Always live your best life.
To exist is the greatest rebellion
Unless your best life involves being an absolute dick hole to others, in which case, obviously don’t. Kirby doesn’t qualify for that of course, even if he did one time rage through the entirety of Dreamland to mistakenly beat the shit out of an innocent King Dedede for whom he mistakenly assumed had stolen his food at the beginning of Squeak Squad. To be fair, Dedede has *literally* stolen all the food in Dreamland before, so can you really blame Kirby for wrongly assuming? Besides…
This bastard is fucking crazy
Out of all the games I’ve been playing that I’ve mentioned recently, I think one that continually eludes a name drop from me is Ender Magnolia (Switch, Xbox, PlayStation, PC), in all of it’s Metroidvania glory. Which may be the reason I in fact, haven’t gone on more about it, as the title sits in a genre of video game that is a comfortably filled niche at this point, with a title in the same vein coming out basically every other month at this point. Though, the absence of the title on ATE seems a disservice to the game itself, as even though it is well tread territory, Ender Magnolia knows how to hit all the right notes when revisitng a familiar feeling experience
Ender Magnolia has big Return to Oz vibes…somehow.
Aside from the experience sharing aesthetic similarities to Nier Automata, and having the polished mechanical design reminiscent of Hollow Knight, the game is vibe-central to a capital T, and feels like the virtual embodiment of a lofi playlist. Don’t get me wrong, the game has an earned sense of difficulty about it without being unfair, so it’s no walk in the park mind you, but I do feel a quaint sense of belonging every time I jump back in to enjoy the dismay and misery that come with the dark and brooding setting that permeates it’s world. An atmospheric feat most games rarely pull off, so massive props to Ender Magnolia for making the whole affair seem so effortlessly macabre in it’s playful execution.
Total Return to Oz vibes
…and when the well of human kindness has been desecrated by the corrupt sovereign, the void that remains will have to be refilled by the tears of empathy spared by those still brave enough to feel.
~Pashford
Active Time Event 