An Element4l Experience

I found about this game almost by accident, while browsing randomly through some titles on steam I saw Element4l's trailer that promised a no guns and no enemies experience, it immediately caught my eye!
I knew then and there that I was looking at something different, more games like this need to exist, this is why the indie market has been growing, the lack of innovation in the mainstream titles is being compensated by the bravery of the indie developers.
Calling Element4l just a platformer does not do it justice, you don't have a jump button per se, you don't even have a "real" physical body, to truly understand the nature of this gem of a game you have to play it.
Trust me when I say that a lot more than simple jumping skills are needed to succeed in this journey.

Story
In Element4l you take control of four elements (I see what you did there!) in their epic quest to achieve the creation of life itself! It doesn't get any more epic than this, so I-Illusion said, screw it, that's it for the story!
But in all seriousness, the minimalist story fits Element4l like a glove, it's more about what's left unsaid and what is implied rather than what is actually showed to the player. C'mon boys and girls, use your imagination for once!

Gameplay
Probably the strongest point of Element4l is the gameplay, you control the four elements using only the arrow keys, press the left key and you become a block of ice, probably the element in which you will be most of the time since it's energy free (energy is what allows you to change elements), the up key turns you into the element of air, which allows you to kind of float for a bit, press the down key and you get to be the thing from fantastic four (or you can call it a stone), allowing you to fall faster and break obstacles, finally the right key turns you into the human torch also from fantastic four, well, it's actually just a normal flame but it propels you forward which is still pretty good.
The objective of each level is to collect a soul part at the end, sometimes there is more than one way to reach that goal, which is interesting if you want to replay some of the levels. They also added collectibles and achievements for all of you completionists out there, trust me when I say these collectibles separate the boys from the men!
There is also a Race Mode where you can improve your times and compare them with other players in the game leaderboards, making it a great addition for the speed running community.
All of this sounds simple enough, right? Well, it is, but believe me, it's super challenging! I-Illusion actually added an option to turn down the difficulty of the game by adding more checkpoints and increasing the speed that energy refills. (I'm guessing they added this so that everyone could finish the game)
While the high level of difficulty might be sometimes frustrating and infuriating, you never feel like it's unfair simply because the controls are spot on and the level design is simply top notch, combining sections where precise "jumping" is required and others where you simply have too keep the momentum going and gravity will do the rest.

Of course there are no perfect games (except Superman 64) and so Element4l has a few flaws that should have been addressed, one of the main problems I had with it was the intro sequence, kind of a tutorial, while it teaches you how to work the elements just fine, I felt that the flame should have been introduced earlier, without it the first three levels feel a lot less exciting. They are really short if compared to the rest of the campaign, but still I think this could have been improved.
The "mine cart" sections in some of the later levels also seemed a bit random, I understand the need to introduce some variety but those sections just didn't feel quite right, they are a lot of fun when they work right though so maybe it was just my lack of gaming skills.

Graphics
While the 2D graphics are pretty simplistic, the art style is simply amazing, the combination of colors from the background and the darker tones from the foreground means that while functional and beautiful they are also crystal clear, that means they never get in the way of the gameplay, you can always clearly see the layout of the level, never confusing what is background and foreground.
The animation of the various elements is pretty smooth as well, making those sections where lightning reflexes are needed to alternate between them look pretty cool, they also make you look like a pro when performed correctly.

Sound
This is what keeps the nerd rage at bay after you die for the 100th time. Every beat of the music seems to calm you down, the tracks have a very smooth and minimalist feel to it, once again fitting perfectly with the style of the game.
The folks from Mind Tree really outdid themselves here (it's actually just one person, thanks to coolernow123 for the correction), almost every track feels magical, some more upbeat, others more relaxed, most of them amazing!
The few sound effects that the game has fit perfectly with the musical score.

Conclusion
Element4l was a really nice surprise to me, sometimes a game appears out of nowhere that blows you out of the water, presenting you with something completely different and original. Element4l is one of those game.
Of course it also backs up those original concepts with some responsive gameplay, smooth soundtrack and good looking graphics.
Yes, the game is very challenging, even the developers point that out, but this challenge also means that when you beat a level you feel a sense of accomplishment that only these hard as nails type of games can give you.
The developers probably felt that sometimes the game might create some kind of frustration on the player, so they have added a nice layer of comedy to each level with references and jokes from a text narrator, probably hoping that by keeping the game lighthearted it would not stress players out so quickly, it worked for me.

9 out of 10
(My thanks to I-Illusions for providing me with a review copy - http://i-illusions.com/element4l/)