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Since its release on September 10, I’ve been really enjoying the new indie roguelike shooter game, Elsie. While I’ve only spent a few hours with the game so far, I’m sitting wishing I could be playing it instead of writing about it. It’s such a morish game that I’ll return to daily for the foreseeable future.
Playtonic Friends is responsible for publishing some of the best indie games of recent times, so I was always going to buy this one on day one. However, based on the screenshots and trailers, I was only mildly excited – it looked fine. It was only once I finally started playing Elsie that it cemented itself as one of my favorite new roguelike games.
If you ever played any of the original Mega Man games back in the day, Elsie takes their gameplay style and enhances it for the modern age. Like Mega Man, Elsie can only fire her gun forward, and she doesn’t have a huge amount of jumping ability, which feels quite limiting at first but eventually gives way to extra skills and upgrades in each subsequent run. You end up feeling really powerful – though the enemies don’t take long to catch up.
The gameplay is sharp, with a simple selection of shooting, dashing, and parrying in Elsie’s repertoire. Though I have died lots of times already, it’s never once been because of things that were out of my control. It’s a hard game, but a fair one. The charming pixel presentation combined with a rockin’ Mega Man-esque soundtrack makes it super enjoyable even when you’re losing, and you’ll have no difficulty persuading yourself to do just one more run.
I felt it captured the feeling of playing the best platform games of yesteryear, where I couldn’t save my progress, but I’d feel excited to get just a little bit further each time. It’s like venturing further into the unknown with each session. Elsie captures that feeling while avoiding repetition by serving up randomized level layouts.
The story is pretty cool too, and features a cast of recognizable voice actors (even Terry Farrell, which excited me as a Star Trek fan). It’s all about a world where the robotic guardians that keep nature in balance suddenly disappear and throw everything into chaos (hence Elsie, a robot herself, being sent out to find them). As it progresses, I keep thinking “I would have adored this as a kid,” so I suppose my inner child is alive and well enjoying it today.
If you want to pick it up, it’s currently 25% off at Fanatical right now. This is a higher discount than you’ll get anywhere else (like Steam), where it’s only 20% off.
For more gaming recommendations, read our list of the best FPS games. Our list of the best retro games also features some pixel art hits, if that’s more your speed.
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