Ace of Shame
Appearances
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
There are very few games in life where I have actively sought out the soundtrack for a game. um, hollow night is one of those games where I have actually like in the car with my family said, hang on, I want you guys to listen to this, you know? And then them be like, wow, what's, what is this? This is really good.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Like you're playing video game music, but, but it's that good. It is. And so hearing you say that the music for Ender Magnolias is the thing for you, uh, It really does get me excited because, like you said, it's one of those things where when it's just good or it's okay, like your brain kind of tunes it out and you kind of go, yeah, oh, it's there.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
But when it is great, like I said, that sticks with you. And then it's almost like it enhances your memory of the game because you start to remember, like, you know, the song from, you know, Hollow Nest or these different stages in a game or something like that as well. Absolutely. Yeah. All right. Well, there's a point for Ace for getting me hyped for this game. All right.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Hello, fellow gamers, and welcome to the Video Gamers Podcast. We've said many times that we're huge fans of indie devs and the incredible, artistic, fun indie games they make. And well, it's time to prove it. So we're going to be starting a brand new series where we cover the wide and wonderful world of indie games. That's right, for the next few weeks...
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Well, listen, we've got a lot to cover. We're going to get into the nitty gritty on this game and kind of the combat, the graphics. Ace has told us that he has a hot take for us, which gets me very curious as well. But we're going to get to all that right after this short break. All right, we're back. Well, one of the things that we were going to talk about was the music for this game.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
That's the wrong indie again. The man who has been feverishly trying to get Ryan and I to look at and play Tales of Iron 2, it's the one, the only Ace of Shame.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
So, you know, Ace, you said it's the hook. You said it's great. Does this game use music in its kind of standard gameplay? Like, do you get that that music that kind of amps up as you're you have a boss fight? I mean, is it more just that it's beautiful, haunting background music? Does the music in this game like accentuate the experience? Like, give us a little bit deeper on that.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
And I, I love when, and this is the other thing you got to think these are indie devs, right? Like, like where do they find these composers? Like how do they afford these composers, man? Like, I don't know. This is something we know very little about as far as like, you know, getting a soundtrack for a game, the OST, the original soundtrack, you know, professional musicians ain't cheap, man.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
And really good ones that can, that can give you, like something memorable like that that fits your game is even harder still. So it really does make me curious like where these like music composers are and how they go about capturing the emotion and the feel of a game like Intermagnolia, man. It's like, so if you're a music developer or a dev that's dealt with one, reach out to us, man.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
We'd love to hear about it. Like, honestly, I'm very, very curious about that.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
that whole kind of development process especially when it just it's the hook like we talked about ace this is the thing oh you know what i mean like you think about primarily with endermagnolia and so it just it really kind of gets me curious but i also love hearing it now i'm gonna have to go listen to some endermagnolia sound you're gonna have to run the soundtrack you absolutely should
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Well, I know if it's anything like Hollow Knight, which I am a huge fan of, that I will absolutely be checking that out. So, okay, let's move on, Ace. You know, another thing with indie games is the, you know, the attention to the graphics or the graphics style, I'll say.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
And I'll preface this with saying a lot of indie devs don't have the funds to hire these top-tier graphic designers or artists or something like that. And I, admittedly, I don't hide this. I'm a graphic snob.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
I love cutting-edge graphics. I love things that are going to make my eyes bleed and, oh my goodness, this looks so good. But... At the same time, I love various artistic styles. Ryan, we covered No Rest for the Wicked, which famously you did not like. But the art style in that game, I think, is phenomenal. Agreed.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
We have a game South of Midnight coming up, which we'll probably be talking about in our Twig episode this week because we just got some more information on that at the Xbox website. reveal there.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
And so it's like, you know, this, this kind of this artistic style, I think is a calling card for indie devs almost where it's like, this is a way around the, we don't need cutting edge graphics, but we can still make a game beautiful and atmospheric. So yeah, Overall, what do you think about the graphics in Ender Magnolia?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Because I have watched gameplay and having played the first one, I have some thoughts on it as well. But I'm curious what like explain that. Like, what's the art style? What do you think about the graphics as a whole?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Say those words again.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
I feel like you with Tales of Iron 2 is like me with Remnant 2, where it's just like, I'm not going to let up until you people play this game. Exactly. I mean, what more do you want? It's got blood, gore, and rats. That's true. That's true. And the ratdom. Exactly. The ratdom. Sounds a little bit too like something else that we won't talk about right now. All right.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
One more time, Ace. One more time. All right, number one. I will do it again. I love steampunk stuff. I'm a big fan of steampunk. I don't know why. I just think it's a neat mashup of stuff. And then Studio... I say Ghibli. Is it Ghibli? I looked it up. I said Ghibli.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
No, that's good. Well, I got it wrong. I'm an idiot. I say Studio Ghibli. But, dude, I mean... Oh, my goodness. I love Studio Ghibli movies, dude. So... Okay. I just needed a minute for my brain to process that awesomeness. So steampunk studio Ghibli mashup for inner Magnolia. Yes. That is what Indermagnolia is.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
I have said, I think Valheim is one of the most beautiful games that I've ever played. And Valheim looks like it's made in 480p. It's really very low polygon. But the atmosphere in that game and the beauty of the game is second to none, in my opinion. It really does kind of touch me in a way that it's like, how did they do this? Because graphically speaking, this game is not...
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
It's not graphically intensive, but the world and the way that they incorporate weather and music and just the wind blowing through the grass and stuff like that, I've always said is absolutely a masterclass in how you make a game beautiful without needing cutting-edge graphics. This hand-drawn art style, I absolutely love.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
I have said this, and please, I know there's people out there that are going to gasp, but I'm not a fan of 8-bit graphics. I don't like pixels. Pixel graphics. Celeste, one of the best platformers ever made. I did not play for years and years and years because every time I went to buy it, I would look at the graphics and I would just go like, I can't do it. I can't do it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
You know, and then I finally did it. And then it's one of the best platformers ever. And it's like, you kind of get past it, but there's something in my brain that just goes pixel graphics. Yeah. hand-painted, hand-drawn graphics. Like, all right. So I have seen, I watched a few reviews and some gameplay stuff.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Welcome in, everybody, to this very special third episode. We hope that you're as excited as we are. This is something that we have talked about for a while. We're in an awesome groove. We've got our two main shows, our Monday and our Thursday episodes. But it's one of these things where it's like, Man, we know that people want more content. What can we give them?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
You actually clipped some gameplay of a boss fight that looks pretty crazy that we'll get into here in a little bit as well. But I do have to say, as somebody that knows nothing about this game, the art style in it is genuinely beautiful. All right, Ace. Now, you said you have a hot take for us. Mm-hmm. And I've been wondering what the heck this hot take is.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Okay. I could tell because you were like, even when you said, like, I have a hot take, it's like you could see it, like, bubbling up. And it's like, so this is your chance, buddy. You know, we won't say that we won't mock you for it. But what is this hot take?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Easily. Okay. Wait. Okay. Now, let's walk that back just a second. That's some big words there, brother. I told you it was a hot take, brother. Okay. Okay. I love Hollow Knight. It's one of the few Metroidvanias that I will actually say, like, I love this game. Now, you know, you say the music's really good. Check. Okay.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
So it's like point for Ender Magnolias, even though Hollow Knight's music is fantastic. I'm having a hard time here, Ace, but I'll let you.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
below the belt that was savage oh brother goodness gracious hey you know what they got a sequel before hollow knight there must be something there man and they came out after hollow knight did oh my goodness well we're gonna get gta 7 before hollow knight comes out oh my goodness man
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Okay, so now you get me very excited here, Ace, because it's like my brain instantly rails and goes, there's no way! There's no way! But... I mean, can you give me the 30-second pitch to what makes it that way?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
We're going to get into the gameplay here because, honestly, like I said, you can have a beautiful game. You can have the most awesome soundtrack in the world. But if the gameplay is not there, then it's just a walking simulator at that point. And I will say that in watching some of the gameplay for this game, it actually did get me kind of hyped because it looks –
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Yeah, I mean, it looks like it's actually pretty tough. And I know we're going to talk about some of the difficulty settings here, too. So let's go. That's a hot take, Ace. But, man, you got me curious because I know you don't say that lightly.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Let's put the cards on the table here. I don't mean to interrupt you, Ryan. But, Ace, on a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate Hollow Knight?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Okay, so you love Hollow Knight. I love Hollow Knight. This isn't like you're one of those people that didn't love Hollow Knight. I don't think Hollow Knight is bad at all. I just had to get that out of the way. Are we dealing with a crazy person here?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
And one of the things that we feel like we have been rather negligent on is the world of indie games. I know gamers that don't play anything that is not indie. And Ace, I know you're a huge fan of indie games, but you also play a lot of mainstream games and stuff as well. Um, but so this is something that we're very passionate about.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Ace, if there's one thing I've learned, it's to trust you when it comes to indie games. As much as I don't want to believe you on this one, we've known you long enough that it's like you don't say these things lightly. You have played games that you were excited for. Didn't you play... What's the storybook game that came out recently? Plucky Squire. You would bring up Plucky Squire.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Because you were hyped for Plucky Squire. I was excited for Plucky Squire, and then you kind of... Your reaction says it all.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
That's the general takeaway. Yeah.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
All right. Well, I'm going to stew on that. My brain's kind of reeling at me, Ace, but also it's kind of like, you know, you know this guy. You should trust this guy.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
We hope you enjoyed this test episode. It's over. All right. Well, let's get into the gameplay. For me, gameplay is paramount to just about anything else. We play games to have fun. If you have frustrating mechanics in a game, it can absolutely ruin a game for you. I'll take absolute peak gameplay over anything else, even if it means I have to play in 8-bit pixel graphics like Celeste.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
I've learned it's just gameplay is king, in my opinion. Oh, absolutely. So... like give me the, for somebody that doesn't know, we, you know, we've covered that this is a Metroidvania, but can you boil the gameplay down into a, you know, just a general, you know, cliff notes for somebody that knows nothing about this game? Like, what are you doing?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Like, what is the actual kind of just in and out minute to minute gameplay?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
I like this. I like boss fights.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
I was going to say, yeah, difficulty sliders in a Metroidvania, I don't know that anybody's done that.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
We want to bring you as the listener, more content and, you know, in kind of brainstorming that and thinking about that, we thought, dude, let's really dive into the indie world a little bit more. Number one, we have mad respect for indie devs. Um, the passion that they have for games is honestly something that we are absolutely committed to supporting. Um,
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
It's really weird. We're starting to see that a lot more in games. I can't remember the game that's coming up that was talking about the customizable difficulty slide. Oh, it's I think it might. No, it's not Path of Exile 2. I can't remember what it is.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
But yeah, somebody was talking about this really robust difficulty slider where there's 10 different things and you can adjust it so that you can cater it to your play style. And it's like, this seems genius to me, man, especially like somebody like me that likes a challenge. And, you know, you say you're going to die to this boss five or six times. Like, that's a plus to me.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
That's like, ooh, ooh, like, okay, I want to get into these boss fights.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
That looked pretty crazy. It was very chaotic, very like phase-based almost. Like it looked like it progressed through phases where that boss just decided they were going to rage out on you and do even more crazy stuff.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
So, I mean, would you, is it fair to say then that this is your pretty standard Metroidvania as far as like the gameplay elements where, you know, hey, run around this map, find things that you can access, you know, fight monsters that are kind of all over the levels, get gear. I'm assuming you mentioned gear and different weapons and things like that in this game.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Is there the, are there like RPG-ish type elements to this?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
So these would be akin to like the amulets in Hollow Knight then? If I remember right, didn't you get the amulets in Hollow Knight? That sounds like what these totems would kind of be equivalent to.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
So these are like build defining type things. I mean, you kind of said percentages. Yeah, you're going to build. So the totems are actually like, these are going to change the way you play the game.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
okay so so they're like customizable based on your kind of play style or how you want to oh yeah that's really neat like halfway through the game now does the game reward you with gear like fairly often is it is it one of those things where it's like you know yeah you do get gear but it's you know it's kind of rare so when you do get a piece it's like a big deal or is this like a hey man like you're getting this at a pretty decent clip and you can kind of pick and choose what you want to use at that point
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Some of the best games, some of the most fun games have come from indie devs. There seems to be this kind of loss of what gamers want from the AAA gaming world. And so indie devs have really just... It's something that we love supporting and we want to talk more about. And that's why we're doing this episode. And then we thought...
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Oh, okay. This is cool to me because part of a Metroidvania is the exploration aspect, right? Like the, Oh, what's that thing up there? I can't get there. I don't have double jump yet.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Like I've learned to realize when I need to double jump, but then a lot of games and in this review that I was watching, I saw that kind of charge up dash ability where you can, you know, you can just kind of fly across a level until you hit something. Um, And so there's that. So the reason I bring this up is I am a huge, huge fan of progression. I want to feel like I am getting stronger.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
I want to feel like I'm unlocking new abilities, new skills, new weapons, play styles, that kind of thing. Because that, to me, is what keeps games fresh. With somebody like me that can barely finish a game because my game ADD just wants to go on to the next thing, if a game has really good progression, it keeps me invested long enough to kind of see it through to the end.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
And, you know, I have played enough Metroidvanias to see ones where you don't really get very much progression. And it's more about trying to just work your way through this massive map, you know. But then I've seen other ones where it does give you this that kind of dangles that care and it really keeps you going. And those are for me or will kind of hook me in.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
So how does this game like fare in that progression sense? Yeah.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
That's kind of cool.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Oh, see, that's cool throwback, too. Yeah. I like that. Actually, you know what? Since we're mentioning that right now, this is a perfect place to kind of segue into that. If somebody didn't play Ender Lilies, can they jump into Ender Magnolia without any kind of detriment? Absolutely. 100%. Okay, so the game stands on its own.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Okay. Well, that's good. That helps. I mean, I like when devs do that because it's like you're really kind of shoehorning things if your sequel is very, very tightly tied to the original. And I get that sometimes you want that to continue a story or something.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
But at the same time, I think it's really smart when you give fan service, like you said, like a piece of music or a character from the first game where if you played the first... that would be a neat moment for you. But if you didn't like, it's not, I don't really know what's going on. Maybe it's lost on me, but it's not like it doesn't interrupt the story or anything either at that point. So.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Ace, I said it in the beginning. I'll say it now. My biggest problem with Metroidvanias is the map and sometimes just the movement through the map. There's a lot of platforming.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
You know, who can talk about indie games all day and knows everything that's going on in the indie world? And then, you know, Ace, obviously you came to mind right away on this. Awesome friend of the show. We met you through the show for people that don't know.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
There's a lot of platforming in a Metroidvania. And if your movement is not good or your abilities are not good, it can feel clunky. And when I have to move around this giant map with this clunky movement system... it just gets frustrating to me. So I know that part of exploration in a metroidvania are the skills that you acquire along the way that let you get to these secret areas and stuff.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
I will say one of the things when I was watching video of this game was that it looked like there were actually some really neat, like movement abilities. Like you get a little glowing spider. That's almost like a, like a, you know, the grapple gun or something like that, like a grappling hook. There is wall climbing. There's the dashing.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
There's the blast off and shoot over to the other side of the level. So it seems like they really kind of took into account a lot of these aspects on how you actually get around in this world.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
And I'll be honest, we've become very, very good friends. And here we are. So I know this is one reason we love doing this podcast is the people that we have gotten to meet through this podcast and not to get sappy, but you are absolutely one of those. And we absolutely consider you a very good friend. So we're thankful for that. And then we're like, well, how can we abuse Ace, man?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Does Ender Magnolias do anything? Because my, and this is, I'll say as much as I love Hollow Knight, I hated the map in Hollow Knight, having to run for 10 minutes straight to get to a fast travel point to then travel to a fast travel point that, Oh wait, that's not where I meant to go. Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, maybe it's this one. Nope. Nope. It's not that one either.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Where the heck was this fast travel point? Where was that? Where was that underground, like swampy gassy area that I'm trying to find? Like, I can't remember where it is. And so for me, a map can absolutely ruin a Metroidvania for me. I will say, we were chatting the other day, Ace, and I asked you if you had played the New Prince of Persia, the Lost Crown one.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
And because I said, this has the best map in any Metroidvania I've ever seen. It lets you take a screenshot and pin it to the map itself so that you can remember what the thing was that you couldn't get to. Like at one point there's a chest that's like, it's well above double jump range. And I'm like, well, how the heck am I supposed to get up there?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
And so I just took a screenshot of it, pinned it to the map. And then later on in the game, probably six hours later, I got the ability that let me get up there, but I could see it. Like I visually could see, oh yeah, that's where that treasure chest is. I couldn't get to before. And I have heard good things about the map in Ender Magnolias, but what is it that they do?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Is it just a plethora of fast travel points? Like, is there something that makes it more approachable?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
I thought that was genius for Lost Crown, to be honest with you. I get that you want these big, sprawling worlds for Metrovania so that you can kind of wander around and explore. But just give me the ability to, once I've experienced it, just skip over some of that stuff, man. Or just have something that says, go to this zone. Or just something.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
We want more content. Come on now. Let's put this guy to work. Yeah. So yeah. So for the listeners, this is something we're going to do on a weekly basis. Try it out. Let us know what you think about it. But yeah, we'll be covering kind of the world of indie games, news, maybe game reviews and stuff like that. So we're...
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
I can't tell you the number of hours I have lost in this life by backtracking somewhere that it was like, it's not there. Oh, wait. Maybe it's over here. Nope. It's not over there. Like, what was I doing? I know it was somewhere around here. I just can't find it. Yes, exactly. I saw that door.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Yeah. More of that, please, for Metroidvania. So, all right, listen, we're running low on time. Ace, you know, you mentioned it and I just want to double check this because I was going to get your rating on this game. But like, are you truly giving this a 10 out of 10?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
where this it's so good man though it's we didn't want to get in a story for spoilers i know that you said so i don't want to really touch yeah i know you said the story actually like like it made you emotional yeah a little bit man in a way yeah yeah it was that's always good it was touching
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Well, especially for indie devs, they don't have teams of a hundred people doing all this stuff. And so like you said, somebody that actually releases a complete game that isn't buggy, isn't broken, isn't a, Hey, we'll patch that. Don't worry. Day one patch kind of thing, you know, is, is something that should be rewarded.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Uh, you know, and so if this game sounds like it's up your alley, I mean, 10 out of 10 is hard to argue with better than hollow night. It is better than Hollow Knight. I will die on that hill.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
I almost want somebody else to come forward and be like, it is better than Hollow Knight. And then I'll be like, Ace isn't crazy.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
So I do have a question, Ryan. With everything that Ace has said, does it get you curious? Does it get you going like, dude, I might need to check this game out at some point? Now, I'll say that under the Preface that we are very close to Kingdom Come Deliverance 2's release, which I know we will be playing and covering for the pod, which will then lead into Avowed.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
But let's just pretend that in March, there's nothing. There is stuff in March, which, like I said, we'll cover on the twig. But let's just pretend you got an open month, right? And you're like, dude, what am I going to play? Marvel Rivals, yes, we're going to play that. But like... Are you curious at this point? Is this a game?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
I don't want to speak for you guys, but I know I'm really excited for this, man.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
You like Metroidvanias more than me, so what's your takeaway from this?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Heck yeah. I will say this. Ace, you got me very curious on this. You know, you've been hounding us about this game for, you know, months and months and months now.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
You know, he's been... I mean, I do this to people all the time. Remnant too. But, you know, it's one of those things where, you know, the claim that it's better than Hollow Knight to me really kind of... It's like my brain almost wants to go like, I'll be the judge of that. Prove it. Yeah, no way. I'll be the judge of that. That was my hopeful reaction. For anybody that's out there,
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
And again, Ryan and I have not played this. Ace has 100% of this thing. But if you were curious, which I was, this game has a 95% rating on Steam currently, and that's with over 6,000 reviews. And this game released, what, three days ago? Four days ago? Three or four days ago. So in three days, it's amassed 6,000 reviews, and it's at a 95%. There's obviously something here.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Here's the best part about this. It's $24.99. Like, we talk about games, you know, that leave their mark on you and that are beautiful games that you remember or, you know, that are works of art that we want to support. And, you know, instantly, I think as gamers, our brains kind of go $60, $70. It's $24.99. Yeah. I'm kind of with Ryan on this one. Like, I think I need to try this game. I don't.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Let's be honest. I'm probably not going to beat this game. But, you know, I think just experiencing it is something that is probably on the agenda for us at some point. Once we kind of get past these these huge releases that are coming up. Ace, I want to put you on the spot before we close the show. All right.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Knowing what you know about Ender Magnolia and your hype and hopes for Tales of Iron 2, The Whiskers of Winter, if you could say, hey, I want you guys to play one of these, which one would you pick?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
That exists. That's totally good game, man.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
usually in a metroidvania you're just going across and you know down i felt like i was going everywhere yeah through the water in the air it didn't matter i was going that's awesome that's all right well well i guess if there's one that i'll try it maybe it's this one sorry tales of iron two you had your chance i'm so sorry please forgive me rat game two no Oh, man. All right.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Well, listen, thank you everybody for joining us for this episode. We hope you like this. Listen, we are going to be doing some very, very incredible things with the podcast very soon. We've got some big announcements coming. If you're not part of our community, you'll hear about those on the next episode.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
But we are absolutely focused and committed to bringing this podcast to the next level and the level above that. We cannot thank you enough. for being with us and listening to this show. But if you have enjoyed your time with us so far, let me tell you that I can't... I mean, for Ryan and myself, we could not be more excited.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Ace, I'm going to speak for you because you've been such a critical part of the community and the show and a good friend. You know what's going on. Oh, yeah. We...
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
cannot tell you how excited we are for the future we have a lot of really incredible things coming one of those is this third episode per week you're going to be hearing a lot more from us and from ace of shame in regards to indie games indie news and that sort of stuff so we're very excited about that but that's not it you know i don't want to sound like a you know game show host but that's not all everybody but wait there's more yeah exactly but there is a lot more coming so
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Thank you for sticking with us. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure you follow the show. Open your podcast app, click the plus button, click the follow button. If you haven't left us a review or a five-star rating, please take a second to do that as well. And if you've been a listener for a while, or maybe this is your first time and you're just like, dude, this was great.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
and you want to support this podcast, you can do that over at multiplayer squad.com. We give you a lot of perks for that. Um, but yeah, we are very excited for the future ACE. Thank you so much for being willing to do this. Number one, for sharing your passion for indie games with people. Um, it's going to be a lot of work, but ACE is, he's on board for that.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
And we're very excited about just really kind of tackling that side of the gaming world and the gaming industry as well. So yeah, That's it for this episode. We'll see you on the next one. Thank you, Ace. Until next time, happy gaming.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Yeah, like Tales of Iron 2. Exactly.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Oh, man. Oh, look at that. So, Ace, let's kind of just start off with what is it about indie games that resonates with you so much? I mean, from the time we've known you, you've always been talking about indie titles and things that you're excited for. Famously, Another Crab's Treasure, which was a hit game in 2024. You were the one in our community that was just absolutely going like,
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
I'm shouting this to the world. This is going to be great. And then the game released, and sure enough, it was great. I don't want to give you a big head and say that you're right on these things, but you definitely have your finger on the pole. So what is it about indie games that resonates with you so much?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
or maybe longer, we'll be bringing you a jam-packed third episode each week where we cover all things indie, game reviews, news, and more. If you're a fan of indie or just more gaming talk in general, then these episodes are for you.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
I still did not try it. Despite my insistence, you would not play it. Oh, my gosh. and i've heard so many good things it legitimately is one of those games i kind of have fomo on where i'm like dang it i really did miss out on this so i want to know though speaking of like because it's like souls like so does the crab roll does the crab can the crab roll oh yeah Is that a sushi joke, Ryan?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Yeah. I agree with you. It's one of those things where we have, as we have seen the failure in a lot of the AAA games and seen the success from indie devs. And Ryan and I have said this many times on the main show that, you know, the, the future for the indie world looks very, very bright. Oh yeah. Because,
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
As we get into these mega studios like EA and Blizzard and Ubisoft, and I think this is not to pick on Ubisoft again, which I know you've been a huge fan of, Ace. Not anymore. But I think they lose their way. Legitimately, I think it becomes about profits and money over the passion of games. And with indie devs, the passion of their game is what is going to determine their success. Exactly. Yeah.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Yeah. And so I am with you on that. And this again, one of the reasons that we want to start doing this this show weekly is to really focus on that and support that because they're the ones that are pouring their heart and souls into these games with the hope that people discover it and people have fun with it. And we want to help when we can on that. So. Okay.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
So, I mean, you know, that said, that's the goals of these episodes, right? We want to cover all of the things indie, you know, we will talk about just general gaming, apparently some really bad sushi puns along the way too. But if you are a fan of indie or just gaming in general, these episodes are absolutely going to be up your alley and we hope that you look forward to them.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
And in case you missed it, this is an addition. To our normal Monday and Thursday episodes.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
today we'll be covering the recent hit release of ender magnolias but first some introductions are in order i am your host josh and joining me the last indie game he played was indiana jones in the great circle and when we came up with the idea he asked if he needed to buy a hat and a whip
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
The look on both y'all's faces with like your brain process, the sound was, was, oh, it was so great. All right. So let's get into this man. Ace, just for, for people that don't know, um, you two years ago, you gifted me a copy of Ender Lily's quietest of the night. Mm-hmm. which I knew nothing about. All of a sudden I just get this, you've got a gift. And I'm like, what is this?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
And I'm like, what's Ender Lilies? What the heck? And then I had that moment where I kind of went, oh man, I can't not play this game. Like it was a gift. What am I going to do? Just throw it back at you and be like, no thanks. And so kudos to you because I did play Ender Lilies. You know, you've kind of forced me or guilted me into it by gifting it to me. That usually works. Yeah.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
And I've said this before, but I am generally not...
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
biggest fan of metroidvanias like i think there are some fantastic ones i think the genre as a whole i'm kind of put off just a little bit um i i do enjoy them from time to time but it's just not my jam like i know metroidvanias are one of your favorite genres yeah this is where we differ greatly like to me a metroidvania is the heart of video game it is the most pure gaming experience you can have
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
I mean, Ryan agrees with you because Castlevania, what is it? Symphony of the Night, Ryan? It's one of your all-time favorite games. Yeah. I wish there was a modern way to play through that. Yeah. So I did go into Ender Lily's kind of like ho-hum, but let me give it a shot. And I will say I didn't finish it. Surprise, surprise, everybody. But I do have a few hours into it.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
And what I remember is like the kind of atmosphere, like mesmerizing is the word that kind of comes to mind for me, where the art style was beautiful. It was this kind of sad, almost like haunting type atmosphere to it. I don't know if you're a ghost or a girl that has ghosts attached to her. But I remember like you find these ghost things that follow you around and help you.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
I thought it was really weird that she doesn't do a lick of fighting. Like you don't even have like an ability. It's like the ghost things that are following you around. But I do remember thinking like, wow, this game is very beautiful. It's very well done. There is absolutely something here. Like whoever made this game knew what they were doing. Um, and so like, uh,
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
And then they announced enter Magnolia's and you started just again, shouting it to the world and saying, Oh my goodness, guys, I lost my mind. I was being polite. You did lose your mind.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
So what is it about this? I'm going to call it a series at this point, but I guess it's the Ender series. Is that the proper term? Okay. So what is it about the Ender series that you love so much?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Kind of like Hollow Knight in a way. Hollow Knight is not a happy game.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
No, yeah. So I don't know what it is. Does any Metroidvania? I mean, Ori, right? I mean, that's sad too.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Is there a happy Metroidvania out there?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Or getting lost in a giant map where you have no idea what you're doing. If you put it down for three hours, you have forgotten what you were doing and where you are.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Indie, indie. No. Oh, man. Ryan's face trying to figure out like, wait, oh, I get it. The whole indie thing.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
I am excited because I know, Ace, you have played this, beaten it, and 100%ed it, if I am correct. Is that true? I've 100%ed both. Both games. Yeah. Okay. So, Ryan, watch out. We've got an expert on our hands here. He said he's an expert. That's why he's here. Time to get serious, man. We can hold up to this, Ryan.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
They had Metroid in the name. There you go. All right. So, Ace, you've been a fan of this series. We usually start off these kind of game deep dives, so to speak, with the, what is the thing? The one thing. And I know this is hard because when I asked you to think about this, you went, come on, man. Yeah. What is the hook, so to speak?
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
The thing that stands out to you the most above all else in this game? To give people an idea, when we covered Astro Bot, Ryan and I said, it's the audio. Like, as great as the gameplay and everything in Astro Bot was, the audio in this game is second to none. You know, with Space Marine, it was just the kind of visual grandeur of that game. So every game we feel like has something special.
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
that is it's kind of like you know magic formula or the thing that sets it apart or the thing that your brain just instantly remembers and i know this is difficult but for ender magnolias like what would you say that is it was the music hands down man
Video Gamers Podcast
[Deep Dive] Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist - Gaming Podcast
Yeah. And joining us. What? He's the indie master himself.