You’d be ment4l to miss out on this game (N4G Review)

Anyone that’s even remotely aware of the indie game scene can certainly tell you the platformer genre is one of the most saturated out there. With sixty dollars being such a tough sell for those nowadays and the success of titles such Braid acting as one of many igniters for a plethora of similar games—and probably the birth of gamers on the internet misapplying the term “pretentious” on a whim, this market has become so competitive that uniqueness is rather hard to come by. Despite the first thought of I-Illusions’ Element4l running through my mind was “it looks like just another artsy platformer,” that initial reaction changed to this delighted attitude of playing something that felt different from everything else out there.

Story for Element4l is by all accounts really just there to fill space and take a backseat to the core gameplay. The simple narrative tying this all together is just the tale of some components in each chapter (like Heart or Soul) undertaking the process to take on a physical form. It’s easy to miss even that layer of context, but it doesn’t really harm the overall quality of the game anyways. Most of the writing present is provided through dictums at the beginning of a new chapter and text popping up during levels that act as fourth-wall breaking tips for you or humorous pop-culture references just to lighten the mood from the tense moments of moving ahead throughout the game.

There are only four buttons required to finish the game, each one dedicated to one of the elemental avatar's different characteristics:

-The Up arrow or W key transforms him into an air bubble

-The Left arrow or A key into an ice cube

-The Down arrow or S key into a small boulder

-The Right arrow or D key into a fireball that flies a short distance forward

By utilizing these four divisions in property, players will have to sink, float, bash, and more through the various obstacles in order to reach the end and collect a Soulpart. Controlling this strange elemental-changer is what makes this lovely platformer disparate from all the rest. Rather than previous experience telling you hitting the right or left key should make you go in that direction, Element4l separates itself by demanding carefully-timed transformations and quick adaptation to what the level design offers in order to gain the correct momentum to progress. These conversions between elements are not infinite, however. Because each change, barring the ice cube, removes a chunk from your subtlety-placed energy meter that rejuvenates slowly over time, learning to think strategically with your transformation usage is crucial.

A never-before-seen setup like that coupled with the painstaking difficulty is what makes this game so trilling. There are so many moments towards the end that can rival some of the tougher platformers of this generation, but in such a different way. Rather than being greeted with unfavorable vicissitudes for over-shooting a jump, you might be straining to get a few inches higher in bubble form while waiting for a low energy meter to slowly recharge—and hear that annoying ‘empty’ audio queue going ‘meeph!’ ‘meeph!’ ‘meeph!’ every time you hit the key too soon. Since these occurrences will happen often, it’s a bit aggravating to see a couple of problems with the checkpoint system. The first problem is the speed in getting back into the action is just a bit too slow for my liking. The other minor annoyance has to do with being dropped back into the action when off-camera. Whenever resetting, the computer drops you a few feet above the ground, typically above the beginning of a ramp or slope, to start again with enough forward motion and allowing an opportunity to acquire even more speed with a quick boulder-to-ice-cube transformation. Since the reset is on a timer, I may be falling while the camera’s coming back from my previous location before dying, which makes it tough to judge if there’s enough room for this quick transformation. If there’s not, the physics of the boulder hitting earth kills a lot of the starting speed right out of the gate.

I’m not exactly sure how some would react to what is inherently a simplistic interface: four keys and a few options like reset that can be chosen on the launch page. Personally, I simply can’t get enough of it when it’s done so well. What you’re in command of doing is so simple yet the level design constantly ramps up and up in difficulty while throwing in a variety of different safeguards and hazards in unexpected ways: lava pits that spit lines of fire, a power-up that allows unlimited transformations for a certain time, the list goes on and on. This proper buildup in difficulty is truly complimented by near-immaculate physics-based mechanics, aside from the annoyance of mine carts that sometimes fail to stop or climb some steep ramps despite properly providing momentum. Some complaints for these are inevitable due to the nature of physics-based gameplay, but for every other mistake beyond the mine carts the fault seemed to solely rest on me.

The length of the single player mode took roughly six hours to complete across sixteen different levels (not including the short tutorials), four for each part, with the first ones not bearing much of a challenge and then continually climbing to great fests in trial-and-error. Each level contains two hidden collectibles off the beaten path to add some replay value. There’s also Race Mode: an online component that pits you against the ghost of another player, and your best time had you played it before, in either the stages in the campaign or circuit-based maps. It’s a great way to inspire competition against someone who’s completed the stages near your best runtime and defeating them…only to feel that sense of accomplishment entirely sapped when the best time on the leaderboard is practically half of that.

Even with having such wonderful gameplay, it’d be considered remiss of the developer to not go after a vibrant art style and soundtrack to boot. Artistic graphics borrow from Limbo’s pitch-black aesthetic for the pieces of landscape and trees while juxtaposing that with bright contrasts in elemental animations, the hazards in each level, and the resplendent backgrounds. One of the most interesting choices for the visual design is this granular look in the picture quality, like what you might see in an unfinished cut of older movies when in post-production, which is obvious at the beginning of each stage but then slowly fades to the point of not noticing it when moving ahead. The soundtrack composed by Mind Tree deserves to be considered a central character of the artistic design in its own right. There’s a variety of synthetic sounds, light classical references and even recordings of children laughing for brief moments which all highlight the breezy atmosphere. And it's so meticulously-paced (perhaps by areas in level design setting off different tracks) to the point that it feels as if it's adapting to your every movement. Both of these artistic elements come together to make this game feel both elegant in it's nature and approachable fun.

If there’s one aspect I’ll always appreciate from a site like n4g it’s the chance of discovering a wonderful new game I may have never noticed were it not for a poster bringing it up. Now, it gives me great joy to know that I have the privilege of returning that favor to some with Element4l. A game that contains a distinctive concept that works well within this genre, demands a constant focus to overcome the sharp level design, and displays a sense of style in visual and audio design. Minor shortcomings aren’t enough for me to hold back my resounding approv4l of Element4l.

[coolbeans]

This old bean is back at misplacing these reviews again. :P

Really hope everyone enjoyed reading though. Even though these reviews aren't meant to get a score, I'll certainly say go so far as to say it earns a *Certified FresH* badge from me. For those uninitiated in my reviews: that just means there's a confidence that the vast majority will find it to be money well spent and my highest encouragement I give for everyone to try it out, in some capacity. Get the game now, put it on your wish list for another time, play a demo version, just save some of your time to at least try it out when you get the chance.

I also wanted to keep this one interesting facet separate from the review due to me wanting to focus on just the merits of the game. Although some may think the $10 price tag may be steep for various reasons (perhaps they don't care for the race mode stuff or just typically wait for sale), each purchase also gets you a digital copy of the soundtrack by Mind Tree. A nifty extra considering how I typically see the 'special soundtrack edition' with these types of games, such as with Papo & Yo, cost about two more dollars.

Feel free to leave any comments.

[moegooner88]

Thanks for sharing coolbeans, defo gonna try Element4I