Elliot Quest (PlayStation 4) Review

Elliot Quest takes its inspiration predominately from the second Legend of Zelda, which, to many fans of that genre, might sound bizarre. However, as a side scrolling action-platformer with light RPG elements, this makes minor changes to the inspirational material, making it feel like its own game. In fact, it manages to incorporate a Metroidvania style exploration system, along with music that seems like it was torn from the B-Sides track listing for Super Mario Bros. 3. Yep, this is a pretty standard affair for retro inspired games.

The game sees the titular hero, Elliot, on a quest to cure a curse that ails him, after a seemingly dark attempt to fix the illness himself. The story is surprisingly weighty for this type of game, but can be hard to follow and overly cryptic at times. The journey takes him through standard Zelda-esque temples, all which feel fairly unique. Unfortunately, it's all too hands off in terms of explaining things, leaving absolutely every facet of its gameplay for the player to figure out.

It's nice not having every single aspect of the game spoon fed to you, but some of it, like the frustrating levelling system, or how some mechanics have duel purposes, could use a bit of explanation. The adventure isn't particularly hard, which is good as the checkpoint system leaves a bit to be desired. It's hardly the worst in gaming, but sometimes the distance between checkpoints is frustrating and unforgiving. Couple this with frustrating mechanics (like the shield only working when you're being completely still) and it can be hard to find the motivation to really keep exploring.

Still, there's something here that keeps drawing you back in. It's not the cliché of "just one more attempt" mind you, because death can often feel unfair and rage inducing. But the game does such a good job setting up its atmosphere, and success is relatively satisfying. All of this comes together to really make one want to give it another shot. It looks beautiful, the world map is a nice touch that finds some creative twists on some older ideas, and the gameplay manages to feel satisfying, though it suffers a bit when it feels unfair. Elliot Quest is a perfectly competent retro style game, though there's no shame in stepping away from it from time to time.