Nature and the elements present in it

4 The Elements, as indicated by its name, is a game that tells a story about the elements of nature: fire, air, earth and water. At the beginning of the plot, we understand that we will only control one of the elements, but as the phases go by we discover that we are four in the same body.

This means that it is possible to change your “soul” in real time, having the possibility of controlling all four elements as needed. The reason for this is that the characters find themselves trapped in a magical crystal, thus being forced to share the same body.

And so, gameplay begins with a different style of play. We see a lot of characters changing around with the aim of combining different skills, and 4 The Elements has a lot of that, but it goes further: not just because of skills, changing elements brings a touch to the story, which is told with based on dialogues and passage of phases.

Mito Games, developer and publisher of the game, is a Brazilian studio that has been increasingly developing in the creation of games. The idea of 4 The Elements, in my opinion, is very diverse and structured, having a cool and very interactive game genre. The indie company has around 18 people on its team and already shows a lot of potential in this market.



Fire, Air, Earth and Water

The starting point of 4 The Elements is Fogo, a very hard-headed feline, who needs to look for a way out of an unknown cave. As a result, he encounters a difficulty that he will not be able to complete (because then he will die in the thorns), and passes control to the Air element, a bird that passes over the obstacle and follows the trajectory.

In this sense, we will also need the help of Terra (a giant and very strong armadillo) and Water (an otter that has incredible swimming skills, as she herself boasts). With that, I can say that the main point (and the most interesting) of the game is certainly the mechanics of changing characters.

Combining different skills, controlling the four elements and dealing with their temperament are key elements for the game to proceed optimally. Of course, like every metroidvania, the game is complex and full of details.



This mechanic, in my opinion, was very creative and different. It's something that makes the game not have a slow pace, something that is tiring and boring. Quite the contrary, this factor is what makes the title even more attractive, as it values the real adventure within the game.

Thus, each character has a different skill kit and special powers. Fire is better in melee combat, while Water performs better in long-range skills. Earth and Air have a different kit: Earth is like a tank, having a lot of health and resistance, and Air can fly over objects, cling to walls to climb to higher levels and glide to get where you want.

With all the game movement, 4 The Elements presents very fun gameplay, full of action and even a little strategy. It has varied, but not difficult, controls, which even makes it more notable.



The characters have very different temperaments and personalities. Fire, ironically, is the most “heated” and short-tempered of the group, and is also quite stubborn. Earth is the largest and most resistant of the members, and yet it is quite calm, just like Water. Ar, who has a relationship with Fire, is also a little less calm (maybe it's because the feline is always picking on her?).

And, however, in addition to the difficulties already proposed by each phase, the members still argue among themselves. This brings a touch of humor to the plot, leaving the gameplay atmosphere quite gentle.

For example, at one point we need to decide how to get through a muddy place. As it is a mix of land and water, the two characters would do a good job, if it weren't for some obstacles along the way.



So, Fire and Air need to work together to reach the end of the puzzle. Even in the midst of discussions, we managed to do a good job controlling both and choosing the best path for everyone.

The stages are made with many objects along the way, some that move, creatures that shoot spells, enemies that fight melee and even thorns, all of which make our path difficult. That's why we must think carefully and know which skills to use at the right time.

It's a game that can make you die a lot, and often because of stupid things, so be careful with enemies and especially with moving walls.



Colorful and lively

4 The Elements has two languages that make up the interface, dubbing and subtitles: English and Portuguese, the latter being from Brazil and Portugal.

During gameplay, I found some grammar errors in the subtitles that may have gone unnoticed, but which were already present at the beginning of the game.

In addition to incorrect writing, at times the subtitles were in English, when my game was configured to run in Portuguese, especially at times when a tip about skills appeared on the screen.

Something small that I also ended up noticing was that there were errors in the font size used, which occasionally decreased and, in the next dialogue, returned to normal.

Regarding the controls, I encountered a problem that really bothered me. In some phases when I had died, I automatically returned to the map with full health, but my character didn't move. I needed to restart the game several times to get the controls back, and in that case I needed to restart the entire level (not just from the checkpoint).

But, although 4 The Elements has some points of error, they are very small and imperceptible compared to other factors that stand out, such as the soundtrack and graphics.

The game has somewhat dramatic melodies at the beginning, with strong and very busy sounds, but which, during the gameplay, turned into happy songs that brought another experience to me.

The game's design and art are impeccable, really beautiful and well-crafted. The setting, the characters, the elements present in the work (in addition to the elements in nature) have specific colors and have their own identity.



And, speaking of colors, 4 The Elements is a very colorful game, which uses basically all colors to bring a tone of adventure, happiness and fun, combined with a good style of play and cool stories.

Taking into account that the game asks for minimum requirements of 1 GB of RAM, Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 processor and GTS 250 graphics card and I played on a PC with 16GB of RAM, Intel Core i5-9400F processor and GTX 1050 graphics card Ti, I didn't suffer any bugs or glitch, the game ran perfectly.

The key of 4 The Elements for PC, was provided by Mito Games.