Elf Longplay (Amiga) [50 FPS]
62Developed by Nirvana Systems and published by Ocean in 1991
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Timecodes:
Level 01 (The Forest): 1:40
Level 02 (The Ruins): 38:31
Level 03 (The Lake): 1:12:12
Level 04 (The Marsh): 1:19:50
Level 05 (Dwarf Caves): 1:38:40
Level 06 (Snowy Mountain): 2:26:56
Level 07 (Necrilous' Castle Part 1): 2:51:07
Level 08 (Necrilous' Castle Part 2): 3:01:46
Foreword: Re-encoded the video and finally got YouTube to accept the longplay in a single video.
Cornelius the elf is on a quest to rescue his beloved Elisha from the clutches of Necrilous the Not Very Nice. Just why Elisha was kidnapped isn't made clear, but whatever the reason, she faces a grisly death if Cornelius isn't able to find her in time.
Elf is a difficult game to classify as it contains a lot of platforming, shooting and even some puzzle/adventure elements. The game has a total of eight different levels set across a range environments, including forest, dungeons, swamps and icy peaks.
In order to complete each level, Cornerlius must solve a host of puzzles that will unlock the way forward. Many of these puzzles involve interacting with other characters or objects in the game world, and special interaction menu will appear when doing so. On this menu, Cornelius can use items in his inventory to barter, bribe or even attack the person or thing he is interacting with. There is also a basic text entry/parser system that allows the player to enter key words and questions when interacting with creatures; it's never obvious what the parser will understand, but the developers obviously had a sense of humour as some of the things you can type in will generate amusing responses.
Most of the puzzles involve finding items hidden within the level and then determining exactly which object or person the item is intended for. This is easier said than done as the way items should be used isn't intuitive, and not all of the items are easy to find (level 5 being an obvious example).
To make things even more challenging some of the levels are very large and have multiple sub-areas linked by various doors, which accounts for why this video is so darn long! The dwarf caverns (level 5) gave me some trouble finding the bone to give the bird monster since the level is so big and the item in question blends into the background making it near-impossible to spot!
Confounding matters is the legion of enemies inhabiting each level, and they're all out to get Cornelius. Our hero is far from defenceless and is armed with a magic ring that allows him to cast magic fireballs at his enemies. You can collect various herbs and "pets" to spend in the shops located on each level. You can buy upgrades such as more powerful spells and damage resistance items; getting the 3-way spread and hero mode makes things easier.
It's worth pointing out that on each level you will see various "cuddly" creatures, such as bunnies, butterflies and other fluffy things. If you shoot them, you will see words such as "Boo", "Hiss" and "Shame" appear. Killing these creatures will affect your nastiness rating and will determine which ending you will see when you finally complete the game. Somehow, I still managed to get the happiest ending even though I was pretty trigger-happy.
Although the game was also released for PC DOS and Atari ST, I still associate this game with the Amiga. What's strange is this is the one and only game that Nirvana Systems developed - considering the production values of the game, the coders obviously knew what they were doing and I'm surprised they didn't go on to write more games.
Elf is an extremely tough game, but it's certainly one of the most iconic games from the Amiga era and one that I remember very fondly. If you're looking for a platform game with great graphics, good music and plenty of challenges, then Elf will be right up your alley.
#retrogaming