If you were asked to name some of this year's new games with the highest Steam scores, names like Split Fiction and Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 will probably spring to mind. However, unless you played the original or you're a big Metroidvania fan, you'll probably overlook Ender Magnolia. Sitting on a 95% rating, it's an absolute masterpiece, and it's just got even better thanks to a huge new update that adds a boss rush mode and New Game Plus.
Despite not being as well-known and popular as some of those aforementioned games, I think that when it hit 1.0 in January, the finished product definitely sured the first game.
Playing as Lilac, you must fight back against the Homunculi, a race of man-made, artificially intelligent beasts that have gone rogue and are terrorizing your homeland. Despite the anime game vibes of its characters and soundtrack, exploring challenging dark fantasy environments and taking on brutal bosses are two of Ender Magnolia's greatest strengths. Today's huge 1.1 update gives you a great excuse to experience both all over again.
First off, there's a New Game Plus mode. By triggering a specific ending at the end of Ender Magnolia, NG+ will be unlocked, and as is typical, your character progress will carry over to your new playthrough but the difficulty will be ramped up significantly. Any items you found in your initial playthrough will be replaced with materials or junk in this more difficult run, and you'll be able to upgrade your relics to a new tier to make them even more effective.
Then there's the boss rush mode, which is unlocked after defeating all of the bosses in the game. Your runs are constantly graded on their progress and clear time to give you an individual benchmark to try and beat. There is also a separate boss rematch feature that will let you revisit any individual boss encounter to hone your craft against them (or to just give them another pasting if you really loathed them in your first playthrough).
Alongside these excellent new modes, new gallery items and outfits have been added to give you more rewards that you can spend your hard earned Fragments on. There are also some less noticeable but very welcome bug fixes and translation fixes.
Ender Magnolia's 1.1 update, New Game Plus, and its boss rush mode are all live right now.
If you've already found yourself swept up in Ender Magnolia, here are some other great best PC games to play right now, then we have you covered.