TL;DR: I anticipated one other Zelda clone. However Elementallis delivered a 6-hour dependancy. It’s basically a top-down Metroidvania drunk on elemental cocktails with some child who’s making a monster homicide scrapbook.
I downloaded the Elementallis demo considering: cool, one other Zelda knockoff, swing sword, mild torch, remedy block puzzle, repeat. Improper. So mistaken. Not solely did I get sucked into 6 hours of “neglect meals and organic urges” gameplay, I got here out with sore fingers & a bruised ego, a bestiary stuffed with monster corpses, and a newfound respect for elementals.
The world? Large. The artwork? Beautiful. The puzzles? Intelligent as hell. The mechanics? Truthfully, it feels just like the Elementallis devs cracked open the Zelda method and sprinkled in elemental steroids with a whisper of LSD.
Expectation vs. Actuality
Once you hear “Zelda-like,” you in all probability suppose:
🌿 Grass reducing simulator with a aspect of puzzles and pitfalls
👾 One other retro pixel homage that loves nostalgia greater than originality
🗡️ Sword goes swoosh, torch goes fwoosh, repeat till credit roll
Elementallis heard all of that, rolled its eyes, and stated: maintain my elemental beer.
It’s acquired a guilt-tripping principal story proper from the get-go. And a buffet of elemental powers (and combos) that make fight really feel like a science truthful with bloodshed. And don’t even get me began on the bestiary! You understand how each RPG tries to provide you lore dumps about monsters you don’t care about? Properly, Elementallis makes you’re employed for that lore. Kill stuff, unlock content material. Assume Pokédex, however as an alternative of catching ’em all, you straight-up homicide ’em all. Poké-Dexter, possibly?
A World Constructed on Components (and Existential Remorse)
Right here’s the sew: you’re the kid of the Elementallists who kinda… broke the Components. Like oops, my unhealthy, destroyed the world steadiness, possibly unalived myself. Traditional protagonist blunder. Now you because the gotta carry the guilt of your dad and mom’ actions throughout eight biomes — volcanoes, forests, snowy mountains, and possibly a swamp as a result of what Zelda-like recreation would this be with out one? — restoring every Aspect with the intention to unf*** the world of Elregir.
The Components are the guts of the sport. However they’re extra than simply flashy spells… they’re floating Swiss Military knives of cuteness, chaos, development, and destruction. Together with self-immolation.
🔥 Hearth: Burn bushes, enemies, and your individual hopes (aka flesh) if you happen to stand too shut. Gentle up darkish passages and by chance catch your self on hearth earlier than yelling “Leeroy Jenkins” right into a mob of monsters who spontaneously combust. Hearth is the one factor obtainable within the demo, however I’d be mendacity if I stated I didn’t spend an excellent hour looking for a method to weasel my approach into Nature elementals.
🍀 Nature: Stealing this and the next components from Kickstarter as a result of they’re not obtainable within the demo. Nature factor enables you to develop vines to climb up partitions and summon crops to empty enemy well being. Can’t wait to commit photosynthesis crimes within the full recreation!
💧 Water: Float in a bubble, forestall your self from drowning, depart puddles of water on the ground, and extinguish fires. Additionally, your reminder to remain hydrated.
🌪️ Wind: Yeet your self throughout pits.
🪨 Earth: Earthquake mode. As a result of generally you actually need to destroy rocks, faces, and vases. What sort of Zelda recreation would this be with out vases?
🧊 Ice: Freeze and slide enemies round prefer it’s the 2D sprite curling Olympics.
⚡️ Lightning: Zap first, ask questions by no means. Lightning electrocutes and paralyzes your enemies.
The juiciest kicker? You possibly can mix Components! Water + Lightning = prompt barbecue. Ice + Earth = mainly Toph advanced with an Ice Stone. Actually stoked to see what’ll occur whenever you weaponize the opposite Components.
The Bestiary is a Blood Journal
This characteristic deserves its personal shrine. Or on the very least, it’s personal part. The bestiary doesn’t simply hand you monster lore. Nope. You’ve gotta earn it… one murderous kill at a time. Every monster slaughtered provides as much as unlock extra particulars about that beast. It’s like a scrapbook of your questionable ethical selections. And I like it. And it’s completely genius as a result of immediately grinding isn’t grinding. It’s… analysis. Bloody, superb analysis.
IDK what number of monsters I’ve slain at this level, however regardless of me going 8-seasons-of-Dexter on ‘em, all I’ve unlocked is the inexperienced slime’s identify. It’s fully potential I suck. Additionally fully potential Elementallis devs didn’t sugarcoat their recreation for sucky players. Guess I’ll should go green-slime-genocide on your complete ecosystem to uncover their coveted backstory.
The Vibes: Retro Glow-Up
Elementallis appears to be like prefer it crawled out of a Recreation Boy cartridge, drank a dozen Crimson Bulls, and employed a Gaudí-tier designer. Pair all that with fashionable pixel artwork, lighting, and particle results, so that you’re concurrently impressed whereas drowning in nostalgia. The soundtrack slaps too, mixing orchestral swells with 8-bit nostalgic bursts out of your childhood. It seems like basic Zelda and Ultimate Fantasy tag-teamed your ears, and I’m completely ‘hear’ for it.
The Devs: Indie Ardour Challenge from España
This gem is the brainchild of Iván Ruiz Lozano from Barcelona, the land of patatas bravas and equally delicious Gaudí flexes. Dude give up his IT job to pour his soul into Elementallis, teamed up with pixel wizard Luân Nguyễn Trọng and music sorcerer Raúl Sangonzalo Terrado, and Kickstarted their method to €110,465 (about $130,000 USD). That’s mainly the universe (and players) saying: “take my cash and my free time, por favor!”
First Impressions Verdict
Elementallis isn’t only a Zelda clone… it’s a Zelda mega evolution. It’s acquired guilt, progress, and gobsmackingly intelligent puzzles tied up with elemental fight that makes each combat a science experiment. Or a lesson in hearth physics with second-degree burns, in my case. Add the bestiary in that weaponizes your homicide spree into lore assortment, and also you’ve acquired one thing that feels recent and acquainted.
Play Elementallis if:
✅ You’re keen on Zelda video games however want they’d Elemental sidekicks as an alternative of Chain Chomps
😱 You might have unresolved childhood trauma about water temples (relatable PTSD)
📚 You need your monster searching to double as encyclopedia constructing
👍 You wanna assist indie devs
Elementallis is coming quickly to Swap, PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam (PC and Mac, together with M4s as a result of this recreation is actually defying the legal guidelines of silicon and making Apple {hardware} bend to its will, and that alone makes Elementallis magical). Wishlist it now. Play the demo nower. And go kill monsters responsibly.
Or irresponsibly. I’m not your mother.
…but when I used to be, I’d hope to be on the Gaming’s Hottest Mothers record.
👇 👇 👇
⚔️ Play the Elementallis demo on Steam
☘️ Stalk the Kickstarter updates
🕸️ Elementallis web site right here
