Beautiful action platformer Ender Lilies enters Early Access in January
Creepy, but also just pretty to look at.
In metroidvanias, horror and beauty often belong together. Think of the gorgeous yet dark world of Blasphemous or Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, where the dangerous monsters out for your hide are as likely to be overly large kittens as tentacle beasts. With Ender Lilies, developers Live Wire and adglobe are evoking a similar feel, dropping a young girl called Lily into a world where everything the rain touches turns monstrous. If that sounds like a world you'd like to explore, you're in luck—Ender Lilies will release into Steam Early Access on January 21.
Lily isn't alone, however. She's accompanied by what seems like a spirit, who does the fighting for her, while she explores the world and climbs platforms in classic side-scrolling fashion. The different environments do look lovely. From a magical forest with giant fungi to a church, backgrounds are lit beautifully and are never completely static. The highlight however has to be the combat against some stunningly detailed monsters—from the look of things it will be a test of your patience and reflexes, as encounters in this trailer look quite fluid and speedy.
In essence, this developer seems to have done its metroidvania homework, but you can judge that for yourself with the Early Access version on Steam soon.