Last year was great for Soulslike fans like me. Titles likeRemnant 2,Lords of the Fallen, andLies of Peach brought unique flavors to the genre. We don’t always get a flood of Soulslike games every year, but 2024 shows promise with some interesting entries, among which Enotria: The Last Song that I’ve been keeping an eye on.
From the five hours I played of the demo to completion, it seems that Enotria doesn’t have much depth in its storytelling. The opening cutscene was very brief, offering only a couple of sentences to set the stage, leaving me with no clear objective other than to defeat the enemies in my path, and no inkling of who I was or my motivations. While pretty standard for this genre, it feels more pronounced here; Enotria gives you an abundance of mechanics and little context for how you’re supposed to use them.
As a seasoned Soulslike player, I found the difficulty manageable yet reasonably challenging, ensuring that even veterans will have their skills tested. It might not be the most accessible for newcomers to this genre, but if you’ve played any Dark Souls game, you’ll at least have the fundamentals needed to start.
The Enotria demo showcases two distinct areas, each highlighting the game’s diversity in environments and enemies. The first area boasts a bright, beachside setting populated by human-like enemies. As you progress, you encounter a small, deserted town teeming with enemies. In contrast, the second area plunges you into a dark, ominous forest inhabited by witch-like foes.
These contrasting landscapes offer a glimpse into the full game’s potential for diverse locations, each with its own unique ambiance, enemies, and challenges.
As expected in any Soulslike, hidden secrets, items, and of course, enemies lurk around every corner. Though you may not always discern the main path, each route you choose teems with adversaries, along with chests waiting to be opened and valuable items to be found. Occasionally, you might encounter formidable foes, but it’s all part of the journey. Every path you embark on promises rewards and surprises, making your exploration worthwhile.
The enemy encounters felt balanced and rewarding, with healing items, upgrade items, and occasionally mask shards handed out - more on those later. However, the final boss - Vermiglio, the Red Prior - felt disproportionately challenging, bordering on unfair.
While you’re able to parry all of his attacks, both melee and ranged, this requires precise timing and isn’t very forgiving. He also still seemed to deal damage despite these efforts. The only way I managed to defeat him was by constantly performing jump attacks, which interrupt all enemies' attacks, regardless of their type. However, it takes a lot of stamina so can’t be relied upon.
One of Enotria’s strengths lies in its weapon variety. In the demo alone, I found over 15 different weapons, promising a diverse arsenal in the full game. From greatswords to morning stars, there’s plenty to experiment with, each offering unique benefits. For example, the greatsword and colossal sword are slow but can break enemy poise and interrupt their attacks, encouraging a more strategic fighting style. Regular swords are somewhat lighter and allow for multiple quick attacks before retreating and waiting for the enemy to strike before engaging again. However, all weapons felt a little slower than I’d like overall, with movement less smooth too.
There’s a familiar stats system for leveling up and crafting various builds, complemented by a skill tree for unlocking and equipping different abilities. While I kept returning to the same skills throughout the demo, there’s quite a range of abilities to unlock - I stuck on skills that boosted my stamina, dodging, and parrying abilities but other players might prefer different skills, such as regaining health after defeating an enemy or enhancing physical defense. Different bosses will likely demand different skills, and that’s where the loadouts feature in this game come in handy.
The game offers the ability to customize three loadouts with different weapons, skills and masks. This allows for dynamic switching between builds without constantly swapping weapons, which makes it easier to try different setups without the hassle of constant switching.
While Enotria offers a variety of features, the mask system is probably the most interesting. This system not only provides special effects that impact combat but also includes multiple perk slots, where you will equip the skills we mentioned earlier. Some masks boost your ranged attacks, while others enhance your spell-casting abilities. During the demo, I collected four masks, but it seems there are many more to be found through different methods.
Your character starts with a basic appearance, but equipping a mask changes that by granting a new costume. Each mask comes with its own unique outfit, and the ones I found all had distinct styles.
It’s worth mentioning that there is no cosmetic armor in the game, at least from what I could see. If you enjoy character customization and the fashion aspect of Soulslike games, this might be a letdown. Instead, you’ll need to hope that you like the outfits that come with the masks you find. Fortunately, these masks do come with cohesive outfits that fit well with the game’s period aesthetics.
While there are positive aspects to Enotria, there are some notable drawbacks too. The world of Enotria is somewhat deserted, especially with the lack of NPCs to interact with, creating a haunting atmosphere that may not be for everyone - but will strike at the heart of the Soulslike genre’s appeal for others.
One major issue is the combat felt clunky and slow, and there was something off about the character’s movement. Even with the regular sword equipped, supposedly the fastest weapon, attacks still come off as sluggish. This makes me concerned about how much slower and more cumbersome the combat would feel with a colossal sword. On top of that, the character’s movement didn’t feel smooth or responsive, and sometimes, you can notice the delayed reactions and lack of fluidity in the character’s actions.
While the graphics didn’t impress as much as I had hoped, it’s important to note that Soulslike games often prioritize gameplay over visual flair. However, I expected more from a game with an Italian theme. The visuals lacked the richness and detail I anticipated. The textures seemed flat, and the overall presentation felt a bit unpolished. I imagined vibrant, detailed environments that truly capture the essence of Italy, but instead, the graphical fidelity fell short of those expectations.
Even on a high-end PC with an RTX 4070 Ti, performance issues plague the game. The game struggled to maintain a stable FPS and the frequent bugs and stuttering detracted significantly from the overall experience. During fights, I often found that my camera didn’t respond to my movements, leaving me disoriented and vulnerable. This lack of responsiveness frequently led to my character’s untimely death, but given that this is a demo build, these issues might be addressed before the final release.
Enotria: The Last Song is set for release on July 14, 2025.
Enotria: The Last Song
WHERE TO PLAY
Drawing inspiration from Italian folklore, Enotria: The Last Song is an RPG with soulslike gameplay from Jyamma Games. As you defeat foes, wear their Masks to unlock new roles, and alter reality to your benefit.
