Smaller games that come out of nowhere and capture attention with their ideas are hard to turn your back to, and it looks like Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree may very well end up fitting that bill. Developer Primal Game Studio and publisher Knights Peak’s action RPG is set to launch not long from now, and having caught our attention in the lead-up to its release, is going to be what we focus on in this feature. Without further ado then, let’s get started.
WHAT IS IT?
If you believe, as we do, that you can never have too many Metroidvanias- rejoice. Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is a 2.5D sidescrolling Metroidvania action RPG that also incorporates Soulslike elements. Set in a dark fantasy world, according to writer Brian Mitsoda, the game takes inspiration from Castlevnia and Berserker. “Personally, one of the things that drew me to the project was the strong Castlevania influence, as that’s one of my favorite games series of all time,” Mitsoda told Xbox Wire. “The dark fantasy elements reminded me of Berserk, and there was also a bit of traditional folk tale and fairy tale influence.”
STORY AND SETTING
Mandragora is set in the fantasy realm of Faelduum, whose peace is oh-so-predictably being threatened. Chaos comes in the form of mysterious and unknowable tears in the fabric of reality, created by a parallel plane of existence known only as Entropy. Through these tears, all manner of dark forces and horrifying creatures are leaking out into the reality of Faelduum. Players play as a warrior known as the Inquisitor, who embarks on a quest to defeat the forces of Entropy.
PLAYER CHOICE
How much emphasis Mandragora is going to put on its story in the grand scheme of things remains to be seen, but interestingly enough, it will be one of several areas where it will offer players control over their own experience. Speaking to Xbox Wire, writer Brian Mitsoda confirmed that the game will allow you to impact the story with dialogue choices. He said, “We let the player define who the Inquisitor is with their dialogue and story choices, so the main character’s fate isn’t set in stone.”
WORLD AND EXPLORATION
Touting itself as a Metroidvania experience, Mandragora is unsurprisingly focusing quite heavily on exploration. The game touts a vast and varied world with over 75 locations, according to its developers, randing from forests, deserts, and mountains to dark caves, formidable cityscapes, dangerous swamps, and more. According to the developers, players can expect plenty of secrets, treasures, mysterious characters, and more.
CLASSES
When creating your Inquisitor, you’ll be able to pick between one of six different classes, each enabling very different playstyles. The Vanguard will be focused on melee combat, two-handed weapons, and heavy armour, while the Spellbinder will specialize in chaos magic and one-handed weapons. There’s the Flameweaver class, which, as its name suggests, will focus on fire magic and attacks, and the Nightshade class, which duel wields daggers. The other two classes that will be available, on whom details are scarce, are Vindicator and Wyldwarden.
COMBAT DETAILS
As we touched on earlier, the Soulslike genre is one of several that Madragora is taking cues from, which, of course, will come through in its combat gameplay as well. Light attacks, heavy attacks, dodges, blocks, and a stamina bar will be crucial, as will paying attention to a diverse roster of enemies and their different attacks and movesets. Meanwhile, similar to Diablo-esque action RPGs, you can also expect an emphasis on a variety of abilities and managing cooldowns.
PROGRESSION
Multifaceted progression mechanics to allow players maximum control over their build is another area where Mandragora seems to be putting quite a bit of its focus on. Players will find a wealth of loot and gear to equip, on top of which you’ll also use the progression currency known as Essence to upgrade your stats and passive buffs. Additionally, a large skill tree will also provide additional options.
LENGTH
Everything that we’ve learned about Mandragora gives the impression of a larger and more expansive game than many may expect. Sure enough, that will apply to its runtime as well. According to Primal Game Studio, the game will feature a main story that can take over 40 hours to wrap up, which presumably implies an even longer runtime for those who are diving deeper into the game’s optional content.
MUSIC AND AUDIO
Primal Game Studio has collaborated with plenty of eye-catching talent for Mandragora’s development, by the look of things. In addition to aforementioned writer Brian Mitsoda of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines fame, the studio has also worked with GReek musician Christos Antoniou (a.k.a. Septicflesh) and the FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague for the game’s soundtrack. Meanwhile, the game also features full English voice acting.
DIFICULTY OPTIONS
Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is taking plenty of inspiration from Soulslikes, but it where accessibility and approachability are concerned, it seems to be taking a different tenor. The game will feature a range of difficulty options, with players being allowed to set sliders for enemy health, enemy damage, and player stamina between 70 percent and 100 percent.
NEW GAME PLUS
With RPGs that offer the level of flexibility and customization that Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree seems to be touting, repeat playthroughs with carried over progress are a big draw for many. Thankfully, Mandragora won’t disappoint here. The developers have confirmed a New Game Plus option will be available, so you can start repeat playthroughs without erasing your character’s progression.
DEMO
If you’re intrigued by Mandragora but want to get first-hand experience of the game’s offerings before deciding to commit, thankfully, a demo option is available. Available only on Steam, the demo gives players glimpses of the game’s combat, progression, setting, exploration, and story.
PC REQUIREMENTS
For those who wish to play Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree on PC, luckily enough, the game’s system requirements are quite modest. On minimum settings, for instance, the game will require either an i5 6500 or a Ryzen 5 1400, along with either a GeForce GTX 1060 (with 6 GB VRAM) or an RX 480, as well as 8 GB of RAM. Meanwhile, on recommended settings, the game will need either an i5 7600k or a Ryzen 5 3600X, along with either a Geforce RTX 2070 (with 8 GB VRAM) or an RX 6600 XT, and 16 GB of RAM.
PRICE
When Mandragora launches not long from now, players will be able to jump in at a fairly reasonable price. The action RPG will be available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC (via Steam and Epic Games Store) for a price of $39.99. A Digital Deluxe Edition with a handful of bonuses and additional cosmetics will also be available for $49.99.
A “BELIEVEABLE” EXPERIENCE
Let’s sign off with this one, because for those looking for a different twist to a familiar genre, this particular aspect of Mandragora might catch the eye. Speaking with the Epic Games Store blog, lead game designer Gabor Szabo explained that the developers’ goal is to create a “believable” experience with the action RPG, in the sense that the world and the things in it would behave and react the way you would expect. “Our goal was to create a believable experience,” Szabo said. “So if you see a dumb monster—a zombie, for example—it will not escape, it will not run from you. It will act as a target dummy, for example. But if you encounter a skilled assassin—an enemy assassin—we, as a player, expect it to behave like it’s a skilled assassin. So it will jump, it will roll behind you, it will try to punish you for your mistakes.
“So that was our goal when setting up different kinds of AIs. That is also true for the bosses. We have some huge, powerful but stupid bosses, which can kill you with one hit, but they are very dumb so you can easily outsmart them. Of course we have smart bosses [who] try to kill you in any way possible.”
