Enotria: The Last Song Review

ign.com:

Enotria: The Last Song is quite like most games inspired by From Software-style action RPGs. You patiently adventure through dungeons, put weapons of various shapes and sizes into monsters, and try not to die terribly in the process. It’s all pretty familiar by now, but all the other stuff around that core is where developer Jyamma Games really tries to spice up this recipe. The ideas that work, like taking the setting out of dank caves and swampy bogs into the shimmering light of sunny mountainsides and colorful cities, really work. The things that don’t, like the overwhelming amount of unintuitive things to unlock and equip and the janky performance issues, keep Entoria’s name from gracing the growing list of games that become more than just another soulslike.

The most striking way Enotria escapes the dark and gloomy shadow of the big games it’s inspired by is its livelier setting and art direction. Where most soulslikes are dedicated to the dank caves and dungeons that are staples of the genre, Enotria gets the sun involved in a big way, beyond simply praising it. Striking skies, rolling fields of golden sunflowers, and clean, sandy shores are front and center. Even places where things go bump in the night still have bold colors and radical environmental aspects like huge, twisting trees. Similarly, many enemy and NPC character designs are covered in little details that make them pop, even when the textures can sometimes feel flat.

This more vibrant world is suffering from a dark corruption that has trapped everyone in it in a constant state of monotony and repetition. There’s lots of metaphor to stage plays and everyone playing a role like an actor, especially early on, but I found my interest waned in the plot as I progressed. Individual interactions with some characters can be interesting, but in true soulslike fashion, much of this story is hidden in mystery, and I was not all too keen to unravel this one.

Each area is filled with enemies that vary greatly from