Elli

Cute casual game, big on exploration and precision, no super high stakes, puzzles aren't too challenging.

If you get past the first level that feels like budget Zelda for kids then there's a pretty decent puzzle platformer here. The platforming sections are mostly chill but the slow character speed and static camera made some sections a little frustrating. Puzzles start out very simple, and despite reusing the same half dozen mechanics some take a bit of thinking with more complex applications of what you've learned. The later ones spanned multiple rooms and had some verticality for a good level of challenge. The cutscenes are cheap and the time crystal minilevels should be dropped. The words are colourful and beautiful in an indie way despite lacking interactivity but change every hour or so to keep things feeling resh. If there was an Elli 2 I'd love to see the environment more integrated to the puzzles. If you get this on sale, I recommend for a chill puzzler experience

Yeah, its cool.

challenging puzzle with various combined mechanisms. the only thing that makes me a bit uncomfortable is the game doesn't support camera rotating so that I fell too many times missing the steps/foothold.

I wish I could have played this properly. Unfortunately, there aren't any quality settings and my hardware isn't top end. Elli was going between 6 and 7 fps. Which was terrible for the platforming portions. The magic ability wasn't explained before you were expected to use it. The precision throwing mechanic was interesting, but it moved way slow and made throwing things take more inputs than necessary. I'm sure I could have really enjoyed the game beyond these minor issues, but the low frame rate with no way to adjust the settings to compensate made it unplayable for me.

Pros: Beautiful game with cute characters and interesting puzzles. The interactions with NPCs are adorable and even funny sometimes. Cons: Many of the puzzles tend to be timed challenges (with added obstacles like disappearing platforms, enemies shooting fire etc), which is anxiety-inducing if you have bad controller-navigational skills or if you're afraid of heights lol. On a serious note, as someone who is fairly new at gaming (I started a little over a year ago), needing to play using controllers well AND working under a strict time limit = me taking too long to complete challenges which is quite stressful and demotivating. It's not a bad game at all and I hate to not recommend it because it's lovely (and I'll probably resume playing eventually)... but as of right now I'd rather play games that are less frustrating.