As a huge fan of pretty much anything roguelike, as well as colorful pixel art graphics, in theory Elsie has quite a lot to offer. With its gameplay style closest resembling the classic Mega Man series, which I’ll admit I’m not the biggest fan of (heresy, I know), it has some spark but also doesn’t simply knock it out of the park either. Given that the system already has the rock-solid and very similar 20XX, as well as its sequel 30XX, I’d also point out that there’s competition that inevitably needs to be compared and contrasted with as well.

Perhaps unsurprisingly the experience is strung together with a pretty minimal story, but with roguelikes that’s pretty well the norm. You’re an android who has been tasked with saving a group of Guardians or something along those lines, and what’s most critical is that to accomplish that mission you’ll need to set out to explore and tackle enemies in a variety of areas, each with their own style and threats to concern yourself with. Once you’ve jumped around, clearing the occasional platforming challenge, and have killed all of the more generic enemies an area has to offer, you’ll of course face off against a more formidable boss who’ll much more strenuously test your skills. Early on, as is the case with most roguelikes, you’ll lose quite a bit more than you’ll win, but that’s where the game’s permanent earned upgrades come into play, helping you buff yourself up and become more capable on the next run.

A problem I ran into though was that not every run felt like it met the same level of quality. Working to try to generate a consistent level of satisfaction is undoubtedly far more challenging with procedural stage design when compared to it being carefully designed, and I appreciate that, but that doesn’t excuse when it feels like it comes up short. In particular, contrasted with the previously mentioned 20XX and 30XX this feels a step or so behind overall, just not working out as cohesively when it comes to the general feel. Another shortcoming, for me, is tied to the implementation of your parry skill, which even when I got better at timing properly I didn’t feel like I was consistently able to capitalize on. Whether some improved explanation or visuals would help the parry feel more effective I’m not sure, but even as important as it feels to try to master it feels poorly implemented, which is a letdown.

If you happen to be someone who lives for the Mega Man series and its variants, and also happen to enjoy roguelikes, this may remain a pretty easy sell. For whatever its overall faults, it looks great, generally plays well, and absolutely will keep you challenged, at least until you grind your way to easier success. I do wish that its procedural level design and the implementation of the parry move were better, but they certainly don’t stand in the way of having fun. While I’d argue that 20XX and its sequel would still likely be better options to check out first, this thankfully doesn’t lag very far behind them either.