Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is a game that precisely blends the best of Metroidvanias and Souls-likes. With a well-told narrative, intense combat, powerful ambiance and an evolution system full of possibilities, it delivers an experience that goes far beyond expectations.

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree offers a lot of content, great gameplay, with a quality graphical presentation. Hours of fun and searching for answers in a dark fantasy world.

With a story that is happy to take a backseat to exploring its dangerous, beautiful world, Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree delivers everything a fan of the genre could want.

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree combines souls-like combat and Metroidvania structure in a layered, dark gothic world that's compelling, both artistically and in its setting. There are some technical issues, but it's a 2.5D adventure worth experiencing.

Mandragora successfully blends metroidvania and soulslike elements, offering meaningful character progression and excellent dialogue filled with bizarre characters. It’s wrapped in a striking dark fantasy aesthetic and backed by a strong soundtrack. However, the experience stumbles in frustrating platforming sections where a single mistake can mean death, especially during repeated treks to boss fights. The main story also never rises above a basic and predictable premise. It’s not a masterpiece, but still a very solid soulslike that will keep you entertained for many evenings, even if it occasionally drives you mad.

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is a truly solid and well-crafted work, a significant representative of a genre that has become overly saturated. Mandragora doesn’t quite stand out for originality or for that sense of uniqueness one might expect from a title of this kind. And yet, despite offering a lot of déjà vu and familiar tropes, its strong gameplay consistency and its almost always spot-on choices manage to frame it as a game that definitely deserves a fair and confident chance.

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is a unique and fun-to-play side-scrolling Soulslike, with great gameplay and an original world that’s easy to get immersed in. While I’d make some minor changes, the intrusive EULA policy is the biggest downside and prevents me, in good conscience, from giving it a higher score.

It would be easy to let Mandragora fade into the crowd of Soulslike Metroidvanias, but it’s so much more than the sum of its parts. I’ve avoided a lot of Soulslike games over the years for what felt to me like focusing on difficulty to the exclusion of all else. But while Mandragora can be extremely punishing, it’s a reminder that difficulty can also be an expression of a game’s world, and pushing through that challenge can be far more satisfying than completing a game that doesn’t take such pleasure in pushing players to their limits. Mandragora is one of the most nerve-wracking games I’ve played in years, and I’m already eager to pick up another of its classes and wallow in its infuriating joy all over again.

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree tries to bring together a multitude of ideas within a single dark action RPG. In some areas, it delivers legendary results, while in others, it falls flat. If you enjoy a challenge and believe that 'as long as it's soulslike, it doesn't matter if it's rough around the edges,' I guarantee you'll spend hours filled with both love and frustration.

I eagerly await the day when Primal Game Studios announces a sequel or a spiritual successor. Built on the wisdom earned with this project, I could easily see Mandragora’s sequel becoming a must-play for action RPG fans. But I’m not reviewing potential. What’s currently here is an ARPG that nails its setting and core gameplay; everything else is underbaked. Fans of ARPGs will likely have a great time with Mandragora as I did, but those who are more interested in a nail-biting Soulslike or a clever Metroidvania won’t find it here.

While Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree reads well on paper and boasts an intriguing premise, it stumbles in execution, delivering a game that needs more polish to truly shine as the next great Soulslike Metroidvania.

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree draws from the recipes of various chefs and throws everything into its cauldron. The elements are almost all in the right place; yet, it needs that extra pinch of originality to go above average. If the Metroidvania aspects are convincing, the same cannot be said of the artificial boss battles and a progression system that seems to travel behind the player's needs. Whether you are a fan of the genre or not, the offer proposed by Primal Game Studio remains a valid pastime with which to entertain yourself without great pretensions, especially if you are looking for a title of this type focused on narrative.

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is an example of a game that is “just fine.” If you’re looking to scratch an itch, then Mandragora might be the one for you.

I struggle to pinpoint any particular facet of Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree that is exceptional. The combat is serviceable, the narrative is adequate, and the exploration is fine. There's some comfort in navigating the map & finding new secrets in a way that search action games tend to be comfortable, and there's some satisfaction in the gameplay in which soulslike games tend to be satisfying, but I'm mostly left with indifference.

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is a moderately successful soulslike game and is far from perfect. The game's biggest flaws turn out to be the unpleasant platforming elements and the repetitive minibosses.

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree turned out to be an ambitious attempt to create a grandiose game. But everything is spoiled by repetitive bosses and dull gameplay.