Elliot Quest

 Wii U
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. Nintendo Enthusiast
    Mar 23, 2015
    70
    In the end, Elliot Quest is nowhere near perfect and falls short of the classics it’s inspired from. However, it would be unfair to call it a bad game. It’s more a mixed bag; you’re either going to enjoy the game, or be annoyed with it.
  2. FNintendo
    Jun 9, 2015
    60
    Elliot Quest boasts a charming retro look and sound environment and its dungeons are very well designed and laid out. Unfortunately its performance is way below par and its gameplay mechanics make it too difficult and repetitive to play, while the locations outside the dungeons are too confusing to keep track of.
  3. Digitally Downloaded
    Apr 30, 2015
    60
    The great problem in creating a game that so emphatically invites comparison to a classic series is that it will be compared to that series. Elliot Quest never had a hope of comparing to those games, but it does a decent job as a modern homage to them.
  5. Nintendo Force Magazine
    May 27, 2015
    50
    I just came away annoyed. [Issue #15; May/June 2015, p.24]
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Awards & Rankings

20
#20 Best Wii U Game of 2015
27
#27 Most Discussed Wii U Game of 2015
26
#26 Most Shared Wii U Game of 2015

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 24 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 24
  3. Negative: 3 out of 24
  1. ricklongo
    Apr 8, 2015
    8
    Recently, I decided to give another try to Zelda II: Adventure of Link, the NES game which took the beloved series in an interesting newRecently, I decided to give another try to Zelda II: Adventure of Link, the NES game which took the beloved series in an interesting new direction. Sadly, I realized there was a small detail I had forgotten since I played it as a kid: the game is frustratingly, unfairly difficult, even with the advent of save states. I still love its structure, however, so I was quite pleased by the announcement of Elliot Quest, a game directly inspired by Link's second 8-bit outing. After playing it for much longer than I anticipated (over 20 hours), I was left pleasantly surprised by the sheer quality of its design.

    Elliot Quest tells the story of, well, Elliot. He's a man who, after trying to commit suicide over his wife vanishing, found out that he's unable to die. The tale develops over quick cutscenes, showing Elliot's interaction with his newfound power and trying to find answers from Rasa, the local wise man. It's a great little storyline that is directly influenced by player decisions through the game, becoming surprisingly poignant at some points.

    The gameplay is where the similarities with Zelda II become obvious, and in this regard Elliot Quest absolutely excelled my expectations. It throws you into an interesting top-down, open overworld where you'll have a lot of freedom to explore and access new side-scrolling stages, dungeons, and towns. The game features loads of items, weapons, and powers to collect, as well as a customizable levelling system. Some of the items can be head scratchers at first, as their effects aren't really well-explained by in-game text, but most should be relatively easy to figure out.

    Along with the truly top-notch level design, perhaps what impressed me the most about the game was just how filled to the brim with secrets it is. Those secrets are quite well-hidden, too, requiring careful exploration and backtracking to uncover them all. This is precisely what extended my playtime so much, especially since the game's world is so much fun to delve into. If that doesn't sound like your cup your tea, worry not: it's fully possible to finish the game without caring about optional aspects like the crystals, the extra boss fights, the paintings, and the many hidden unique objects scattered through the world. That's your loss, though, because those ended up being the real meat of the game for me.

    As excellently designed as it is, Elliot Quest unfortunately presents some technical optimization problems. Most of them are mild annoyances, such as frame rate drops and slight graphical glitches. Some, however, are more problematic. The entire graveyard area, for example, is filled with bugs, and that even made me unable to access the secret boss located there. This was really frustrating, as the game had otherwise compelled me to try and get a 100% completion rate. Maybe a patch will fix that in the future, but that didn't happen during my playthrough.

    Even considering that, Elliot Quest is a game I'd recommend in a heartbeat. It truly feels like the Zelda II Miyamoto and co. would have put out if they had access to 20 extra years of game design technology, with compelling storytelling thrown on top of it. It certainly put Ansimuz and Playeveryware on my indie studio watchlist, and I'm eager to see what they bring us next.

    Rating: 8.5    … Full Review »
  2. Randros
    Mar 20, 2015
    10
    One of the best indie games, the pixel art is great and the gameplay takes the best of the classic games (like metroid, zelda, castlevania,One of the best indie games, the pixel art is great and the gameplay takes the best of the classic games (like metroid, zelda, castlevania, etc.). Really a great game.… Full Review »
  3. CrimsonFdUrMOm
    Nov 16, 2020
    0
    A zelda 2 re-imagine! Inspired by the worst parts of retro gaming. That's right! Out of the entire retro library, from DOS to the imaginaryA zelda 2 re-imagine! Inspired by the worst parts of retro gaming. That's right! Out of the entire retro library, from DOS to the imaginary console Pico8, this mess takes all the worst parts and puts them into one bite size package. It has the boring mazes of early nintendo titles, the disturbing lack of fanfare from all your favorite shovelware, and a non story so pretentious it might as well not exist. So get out there and spam arrows until your thumbs bleed and backtrack until you have an aneurysm! This game is a true ode to zelda 2.… Full Review »
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