Elementallis feels like an early 2000s Zelda-inspired adventure brought forward to 2026, with gorgeous pixel art, smart elemental powers, and one frustrating navigation problem
I am an easy mark for pixel art games inspired by old-school Zelda, so Elementallis had my attention almost immediately. It also helps that Top Hat Studios is publishing this, the same publisher behind Under The Island, another gorgeous Zelda-inspired game that I absolutely loved. Elementallis sits in that same lane, like something pulled from the early 2000s, cleaned up, and released in 2026.
The setup is simple but effective. You play as the child of two elementalists who broke the balance of the world and left the elements in a ruined state. Years later, it falls to you to travel across different biomes, explore temples, defeat bosses, restore what was broken, and figure out why your parents did what they did.
It is not trying to reinvent the adventure game structure. You explore an overworld, find blocked paths, enter temples, solve puzzles, fight bosses, collect upgrades, and gradually open more of the world. The Zelda inspiration is obvious, but Elementallis finds its own identity through elemental powers. Instead of gadgets, it builds almost everything around magic.
That is the smartest thing it does. Fire burns enemies, but it also clears thorns and lights braziers. Ice can freeze enemies, but it can also help you push and slide pillars into place. Water gives you a defensive bubble, lets you walk across water, and can be popped to leave water on the ground. That water can put out fires, but it can also be combined with lightning for a nasty area attack.
Elementallis is at its best when it asks you to think about those powers as tools, not just combat buttons. You look at a room, notice pillars, fire, water, plants, rocks, or elevation changes, and start testing which element might interact with what. Earth can break rocks and destroy specific walls. Plant power can create ladders to reach higher ground. The joy is realizing how many little uses each power has.
The world is fairly big and split across a lot of distinct biomes. Forests, icy regions, volcanic areas, and other zones all have their own look, enemies, obstacles, and rules. That variety matters because Elementallis is very much a game about backtracking and rediscovery. You will see something you cannot reach, move on, get a new ability, then return later to see what was hidden there. Chests also give you materials for expanding your inventory or improving your sword and armor, so side paths feel worth checking.
Where Elementallis really frustrated me is navigation. This is the part of the game that feels old-school in a bad way. You have a map, but to actually get the map for a region you need to find someone who sells it, and most of the time he is hidden somewhere in the area. Even after buying it, the map is more of a rough location check than a clear navigation tool.
Playing on a ROG Xbox Ally X may have made this worse because of scaling, as the player marker is fairly large and can hide the actual paths beneath it. Since there are no modern waypoints or clear reminders for what you have already done, coming back after a couple of days away can be rough. I get that some of this is probably intentional. Under The Island had a similar issue for me too. But there is a difference between nostalgic friction and wasting 50 minutes because you missed one tiny thing, like a snake clipped between two rocks that needed to die before a cutscene could start so you can continue on with the story. That is not charming, it is just annoying.
Still, I love the damn thing. The pixel art is lovely, with clean animation, charming environments, and enough detail to make every biome feel distinct without hurting readability. It looks like a memory of old Zelda filtered through a modern indie team with real taste.
On ROG Xbox Ally X, it also runs and plays fantastic. Controls felt responsive, performance was smooth, and the game fits handheld play beautifully when you are actually making progress. This is exactly the kind of PC game I want on the device: readable, controller-friendly, and easy to pick up for a temple, a few upgrades, or some overworld cleanup.
Elementallis has its rough edges, and the map system is easily the biggest one. I would love a modern optional layer with better markers, clearer objective tracking, or at least a more readable player icon. But the core adventure is strong enough that I kept pushing through the annoyance. The powers are clever, the world is fun to poke at, the temples scratch the right puzzle-solving itch, and the presentation is beautiful.
If you love top-down Zelda-inspired adventures and have patience for some deliberately old-school navigation, Elementallis is absolutely worth playing. It captures that classic adventure feeling while giving the formula a strong elemental identity of its own. Thanks for reading!
