Elementallis (2026)

So where to start? This game looks exactly like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past but it lacks the Zelda/Nintendo "magic." It honestly feels like an off-brand Zelda title with all official names and such changed to something that wouldn't get anyone in trouble with the copyright or trademarks. That said, this isn't the game's weakness.

What makes this game weak are two issues. The first is that it has an issue with readability. A notable problem is that you have to jump onto or off of ledges at certain points in the overworld, towns, and dungeons to do something, yet the game never tells you that you can do so in these instances. A newer trend in gaming is to mark ledges like this with yellow paint. This game does nothing of the sort so you never know where you can and cannot do this.

The second issue is the lack of anti-frustration features. Sometimes there were no hearts to pick up before a boss fight or the way to the mini-boss's room was convoluted. Dying to the mini-boss meant having to backtrack your way to it and you could potentially be hurt in the process so you go into a fight with less than full health. Speaking of health, every enemy that hits you does at minimum one full heart of damage. While you can upgrade your armor (thus your defense) twice in the game, it is extremely frustrating and it just feels unfair for everything to hurt you so much.

There are also times where you have to look around in the overworld for an off-beaten path, usually involving abilities you learn as you progress through the game, to get to a piece of heart or a piece of mana (magic). As before, you may have to climb ledges or dash from one to the next, and you can have a decent route to travel before reaching the treasure. Once you get it, there is no simply hopping off a ledge to get back to an entrance. You have to go all the way back the way you came, tedious backtracking, to get out. It's a simple thing but it is a pain in the ass.

Other than that, the game is okay. The story is almost non-existent, with characters and a real (sad) explanation of some things (the elementalists and their upbringing) not being explained until right before the final dungeon. I finished this title just to finish it, not because of an interest in any story. A few breadcrumbs here and there to further the plot would have been much welcomed, but Zelda titles aren't known for massive stories either, so I digress.

All in all, I do regret buying this game. I am being extremely harsh on it, but the decisions the developers made for this game are poor and they should not have been done. Zelda does not have this issue even in the SNES title, so I would argue you cannot say that these decisions fit other games of this era. The devs just made bad choices.

The music is nice though. Not Koji Kondo or Nobuo Uematsu, but well enough. The composer did a good job.