Enotria: The Last Song Review
The last couple of years have been noteworthy for soulslike games. Titles like Lies of P and Black Myth Wukong have pushed the genre further, introducing clever innovations while retaining core mechanics in entirely fresh settings and themes. This is what I find most compelling about the genre: it uses a familiar framework to delve into new myths and environments.
Lies of P offers a dark twist on the story of Pinocchio, a classic tale from the 18th century, while Black Myth Wukong draws from Journey to the West, an even older Chinese epic from the 16th century. It’s intriguing how the soulslike format allows developers to adapt such diverse narratives. For me, this blend of recognizable mechanics with unfamiliar worlds creates a captivating experience.
This is why I was particularly eager to try Enotria: The Last Song, a soulslike steeped in Italian folklore. Although I know little about this cultural background, much like with Black Myth Wukong, I looked forward to the dual experience of learning about it while battling formidable bosses and exploring sun-drenched, Mediterranean-inspired landscapes, albeit ones filled with traps, vicious dogs, and the usual soulslike challenges.
First off, Enotria impresses visually, despite its shortcomings. From the ornate masks and carnival costumes worn by the Maskless One to the sandy beaches and quaint towns, the aesthetic offers a unique atmosphere not often seen in soulslikes. However, the game does suffer from a scarcity of NPCs typical for the genre, and its map design tends to be rather linear. Still, each area presents its own distinct character.
I was unexpectedly intrigued when I reached the second region, exploring ancient Greek ruins while battling cannon-wielding conquistadors. Although the regular bosses can feel repetitive, the main bosses at the end of each region stand out with their thematic visual designs. The setting is undoubtedly the highlight of Enotria, and those with an interest in Italian folklore will likely find much to enjoy.
One significant drawback is the motion blur, which can be quite distracting. Thankfully, the developers have recently added an option to disable it since the demo, and I recommend doing so if you’re sensitive to it.
It wouldn’t be fair to compare Enotria directly with titles like Lies of P or Black Myth Wukong, considering it comes from a smaller studio, yet its price point is only marginally lower. So let’s be clear: Enotria feels clunky in terms of gameplay. It lacks the fluid combat flow essential for soulslikes, which makes mastering the system feel unattainable.
Combat heavily leans on parrying, similar to Sekiro, where you build a stagger meter on enemies or bosses through successful parries, leading to a critical strike once filled. Unless you heavily invest in mask lines—the game’s ability system—most encounters boil down to standing and parrying, occasionally landing a hit with a quick weapon. Weapon combos are simplistic, and enemy attacks don’t align well with the weapons. Using a polearm or an ultra-greatsword often leaves you unable to hit most foes mid-combo, forcing you to repetitively parry a limited set of attacks until you achieve a stun.
The combat flow essential for soulslikes is noticeably absent, hindering your ability to master the mechanics.
Another downside is the almost Pokémon-like elemental system. You’ll encounter enemies or bosses tied to specific elements—Vis, Fatuo, Gratia, Malanno—and will deal significantly less damage unless you infuse your weapon with the appropriate element. While you have three loadouts and two weapons for each to adapt, this mechanic feels more cumbersome than beneficial.
Crafting a personal build is a core aspect of the soulslike experience, and being required to address enemy elemental weaknesses restricts that freedom. It’s an arbitrary system that fails to enhance gameplay or difficulty meaningfully, instead simply padding enemy durability. Builds should reflect playstyle, not just a response to elemental damage types.
Another challenge with Enotria is its overwhelming introduction of systems and mechanics, all crammed into the beginning. You have the classic souls leveling system, but also the Path of the Innovators, a tree of unlockable passive skills that allows you to equip six at a time. These skills let you specialize in combat, mask lines, and the weapon infusions obtained by casting mask lines in designated slots.
Additionally, there are aspects akin to Elden Ring's Great Runes, which modify your stat distribution and provide passive abilities. And let’s not forget about masks, which you collect by defeating bosses or gathering fragments from specific enemies. However, most of these systems won’t dramatically influence your playstyle; even masks primarily offer passive benefits, while mask lines are the key focus.
You can equip four mask line slots with these abilities, and more can be found as you explore. My main frustration is that these lines take considerable time to charge by attacking enemies—though you can speed this up via the skill tree—and you can easily be stunned during the casting animation, wasting that ability. If you want to use mask lines effectively, you need to have a precise understanding of their casting times, or you’ll be left more exposed than if you had just relied on parrying.
Once I realized I could be stunlocked out of mask lines by even basic attacks, I opted to stop using them altogether, which made the experience feel smoother than struggling with timing. Honestly, the system would be far more effective if there were some form of anti-interrupt or hyper armor during their use.
VERDICT
Enotria clearly reflects a passion for its setting, making it all the more frustrating when the overall experience falls short. It feels like a game that would have greatly benefited from early access or additional player feedback during development, as it’s so close to being something much better. Adjustments to weapon balancing, mask lines, enemy attack animations, hyper armor, and health could significantly enhance the game.
As it stands, Enotria lacks that special spark often found in well-crafted soulslikes, where a clever mechanic or innovation makes you think, “Wow, that’s really smart!” or even inspires a wish that FromSoftware would integrate it into their titles. While the setting may carry you through, the relentless parrying, cumbersome elemental system, issues with mask lines, and the challenges of using slower weapons are likely to become grating. For me, soulslike combat should feel instinctual, and unfortunately, Enotria doesn’t deliver that.