In a recent interview with AUTOMATON, Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist director Keisuke Okabe and lead designer Yasuhiro Yokoyama gave lots of insight into the development process behind the Ender series. Okabe revealed that his love for Vanillaware games inspired his work on Ender Lilies and its successor Ender Magnolia, especially their striking 2D graphics.
Following on from 2021’s highly popular metroidvania Ender Lilies, Ender Magnolia officially launched in January 2025 after spending 10 months in Early Access. Like its prequel, Ender Magnolia has received much acclaim from players in Japan and overseas for its gameplay, story and graphics, as well as the added RPG-style elements and improvements over the previous game.
Discussing this strong positive reception that both titles have received, Okabe posits that the games’ 2D art style is a key part of their appeal. He likens them to Vanillaware’s Odin Sphere, adding that “This kind of high quality (2D game) doesn’t come out often.”
Okabe turns out to be quite the fan of ambitious Japanese indie game studio Vanillaware, known for Dragon’s Crown (2013) and their latest hit Unicorn Overlord, which took over 10 years to make. He mentions that he even tried to get a job there when he was a university student, adding that “I really want Vanillaware to keep making such games.”
“However, making games is hard work- they’re not something you can just churn out, so we decided if Vanillaware was not releasing a new game, then we would make it ourselves.” Okabe adds that he once got the opportunity to speak to Vanillaware co-founder and CEO George Kamitani, and told him that this was one of the motivations for making the Ender games.
Okabe goes on to say how important he feels Ender Lilies and Ender Magnolia’s distinctive art style is to the games. “In terms of art, I thought that how the (Ender series) games push Japanese-style 2D animation to the limit would become their strongest attraction. Plus, the fusion of this artistic expression with the game design makes it interesting and is also something I consider a strength.”
Stay tuned for the full interview, coming soon on AUTOMATON WEST.
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist is available for Nintendo Switch, PS4/PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam).
