NieR, “Replicated” and Improved
（Played on PC with a controller in Japanese through Steam）
If any of the NieR games got “demade”, the end result would look a lot like Ender Lilies Quietus of the Knights. Marketed as a dark fantasy 2D action RPG, Ender Lilies is a Castlevania-Symphony-of-the-Night-like dipped and soaked in a sorrowful yet soothing vibe. In a year when your truly finally got to play NieR Replicant, it’s actually preferable to play something similar but with more engaging combat.
The titular Lily woke up to the fact that her world had long gone and was crawling with monsters. Haunted by guardian spirits, Lily was determined to discover the source that destroyed her world.
The aforementioned Lily is not what one except to play in an action game. Instead, she would not be out of place in Clock Tower or Fatal Frame series, since Lily is haunted by more spirits than those horror titles’ playable babes. The twist here is that haunting spirits are keeping Lily alive, as even in the end of this world, there are still fleshy monstrosities set out to stomp on anything less monstrous than they are.
Lily starts with the sword wielding Umbra Knight and gains access to more weapons by beating boss passable or otherwise. She has access to at most 6 types of weapons, each set to a face button and switch with a pull of the left trigger. There is the usually Castlevania-Symphony-of-the-Night-like upgrade path of movement, though Lily’s evasive movement evolution is relatively unique here, as it went from a dolphin dove to an air dash then to basically flying.
Boss fights on the game’s main path resemble the (pen)ultimate boss fight of original NieR a lot. NieR‘s Shadow Lord has a third stage in which the sad to begin with music has a even sadder music-box cover, every critical boss in Ender Lilies does too. The difference is that one can lay back by the time that happens in NieR while in Ender Lilies those bosses are more dangerous as like the cornered beasts they are. There are still pattern to remember if you want continue the story of Ender Lilies. The final boss of Ender Lilies would not have that final phase until play prepared everything for the game’s Ending C.
Like the Yoko Taro joints, a complete playthrough of Ender Lilies requires one to reach more than one ending, marked with letters. The mechanic incentive is better here, as New Game + is locked behind the third and final Ending C. Ending A requires one to run, jump and climb from the left end of the world map to the right and contains no credits. Ending B asks one to dig deep into the world map and uncover something in that depth. Ender Lilies does not ask player to “replay” its story but rather use backtracking tradition of Castlevania-Symphony-of-the-Night-like to add well, depth.
I am using “Castlevania-Symphony-of-the-Night-like” instead of “Metroivania” because I consider the former more suitable for side-scrolling open world action adventure game with RPG elements like leveling. What gave Lily a lot trouble at beginning would melt away like butter on hot knife when one backtracks and collects what they miss. Though no matter how high level you are at, enemies in the final stage before credits can all kill you within 3 hits, no matter they are little blobs, screen covering boss or anything in between.
Music feels sorrowful and soothing at the same time. The borderline monochrome color plate and extreme detailed character sprites all give the game its unique look. The tragic backstories of each guardian spirits Lily had to beat, purify and recruit would make the NieR stories look like the most happy-go-luck-do stuff in the world. All in all, if you want a so-called NieR experience but on a budget, Ender Lilies is more worth picking up than NieR Replicant Ver.1.22474487139.