Anticipated soulslike Enotria: The Last Song was already garnering plenty of attention, and now that I've seen its latest trailer, I think I'm locked all the way in.
In a new trailer at Summer Game Fest, we got a closer look at Enotria, which has been gradually gathering steam over the past few months. There's a well-received demo currently available on Steam, and with a September release date on the cards, there's just enough time for the Elden Ring fans to get done with Shadow of the Erdtree before they start yearning for a new soulslike (thanks to Enotria moving its launch after an initial clash with FromSoftware).
I was already getting pretty excited for Enotria, then, but in the new trailer I saw something that really caught my eye. Around the 45 second mark, a masked, bearded boss gets up from his throne, wielding a candelabra-shaped trident that he proceeds to whale on the protagonist with. Thanks to a speedy reposition, however, our hero ends up flanking their foe, shaping up for a massive backstab. Rather than let themselves get hit that easily, however, the boss makes use of the second part of their weapon - a massive blunderbuss in its base.
That actually showed up earlier in the trailer, but I missed it on first view - a powerful blunderbuss rocket-jump sends them flying into the arena at the start of the fight. But what impresses me about this is how smart it suggests Enotria could be when it comes to speedy flanking maneouvers. Plenty of soulslike enemies have been lumbering oafs, and while they might have a big sweep or AoE attack to get rid of pesky ankle-biters, I definitely prefer the idea that a boss comes pre-prepared to deal with someone who gets in behind them by sticking a blunderbuss to the back of their giant melee weapon.
There's another detail hidden in that trailer that I particularly enjoy - Enotria uses a mask system, in which you pry the visage from your fallen foes to use their skills in future fights. At the end of the trailer, having defeated the boss, you steal his mask, and use it to stroll confidently past his guards. Whether that kind of light stealth system will feature in the game itself, I'm not sure, but I really like the idea that the masks won't only be available to use as a combat-adjacent tool.
Enotria: The Last Song releases in September, and is just one of the 5 soulslikes I'm hoping to see more of at SGF.
