Review - Elsie

Developer: Knight Shift Games

Publisher: Playtonic Friends, H2 Interactive

Available On: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, & PC

Review Console: Nintendo Switch

MEGA WOMAN!?

Gather around kids as we discuss yet another entry into the Roguelike genre. Elsie is what happens when Dead Cells straddles another indie darling in Metal Unit. It has that Groundhog Day finesse going as we are repeating cycles ad nauseam. You know, I didn’t expect that from here. The trailers made it look like your standard Metroidvania. I was obviously bamboozled but I’m not complaining. Both the inspirations are personal favorites. I spent weeks glued to my Nintendo Switch as I slaughtered, so expectations coming in were probably unfairly high. Still, I tried to maintain a cool head and after twenty or so hours, I’ve got thoughts.

Elsie comes to us from the publishing branch of Playtonic. One look at the beautiful pixel style and y’all already know this old man was a smitten boy. Frankly, that’s what sold me on covering it. Now, a perk of being tardy is reviews are currently live. I’ve perused and I’ve got to say, they’re largely accurate. Although, I did notice that no one had mentioned a facet that may be a dealbreaker. Strap in, folks, as it’ll be a bumpy ride.

READY YOUR BLASTER!!

Our story begins with Dr. Grey. With ambitions to rescue humanity, she made an array of robots, each with the capability to stop natural disasters. Thanks to her efforts, a period of peace and safety washed over the whole world until the day the androids would ironically go rogue. In response to their betrayal, the good doctor constructed her latest creation - the titular Elsie. It’s quite a basic plot with the main objective of saving her mechanical brothers and sisters and bringing them home. It’s surface-level and lacks depth, but for this genre, it’s sufficient. Yeah, it isn’t poised to arouse intrigue but it’s tangible, at least.

Still, the script is far from abysmal. For instance, the characters have personality. Granted, much like the weak narrative, everyone feels a bit one-dimensional. Development sure isn’t a factor but I appreciate the attempt to add flavor. Moreover, I do recognize how it tries being fancy with a cheeky twist. The thing is that whoever penned this tale got cold feet. They didn’t commit and just when I thought that it was going to get interesting, the proverbial rug was pulled from under me. It’s a shame, too, because honestly, I feel this is the category holding this title back. Even the horrible puns that I usually eat up felt devoid of charm.

JUMP, SHOOT, DASH!

There’s no hiding the Mega Man influence that’s in the gameplay. It’s slathered all over and I couldn’t be happier. Not only are we shooting monsters with energy pellets, but we can wall jump, as well, helping us reach those higher plateaus. What separates Elsie is that she won’t have a buster cannon like the blue bomber does. Instead, she’s got an assortment of weapons to equip. From guns that are fully automatic to those that aren’t so auto, there’s plenty to compliment differing styles. Whether you prefer a rapid spray of bullets or not, everyone is catered to. Hell, some even come adorned with a unique element - fire, ice, or lightning.

LET’S BLAST SOME BOTS!!

The most addictive aspect of a Roguelike is having to adapt between runs. What I mean is upon starting, I have zero buffs. Naturally, that changes along the way. When I level up, RNG decides the perks I’ll be putting into my arsenal. These come in the form of chips and I’m tasked with carefully selecting which goes with which for that viable strategy. As a bonus, I can actually extend the abilities they bestow to Elsie. An example is that I may gain bouncing bullets but eventually, I can add the benefit of if it ricochets, the damage output is upped by 10%. There’s a decent amount of experimentation I can get lost in but it’s conditional.

Basically, it hinges on you immediately buying every upgrade Hebbi offers - he’s the giant robot in the hub section. By doing so, it’ll give you access to vending machines that are spread throughout the area. I think of those as a means to flesh out the mechanics and to build their cohesion. Without it, the time that I invest isn’t as thrilling as it would inevitably become. If I’m honest, it’s that initial drag that’s worrisome because to even fully realize Elsie’s potential, it demands a degree of patience from the player. My fear is folks may find that waiting to be a deterrent. If, however, one can stomach the brief slog, the reward is a stellar romp.

As Artificial Intelligence, the titular Elsie can be outfitted with items meant to bolster her stats. At specific points during a run, I have the chance to purchase one of three. At first, the selection is terrible but by destroying my foes, there’s a possibility of obtaining blueprints. I can’t understate how important these are. Granted, that means there’s a form of grinding here but thanks to the generous drop rate, it never got monotonous. In fact, I had runs where I got five to seven. Variety isn’t a problem as there’s a total of 193. Man, the excitement that this feature brought was intense, fuelled by a curiosity for the trinkets I’d receive.

EVERYONE CAN PLAY!!

Accessibility is a subject that I hold dear to my heart but find several titles treat it like an afterthought. There are developers that will lazily implement options with no real care. Sometimes, the adjustments are laughably limited but not in Elsie. A whole menu has been dedicated to it, showing a focus on the disabled. From outlining my enemies so they pop to a nifty colourblind assistant, there's just no disputing how user-friendly it is. Even my delayed reactions aren’t an issue, despite the bullet hell nature of boss battles. If I find I’m getting overly cozy with death, I can become invincible, thus masking how awful I am at dodging.

IS THIS POWERPOINT!?

Now, I should probably answer the question that’s burning at the tip of many tongues. The dealbreaker that I mentioned in my intro is the atrocious frame rate. See, there’s a neat aspect to Elsie that allows me to see the FPS. I messed with it and found the majority of my session hovered around 60. When in combat, though, it tends to lower but not by an egregious number. It remains at 45 and doesn’t last more than a nanosecond. Yeah, it might not be peanut butter smooth but it’s hardly going to disrupt the momentum of the action. As such, I was prepared to give it a pass but that’s when it happened, the slideshow would rear its ugly head.

Alright, let me preface this part by saying it’s not as terrible as I make it seem. While the FPS does reach single digits, I’ve zeroed in on the cause. Essentially, there are a pair of chips that’ll either cause my foes to explode or burst into bullets upon death. If I were to combine both, that’s the ticket. In layman terms, this faux pas is avoidable, but that’s just the beginning. Sadly, there’s a bigger culprit to poor performance and that’s crashes. I think I had ten or so and in this genre, that may as well be the nail to the coffin. Losing a whole play-through due to that is disgusting and because it’s random, I was on edge as it would occur without warning.

WHAT THE SNES?!

It might possibly be due to the glaring similarities to Mega Man and my mind set coming in but the music reminds me of that franchise. All of the chip tune goodness and melodic musings fit like a glove. I won’t pretend that we’re dealing with an immaculate score but I can safely say that it matches the aesthetic. In a surprising reveal, there’s actually voice acting. Yeah, I wasn’t anticipating that but I’m happy to have it. Quality isn’t horrible but I did find the direction the actors were given occasionally felt off. Inflections weren’t what I expected as it didn’t compliment the vibrant visuals and after a bit, I did start to listen to podcasts.

AND THE ROBOTIC VERDICT IS…

Elsie is incredibly addictive and a romp that single-handedly messed up my sleep schedule. The caveat to that statement is it applies only to when it wants to work. Marred by crashes, you’d probably call it nigh unplayable on the Nintendo Switch. I’m not sure I can, though, because truth be told, the gameplay is too much of a blast. Granted, I was annoyed when it initially occurred. I shouldn’t have to be scared of losing progress. Yet, that feeling quickly melted away because it’s just damn fun. Optimization could definitely be better but it’s not the disaster you’d think. If it worries you, I reckon it’ll be buttery smooth on PS5 - buy it there.

ELSIE IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Massive thanks to the Publisher for the review code used for this coverage.