Enotria: The Last Song is an Italian folklore inspired Soulslike by Jyamma Games. The gameplay centers theatrical traditions made into powerful fighting mechanics, and an intricate magic system based in primal elements as well as artistic mastery. While the full game doesn’t arrive until September 18^th, the demo is available on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. After a work week playing through it, I feel comfortable sharing my first impressions with you.

The Beautiful

The graphics are phenomenal, from the Mediterranean vistas of the environment to the fluid animation of the combat. I am particularly delighted by The Maskless One’s jump animation. It perfectly communicates the puppet-like nature of the player character. The music is incredible, unique, and fits perfectly with the genre and setting.

Beauty isn’t everything, and the level design does have plenty of substance. It is clear the developers have consummate skills when it comes to creating a world that guides you forward without needing to rely on objectives and quest markers. While I did get turned around in the tutorial caverns, the area is small enough that I quickly realized my error and made it back to where I needed to be. As soon as I was released into the game proper, I had no issues with navigation.

Ardore – the magical ability to change aspects of the world to solve puzzles – was introduced in simple, straightforward ways early on and easy to grasp. The other magics, and the elemental status effects, were not. Even after hours playing the demo, I still have no idea how to use them properly. Or when to use them at all! This is, unfortunately, one of the major problems I encountered playing the demo.

The Frustrating

Now, I am a fan of Soulslikes. I’m not one to attempt near impossible challenge runs like many popular streamers or YouTubers, but I am pretty good. When playing Elden Ring, I beat Malenia, to give you context to my skill level.

Combat in Enotria: The Last Song is… unbalanced. The player’s strikes – even the light attacks – are slow and sure. This wouldn’t be a problem, except that the enemies move faster than us and their blows stagger us out of our attacks. I hoped it was only a matter of getting used to the rhythm of it all, and when it came to dodging, I was right. However, my combat experience did not improve.

Only the lightest weapon was fast enough to reliably hit enemies without them getting a hit on me in return. This wouldn’t be such a big problem against a boss, or even a mini boss. Part of the Soulslike experience is dying repeatedly as you gain the skills to push forward. However, when even the weakest of the post tutorial enemies can effortlessly stun-lock you, the experience turns sour fast.

Balancing enemy difficulty and player skill is a hard task. Make the enemies too easy, or the player too powerful, and there is no challenge. Damage and healing in Enotria: The Last Song is well balanced, I never felt overwhelmed or frustrated in that regard. No, the issue lies in the fluidity of the combat. Or, more accurately, the lack of it. Out of combat The Maskless One is agile and responsive, but when they attack, they stop completely dead to strike. With a great weapon – such as a colossal sword – this makes sense. However, you should be able to move as you wield a rapier.

The Magical

In addition to weapons, there is also magical skills that charge up as you attack. What they do and how to use them is not well communicated through gameplay. Unfortunately, I do not have a fix for this off the top of my head. It’s clear an in-depth tutorial wouldn’t fit with the tone. However, the current lack of explanation makes me feel I am put at a disadvantage. Maybe introducing the abilities more slowly, so that players are encouraged to experiment with a single combat ability before being given access to another.

This also connects with what I assume is a skill tree available in the in-game menu. We are given access to it in the tutorial, which I fear may be too early to properly grasp it. You can see everything in it, abilities scattered across it like constellations. It is a beautiful, but overwhelming sight. Again, there was too much information with little to no explanation.

A Conclusion

I would describe Enotria: The Last Song as promising. Those who enjoy the “brick wall” approach to the Soulslike genre will be able to push past the steep learning curve and the punishing combat rhythm. However, I fear that this game will not enjoy the success it deserves if these major oversights are not corrected in the full release. I want to love this game, but currently I cannot. Hopefully, these rough edges can be smoothed away to leave a truly memorable game.

Enotria: The Last Song will be available on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox and retails for $49.99. It releases on September 18^th 2024.