2 
0 Elsie is a rougelite, side scrolling, 2d platformer developed by Knight Shift Games and published by Playtonic Friends. I remember finding and playing the demo for Elsie during a recent Steam Nextfest event. At first I thought the game was going to be a Megaman clone. But it completely took me by surprise with the rougelite aspects that makes it enjoyable.
If your abuelita offers you a cafecito, YOU…SAY…YES!
Gameplay
The main plot of Elsie surrounds a certain Dr Grey. Long ago Dr Grey created 5 guardians that would help keep human beings safe from any approaching disasters. These Guardians are powered by a limitless power supply known as the Archlight Core. Some time passes and the Guardians become corrupted. Causing major damage to the world they were created to protect. Dr Grey puts all of her effort and energy into making one last hope to rescue the others. And that hope is Elsie.
The game has some amazing lines amongst the story. Though it also has slightly jarring moments whereby the cutscene’s dialog start too early or indeed get cut off early. Overall I loved the Spanish influences and nods whether that be during character dialogue or the names of the cities I visited.
There were times when the camera wasn’t quite where I wanted it to be. For instance in certain parts of the game I found myself wishing I was able to move to it in any direction to get a better look at things ahead or below me. Some of the jumps where a little too tight, especially when trying to get to certain spots where you find chests hiding. Speaking of which, the RNG for a chest with a lock is either bonkers or I am very unlucky, as they always seemed to appear right when I didn’t have keys! Yet, the biggest crime that happened to me was beating the Break the Target mini-games and not getting a reward for some reason.
Graphics & Audio
The amount of love, sweat and tears put into the backgrounds, character portraits, and the very well made sprite sheets for every character we encounter, is obvious. The items you unlock from your hunt for Guardians all have slick designs and look really cool. I have to mention the attack effects too. Whether you see them during a counterattack, a normal attack or spamming it when in Guardian Trigger mode, it is both trippy and cool.
Then there’s the music. I honestly believe this music was composed by people from far into the future who felt pity on us and thought we deserved to hear the music of their time. It gives the vibes of classic Megaman Ost from the X series. Yet identifying the difference between the two is quite rewarding. The voice work was also absolutely phenomenal. I am now a big fan of Rachel Morales because of her line reads for Tera. Visually and aurally Elsie gave me that nostalgic feeling of having my Hispanic family talk to me and offer cafecitos whenever we’re catching up on each other’s lives.
Longevity
Before I set out to write this review I played Elsie for 10 hours. Truth be told I’m still playing it, even after completing it from various run attempts that either made or broke my attempts. Usually 2d platformers have a short run time when playing. But the rougelite elements is what gives it the nice replayablility. Factor in item schematics from defeating enemies, who knows what the actual number of items we could unlock is.
Final Thoughts
Elsie is by far the best rougelite I’ve played this year and a great way to kill time until the next Hades II major update. Being Hispanic and seeing the small nods of representation was comforting to me. Honestly this game shows even small things can make all the difference with inclusivity and representation. Such as the Forge being called the Candero (which means candlestick in Spanish), this had me laughing because of the difference in fire power between the two. I really hope Knight Shift Games creates a sequel or bring their experience from Elsie into their next title.
Now enjoy the cafecito while it’s warm….or get the chacleta. I give Elsie the Thumb Culture Platinum Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Discord | Podcast
About Author
