An instant classic.
Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree seemingly came out of nowhere. I've had my eyes on upcoming Metroidvanias as I've played and enjoyed several over the past year. From its visuals, aesthetic, and combat, Mandragora is the latest entry in a genre that has exploded in the past several years, even if it doesn't really bring much new to the format.
Mandragora is clearly inspired by the likes of some of the genre’s best, especially that of Salt and Sanctuary. Its art design also reminded me of the recent release of No Rest for the Wicked by Moon Studios. Mandragora is a product of inspiration, but it's also one that holds its own against its contemporaries. It's stunning from beginning to end, and offers a significant range of challenge from its hard-hitting bosses, to its range of brutal foes.
As the Inquisitor to the King Priest, you are tasked with tracking down one of the few remaining Witches. However, you are possessed by the spirit of a witch you've just killed in the church, right in front of the King Priest. Defying his order not to kill her, you seemingly have fallen out of favor, and the King Priest has other plans for you. And, after you fail to track down the second Witch, it is clear he's sent you on a suicide mission.
The story of Mandragora is, at times, fine. However, it isn't consistent or present enough to stand out. If I had to critique a single part of this whole package, it would be the story. You'll gather allies as you find them, creating a caravan of merchants, as well as finding survivors out in the wilds, but those who have a sense of power in the world are simply there to move the story along. This leaves your hero often alone and taking on the narrative without much assistance. That said, you do meet allies of the witches and begin to understand the spirit within you, this powerful witch named Mandragora.
These elements of the story are great; however, you rarely have agency over certain dialogue. Sure, you can answer calmly or through annoyance, but there were so many times where I wanted my character to force their opinion about what is lurking within them. That, and certain bosses will join you once you've had the chance to explain yourself. It's a shame you couldn't avoid combat if you solved a series of dialogue checks, granting better rewards for missing out on a battle. Again, it's a minor annoyance on how you are used, but it does stick out as a flaw in the storytelling.
Mandragora is very clearly a Metroidvania, so throughout the roughly 15 hour journey you'll gain new abilities to progress to new areas, walls that crumble to reveal secrets, and several weapons to wield. Where Mandragora shakes this up is by allowing you to choose one of six classes and then eventually create hybrids of those classes by mixing and matching different skills as you work through massive skill trees filled with new abilities, stat increases, and variations to your existing skills. It's a lot to take in and yet is very cleanly explained and presented.
Mandragora’s combat is very close-range. Despite the six available classes, few have any sort of ranged attacks. Apart from some of the magic users, where you'll cast out fireballs or a rotating series of orbs that deal damage, the bulk of combat is through standard close-range melee combat. This makes encounters very personal and intimate, forcing you to rely on dodging or using your abilities to traverse the battlefield. As for a block or parry, only the Vanguard class has such a skill. The Nightshade; however, can teleport behind your foe, and it really comes in handy, unless of course your foe does a large AOE around them and you are stuck taking the hit.
Vanguard, Flameweaver, Spellbinder, Nightshade, Wyldwarden, and Vindicator, make up the six classes. While the names may be flowery and colorful, they nonetheless represent your typical classes across gaming. Whether it is natural Wylde Magic, Astral, or through the power of Flame, each class comes into combat through different means. And, should you feel you've allotted your points into the wrong class and want to try something new, you can respec at any time for a bit of the essence you use to level up. Across my playthrough, I tried about three different builds, from up close and personal with my greatsword to hacking, slashing, and teleporting with my hybrid NightWeaver, or unleashing hell as the Flameweaver in all its glory.
As you progress throughout the campaign, attempting to make sense of this Witch spirit within you, you'll meet a few people. Several of these will be looking for a new life, a new place to sell their goods, or other various stories. You'll invite them to the Witch Tree, a safe haven from the monstrous threats that make up this world. You'll eventually have a blacksmith to craft more durable gear, a potion-master to keep you stocked, a seamstress to craft more nimble equipment, a cook, and an enchanter, to a mysterious gold worker who can craft more flasks to keep you alive. These allies become crucial, even the cook, as his meals have vast benefits to take advantage of.
Each of these characters will have quests of their own, upgrades to search for to make their wares cheaper, and designs to find that allow them to provide more options. You'll also have a map keeper who helps colorize the map to keep track of where one area begins and the other ends. While you'll find stories and quests all over, this ragtag group will convey more context to the world, providing some great acting in the process. It's all well done, even if the time between the story bits can cause the entire narrative to have some odd pacing issues.
Your own character is comprised of a wealth of stats, almost too many at times. You'll need to balance your equipped weight to keep you nimble, and each class will tackle that differently. It's fine for the Vanguard to be tanky and slow, but the Spellbinder and Flameweaver need to have a wide dodge to stay out of the way of bosses, as they can cleave your health in a single swipe. While you can change the values of incoming and outgoing damage to make the game a tad easier, it doesn't prevent the same screen-clearing attacks and devastating AOE attacks from simply burying you.
Each character can equip two different loadouts, swapping on the fly during combat. Each class has three slots, with one set for your basic attack. From magical attacks to heavy strikes and dashes that cover you in flames, there is a wide variety here to work with. However, the mixing and matching isn't so clear-cut and universal. Each spell for their respective class requires their personal weapon or item. The Flameweaver needs its fire totem in the same way as the Nightshade’s teleport requires the daggers. Still, with two loadouts, you can easily create what you need, but do keep in mind that you cannot have different skill trees for each loadout, so there needs to be a balance.
The game also has a resource management system where you'll have limited access to potions. Sure, you can craft some, but this means grinding away at ingredients. You can buy potions, but they fill a tenth of your bar, so you'll find yourself running to the corner and chugging back five or six to even make a dent. Still, those do come in handy a lot as I would enter into most boss fights with at least a hundred and achieve victory while being in single digits. More flasks come as you find the bottles to craft them with, and you can increase their potency via the young girl who has a way with plants and seeds. By the time I reached the final boss, I had a total of five flasks and hundreds of other potions to keep me alive.
Combat feels weighty with the heavier weapons like a hammer or greatsword, and light and snappy when you are wielding swords or daggers. Each type feels how it should, and finding the timing and being able to take the abuse is part of the experience. Finding the right abilities like increasing your defense as you take damage, is crucial to being a tank, whereas you want speed and being able to dodge and escape danger as a more squishy class. I do have to mention that I feel the roll is a bit too easy to accidentally roll a second time when you are spamming it to escape, often having me roll into danger or off a cliff. I also have issues with not being able to cancel some animations into others to have that ability to escape or block with the Vanguard. Honestly, it is my only real gripe with combat.
While some games claim to be soulslikes or borrow aspects of them to whisper in the direction of wanting to be one, the only real comparison here is the tough challenge of its combat, and that enemies respawn when you rest or die. Your essence is dropped where you've died, and a continued death before you reclaim it means it fades into the ether forever. Do I consider Mandragora to be a Soulslike? Not really, but I can see where people are coming from when they describe it as such.
A little bit into the game, you'll receive a Witch Lantern. This allows you to enter the void, a place that constantly drains your energy. You'll find safe havens that replenish said energy, but you are constantly on the move to find the exit. You can level up a seperate skill tree to exist in this area longer, as well as items that can be enhanced to allow this as well. While this may seem like a major part of the game, there are maybe half a dozen of these dimensional tears that you'll explore.
Additionally, you'll gain abilities or tools that aid in exploration. You'll earn a grappling hook early on, a double jump, and even the ability to fly a short distance, which came in handy during a very difficult mini-boss that would tunnel under me and have a wide AOE strike. These are rolled out fairly far apart and help with not only traversal, but finding shortcuts to make said traversal faster and more efficient, especially those long runs back to the boss.
Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is visually quite striking. The character portraits have the appeal of being 3D as they move around during dialogue. The atmosphere of the environments is solid, even if the game doesn't present us with locations we haven't seen a hundred times before. Nonetheless, what is here is remarkably solid and stunningly beautiful. While Dread still takes the cake when it comes to visuals for the genre, Mandragora is a very close second.
Primal Game Studio has crafted one of my favorite games this year, an experience that seemingly came out of nowhere. With a flexible class system, and wonderful level design, as well as a host of deeply challenging boss encounters, it's the best Metroidvania since Metroid Dread, a title I cherish as a near-perfect experience. Mandragora has its flaws, and some are more apparent than others, but ultimately is a wonderful new addition to the genre, and an absolute must-play.
Developer - Primal Games Studios. Publisher - Knights Peak Interactive. Released - March 27th, 2025. Available On - Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Nintendo Switch, PC. Rated - (M) Blood, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence. Platform Reviewed - PlayStation 5. Review Access - A review code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.
Jeff is the original founder of Analog Stick Gaming. His favorite games include The Witcher III, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Hi-Fi Rush, Stellar Blade, Hellbade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and the Legend of Heroes series, especially Trails of Cold Steel III & IV.