Enotria: The Last Song Review – A Decent Soulslike Brimming with Character

As a seasoned gamer with countless hours spent traversing the intricate realms of Soulslike games, I found myself utterly captivated by Enotria’s exquisitely designed Mediterranean landscapes. The game’s architecture and environment design are nothing short of breathtaking, rivaling even the hallowed grounds of Dark Souls 1. Yet, as a nonna who’s seen her fair share of Italian hedge mazes, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of disappointment when it came to the game’s navigation system.

Welp, folks, we’ve got another Soulslike game on our hands with Enotria: The Last Song. This Italian themed Soulslike wears its inspirations on its sleave, but it does enough with its systems to avoid feeling too derivative. Enotria’s structure and combat is shamelessly taken from Dark Souls, but its emphasis on build variety and unique Mask Line system stands out as something original. Though Enotria may look like just another cheap Soulslike clone at first glance, its remarkable level design and unique setting help it rise above as a competent game worth checking out.

Before exploring the captivating aspects of Enotria, let’s first discuss the issues players are encountering. Prior to the day-1 update, a death screen was superimposed during the opening cinematic, halting player progress. Although this problem has been partially addressed, it occasionally reappears with inconsistent visuals. The situation is exacerbated because cutscenes cannot be skipped, forcing players to watch the glitchy introduction regardless. At least, they can skip the tutorial, however.

Sometimes leaders and adversaries will momentarily become stationary, making it easier for you to win. I hope this glitch is addressed soon.

A common gameplay related bug that I’ve encountered freezes enemies and bosses in place, allowing for an easy unopposed victory. I’ve had enemies freeze in place at least four times during my first save game. Oh yeah, I’ve had to make multiple save slots thanks to random crashes deleting save files. I’ve had this crash file issue happen after the day-1 patch, so even if it’s a rarity, it’s still a potential game breaker for players. Besides these rather substantial bugs, Enotria runs at a consistent 60 fps, and the Graphical setting isn’t too far behind, hovering around at a respectable 40 fps.

Despite the numerous bugs and technical problems that seem to be prevalent in the game Enotria, one wouldn’t expect it to maintain such high visual quality. However, this game is visually stunning, leveraging Unreal Engine 5 to create a fantastical representation of Italy. The distance at which objects can be seen is impressively far, and the textures on grass and castle walls are detailed with intricate, varied organic patterns and high resolution. The lighting in Enotria is particularly noteworthy; they’ve masterfully captured the atmosphere of Falesia Magna, a location inspired by the Mediterranean coast. This game successfully transports you to Italy, whether you’re exploring densely packed medieval hill towns or lush, vibrant fields reminiscent of Tuscany.

In Enotria, there’s a fantastic balance between real-world detail and captivating fantasy. The color palette is carefully chosen, offering just enough intricate details on costumes and weaponry to give it a sense of reality, while also incorporating the high-contrast lighting often seen in fantastical landscapes. A perfect example of this is the Monestary of Maja courtyard, which has an eerie Halloween-like quality. The dark blue and purple hues create a striking contrast against the brighter settings of other areas, showcasing the diverse range of locations in Enotria. Each area has its own distinct theme and aesthetic, ensuring that no two areas look alike.

Among the numerous checkpoints you’ll encounter on your journey, some provide quick teleportation options and healing restorations.

In Enotria, you’ll move between various areas primarily using our well-established quick-travel system, similar to many Soulslike games. You might recognize the fast travel and ‘bonfire’ system from these games. When you rest at a Reality Knot (equivalent to bonfires in Soulslike games), it not only revives your health and restores your healing items, but also enables quick travel between Knots. The Reality Knots in Enotria are strategically placed without the issue of long, enemy-filled journeys that some Soulslike games have. This means you won’t have to pass through an entire town swarming with hostile mobs just to reach the boss arena from a Knot checkpoint like in some games. Additionally, Enotria offers a reasonable distribution of enemy mobs, and I rarely found myself outnumbered as I did in Dark Souls 2. The enemy distribution in Enotria resembles that of Dark Souls 1, giving players the choice to either fight every enemy or run past them to unlock doors or collect Memoria (the game’s experience and currency).

In the game Enotria, Memoria can be utilized for enhancing armor, weapons, and unique character traits known as Masks. Masks are what truly set Enotria apart from other games in its genre, offering a diverse range of attributes and special effects. By integrating Masks with Mask Lines (which function like action abilities), you can create numerous playstyles or builds. However, I find the emphasis on affinities in Enotria to be challenging. Most enemies and bosses have a specific affinity, or element, that they exhibit. To defeat them effectively, it’s often necessary to exploit their weakness by using an affinity they’re vulnerable to. This is accomplished by infusing your weapon from any of your four Lines. Unfortunately, there’s no clear visual cue displaying which affinity is linked to which Line. Instead, you must access the menu and remember which Line ability is infused with what affinity and the buffs you have equipped for infusion.

“Enotria’s skill tree covers a wide range of passive and active buffs”

The elemental rock/paper/scissors gameplay could have been awesome if it were more streamlined and easier to discern what affinity you are using. Speaking of affinities, Enotria’s skill tree is rather comprehensive with its various buffs and perks. I mostly avoided playing as an elemental warrior after realizing how much memorization I’d have to waste on the affinity system, but it’s a powerful build option for players who want to go for the battlemage playstyle. Overall, I enjoy the deep well of variety that Enotria’s Mask system allows but find the poor visual indications with affinities cumbersome, not to mention the hit-or-miss moment to moment gameplay.

The fighting style includes a swift strike, powerful strike, and an emphasis on deflecting blows. Your light sword strikes seem somewhat sluggish and awkward to execute. Heavy strikes with greatswords take too long to land on enemies, making my preferred playstyle using greatswords less effective in games like this. The impact of hits feels unimpactful due to weak visual and audio responses. However, the majority of enemies exhibit predictable patterns in their attacks, allowing players to learn and counter them effectively. Despite this, there’s still a sense of lacking intensity in the overall combat experience.

“Combat hinges on an enemy’s break bar, requiring a solid command of parry timings.”

I do like the parry/break system inherent in Enotria’s combat though. You inflict a lot of damage by depleting the enemy’s break meter, after which a finishing move can be pulled off for massive damage. The easily telegraphed attacks allowed me to time perfect parries more than other games in the same genre, but some enemies and most bosses just have way too much health despite that convenience. Bosses in particular are so overtuned and unfun to fight a majority of the time because of padded health. It’s not that the bosses in Enotria are super difficult like they are in Shadow of the Erdtree; no, oftentimes, I’d memorize their patterns and learn their parry windows fairly quickly. They just take too long to fight, requiring a great deal of patience and repetitive actions to overcome. Even when I started up a second game with a strong min/max build, bosses still felt a tad too repetitive.

To put it simply, the focus on parrying in this game might appeal especially to fans of Sekiro, given its fast and handy dodging mechanics and the versatility offered by the ability to change character loadouts during battle. However, I find the weapon swings lacking in speed and power, with the running attack feeling quite clumsy and reminiscent of the undead foes from Dark Souls 1 – a comparison that’s not necessarily flattering.

Enotria’s roads wind and twist in a complex pattern, with secret passages tucked away. These paths frequently intersect, creating shortcuts for those who know the terrain well.

Intricate level design is where Enotria truly impresses. It was deep within one of the dense Mediterranean locales when I earnestly considered giving this game an 8 out of 10 instead of my final score of 7. You’re constantly finding new shortcuts while looping in on previous areas. The sense of joy upon looping in on the other side of a locked gate rivals Dark Souls 1, a game whose inspiration is immediately made clear. But it’s not just that the Italian city streets and countryside hedge mazes are well designed from a gameplay perspective, they’re populated with various doodads and props that enrichen each environment even further. The set dressing is simply brimming with liveliness in Enotria, even if most of it can’t be interacted with. I cannot stress enough how satisfying some of the stage design is in Enotria, and it’s pretty dang consistent with its quality too.

As a gamer immersed in the captivating world of Enotria, I’ve found myself lost more times than I’d like to admit. The game’s stunning labyrinthine stages are top-notch, but the lack of clear direction between them leaves me floundering. After defeating the first significant boss, I was expected to retrace my steps back to the game’s very beginning, where a mysterious gate suddenly appeared, allowing passage forward. A day 1 patch added a quick cutscene showing this gate opening, but it only added to the confusion, as there are several identical gates leading up to the boss fight.

In the story of Enotria, Pulcinella takes on the role of your personal tour guide. However, it’s important to note that Pulcinella isn’t the only intriguing figure you’ll meet along the way.

To wrap up, let’s discuss the narrative and storyline of the game Enotria. If you’re fond of the classic storytelling style from FromSoftware’s Souls series, you’ll find a comfortable fit in Enotria. The opening cinematic, when it functions properly, provides an overview of the game’s main characters and formidable foes with dramatic narration. Your companion character, Pulcinella, frequently appears throughout your journey, offering guidance and context to your actions. Most of the intricate lore can be found in Compendium entries hidden within the intricate corners of Enotria. There’s also a bestiary that updates as you defeat more of a specific enemy, a feature that surpasses most Soulslikes. However, don’t anticipate extensive character development or gripping cutscenes; Enotria is a traditional Soulslike game with no ambition to innovate its storytelling methods beyond the norm.

Although I encountered some frustrating game-halting bugs and found the instructions between levels confusing at times, I truly relished my adventure in the Soulslike rendition of Italy within Enotria. The intricate shortcuts and detailed environments are worthy of acclaim for their impeccable design. I found myself captivated by the Italian-inspired landscapes and wished that some of the gameplay aspects were as polished. While combat can feel cumbersome occasionally, it didn’t deter me significantly. If the developers address the lingering bugs and streamline the interface for affinity, Enotria could effortlessly earn an 8 out of 10 rating, but at present, it’s a delightfully flawed Soulslike experience.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

2024-09-23 20:41

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