Elementallis Nintendo Switch Review

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Fast Facts

“That looks nice” said my girlfriend as she first saw the opening splash screen. 

In those three words the game is summed up beautifully. Elementallis is a wonderfully crafted, charming, Zelda like adventure that fills you with joy every time you pick it up. 

Almost a hybrid between Links Awakening and A Link To The Past, Elementallis has ‘metroidvania’ elements, a large world map with tonnes to discover and a brilliant combat system. 

A Story Laden with Guilt

The story of Elementallis takes you on a journey following on from the devastation left behind by your parents as you try to put things right. Each area you visit has its own set of problems caused by what your parents did and its inhabitants have a deep mistrust of you and humans in general. 

The core concept of the game revolves around using different elements both for combat and puzzle solving. There are 8 in total and each provides a different utility in combat. For example, the fire element damages and deals damage over time. Whilst the earth element leeches health from enemies. You are free to use whichever element you feel like provided you have the mana to cast it. 

The comforting thing is that the game doesn’t hand hold very much. You will arrive in a room with no hints or help and you are left to your own devices. If you’re a Zelda veteran however, many of these puzzles will be quite familiar. This is in fact one area where I would level some criticism at this game. I am big fan of Zelda games and I love this influence a lot, however at times it feels like it’s a little too close to the formula and should go its own way some more. If you’ve played a lot of Zelda games they will feel very easy to solve.

Musical Masterpiece!

Music is one part of this game that absolutely thrives! It seems to get it right at every point, each town has its own unique theme which seems to pull you into the world of Elregir. I am also a fan of the text sounds played as each text bubble fills up. The tension and atmosphere created from just the audio during boss battles is palpable. It is wonderfully composed and is one of the best aspects of Elementallis. 

Another well made element (that word seems to have a whole new meaning now) is the pixel art. You can tell that the game was hand crafted and made with an incredible passion. Every animation is crisp, there are gorgeous changes in colour palette for different zones. Nothing feels overused or copied and pasted, it all comes together to give the game real life. In some places in the game the camera zooms out massively which gives you gorgeous views of the landscape. 

Thoughtfully Crafted Creation

At one point in the early game you can obtain a ‘beastiary’ this will automatically keep track of how many and what types of creatures you defeat. You get more information on each creature as you defeat more. This is a nice thing to work on as your progress the story. You will also come across purple versions of monsters which when killed, explode with coins. These are quite fun and are good to seek out. 

Each dungeon has two bosses in it, as Zelda fans would come to expect. The mid dungeon boss will use that dungeons element unlock against you, defeating it will then unlock it. The bosses at the end of the dungeon are brilliant and decently challenging. After the first one you are required to use a combination of your elements to defeat them. They are a puzzle themselves which is satisfying to figure out. This is certainly one area that beats the original Zelda games, they are engaging and fun to beat. 

You can tell when you step into each new room in a dungeon that it has been thoughtfully put together. For example, there are rooms where all the monsters and grass have been placed just right, so that one fireball will set the room a blaze and kill everything with one hit. Even at the very start where you are chasing your parents, you are forced to solve all the puzzles in a different way them, as you don’t have any of the elemental powers yet. 

Zelda Parallels

Other aspects that Zelda fans will appreciate are collectables such as pieces of heart, or mana pieces. Four of these will give you an extra heart or extend your mana bar. This time though your mana will automatically regenerate, this is an excellent feature. Potions exist too. Health potions do what you might expect and heal differing amounts of health depending on the size. Mana potions increase your rate of mana regeneration for a time. There are also others such as defence and attack. To store all of these potions you are given an inventory in your bag. The inventory can be increased in size by finding ‘sewing kits’, this is a lovely little feature. 

Final Thoughts

To sum up, Elementallis is a lovingly created adventure which is a joy to play. It fills you to the brim with nostalgia, whilst doing just enough to change the formula. The element system is unique and engaging and gives the player a great deal of freedom. If you’re a fan of old school Zelda games, or top down adventures in general, I cannot recommend this game enough.

Rapid Reviews Rating

4.5 out of 5

4.5