Could Have Easily Been a Masterpiece
68 hours played on the default difficulty I think I first heard about this game a few years ago. I’d actually forgotten all about it until one day I saw a guy streaming it on Twitch, and I was reminded of how fascinating it looked. I downloaded the demo—and I loved it. A couple of weeks later, I bought and played the full game. It’s very important to point out that I played this prior to the many patch updates (I played it in April 2025, when it first released). Hopefully, some of my criticisms have been addressed by now. Even if they haven’t, I still enjoyed the game (for the most part). Difficulty The default difficulty was plenty tough enough for my taste. I died an awful lot, and I don’t believe I beat any of the main bosses on my first attempt. The regular enemies demanded respect and would kill me if I wasn’t paying attention. However, you need not worry, since the game offers a difficulty slider—slide it to the left to make it easier, or to the right to make it harder. I’d be remiss if I didn’t divulge that I slid it all the way to the left for the final boss because it was beyond frustrating. I played as a melee-only character, so that probably made the game a bit harder than it needed to be. The combat is very, very basic (one button dedicated to attacking), but I’m fine with that. Exploration Easily one of my favorite parts of the game. It’s a very large map, and the different locales were unique and begged to be explored. It features a fantastic fast travel system, so I felt comfortable wandering off the main path, knowing I could quickly return. I only wish there were more worthwhile “goodies” to find, such as a better selection of weapons and armor—but I digress. Crafting Sigh… This needs to be improved—badly. Here’s how crafting and upgrades work: while exploring, you might find a blueprint for a new pair of daggers. Once you bring the blueprint back to the blacksmith, the daggers will be added to the list of items that can be crafted. But there’s a catch. The blacksmith may not be able to craft said daggers until he reaches level 10 (let’s say he’s currently level 5). In order to raise his level, you’ll need to bring him more blueprints or use him to craft stuff you’ll never actually use. This is an atrocious system. I’m the kind of player who sticks to a particular weapon type—I wouldn’t need him to craft my hammers, for example. I ended up using the same pair of daggers for 90% of the game because I couldn’t upgrade him to the level I needed in order to craft better ones. By the way, crafting armor works the same way. Portals Yet another questionable idea that doesn’t even make sense from a gameplay perspective. At some point, you’ll get a “fixture” that allows you to enter these dumb portals spread throughout the world. Once inside, you’ll need to complete annoying platforming sections, kill enemies, and defeat a portal boss before time runs out. By “time,” I mean this stupid blue bar at the bottom of the screen that starts draining once you’re inside. It’s almost like the game is trying to be a platformer, speedrunner, Metroidvania, and Soulslike all at once. No. Just… no. Enemies With games in general—and especially in this genre—all I ask for is a little enemy diversity. In other words, can I please see different enemy types when discovering new areas? I’m happy to report Mandragora delivers on that. Sure, there are a few repeated bosses, and I’ve learned to be “okay” with that, as long as I’m seeing diversity in the areas. There’s also a bestiary that gives a detailed description of every enemy type in the game. Platforming I touched on this a bit earlier when discussing the silly portals. Even the platforming sections outside of the portals aren’t great. At times, it feels a little on the floaty side, which made me hesitant to attempt certain jumps—especially since this game has fall damage. You’ll see the usual suspects: spikes on the ground, swinging axes from the ceiling, etc. Thankfully, there’s not a ton of this, but there’s still enough to be considered annoying. Metroidvania Elements Everything you’d expect, and it’s all done well. The backtracking is made easy due to how fast travel works. You don’t have to be standing next to a fast travel point to use it—just find the icon on the map and travel there. I won’t spoil anything regarding the “abilities,” but I will say that you get one of them sort of late in the game, in my opinion. I would have much preferred to get it earlier. While it’s not the best Metroidvania I’ve played (that spot belongs to Ender Lilies—if you know, you know), it’s still one of the better ones out there. Atmosphere This is what attracted me to the game in the first place. The art direction is gorgeous, and I love the moody vibe present throughout the game. Each and every location immersed me, and that’s honestly difficult to accomplish in a 2D-style game. They absolutely nailed the vibe they were going for. ________________________________________ Was Mandragora perfect? Heck no—but what game is? Yeah, the final boss really disappointed me with how it was designed, but I refuse to let that bad decision dictate how I feel about the game as a whole. When I look back on it, I enjoyed my time with the game. The simplistic combat was honestly a breath of fresh air. I just wish some of the other aspects were equally simple and intuitive. If Metroidvanias with light Souls-like elements are your thing, then you should definitely give this a try. Read more