Binary Haze Interactive’s acclaimed metroidvania Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights got an official sequel in January 2025. Titled Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist, the new entry in the series matched its predecessor’s success, earning an Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam. But how did the Ender series seek to compete with other games in the popular Metroidvania genre? AUTOMATON asked director Keisuke Okabe and lead game designer Yasuhiro Yokoyama.
Ender Lilies came out in 2021. While the game was in development, Okabe and his dev team were aware that the Metroidvania genre was major in the indie scene at the time. They actively sought out games by other creators and played them as they released, but one title they were particularly aware of was Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight. Hollow Knight was released in 2017 to glowing reviews, becoming a top pick among metroidvania fans.
Faced with such strong competition, the Ender series’ devs looked for ways to stand out, and they found their answer in their art style. “I considered one of our strengths to be our art team’s proficiency in anime-like 2D art, and I wanted to fully take advantage of that,” Okabe comments.
Noticing that there were not many games out there offering such a look, the developers decided to fill the gap by creating a metroidvania that focused on appealing 2D anime visuals. Thus, Ender Lilies and its sequel Ender Magnolia were born.
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist is available for Nintendo Switch, PS4/PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam).
