4 The Elements Reviews

Fun game, with beautiful and balanced stages, difficult bosses but getting the correct powers they are easy.

It reminded me of the times when I struggled with the difficulty of Mega Man until I got good and was able to defeat the bosses more easily. The system of switching between the 4 elements works and is essential to make some sections easier and defeat the bosses. The 4 characters are interesting with funny dialogues during the narrative. The sceneries are beautiful, and the idea of making each stage a mix of the primary elements is very interesting. Definitely a great game for the price.

Unfortunately I can't recommend this. there are a number of issues with this: - It is falsely marketed as a metroidvania. While it does feature ability gating, the game is in reality a 2D action platformer with LINEAR levels that are connected to a hub that you can return to. There is no map, no interconnected world (beyond the hub). In other words, it isn't anymore of a metroidvania than megaman. - It is full of bugs although at least its playable unlike the demo - It teaches the player in the absolute worst way possible: Through endless dialogue boxes and pausing the game. You are supposed to teach the player via the environment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG4Yy-1G-wc - The graphics options are completely missing. There is some rather annoying screen tearing which can be fixed by opening up nvidia control panel, selecting this game, selecting vertical sync and then choosing ADAPTIVE as the option for vertical sync (do not select ON as it creates stutter and performance issues). However, you should be able to do this in game instead of opening up nvidia control panel.

This is one of those games that really makes you wish for a third option in reviews. FIRST AND FOREMOST: THIS IS NOT A METROIDVANIA. That really needs to be said as loud as possible to anyone thinking about buying this. (Yes, I reported the tag, along with the Trader tag as that is even more off-base than Metroidvania). The gameplay is much closer to Mega Man. You have 4 stages to choose from and each stage has 5 collectibles. Each character (of the 4 elements) can gain 2 upgrades that are in the levels. I haven't finished the game but so far none of these upgrades seem optional or hidden in anyway. The levels themselves are very linear with a couple of spots you can divert your path, usually just for a collectible. The bosses are tough if you can't figure out the "gimmick" to them, again a lot like Mega Man. Some stages require you to have an upgrade from another stage in order to get a collectible, but a little backtracking does not make it a Metroidvania. Graphics: 4/10. This is a personal taste thing. I don't think any of the graphics are particularly bad (okay, a couple things come to mind like the "mud flow") but the main issue is that a lot of the graphics don't mesh well. The enemies and characters look entirely out of place against the background, and the background itself can sometimes be hard to see what's what. Ex. You fall into a hole and thus the next screen you have entered from the top. You now have no idea whether to go left or right because the background looks so... indescribable. Gameplay 7/10. The actually gameplay is pretty decent/standard. The way you switch between the 4 characters is very fluid and responsive. However, some of the design choices for the characters feels... bad. I understand the devs wanted the characters to feel unique, but some of it is plain tedious, like Earth not being able to jump YET one of Earth's abilites is a ground pound that can only be activated mid air. So you have to swap to another char, jump, swap, and then ground pound. So awkward, just give each character a different jump height. Still feels unique but make Earth not such a slog to play as. Air has knockback from their own attacks and it's infuriating. Again, makes that character awkward to play as. Knockback in general in this game makes it feel like "old school hard", and by that I mean "unfair hard". Also, the checkpoints don't save if you quit the game, so you have to finished the level and beat the boss in one go. Sound: 7/10. Mostly ambient, Nothing standout as good or bad. Story/Writing: 7/10. The writing is okay, nothing great nothing terrible. Story is very basic. This isn't the kind of game you play that makes you cry or gives you an epiphany, so play something else if that's what you want. There are numerous bugs, some game breaking. Mostly getting stuck in animations that can be fixed by swapping characters. One major bug where I couldn't take any damage from the swamp boss if I was Earth. Another major bug and this is the one the broke the camels back and made me switch from recommend to not recommend: I was up against the fire boss, died a few times, and one time when I died the game gave me some "tips" and when I got out of the tips screen I couldn't control the character, I couldn't swap characters or do anything other then use my shield (I was playing as Air) and my only option was to go back to hall/main menu. Did I mention the checkpoints don't save? TL;DR: It's alright if you can put up with an unpolished "student project" feeling game. I'm sorry devs, but it really feels like a student project that just got expanded. Even for the price, too many bugs. Maybe on sale or if they patch it. If they patch it, I will update this review.