Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is a 2.5D action RPG developed by Primal Game Studio, blending Metroidvania exploration with Soulslike combat. Released on April 17, 2025, I was really looking forward to it after seeing it featured by a few Twitch streamers I like. Afterall, Metroidvania? Check! Soulslike? Check! So lets dive in and see if it lives up to the hype.
Warning, this review contains some spoilers for the story, but i’ll try and keep them to a minimum!
Entropic Killer
The story is set in the dark and dystopian world of Faelduum, a place plagued by grotesque creatures and societal decay. You step into the role of an inquisitor, tasked with hunting the last witch after falling into the King Priest’s bad books. There’s a very heavy evil empire vibe right off the bat, what with the religious zealotry and torture in the opening cutscene.
The world itself, with its haunting cities, eerie forests, and menacing enemies, is intricately designed and brought to life with a painterly art style that enhances the unsettling tone. The character art in particular is gorgeous, with each person you talk to having a dynamic portrait as you speak to them. They’re also all fully voiced (except for standard shop dialogue), and the quality of the writing and acting really goes a long way in immersing you in the story.
Some of the areas can feel a little samey – especially given the need to scour them for consumables (more on that later) – and may feel generic compared to the more dynamic parts of Faelduum.
Slice, Dice, Grapple, and Glide
Gameplay in Mandragora blends traditional action-RPG mechanics with Soulslike features. At the beginning of the game, you can customise your character and then choose from six different character classes, each offering distinct skill trees and unique playstyles. The combat system emphasizes melee attacks, dodge rolls, spellcasting (for some), and jumping, all of which must be mastered to tackle challenging bosses and encounters.
As we’re dealing with a Soulslike here, stamina management is the name of the game, and you will get locked into attack animations, so pay attention! I went with the Nightshade, an assassin that focuses on daggers and poison, so I didn’t get the chance to try out any magic, but you do unlock abilities to spice things up. You only get 2 abilities per loadout, which meant certain encounters felt a bit rote, and I don’t know if it was just a skill issue but I sometimes struggled to get my Shadowstep ability to fire despite enemies being in range and having enough Combo Points, which lead to a bit of frustration at certain points.
Despite that, I mostly enjoyed the combat – learning boss attack patterns is always fun, and the game really pushes you to use every tool in your arsenal. Later in the game, you get a double jump and a glide and certain attacks are impossible to avoid without using them. Some people may find this frustrating, as they come quite late, and you’ll already be pretty comfortable in your playstyle, but I felt it kept things fresh towards the end.
Exploration in Mandragora follows a Metroidvania-inspired progression system; make use of those map markers as you’ll want to revisit earlier areas with newly unlocked abilities to uncover hidden secrets. You get the staples from both Souls and Metroivanias; a jump, a ledge hang, a roll, a double jump, and also a grapple hook and a glide.
Potentially, the double jump comes a bit late – you’ll spend a good chunk of the game with nothing but your standard jump. I know that certain areas are locked behind it, so conceptually it makes sense, but it did feel like the majority of the movement options were confined to the second half of the game. Also (a bit like with the Shadowstep), I sometimes had some issues with my grapple hook not firing correctly. Again could be a skill issue, but it made certain platforming sections feel a little cumbersome. What definitely did make some bits annoying was the amount of instant deaths that can happen just from exploring. Gravity is obviously a thing, but there are also traps that are just brutal, and instant death spike pits that are a bit too frequent.
There’s also a point towards the end of the game where the balancing seems to just jump clean out a window, in terms of platforming and enemy placement/scaling (also, why is there no checkpoint at the top of the tower?!) . 2D Soulslikes have to tread a fine line when it comes to enemy number and variety so as to not be frustrating, and Mandragora crosses that line very late in the game. There’s too many enemies, specifically too many different types in small spaces (bloody imps), and you’re liable to roll to your death just trying to avoid them.
Camping Out!
The characters in Mandragora are one of its highlights. Don’t be tempted to just run around the world all the time grinding down enemies! You’ll recruit a variety of NPCs for your camp, and you’re going to want to check in on them for upgrades to your gear, consumable health items, and details about the map. They are a welcome addition, and the majority of them get side quests to fill in their backstories that make venturing back to the Witch Tree worthwhile.
You can upgrade their services and their carts for more unlocked recipes and other benefits, so keep an eye out for crafting materials in the world! Especially linen cloth! It seems to be needed for almost everyone’s cart upgrade, and at some point, my tailor just stopped restocking it. The blacksmith also stopped restocking sharpstones at some point too, and for the life of me, I could not figure out how to get more.
Bedtime Stories (spoilers ahead!)
The story of Mandragora was a highlight for me. You start as an inquisitor, sent off into the wilderness to track down a witch. You also seem to have a touch of possession – just mildly, you hear voices, no body snatching. As you venture through the world, you’ll quickly realise that potentially life isn’t quite as simple as the King Priest let on. A world-ending threat known as Entropy is seeping through rifts and threatens to destroy the world. Lucky for you then, that you find yourself able to traverse the rifts as you hunt down vampires and dragons and try and save Faelduum.
The game purports to have choices with consequences mechanics, but I’m not sure I ever encountered any (hard to tell on only one playthrough), But that doesn’t detract from the overall story beats which are well thought out and have the right amount of intrigue, even if the direction things are going can be easily seen from the offset. The side quests also added story beats to the world, from getting unique dialogue with your camp dwellers to tragic moments with the inhabitants of the dying world.
Final Thoughts
All in all, Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is a visually impressive and narratively engaging action RPG that melds Metroidvania exploration with Soulslike combat mechanics well. The combat on the whole is fun, the world layout is full of interesting little hideaways and secrets. The story is solid, and it’s told in a darkly beautiful world, enhanced by the broad brushstrokes of the art style and the fantastic soundtrack. Nonetheless, repetitive combat, occasional technical issues, and certain design decisions may put some people off.
Despite these issues, for those willing to immerse themselves in the bleak and captivating world of Faelduum, Mandragora offers a challenging and rewarding experience for fans of both genres.
Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree was reviewed on PC and is available on PC, Xbox Series X/S, Playstation 5 and Nintendo Switch on April 17th 2025.
Gamer Social Club would like to thank Developers Primal Game Studio and Publisher Knight Peak for the code.
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