Elephantasy

It is cute

A very good non-combat metroidvania. Very respectful of the player's time and ability to figure things out.

Overall a fun game, but a few minor points of annoyance. The art, music, and atmosphere of Elephantasy are immaculate. The consistent, cute aesthetic lends itself well to the lighthearted vibe of the game and encourages you to explore further. The exploration feels great. There are a lot of little mysteries you'll pick up on and know you don't yet have the knowledge or tools to explore further; revisiting past areas with a new eye quickly helps the world to feel familiar. My gripes: Tiles should not be subdivided. This is maybe a necessary element for some puzzles, allowing you to stack things in a staircase, or grow flowers with an offset, but more often it provides friction to otherwise smooth movement. You accidentally grow a flower on a half tile? Sorry, I guess you'll just fall off it. You're trying to move from a ladder to a 1x tile opening? Nope, half a tile too high. Now too low. I think this mechanic should've been reviewed; either be generous and allow for half tile forgiveness, or remove it entirely. Game speed is too fiddly a mechanic, controlling precision of movement, difficulty, and tedium. Tiles being subdivided is more of an issue at higher game speeds; at lower game speeds, backtracking feels tedious. Do you turn it lower for new areas, then higher for old ones? This section requires more precise movement than the last. Adjust it again? Getting back to the boss requires some platforming, but the fight itself feels like it's not built for the reaction time you'd need at high speeds. More adjustment? It's a lot of menuing. I think the game should've been designed around a specific game speed and leave it at that. No fiddling in the menus, and make the movement feel good at that game speed. Fast travel comes too suddenly, too late. Collecting the few remaining gems means traveling all across the map. Same for the puzzle with the strange pot. The second to last thing I did was to collect all the moles. Your reward? Fast travel across the map. By that point I hardly needed it, though it would've been such a boon to have early; it would've saved lots of backtracking. I didn't find out about the teleport to the shop until about halfway through the game. I think fast travel should have been drip-fed as opposed to given all at once, and should've arrived earlier. Maybe Snorri gives you the shop teleport at rank 2 or something. Maybe after every boss you unlock a warp from the shop to their area or something. I don't know. But players will have vastly different experiences based on how quickly they find and complete the mole puzzle; I wish I'd have solved it early.