[Bronze Award] The Elemental Realms By Vexation - EGD 2013 Review

Review by spinachie on Wednesday, July 10th 2013

There are many things that can be said about The Elemental Realms. It's cinematic atmosphere, it's Fire Emblem-esque inter-chapter dialogue or perhaps its merciless learning curve. Vexation brings some new cards to the table with his gorgeous retro game. But does it stand the test that brings all games to recognition?

It's hard not to have fun in most retro games, but this one makes a particular fuss about enjoyability and immersion as a whole. It also tries to make your mind vomit rainbows with all of the various pretty decorations to be explored, and that is where the heart of the game lies. The lands around your kingdom, a forsaken place that your own fictitious father ruled over, are your playground, a place for you to explore and conquer. Whether Vex meant it or not, this one's for the adventurers in us. Such a concept brings you reminiscence from the days of Metroid and the old Zelda titles. Mmm, nostalgia burn...

In its endeavours, it shows us what the retro creator can do in turns of scenery and settings. Vexation could have stopped at the various trees with fruit and clever little uses of levels and it would have been good. But he took it one step further and made it great. Every level slots tightly into the plotline and most settings (particularly the Forestian levels) have a crispness that rivals even the games from which they came.

The story itself, however, is one that is easily lost. It transfers quickly, most times too much so, from action segment to storyline to kleptomaniac episodes in a confusing mush. Structure is a must in most plots. Exceptions can be made if the fast pacing was intended, which isn't the case here, and the plot could have been much better overall. At times, the story was also painfully clichéd and/or insidious despite the lightning pace.

A question that can be knocked out quickly is the question of the game's polish, of which it contains low amounts of. Many things could have been done to significantly improve the experience for everyone, in things like attention to detail, or its very own climax. There is that vital balance that needs to be struck between raw innovation and finesse of delivery.

Levels in the game also edge towards mediocrity in terms of design. Recycled puzzles are stale and mostly consist of ludicrously difficult jumping puzzles and similar. However, some segments are pure genius, from its many scenes of dialogue (it looks more epic than it reads) that are placed perfectly to the sparse but higher quality puzzles at certain intervals.

Series extensions for the Elemental Realms would be on my play list, just so I can see how this aesthetically beautiful game evolves and ages. It is crazily innovative, gorgeous and charming at the same time. Provided Vexation learns from its mistakes, a sequel and further could be quite the production. The future is not only bright, but it is magical

The Verdict

One of Sploder's more solid fantasy titles.