Review – Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree

Mixing genres is not always the way to success. We have already seen many studios fail to embrace excessive ideas. Behold, Primal Game Studio, from Hungary, was able to perform this feat with mastery. Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is essentially a metroidvania. It has huge interconnected maps, nonlinear exploration, side scrolling, different biomes and special skills to learn (double leap, hook, etc). On top of this base, the game features a deep RPG system that lends game mechanics like and Path of Exile. And finally it adds the soulslike element, with strategic combat and high challenge.

Before it was just an indie game that performs the three genres very well: Mandragora has great story and is too beautiful. Its look mixes 2D platform with 3D (the famous 2.5D), filling the player’s eyes all the time with his hand paintings. Except for the horde of enemies from the same area of ​​the map, nothing is repeated. It is all very well designed, with amazing overlays moving through the plans of external environments (Paralax), which value the dark atmosphere of this game of fantasy.

Mandragora’s story: Whispers of the Witch Tree narrates the events that led monsters to dominate the kingdom of Faelduum. This evil, entropy, is a force that mixes with our reality and consumes it. During the adventure we see portals connecting the realities-later being able to explore them. In short, not to spoilers, the whole problem began with men’s greed and a war between archimagos and witches. You are an inquisitor following orders, helping people along the way and discovering the true story behind the events and why you hear whispers.

Mandragora and its numerous possibilities

You start by choosing one of the 6 available classes: Vanguard, Heavenly, Wild Vigilante, Night Shadow, Chaos Arcanist and Flame Agent. That is, warrior, wizard, killer, these traditional classes we know. I started as a flame agent and already warning: it’s the worst choice to start. The game is quite difficult and, with this class, I noticed a great decline. Only by reaching the level 25 you can reset your talent tree and test another class. This is the first of only two criticisms I have to the game. I moved to the forefront to adapt and it worked, being less painful to beat the bosses.

Each class has its own active skills, being unlocked along the game and can choose which one to use in the buttons shortcuts, which are very well mapped. Except for murder skills, which are 7 in total and require the use of daggers, the others have 8 or 9 options to choose from and even improve at 3 different levels. And as expected you can make the combination you want with weapon, shield, elemental relic, helm, gloves, leggings, cover, etc. To help the player, friendships are made with NPCs (blacksmith, seamstress, cook, among others) who gather in the witch tree, a camp where the player makes his upgrades, buy things and improve the level of NPCs and their installations.

In addition to the main missions, there are many other secondary to do and get gold rewards, essences (XP) and important creation items (ores, fabrics and more). There are mini chiefs everywhere and caution is needed not to die in the dungeons, because their essences are left behind (as in souslikes) and you can not always recover them easily. Here comes my second criticism: the evolution of the character is very time consuming. This results in more difficult combat against common enemies, which can handle many blows before they die and are infernal when they are in large numbers. It also makes it difficult to access the talents of other classes, taking a long time to advance in branches.

In the shadows, only the witch’s lantern saves

In the plot, Mandragora is the leader of a group of witches. But it is also the plant we know, whose roots are used to upgrade in the witch’s flashlight, an item obtained ahead in the campaign and that allows you to enter entropy portals to face special challenges. In this reality, the dark areas consume their aura of life, hurrying the player to reach a witch’s stone, which completely recovers his aura. Each portal has a boss who, upon being overcome, closes this portal on the map. And guess what? They are difficult for hell!

Speaking of combat, the speed of your character depends on build, skills and her style of play. It’s not a hack ‘n’ Slash like Dead Cells, but it offers a lot of fun duels, especially if you have a shield and want to dominate Parry. Or roll across the floor like us soulslike, to escape the blows. The enemies are quite varied and it is necessary to get used to the standard of each one. Some of them can kill you very fast, so it’s important to keep calm and attack at the right time.

Mandragora is such a well done game that it is almost impossible not to addict to him. I played on PC and also Steam Deck, where it is very well optimized. I couldn’t finish before writing this review, as it is a very long game (40 hours +), but I saw it enough to know that it does not miss what is proposed. The trail is engaging, combat is always pleasurable and bosses put their skills to the test. It is not enough to have good reflexes to dodge the blows, it is necessary to combine passive effects with active and change builds when necessary. For example: Are you facing a boss whose attacks give bleeding? Change whatever you need to better contain this bleeding.

There are also many items to help you on this journey, not just the basic vials of life, mana, status annulment, etc. The cook, for example, makes dishes that benefit super useful status. Weapons and equipment also make all the difference. As expected from an action RPG, there are many variables to test and see the best result, either to attack closely or at a distance. Anything goes and the game leaves the player at ease to mix talents of all classes.

Metroidvania, RPG and Soulslike of Respect

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is a huge surprise among this year’s Indies. A game that deserves attention, not only because it is very good and beautiful, but for being an example. Like a metroidvania, it follows all the rules of the genre and adds some of its own ideas, such as exploration connected with another dimension, entropy. In terms of RPG and Soulslike, it unites the best characteristics of these genres without complicating too much. It does not mean that it is bug -free, like failing when trying to grab the ladder during the fall, and I definitely did not like the decision to run button to be the same to talk to NPCs and enter the places, causing unwanted actions. Still, in general, it is a very polished game.

The PT-BR translation is excellent, with great adaptations. On smaller screens, such as Steam Deck itself, some information ends up at the ends, such as the lower menu of the map, but nothing that disturbs a lot. In fact, the participation of writer Brian Mitsoda, known for his work in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, made all the difference. The dialogues are as good as the original English voice acting.

It also took the opportunity to pay their honors, such as an elf by carrying a gold -packed bag in the back there Golden Ax, just to quote an example. And although it is a fantasy RPG with typical enemies of the genre (spider, rat, bat, zombie, etc.), mandragora: whispers of the Witch Tree brings their own creatures with great creativity, especially in mini bosses and bosses. I really enjoyed it and I strongly recommend it to those who also enjoy these genres.