4 the Elements, an upcoming 2D platformer from developer and publisher Mito Games, has officially been fully funded on Kickstarter today. Players will need to swap between four different elemental characters in real time to escape a magic crystal. Here’s the announcement from Mito Games, which also links to the campaign:
The art design in 4 the Elements is undeniably pretty, including a variety of effects and textures that smartly incorporate the elemental theme in each environment and action.
But the animation itself seems to be somewhat stiff and slow, almost akin to a casual mobile game, wearing its budget on its sleeve. That could disappoint platforming fans who are accustomed to fast-paced stages, but it might also affect general precision and timing.
It’d be nice if the stretch goals included performance improvements. But there’s some decent and surprising content to unlock yet, such as the addition of voice acting.
4 the Elements has some cute, memorable heroes and enemies. But it has some noticeably generic qualities in the lore and obstacles. That includes the central concept of the elements, however well they are translated.
The creative highlight of the game is undoubtedly the need to master four characters at once, which should encourage some quick-thinking in a platformer. A trailer from March revealed some actual gameplay of how that applies during a boss battle:
There’s probably enough here to justify checking this platformer out. It doesn’t have the same kind of energy, depth, or boldness as Mito Games’ 2021 beat ‘em up WarDogs: Red’s Return. But 4 the Elements also looks cozy, colorful, and friendly, all of which are completely different and demonstrate range. It’ll be a delight to see how Mito Games continues to evolve. Also, being Latino, I love to see a developer from Brazil get their game fully funded.
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