely stellar:
www.youtube.com
The OST is also absolutely stellar:
Una Senda de Pasos Blancos
Provided to YouTube by DistroKidUna Senda de Pasos Blancos · Carlos ViolaBlasphemous (Original Game Soundtrack)℗ The Game KitchenReleased on: 2019-09-10Auto-...
www.youtube.com
Both are great, but I liked Ender Lilies more. The soundtrack in particular really set it apart for me.
I don't know when you last played, but you can now unlock fast travel on the save points, which, while not ideal because it's not available from the start, obviates some of the back and forth when exploring.
Same.
Such an underrated gem (especially with all the patches and updates).
Blasphemous is a game that's focused on your typical Souls hit and roll combat. It has shortcut designs, and you are able to find equitable items that open new paths- but you need to keep swapping these items, so it's not a "true" metroidvania in that sense.
Ender Lilies has a different underlying mechanic. As you explore the game, you can fight bosses, or mini-bosses that represent an enemy type. When you defeat them, you get to "purify" them, and that enemy gets added to your attack pool. See, your character doesn't have her own attack, she uses the abilities of souls she purifies. Each has its own animations, range and timing, as well as special effects that are stronger against particular enemy types, so the gameplay is really more of a puzzle where you try to figure out the optimal loadout for each encounter. You can have 3 souls equipped at a time, and you can switch between 2 loadouts, so at any given time you can have access to 6 souls. Bosses give you permanent traversal abilities, such as double jump, swim, ground pound, wall climb, etc, but some of the other souls also boost your movement due to how their attack animations play out- and these are needed for some of the most secret areas.
Blasphemous has a more impressive colour palette, but Ender Lillies' art is also gorgeous, though the style is more muted. Both have strong music and sound design.
Blasphemous is very unforgiving with its platforming, and hitting enemies in mid-air will lead to loads of deaths from "stagger, fall off platform, hit spikes, die". There's a late-game item that prevents you from dying to spikes, but it comes way too late to save you the many, many, many frustrating deaths. Ender Lillies is way more forgiving in that regard, though many encounters can still be brutal, and some areas in mid-game are swarming with enemies. You will die a lot in both games, but I felt Ender Lilies had a lot less cheap deaths.
Blasphemous has loads more content and secrets. Without NG+ (that adds it's own quest) and the recent free content update, it took me well over 50 hours to map out everything and collect most of its collectible stuff- and there are loads of things.
Ender Lillies was a 30 hour ride to get 100% achievements on Steam. It's got multiple endings, but you can just restart at the last save before the ending to get a different outcome (the endings you get depend on a item you equip before the final boss fight, and depending on which ending you get, you then get a diff reward item spawned. Basically, you need to fight the final boss 3 times to 100% the game, but, just as in Blasphemous, the final boss isn't the game's biggest challenge, the mid game bosses were more difficult.
They are both very good, but different games.
Ender Lilies has a different underlying mechanic. As you explore the game, you can fight bosses, or mini-bosses that represent an enemy type. When you defeat them, you get to "purify" them, and that enemy gets added to your attack pool. See, your character doesn't have her own attack, she uses the abilities of souls she purifies. Each has its own animations, range and timing, as well as special effects that are stronger against particular enemy types, so the gameplay is really more of a puzzle where you try to figure out the optimal loadout for each encounter. You can have 3 souls equipped at a time, and you can switch between 2 loadouts, so at any given time you can have access to 6 souls. Bosses give you permanent traversal abilities, such as double jump, swim, ground pound, wall climb, etc, but some of the other souls also boost your movement due to how their attack animations play out- and these are needed for some of the most secret areas.
Blasphemous has a more impressive colour palette, but Ender Lillies' art is also gorgeous, though the style is more muted. Both have strong music and sound design.
Blasphemous is very unforgiving with its platforming, and hitting enemies in mid-air will lead to loads of deaths from "stagger, fall off platform, hit spikes, die". There's a late-game item that prevents you from dying to spikes, but it comes way too late to save you the many, many, many frustrating deaths. Ender Lillies is way more forgiving in that regard, though many encounters can still be brutal, and some areas in mid-game are swarming with enemies. You will die a lot in both games, but I felt Ender Lilies had a lot less cheap deaths.
Blasphemous has loads more content and secrets. Without NG+ (that adds it's own quest) and the recent free content update, it took me well over 50 hours to map out everything and collect most of its collectible stuff- and there are loads of things.
Ender Lillies was a 30 hour ride to get 100% achievements on Steam. It's got multiple endings, but you can just restart at the last save before the ending to get a different outcome (the endings you get depend on a item you equip before the final boss fight, and depending on which ending you get, you then get a diff reward item spawned. Basically, you need to fight the final boss 3 times to 100% the game, but, just as in Blasphemous, the final boss isn't the game's biggest challenge, the mid game bosses were more difficult.
They are both very good, but different games.
Not for the critical path/beating the game, but that's being pretty pedantic imo. You open up that map and you know exactly what you're getting into.
It's not the classic "beat a boss to unlock new ability" design, and I don't think any of the items are actually required to make it to the final boss area.
In that sense, Blasphemous feels like a more traditional souls-like, with greater emphasis on just exploring areas, meeting weird characters, doing obtuse quests, and fighting lots of stuff, with actual metroidvania aspects sprinkled in from time to time.
In comparison, Ender Lilies is a typical metroidvania that takes inspiration from the Souls' setting, tone, and even some of the themes, but not really gameplay.
Not in the way a classic Metroidvania does, and I think that should be disclosed. I purchased the game expecting the template as formulated in SotN and did not get that. I think purchasers should know that. There are certain abilities you can get that will allow you to do certain things or go to new areas, but if you go in expecting morph ball -> closed space -> missile -> missile door, you won't get that. At least for me that's important.
That's pretty nitpicky to me - for me a metroidvania is find new abilities -> use abilities to reach new areas/find new stuff. I don't really see how Blasphemous doesn't do that.
I don't think it's nitpicky; to me that is the core of the genre. That progression is entirely optional in Blasphemous. I think the genre is pretty broad nowadays as people apply the label pretty generously, but I think something like a Guacamelee, Timespinner, Hollow Knight, Castlevania, Bloodstained, etc., play and feel really differently.
I didn't add Metroid because I don't really think it's a Metroidvania :D
you don't need the abilities to reach new areas nor to finish the game, they are optional. You can beat the game straight just with just your sword.