Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Oct 30, 2021

  To say this game is adorable would be true, but there is so much mote to Elephantasy than just the cute visuals and heartwarming world presentation. This game is a small wonder that reminds me of the classic Dizzy series, but also brings back the awe with which I was exploring the meticulously constructed world of FEZ. But where FEZ felt convoluded and overwhelmingly complex, Elephantasy is just as welcoming and cheerful as I remember the Dizzy games to be. The whole world is a puzzle, that you slowly chip away at solving smaller puzzles, but always progressing and finding new discoveries. An epitome of a brilliantly designed puzzle-adventure game! The fact that this little gem of a game remains buried under the tons of shovelware and asset flips is another example of Steam putting original games at a huge disadvantage, and actively working against giving them the spotlight it keeps reserved for the umpth GTA5 DLC or gazzilionth simulator. Do yourself a favor and grab Elephantasy. Escape for a few hours to a world where everything makes you smile, makes sense, and has a logical solution. Could not recommend it more!
• gamedeal user

  Nov 24, 2021

  [b]Elephantasy[/b] is a retro puzzle metroidvania... sort of. At the very least, it's a puzzle game in which you control an elephant who is thrown into a miniature world and has to climb a tower in the sky in order to get back home. In order to do that, you will need to enlist the help of the local merchant, who has got some pretty good gear for you back in his shop: a ring that lets you carry pots, seeds to grow climbable plants, a snorkel to swim and breathe underwater and boots to let you run and cross small gaps. But here's the thing - you can't carry all of them at the same time. That's where [b]Elephantasy[/b]really shines: at the beginning of the game, you can only rent one item at a time from the shop. You will need to grab some gems that are scattered in the world in order to increase your rank and be allowed to rent more at a time. As a result, you can't go [i]anywhere[/i] at first, although you've got at least three areas right at the beginning. But you will need to explore, solve puzzles and find gems in order to increase the range of your exploration, since some rooms and puzzles will ask for a combination of items. It's a super interesting concept that makes for a very unique metroidvania, since your exploration is completely dependent on your item choice. For example, I decided to start by visiting the castle area, but I could very well have taken a dip underwater thanks to the snorkel - it would have been a perfectly valid choice, since no one area is more difficult than the others. Once the game progresses a bit, the choices you have to make get more interesting. Rank 2 lets you carry two items at once, which is both very freeing and very restrictive! I often returned to the shop in order to choose a different combination that would allow me to explore an area further, or to solve a particular puzzle after opening a shortcut in an area. This always feels great, although I feel like some form of fast travel would have been very helpful in order to make experimenting more fun and less of a hassle. The map isn't huge, but it's still sizeable, made up of a lot of small square rooms and can take some time to get across. At rank 4 (20 gems), you can visit almost every place in the game, including the tower in the clouds that ends in a short but sweet boss fight. And this is a good description of [b]Elephantasy[/b]: it's a short but sweet indie game that is full of charm, never too hard and full of optional content. It's also a very interesting metroidvania with a concept that I absolutely love, and although it's not perfect, it certainly deserves way more recognition, especially at such a low price. I wholeheartedly recommend giving [b]Elephantasy[/b] a try! [code]Find more reviews of small and overlooked indie games that deserve more recognition at our [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/40624114-Hidden-Indie-Gems]Hidden Indie Games[/url] curator page![/code]
• gamedeal user

  Nov 26, 2022

  Games with named rooms tend to be worth a look, and I found this one fun and charming. It was a little slow until I discovered the speed setting. I sometimes got impatient having to retrace my steps after a misstep, but it's never too far. The very last part seemed uncharacteristically difficult until I realized that was because I had the speed at maximum. I ended up with 26/36 gems.
• THATUSERUSER

  Dec 28, 2022

  really well made. It's a shame there aren't more games from this creator, thoough I'm glad I stumbled across this title
• gamedeal user

  Mar 8, 2023

  A fun and relatively small exploration game. it's kinda like a metroidvania but you start with all the tools and the number you have is the limiting factor which leads to a neat (albeit backtracking-heavy) sort of dynamic where your exploration area expands as you get more combinations of tools to solve the problems the game throws at you.
• RiceBuckets

  Mar 11, 2023

  Cute game!! I played this one because I really liked its sequel. It's got 1-2 days of gameplay--a very charming world with a neat progression system. I'd recommend Flipside over this one, but this was still very nice!
• amperscore

  Apr 3, 2023

  for something made by one person this is pretty quality and is very cute. i think the controls are very finicky, but the game's charm outweighs 'em.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 4, 2023

  Elephantasy is a cute and colorful small exploration game. I found the way it gates you by the number of items (abilities) you can bring instead of unlocking them sequentially very interesting. You will often think about which mix of items will help you to reach certain places. It usually involves some backtracking, but the world is small enough for it to not be a problem.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 12, 2023

  A nice, small-scale metroidvania that can easily be completed within 5 hours. No combat, with the exception of a few rather simple boss fights. With no background art, tinny diegetic music coming from a radio that you carry around, and very little environmental sound design, the game isn't quite as atmospheric as it wants to be. Sparse music & sound arrangement CAN make for an atmospheric game, but I don't think Elephantasy's execution of that is quite as strong as games like Lizard (NES) or A Short Hike. However, I recommend this game for two reasons: it's got charm in spades. The NPCs you come across are all super quaint, with dialogue that's equally so. The game is chill enough that it could very well fall under the "cozy" category - something quite rare for a metroidvania. The other thing that makes this game stand out is something I've never quite seen in this genre before: all the abilities you need to traverse the map are right there from the beginning...but you start by only being able to carry one. The more gems you collect, the more abilities you're able to wield. This forces you to problem-solve in a way that you ordinarily wouldn't in a metroidvania, and I thought that was really neat. Also, for how small the game is, the level design is quite solid and the map was fun to explore. It may not be up there in the best metroidvanias I've ever played, but it does just enough to warrant a full play through.
• gamedeal user

  May 25, 2023

  A cute little fantasy featuring an elephant. Had fun exploring the world and the mechanics, and there are many secrets to find too.