Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree

I dunno why IGN and reddit gave this game such a hard time. It's a really good soulsvania game.

This game had potential and I had it on my wishlist for a while before I bought it on sale. It's essentially (or completely) abandoned at this point. If you are considering buying this game be warned that there bugs that completely halt progression. They are random and occur randomly, for it me was not being able to enter a door that I had gone through. The first time it happened about 2 hours in which essentially voided my ability to refund the game. Look through the discussion boards and you will see other players reporting the same problem. I have had this happen on several other attempts and can do nothing about it at this point. It's a shame because there is a lot to like about this game otherwise.

Really awesome game. Mix of Metroidvania & soulsike. It even has difficulty options for those (like me sometimes) who are not the ultimate gamers. I really love that there are different classes with slightly different playstyle, i love exploring the world, finding loot, ingredients and other stuff. The only minor complaint that i may have, is that with this many classes you should be able to change classes at every time or the world would need to be a bit more open so if you create a new char with a new class it does not feel exactly the same as the first playthrough. But it is a linear story game, you can sometimes explore a bit, but you will most times soon be hindered by some obstacle which you only can overcome by proceeding in the story. But yeah having lots of fun with this one, completely suggest this to everyone who likes metroidvania or soulslikes.

Insufferable girl-boss in the first 5 min of the game, "I'm better than you!". Give me a frikkin break... when will this ridiculous decade and a half of simping and feminism in gaming end. It's beyond stale..

I saw a lot of negative reviews at launch, can't remember why exactly. Decided to pick it up later because the visuals really caught my eye. Bought it on sale, expected a decent Metroidvania, and instead it sucked me in harder than Hollow Knight did back in the day. The game is gorgeous. Like, "stop and stare at the background" gorgeous. Hand-painted 2.5D vibes that make every area feel alive, and even the character faces during dialogues are more than just static images. The combat is snappy and responsive — your hits actually feel like they land, and the dodge roll actually works (unlike in some other similar games). Boss fights are challenging but fair — that classic "try, die, learn, try again" rhythm that makes you feel like a badass when you finally win. Though not as insane as Nine Sols — that game is just on another level of madness. The world is simpler than in Hollow Knight — it's not a weird bug kingdom, just a standard medieval fantasy setting. And it's more linear, which might disappoint hardcore exploration junkies. The dialogue isn't intrusive — simple, tasteful, and to the point. You can change difficulty anytime, and it doesn't affect loot — convenient, but when you beat a boss on easy and get the same reward as on hard, it does feel a bit unfair. But hey, that's just me. I just kept everything on default and moved on. Overall, I haven't been this absorbed in a game in a long time — to the point where you just want to keep playing and playing until the very end. I'm hungry for more: DLC, a sequel, whatever — just give it to me soon and make it a lot! * * * На релизе видел много плохих отзывов, не помню из-за чего. Решил купить позже, т.к. визуал очень понравился. Купил по скидке, думал — средняя метроидвания, а она засосала сильнее, чем Hollow Knight в своё время. Игра красивая. До такой степени, что останавливаешься и пялишься на фоны. Рисованная 2.5D-эстетика, от которой каждый локация дышит, лица персонажей при диалогах - тоже не просто картинки. Боёвка сочная и отзывчивая — удары реально чувствуются, а кувырок работает (в отличие от некоторых подобных игр). Боссы сложные, но честные — тот самый ритм «попробуй, сдохни, научись, повтори», когда в конце чувствуешь себя крутым. Но не как в Nine souls - там вообще с ума сойти можно.. Мир попроще, чем в Hollow Knight — это не странный мир жуков, тут стандартный набор средневекового фэнтэзи. И он более линейный, что фанатам исследований может не понравиться. Диалоги не назойливые, просто и со вкусом. Сложность можно менять в любой момент, и это не влияет на лут — удобно, но когда ты проходишь босса на лёгкой сложности и получаешь то же, что и на хардкоре, возникает лёгкое чувство несправедливости. Но это уже личное. Я просто оставил всё как по умолчанию было. В общем и целом, я давно не погружался в игру настолько, что хочется играть и играть до самого конца. Хочется продолжения: DLC, вторую часть, да пофиг, пусть это будет поскорее и много!

Pretty graphics, terrible game design. This game had so much potential, but many of your design choices ruined the game.

I can't believe I forgot to review this when I played it on release. Highly recommend and honestly it deserves more attention.

so far amazing 1- peak world design it just looks so damn good 2- good story presentation 3- good amount of exploration available 4- bosses are enjoyable only bad thing is bro where is the ultra wide support u had time to add every upscaling the universe (the game doesnt need any runs well even on an rx 580) but no time to add UW support had to shuve it in my self thanks modders