Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree

This game couldve easily been a 10/10 game, but it has some unneccessary stupid decisions. So i gave it a 6,5/10 because of the following. Pro: - 10/10 world design. Very authentic and realistic, not just a random plattformer. With many secrets and you will always find a unique blueprint or item. - Map size is decent - Very good sounds. - Good graphics. - Combat is very fluid and without bugs or problems. - Exceptional performance with around 200-300 fps at max settings and lag free. - Good enemy variety. - Game has transmog Con: - Controls are very bad, because you have to switch between ur skill sets with arrow up, to use more skills. Which is not managable during combat. Instead of holding LT+X/Y/B for your second skill set attacks, like many other games do it these days. And the ultimate skill can go to arrow up button. Very easy fix. - The rogue class is completely destroyed because you have to apply the poison manually every 30-40 seconds and it takes 2 combo points and 3 seconds to apply. Instead of making the poison skill permanent on the weapon, since its the core of the class and build. Doing that during boss fights is just pain. Its not only annoying, but also destroys the fun. Its a shame because the class is actually decent, besides that point. Btw in comparison, even a weapon sharpening tool lasts 2-4 minutes and doesnt need any combo points to apply it. - Itemization is terrible. Late game weapons and armors are much stronger, but they might have the wrong effects on it, which doesnt match with your build. Instead of implementing weapon upgrades, so all weapons are equally usefull if you upgrade them to the max. Then you can make proper builds. Like all other games do. This gets only worse in NG+, where some items have a +1 version and some dont. And some are about 20% better than the base item and some are 25% better. Everything is very random and unbalanced. It feels like the devs rushed through and pushed this out. - Some enemy attacks, bosses or enemy combinations are just ridiculous. Especially the last boss. But to be fair, this game has much much less trash and ridiculous things than most other games. - Witch tree skill tree shouldnt be resetted in NG+ - Transmog is too expensive. It should cost much less or be free. Specially in early-mid game. Its a shame they didnt fix and address these thing by now. Wasted potential. But its still very enjoyable and worth buying on a sale.

игра балдеж, если бы не наличие стамины. И то, что сюжет чуваков из хаба не дожали. выдали каждому по 1 квесту с минимумом информации. я конечно сам виноват, что ожидал уровень дивинити или врат балдежа.

One of the most polished, tightly made metroidvanias out there imo. I absolutely loved this game. The art style reminds me kind of a modern WoW look but with an entirely Horde aesthetic lol- and I LOVE IT. Also, the story and writing are fantastic with equally exceptional voice acting. A lot of love went into this game and it shows. Below I'll give some quick number grades on different aspects of the game that most MVs all have, but know that I do love the game. Before that, one final thought, the game is more of a Soulsvania but the combat is pretty forgiving, making it just a very fun, mostly relaxing MV. ART STYLE & GRAPHICS + MUSIC: 8/10. Very cool art style that is well above avg. It's not stunning per se but it is very well done and very well polished. What IS exceptional are the character portraits during dialogues and the general setting art. I have a 5070ti and the game runs like a champ and is especially pretty with the effects from combat. Finally the music is done very well but there's no single track that really stands out. That's not to say any of the music is bad, its just none of it really stands out. Combat (+ Items)- 10/10: This is what the game is mostly focused on and is truly exceptional at. You can chose from all sorts of different build trees and weapon choices and I haven't ran into a single one that didnt feel unique yet viable. Personally I went with Wyld and it was broken (in the most fun way lol). I only used it the last 20% though so the rest of the game was a proper MV struggle. Anyways, there's Poison, Chaos, Wyld, Fire, Astral, and Combat. Each of those trees correspon to a particular stat to focus on. Your secondary stat is where you can really tweak things though. Like, I had a fun little Wyld and Fire build but then did a more traditional Wyld/Astral build in the end (both heavy spirit trees). The game made magic builds extremely fun but pure combat or even hybrid combat/magic are tons of fun (I ran the later for most of the game). + Huge amount of weapons and armor! Bosses- 9/10: There are TONS of bosses and so many of these fights are unique and memorable. This is really an extension of the combat section but I put it separate because all good MVs have memorable boss fights imo. Honestly only a handful of bosses gave me trouble and I think only one (the final boss) was really HARD in the truest sense of the word for this genre. That said, the boss fights also weren't easy per se. Thus, the game hits this sweet spot for boss fights where you should only die a few times at most in even the hardest of fights until the final boss. None of the fights feel unfair and all of them have rather easily distinguishable moves and phases. Again though, don't take that for me saying this was a cakewalk. The game hits the difficulty sweet spot almost better than any MV i've ever played and I love that the final boss is the hardest boss there is- but not in a cheap way. FAVORITE FIGHT: The marionette theater fight. This fight is so much fun. You fight multiple wooden marionettes, each depicting a different boss character with different moves, and its all narrated by the "final boss" of that area. There's also 3 phases which is the only time in the game that happens and is all the more fun for it. Story- 8/10: Great story that's pretty unique and memorable. The Witches and Vampires were especially memorable because they aren't done the way that games usually do them. Also, your character is part of an order that stamps out those kind but it's done in an interesting enough way that none of this feels generic or boring. I really enjoyed the story even if I could guess where it all was going from fairly early on. (I mean the game doesn't hide any of that either but its still done well enough that the lack of mystery doesn't hamper the fun of the story or game in the slightest). Ambiance/Setting- 8/10: This is right there with combat as the strong point of this game. The world is set in this medieval, dark/realistic fantasy type setting that is done extremely well. Again, the best I can describe the aesthetic is the undead Horde areas in WoW but with modern graphics and all the bells and whistles that entails. My favorite area was the vampire mansion. It has this hilarious but creepy vamp art section that truly made the whole area memorable. Again, the theater area is kind of part of the vampire mansion and that's where my favorite boss fight was also. The whole game has this dark/gloomy vibe but its not oppre feeling like some games are when going for the darksouls vibe. Mandragora feels distinctly unique in its setting and presentation despite being one of many in this dark medieval type of world that's all too common in this genre and the Souls genre too. I'm not saying that's a bad thing either, for the games that feel like everything else in the looks/setting dept I mean. But, again, Mandragora manages to feel like its within that same family but is a distinct, easily distinguishable individual. Maybe its the slight cartoony/WoW-like character models that helps cheer up the grim-dark setting. Either way, the game is charming despite the dark, gritty setting and has plenty of personality in its characters and writing to shine a light frequently through all the gloom and doom in this world. Platforming/Utility Unlocks- 6/10. I would say that while the game does it platforming extremely smoothly and everything is pretty tight, nothing is ever difficult in the platforming and you only get a few utility unlocks (witch light = special doors; grappling hook; double jump; glide). I MIGHT be missing the first one but I don't think I am. Its the absolute bare minimum for utility unlocks but they are done well and backtracking is sprinkled in slightly to make going back to other areas generally feel worth it. Again though, no spot is hard to get to and chaining together utilities to get somewhere is only necessary a tiny number of times. I would give the game a 5 in this regard but its all made so well and feels so smooth that I had to give it slightly above average even in this, its worst aspect. Map, Secrets- 7/10 : The map is pretty darn huge and while the general setting makes every biome feel similar, there's enough uniqueness in each "biome" that you will always know where you are and not confuse one area for another. I love that the game is able to make this world feel realistic and similar while also giving every section its own specific identity to stand out. By this I mean that yes there's like 3 medieval cities/towns but one of them is alive and well in the middle with bandits having taken over parts; then the other is a lot of wooden village type of aesthetic leading into the vampire mansion area but it still all feels of the same region and time period; then there's the 3rd "medieval city" but this one is very religous feeling AND its on fire lol. So, they have subtle differences to help things stand out rather than what a lot of MVs do which is to have super distinct regions like a desert, snow region, jungle region, etc. and none of it feels very connected. The transitions are done super well too. While the game is huge, and the areas transition well, the super fun parts of a well done MV where you have tons of doors and caves/secrets etc, tying all sorts of areas together aren't there. Those MV games that have the moments where you proverbially smack your forehead, saying "omg THAT is where that door leads IT MAKES SENSE" aren't there for this game. The connections are pretty obvious and nothing felt very hidden or hard to reach. This was really my only let down of the game. FINAL: 8.5/10. The game hits the sweet spot on difficulty, has a wonderful story and unique world, all while being extremely polished and well put together. Thus, the game is one of the better metroidvanias that i've played. While the platforming and utility unlocks aren't special, everything else is great. Buy it full price with confidence!

Its so good! 10/10. I just finished the game and decided to make a review. I definitely recommend if you're into platformer/side scroller type games, such as metroidvania games like Castlevania. This game is amazing! So well made, has loads of content, gameplay is so smooth. There is some humor sprinkled in here and there which I loved. "Gary the Chonk", I thank you for your contribution lol I didn't run into any bugs or hiccups and the graphics are awesome. No stutters or anything hindering gameplay it was all a very smooth experience. The map is large, with many hidden areas to find. I WANTED to explore the whole map for the achievement. I never feel that way in games, but this game I just wanted to keep going and going and going. There is so much gear to craft and find, plus you can choose many classes and mix and match classes which makes this game replayable hardcore(There is also an NG+).

I want a sequel. This game is awesome! A perfect fusion of souls-like and metroidvania.

GG