Available now, this might be the darkest and most gorgeous metroidvania hitting Xbox and PC this year

It is nothing short of ambitious for an indie team of game developers to put together a debut title that sits squarely within the realm of two of the most popular genres. It's even more attention-grabbing when a team in its infancy puts together a Metroidvania-meets-Soulslike debut title with the backing of industry giants. And yet, that’s exactly what Primal Games has done with its very first indie release through ID@Xbox, Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree.

Developed by Primal Games and published by Knights Peak Interactive, Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree brings a player-created character to life in the kingdom of Faelduum, where they will be forced to take up arms against an onslaught of increasingly brutal beasts in a narrative crafted by Vampire: The Masquerade—Bloodlines alum Brian Mitsoda.

“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 says in a quote provided to Xbox Wire. “The dark fantasy elements reminded me of Berserk, and there was also a bit of traditional folk tale and fairy tale influence.”

Mitsoda’s branching narrative is book-ended by beautifully haunting hand-drawn art along with an original soundtrack composed by Christos Antoniou (Septicflesh) and performed by the FILMharmonic Orchestra of Prague. Voice acting talent for Mandragora even includes Aysha Selim of Overwatch 2 and World of Warcraft fame.

“Mandragora has an epic, dark fantasy aesthetic that really spoke to me,” said Antoniou in a quote from the Mandragora Kickstarter, “When the team approached me about becoming the composer for the game, I was excited by the opportunity to both create music for a video game and to help bring this atmospheric world to life.”

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree’s impressive talent roster is only the start of its intrigue.

Players become the Inquisitor, a glorified henchman who carries out the will of the King Priest by rooting out heretics. However, circumstances lead to the Inquisitor wavering from their duty and defying orders just one good time— setting into motion a journey rife with potential for branching narratives. The choices made by the player can have profound outcomes. The game’s story features more than 40 hours of gameplay spanning across 75 unique locations, each with its own secrets, treasures, and unique characters.

Players aren’t just exploring and meeting these characters, they can also add them to their traveling caravan to assist on the journey to Entropy. This includes a skilled blacksmith, a tailor who creates vital bandages and armor kits, and a shadowy alchemist. Encountering skilled artisans and crafting items can make or break whether the Inquisitor survives in the heat of a battle with a corrupted beast.

Mandragora offers six different character classes to choose from: Vanguard, Flameweaver, Spellbinder, Nightshade, Wyldwarden, or Vindicator. Each class comes complete with a robust offering of skills and weapons to work through in an intricate Talent Tree system with more than 200 active and passive upgrade skills.

Those talents will become vital to surviving in Faelduum as players face 19 mini-bosses and 15 incredibly challenging main bosses in epic battles using their choice of brute force medieval weaponry or masterful spell casting in a 2.5D side scrolling setting.

Not content to just mix up 2.5D side scrolling, metroidvania, and soulslike genres, Primal Games has sprinkled in a healthy dose of action RPG gameplay for flavor. This includes crafting, with over 350 items and 110 consumables and enchants for players to discover. One good run simply isn’t going to be enough to experience everything that Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree has to offer. Thankfully, players can return to Faelduum in New Game Plus with the progress their Inquisitor made in the previous play through still intact.

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree was originally announced with an anticipated 2023 release date, but the game was ultimately delayed as the Hungary-based studio behind the project shuffled through various partnerships with publishers before settling with Knights Peak. Players can finally craft their Inquisitor, explore the Kingdom of Faelduum, and experience this branching narrative and sprawling action RPG for themselves when Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree launches on Xbox and PC on April 17.