To say About an Elf is a unique game would be drastically underselling it. The only other time I can remember being this confused (and intrigued) was when I found myself in a Troma panel at a convention. Note that I had no idea what it was beforehand, but figured It’d be a way to kill some time. Much like that panel, I couldn’t fathom what I was about to experience.
About an Elf is a point-and-click adventure game where you have to help Dam, the unmissable elf in a bright red latex bodysuit, reclaim her land of Elftopia! Or the state of Elftopia. That bit is a tad complicated but resolves extraordinarily well throughout the story. The story plays out in four distinct locales, each with their own enemies and challenges to overcome. The wacky art style and animations will be the first thing that sells you on the game. From creative enemy designs to helpful talking rose bushes and broccoli, things only get crazy as you progress. The animations perfectly complement the zany art. Its animations utilize a handful of frames to cut from one frame to the next. Its simplicity allows for its immense creativity. I can safely say there is nothing like it out there.
Throughout the story, Dam is accompanied by Roland (her pet cat lacking in courage) and her friend Dido (who is listening to Dam as she tells her wild story). The way the story is told through Dam’s point of view provides some of the strongest dialogue between herself and Dido. In a sense, we are Dido since she hardly ever believes the wild story that Dam is weaving. Roland also is a great sidekick with a strong relationship to Dam. These characters could not be more disparate, but they work so well off of one another to produce an oddly touching plot.
Meringue’s writing easily subverts expectations by weaving a tale of hilarity, yet somehow pulling all of these ideas into a more touching story than on its surface. They often pull you out of the story with whitty-rhymy (and sometimes downright odd) prose, while in the next sequence breaking the fourth wall with Dam explaining what would happen if this was a video game. Their lack of conventional storytelling beats allows the game’s creativity to flourish. The near overabundance of portmanteaus and just outright created words further helps to convey that this is Dam’s story to a T. She is the storyteller, and the entire story reflects that.
Having really enjoyed the overall vibe and story that would unfold, the battling felt little more than a way to move the dialogue along. When confronted, Dam has to view an image in a crystal ball. Then, she has to use a MagiBall that relates to that initial image. Examples of MagiBalls include ones relating to water (Archimedes), fire (Galileo) and lightning (Benjamin Franklin). You’ll unlock others with story progression, but they don’t add that much to the game. Most of the “puzzles” are easy enough, but some are a bit more esoteric, and help if you have some knowledge of the people the MagiBalls relate to. For each one you get wrong you lose a gummy bear (the game’s sort of currency) and you have to read through the same “failure dialogue” each time. It gets a tad repetitive for something that is just a vehicle to move the story along. Having said that, I did enjoy the over-the-top animations that would occur after a pass or fail during battle.
It’s safe to say that About an Elf will not be for everyone but is by no means due to its lack of imagination. About an Elf is a culmination of some wild ideas that somehow pull its wacky characters into a surprisingly touching storyline.
Developer: Meringue Interactive
Publisher: Meringue Interactive
*A key was provided for this review
