Enotria: The Last Song hasn't had the best introduction, having now plateaued at a Steam "Mixed" review rating. However, Enotria still does everything in its power to set itself apart from other Soulslike games with its emphasis on theater and brightly-saturated environments.
At the heart of Enotria: The Last Song's premise is a knack for the theatrical, with each of its characters and its setting all reflecting an exaggerated presentation of Italian folklore. Despite its intentions, however, Enotria ultimately falls short of its own goals, lacking that dramatic flair it tries so desperately to attain by foregoing cinematic spectacle.
Enotria: The Last Song's Path of Innovators Needs Some Innovation
Players will visit the Path of Innovators frequently in Enotria: The Last Song to unlock different perks, but the system could still use an update.
Enotria: The Last Song Needs More Cinematic Spectacle
Many of Enotria: The Last Song's Boss Fights Are Anticlimactic
For all its theater, Enotria: The Last Song rarely impresses with cinematics. To be fair, it is one of the more visually captivating Soulslike games available, but those visuals are later let down by a supreme lack of theatrical buildups to its boss fights and major story moments. This is a harsh reality when looking at more recent releases like Elden Ring and its Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, both of which boast some of the most enthralling cinematics ever seen in a Soulslike game, especially when its boss introductions take advantage of the surprise factor and opt for a more gruesome and bizarre showcase.
Enotria: The Last Song's boss fights have their moments, but those moments are rarely cinematic. The majority of the game's boss fights begin almost instantly and without any warning, in addition to generally featuring the same music track in every encounter. While said boss fights are many of Enotria's optional bosses and therefore could be justified in spite of lacking cinematic buildup or execution, even many of the Soulslike genre's optional bosses have been given better introductions than Enotria's.
Ultimately, this makes a lot of Enotria's bosses feel like needless roadblocks rather than memorable encounters, highlighting the need for a more theatrical experience in the game.
Cinematic Soulslike boss introductions not only help players establish the scale of a boss but also provide context for why they are fighting the boss in the first place. This is not to say that every Soulslike boss fight has an introductory sequence, however, nor is it always necessary. After all, one of the most defining characteristics of a Soulslike is its ability to throw players right into the heat of battle with little to no warning at all. However, Enotria ultimately fails to implement this feature well, considering every one of its boss fights encloses players in an inescapable box of invisible walls, preventing them from leaving even after they've been given absolutely no time to prepare.
More Cinematics Would Help Enotria: The Last Song to Feel a Bit More Theatrical
Enotria: The Last Song lacks cinematics on a rather large scale, even outside its boss fights. There are, on average, one or two cinematics between regions, so depending on how much time players spend in each area, these cinematics can feel very out of context, especially in light of Enotria's incredibly cryptic narrative. Once players are in a region for an extended period of time, cinematics inevitably become scenes players might prefer to simply skip in order to get straight to the fight.
For a game that places such a strong emphasis on theater, Enotria: The Last Song lacks a surprising amount of stage presence. Its deeply saturated world and bright atmosphere are refreshing for a Soulsike, but its visual spectacle is let down by the absence of cinematics to break up the gameplay and provide players with an opportunity to see Enotria's world and bosses from a different perspective than they can by simply playing the game. Hopefully, Jyamma Games will consider improving Enotria with more cinematics in the future to increase its visual appeal and bring a bit more theater to its presentation.
Enotria: The Last Song
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 69 /100 Critics Rec: 31%
- Released
- September 16, 2024
- ESRB
- Teen / Alcohol Reference, Blood and Gore, Mild Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Jyamma Games
- Publisher(s)
- Jyamma Games
WHERE TO PLAY
Enotria: The Last Song is a thrilling soulsike set in a sun-lit land inspired by Italian folklore and filled with danger.
The world has been gripped by the Canovaccio - a twisted eternal play that keeps everything in an unnatural stasis. You, Maskless One, are the only one without a given role and master of your destiny. Defeat the fearsome Authors that created it and free the world from stagnation, by harnessing the power of Ardore.
Become the Mask of Change.
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Soulslike
