Lonely Mountains: Downhill - Eldfjall Island (Nintendo Switch) Review

Eljf… Eldjau… Eldar… this Iceland-ish DLC for Lonely Mountains simply adds a new mountain to have fun (and pain) with. This means four new trails, as well as a bunch of unlockables that basically provide the incentive to complete the challenges of each track. Note that due to how this critic had already unlocked all previous mountains, lil' Eldfja-something-isle here was available from the get-go, but maybe newcomers will have to complete the first four areas before giving this fifth one a go.

Anyways, this being the final mountain in line, and since the core game is a pretty challenging one, it's bound to be the hardest one, right? Surprisingly, no! This is not a veteran-only kind of deal. Without any exaggeration, this is just another set of trails, albeit in a new, volcanic setting. In fact, there are some trails from the previous mountains that still give nightmares to yours truly, yet this one was completed super-fast, even though the game hadn't been touched for quite some time.

Disappointed? In some ways, you should be. Expansions tend to add new mechanics along with more hours of gameplay, but this doesn't really bring anything new to the table. So, why spend any money to get this? The answer is simple: because it's too darn fun. Yes, the new mountain isn't something special. It's not harder, or more complex in design, but it still offers a very well-made set of trails, with some pretty tricky spots, and many, many alternative routes that one can take to finish with a better time.

It would also be a disservice to Eldfjall Island to not mention the change of scenery. In any other racing title that wouldn't matter much, but the audio-visual element was a big part of the experience in Lonely Mountains, as it provided a pretty unique, serene atmosphere that immersed you into its low-poly wilderness. This DLC is no exception. Basically an island with an active volcano, it has areas with lush greens contrasted with the black rocks underneath, trails were lava is flowing right next to you or ash is falling like snow, and all that while you can see the ocean in the distance. Beautiful. Just beautiful.