ENDER MAGNOLIA Let's Play: A Journey to Save Homunculi in a Smoke-Shrouded Magical Kingdom

The story begins when the protagonist, Lilac, who has lost their memories, regains consciousness in the Lower Stratum. The kingdom's Lower Stratum is filled with polluted smoke, and these days it is little more than a dumping ground for homunculi.

Lilac is an attuner raised by Lilia, with the power to save homunculi. The commentator explains that the backbone of the story is Lilac using this power to form pacts with homunculi, bringing them along as companions while traveling the kingdom in search of lost memories and the whereabouts of missing friends.

On the way to a safe town, the protagonist is attacked by a homunculus, leading to the first boss fight. The protagonist is very weak and cannot wield weapons, so instead they summon their companions to attack on their behalf. The commentator describes this style of fighting as "a pretty adorable combat format." Win with your companions' power, gain more companions, and move on to the next town: that, they say, is the general flow of the game. When its health drops, the boss changes its behavior pattern and unleashes big attacks. Dodging those and exploiting the openings, the protagonist defeats "Lito, the Experimental Boy."

By touching a homunculus, an attuner can purify its blight, read its memories, and make them their own power. In this way, travel companions join the party one by one.

In the old town district of the Lower Stratum, the protagonist fights "Yolvan the Black-Winged Hunter," a homunculus that combines bird and human. According to the commentator, experiments in this kind of crossbreeding were apparently carried out as homunculus technology developed.

Here, the current state of the kingdom is explained. The artificial life forms known as homunculi were supposed to bring the kingdom a bright future. But polluted smoke rising up from underground drove them mad, turning the homunculi into rampaging monsters. People now live meager lives in a kingdom overrun by uncontrollable homunculi, struggling against the blight.

In combat, you chase the boss as it flies around and keep up the attack. Just when you think it's beaten, its second form begins. The commentator uses this moment to explain the key point of combat. Two gauges are displayed above an enemy's head, and if you keep hitting it until one of the gauges reaches zero, the enemy is downed for a while. They say it's efficient to pile on attacks during this opening. They finish the fight in one go at the edge of the screen.

In an eerie forest transformed into red, the protagonist fights a large opponent, the "Chain Beast." True to its name, its signature attack is swinging chains around, so you can't simply stick to the enemy the way you have been.

The commentator rates this placement highly. They felt that designing it so this boss comes right after a companion with ranged attacks joins was "excellent game design." They add that freely imagining the developers' intentions like this is also one of the fun moments of playing games.

They also go into detail about how combat feels. The flow of switching skills according to the situation is exhilarating when it clicks. Since it's your companions, not the protagonist, who attack, there's nothing like a global recovery period when a skill is triggered. That means you can run multiple skills simultaneously in parallel, which they cite as another strong point. Because you want to use the axe skill every time its cooldown is up, they felt it had something in common with the combat style of FF14. Dodging the big attacks near the end, they deliver the finishing blow and win.

Pressing on through a forest stagnant and red with blight, the protagonist encounters "Veol the Mad Wolf," a wolf homunculus. This wolf apparently bears a grudge against the protagonist. The commentator says, "Not that I can think of any reason why," while striking it down.

Around here, the kingdom's past is told. This land was ruled by House Frost, which inherited the powers of a shrine maiden. Its lord, Abelia, was a survivor of the ancient people and is said to have lived for several hundred years by transferring her soul from body to body. Then a faction that arrived later brought in a new technology called homunculi and grew into a huge power. The two got along well. But Nola, a special homunculus belonging to this faction, killed Abelia for some reason. Nola has lost her memories of that time and was picked up by the protagonist, which brings us to the present.

The commentator brushes it off with "Well, that's none of our business," and defeats Veol by swinging around their newly acquired axe.

While exploring underground beneath the Lower Stratum, the protagonist fights a homunculus driven mad by blight. This homunculus, "Lars, the One Lurking in the Depths," also knew the protagonist. Winning the fight and attuning it lets the protagonist read important memories connected to their own past.

After being defeated, the homunculus escapes for a time. But the chief attuner, a man who happens to be present, takes it down, and the protagonist attempts the attunement once again.

In a flower field spreading across a magic stone mining site, the protagonist meets a mining homunculus, leading to a fight with "Garam the Gravekeeper Giant."

By this point, parry is available. Timing a parry to an enemy's attack nullifies it and lets you counterattack. The drill has also been newly acquired. This boss puts up a barrier in midair, and the commentator explains that the drill has a property that can deal with it. Their approach is as follows. Block attacks with a skill. When the boss is in the air, attack with the drill. If there's an opening, attack with fire, and use the punch as soon as its cooldown is up.

Partway through, the boss's attack pattern changes, and flames spread out after its attacks. So they keep their distance, attack with the drill, and defeat it.

While traveling around in search of a route up to the Middle Stratum, the protagonist fights the "King of the Junk Heap," armored in garbage. The commentator introduces it as a fun boss fight that changes through multiple forms.

At first it takes a cloud-like shape, characterized by big, sweeping attacks. A few hits are enough to end the first form. In the second form, you need to watch out for an attack that will incinerate you in an instant if you're not paying attention. On the other hand, the beam has a tell, so it's relatively safe. The final form just zips back and forth across the screen at high speed, so you only need to time your counters with parries or skills. The commentator says they "sense some kindness" in the way it occasionally stops.

This boss's backstory is a sad one. Originally a person of Milia, he was slated to become successor after the lord grew frail. But through a scheme by the lord's younger brother, a mad scientist, he was turned into a homunculus and cast down into the Lower Stratum, which brings us to the present. The commentator sums it up as "a pretty pitiful life."

When the protagonist finally reaches the Middle Stratum, a homunculus has attacked, and House Frost's attuners have been slaughtered to the last. Here they fight "Gilroy the Administrator."

In the background is the rain of death now falling on the kingdom. This rain transforms people, and it also caused tremendous damage to the "Land's End," the setting of the previous game. In this kingdom, the people of Milia, who lack the resistance granted by the blood of the ancient people, have suffered especially heavy damage. Gilroy was the one entrusted with managing Milia after the lord's son went missing. The commentator explains that Gilroy has been making accusations that this rain is also Frost's doing.

"Lyusai the Iron Witch," fought while searching for clues leading to the Upper Stratum, runs around by warping, making it hard to land hits. On top of that, she summons minions and even heals. The commentator describes this as "a boss fight you can enjoy for quite a long time."

Their approach this time is as follows. Chip away with a shooting skill, and reflect incoming attacks with parry. Clear out the minions when they're summoned, and attack with the scythe once she's downed. However, you can't parry during the scythe's animation. So when it's unclear what the enemy will do next, they prioritize safety, hold off on swinging the scythe, and probe with shots instead. The commentator feels that this kind of combat balance, with its mind games, contributes greatly to the game's appeal.

The high degree of freedom in equipment and skills is also cited as part of what makes combat fun. In this fight, they've changed their type of parry as well. Since equipment can alter how parry works, there's a lot of room in builds. Also, since they're equipped with gear that boosts the power of ground attacks this time, they try to attack from the ground as much as possible rather than jumping. They say they also enjoy the loose connection between equipment and actions. Finally, they down her, attack all at once, and defeat her.

At the arena, bustling with battles, the protagonist clears a series of consecutive fights and then takes on the final match against "Battle Doll No. 7." A new companion joins from this fight onward, and is said to be powerful when used at the same time as Yolvan's shooting. The commentator jokes that thanks to the performance of that companion's ultimate technique, Nola, whom they'd been using until now, has been "completely put out to pasture." Once they read its attacks, they down it and win.

Next, they visit Declan's research facility. Declan is a man who manufactured many homunculi, and in earlier footage he appeared to have been assassinated. In reality, however, he had become a homunculus and stubbornly survived. He was originally an extremely talented sorcerer, but his personality apparently began to gradually fall apart after meeting the Frost lord, Abelia. The commentator remarks, "This guy looks pretty bad too," and defeats "Declan the Fallen Sorcerer" with the drill.

The magitech factory holds many homunculi, and it seems the homunculi themselves are automatically manufactured here. A new companion from House Frost also joins from this point, and the protagonist defeats "Velgrynd" in passing. The commentator explains that you need to watch out for its knockback attack when it switches forms.

Arriving via a newly learned means of movement, the protagonist finds Gilroy in the middle of swapping out his body. Gilroy is currently devoting his strength to maintaining the barrier covering the kingdom. By drawing up magical power from underground and storing it in the barrier, he also appears to play the role of supplying power to homunculi throughout the kingdom. The commentator wavers, saying, "I'm not sure if it's okay to fight this," but since they have things they want to ask, they enter combat. The fight itself isn't too tough, and they defeat "Gilroy the Administrator: Armed Form."

As the protagonist heads deep underground to the Land of Origin, a homunculus serving the chief attuner blocks the way. The chief attuner's body has now been taken over by Abelia. This homunculus has apparently been ordered to eliminate anyone who tries to approach the Land of Origin. At the same time, in preparation for just such a situation, it had also made a sad promise in advance to kill the chief attuner if he did not return to his senses.

After defeating "Raybolk the Mad Knight," who is slipping into madness, the protagonist touches his soul through attunement and grants him salvation.

In the Land of Origin, the protagonist finally finds Lilia. Using a charm received from a white priestess from a foreign land, the protagonist attempts to purify Lilia, who is being consumed by blight.

Working together with Lilia, the protagonist tries to stop the rain of death. There was also the option of having Nola manage the barrier and maintain the status quo. In the commentator's playthrough, however, they chose to destroy the barrier, hurl all of the Land of Origin's magical power at the rain of death, and bet on the chance of clearing the rain away.

The final boss is "Gilroy the Administrator: Perfect Form." As solemn, beautiful music plays, the commentator attacks with the drill and other skills making a deafening racket, and jokes self-deprecatingly, "I'm causing everyone a great deal of trouble." The final boss's attacks come with clear tells, so they counter firmly with parries and the like. Once its HP is significantly whittled down, it enters its final pattern. They also share a small trick: taking the knockback attack against a wall saves time. In the final phase, the enemy uses its big attacks, so they respond with their own ultimate technique, wear down the remaining HP, and defeat it.

In the ending, although magical power has been lost, people and homunculi begin walking a new path together, and the story comes to a close.

Looking back on the game, the commentator highlights the atmospheric graphics carried over from the previous game and the fantastical, beautiful music that harmonizes with the story. They rate it as a very enjoyable game to play, with both its combat and its story being entertaining. Noting that the story invites all sorts of interpretations, they close the video with a joking theory: "That's two done, so they can make four more sequels."