Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree Reviews
Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree might not rewrite the Soulslike or Metroidvania playbook, but it brings enough style, systems, and substance to justify a place in any dark fantasy fan’s library. It’s a sprawling, artistically impressive RPG that nails exploration and combat—but stumbles with some frustrating design choices and uneven storytelling. Buy it if you’re a fan of Salt and Sanctuary, Blasphemous, or Hollow Knight, and want something moody, challenging, and visually rich. Just be prepared to dig through some rough edges to find the heart of what makes this game special.
Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch is an absolute game for Soulslike or Metroidvania fans. Despite a few missteps, its depth of play and immersive world-building are worth it alone. It is a breathtaking and unflinching indie masterpiece.
Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is an amazing dark fantasy game that mixes the best parts of Metroidvania games and Soulslike games together. The combination of exploration and hard-hitting combat makes for an addictive combination that will draw the player in again and again until all the mysteries of this dark world are uncovered.
Lovers of complicated metroidvania games have a new reference thanks to the work developed by Prima Game Studio and Knight Peak. In general terms, it has nothing that we haven't seen in other greats of the genre. Exploration, complicated combat and a progression system with experience points.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Mandragora stands out as one of this year's biggest surprises thanks to its stunning artistic direction and vast, distinctive world design. It successfully blends Souls-like and Metroidvania mechanics in a creative and effective way within a 2.5D environment, offering an enjoyable gameplay experience filled with challenges that we thoroughly enjoyed.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Mandragora: Whispiers of the Witch Tree isn’t just another entry in the action RPG genre—it’s a living, breathing world that challenges you to be smarter, faster, and more resourceful with everything at your disposal. It’s highly polished with responsive controls that make every encounter challenging yet fair.
While Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree reads well on paper and boasts an intriguing premise, it stumbles in execution, delivering a game that needs more polish to truly shine as the next great Soulslike Metroidvania.
Strengthening the genre of games that depart from the metroidvania structure to meet the soulslike style, Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree has more hits than misses. The energy management combat is slow and can be repetitive and somewhat clumsy, but it also has its highlights. The crafting system is bureaucratic and offers few incentives for counting on it, affecting the feeling of reward of finding items. The world is well-built and enjoyable to explore, although its biggest highlight is really the rich 2D visuals, making it one of the most beautiful in the genre and easily recommended to those who enjoy the style.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
The latest in a line of solid soulvanias, Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is a gritty challenge that rises to the occasion.
Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree struggles to find its identity with its lackluster combination of both Soulslike and Metroidvania influences.
We have fun and varied combat, with a good amount of skills, classes and improvements to unlock. In addition, the metroidvania structure and the different missions and secrets grant a good amount of things to do.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
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.
Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree surprised me a lot with its range of build possibilities and its very well-made bosses. I expected a lukewarm Metroidvania in its combat, and I was surprised with something completely different. Its art direction is impeccable, bringing all the decadence and horror of this fantasy world. Its skill tree is a show in itself, with a wide range of possibilities for combining builds. Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree fulfills its role, offering great combat with elements of Soulslike and Metroidvania and with jaw-dropping art direction.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Halfway between a 2D soulslike and a metroidvania, Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree delivers a compelling and original RPG experience, as well as plenty of fun. With solid, satisfying combat mechanics and well-structured progression, its only minor flaws lie in the entropy-based levels and somewhat inconsistent difficulty. Overcoming these, Primal Game Studios offers an engaging, carefully crafted adventure that provides hours of entertainment—an underrated title with a fresh take on the soulslike genre.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is a unique and fun-to-play side-scrolling Soulslike, with great gameplay and an original world that’s easy to get immersed in. While I’d make some minor changes, the intrusive EULA policy is the biggest downside and prevents me, in good conscience, from giving it a higher score.
Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree stands out because it makes different genres work in one game. It's an ARPG and metroidvania that engages with its direct combat and character customization. If you like to explore, improve your character and fight, here you have a solid, long and very enjoyable adventure.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree es un señor juegazo.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The fusion of soulslike action and metroidvania-style exploration isn’t really a new thing, but every aspect around the core gameplay helps Mandragora to stand out as something truly special. Great visuals and audio, a very polished technical state, and a reasonable price make this a game you won’t want to miss.
Review in Unknown | Read full review
Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is a striking 2.5D soulslike action RPG set in a grim, crumbling fantasy world. With immersive exploration, challenging combat, and deep class customization, it rewards curiosity and skillful play. While its narrative takes a back seat to gameplay, its haunting art direction and oppressive atmosphere make it a standout experience for fans of atmospheric, challenging RPGs.
With good ideas that help Mandragora's two main genres merge, this action RPG is well worth the time invested in it, especially considering the price tag. R$199.50 for a good game that can easily last over 40 hours is a great deal. (Translated from Portuguese)