Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree Review — A Fresh Take on Dark Fantasy

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree was another surprise to land on my review desk. This side-scrolling Soulslike sends players on a quest to clear out the world’s corruption, blending familiar but uniquely told fantasy tropes with solid Soulslike gameplay and progression. While there are changes I’d make here and there, I was generally fond of Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree, though some well-deserved community backlash has somewhat soured my otherwise positive opinion.

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree casts you as an inquisitor serving a clearly corrupt bishop who preaches the virtues of his god and the wickedness of heresy and defiance. During the trial of a witch, you are overwhelmed with empathy as you watch her suffer. Rather than let her continue to burn for the crowd’s enjoyment, you choose to end her life mercifully. In doing so, you’re granted a unique power. As you continue to carry out your inquisitorial duties, you uncover a deeper evil lurking beyond the dogma you’ve followed your entire life.

The game’s introduction packs quite a few well-worn fantasy tropes: a corrupt religious institution, an inquisition that serves it, and the persecuted ultimately holding the key to defeating the real evil. While these elements are familiar, I appreciated how Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree handled them. The characters are unique interpretations of their usual archetypes. I found most of them more complex than expected, never reduced to simple stereotypes. They came across as real people, making decisions that you don’t typically see in similar media.

Character creation is important to me in games like this, and I’d say Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree does a pretty good job. The class selection is varied, and the character design options didn’t leave me disappointed.

Mechanically, Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree plays like a Metroidvania with Soulslike progression. You move through side-scrolling levels with some light parkour and occasional backtracking to open gates and solve exploration puzzles. Personally, I didn’t enjoy this part of the game, but I’m on record as not being a Metroidvania fan in general, and I’m sure others will enjoy it more than I did.

Combat is a fairly simple exchange of stamina-based actions, magicka-based spells, and unique attack patterns based on your equipped weapon. I had a lot of fun with how you can spam most spells, with the tradeoff being a quickly drained mana bar. I also found the combat animations incredibly satisfying. Each weapon’s attack patterns kept me excited to try out every new piece of gear I found. That said, I didn’t love that magic and blocking are tied to equipment. Using two-handed weapons—like my beloved claymore—wasn’t ideal in most situations.

I also think enemy attacks could use more feedback in Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree. I found myself dying without realizing it was coming. I’d prepare to tank a hit only to realize after the fact that I had far less health than I thought I did, thanks to taking a few attacks too many seconds before.

The progression system blends elements of a Soulslike and a Metroidvania. You collect essence from defeated enemies, which serves as the currency for leveling up. Doing so allows you to progress your class’s skill tree. Certain perks are gated behind stat thresholds, so you end up managing typical stat growth alongside skill tree direction. These choices don’t always align, which adds some tension to the decision-making.

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree offers a solid variety of enemies and fills its dark fantasy world with gorgeous weapons, armor, character designs, and backgrounds that absolutely stunned me. Visual design is crucial in fantasy games for me (if I can’t get immersed in your world, I usually won’t enjoy the game). That was never a problem here. The game’s dark art style blends with some bold choices in both environmental and enemy design. Like the story’s writing, familiar fantasy creatures and locations, such as rabid wolves in dark woods or giant rats in sewers, are present but depicted in fresh ways that make the tropes feel forgivable rather than tired. What more is there to say? Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is a creatively designed game, and I can’t help but love it.

Unfortunately, I need to mention something less positive, something not present in the game itself but directly affecting everyone who plays it.

To play Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree, you must first agree to an EULA (End User License Agreement). This is not optional. Most games have one, as it’s that wall of text you click “agree” on before you can play.

The problem with this EULA is that, according to the agreement, the company will sell your personal information to a host of other corporations. After reviewing the list myself, many of the recipients appear to be advertising firms, social media platforms, and tech groups.

Like many players, I’m not thrilled with this. I felt obligated to inform readers, and I do believe it affects the game’s score. The developers have said they’re working on a way to opt out in-game. However, from what I understand, opting out prevents you from playing. You can’t enjoy Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree without allowing your data to be sold. In a time when privacy is already difficult to protect, this is an unnecessary and frustrating decision.

TryHardGuides was provided a PC review code for Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles on our Game Reviews page! Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is available on Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, and Epic Games.