You don’t often hear the words Roguelike and JRPG together in the same sentence. Yet, both Elona, and its sequel, Elin, have somehow taken the long-form, linear familiarity of JRPGs and turned them into amazing adventures of the strange and wonderful by letting players make just about any manner of decision they want.
How has the series grown and changed? Are there some things that one does better than the other? These are the questions we’re attempting to answer with this list. At the end of the day, it’s going to come down to what you prefer, but hopefully, you’ll gain some insight into both below.
Elin is still in Early Access as of the time of writing
6
Controls – Elin
Streamlined Controls Make A Better Experience
There was one thing Elona grew quickly notorious for: it’s non-intuitive and, quite frankly overwhelming, number of controls that you’ll either have to memorize or have a companion guide next to you while you adventure through the various dungeons. For example, you can’t control your character with the universal WASD controls found in most PC games. Instead, you use the number pad. It’s a lot.
In contrast, Elin gives you the choice of how you want to control your character. Do you want to have it the old-school way and use the number pad? Sure. How about using the mouse wheel or target-clicking your way through the map? You can do those as well. The prequel respects your preferences in this regard by letting you choose your controls.
5
Exploration – Tie
There’s No Limit To The Trouble You Can Get In
Elona’s main story is generally considered underwhelming in comparison to the type of shenanigans you get yourself into via random encounters and decisions you make. The true story you experience in the game is one of your own exploration. Everything you do has consequences that may not become known to you until you are on the run for tax evasion as a vampire fairy.
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Elin’s decision-making is just as expansive and random as Elona’s, with some town-building elements added into the mix. Meaning, that you’re able to build your town as you see fit, whether you want to be a tyrant or a bard who builds your town around a stage for your town to suffer listen to your songs. Your only limit is your ability to survive.
4
Graphics – Elin
The Cute Chibi Style Hides So Much Chaos
Elona’s graphics were serviceable when it was released. Deceivingly simple, its 8-bit, top-down style could easily fit within the early 90s Nintendo library. It’s simple, gets the point across, and still manages to have a cute and quirky personality all on its own. A little dated by today’s standards, but it’s charming.
Conversely, while Elin keeps true to its pixelated roots, it takes everything and enhances it. The gameplay takes place on a 2D isometric plane, and the looks of you and NPCs in the world have been given a slight 2D boost that lets both your looks and the consequences of your choices be more pronounced. Elin comes in with an easy win.
3
Immersion – Tie
Simulates The Mundane Aspects Of Life To Perfection
As mentioned before, you’re doing so much more than running through a game and swinging your weapon. The depth of both games lets you create a second life living among the townsfolk. Everything you do can make or break your reputation and hit your pockets for more taxes. Stores will react in kind and will either lower their prices and consult you over items, or see you coming from a mile away and raise their prices to the skies.
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There’s not enough room in this section to give examples of just how random and deep you can take your characters in either open-world game. But if you’ve got the time and willingness to invest hundreds of hours in building the life you want, then it’s worth the experience.
Still Beloved After All These Years
With Elin still being in early access, it’s still building its community with fans of the original game and people familiar with either the roguelike genre or JRPGs. It still needs time to build up the same level of love and dedication that hardcore fans of Elona have gained over the years of the game. No fault of Elin, it just needs more time.
Elona’s fanbase is so dedicated that, after the original developer stopped working on the project, they took over and not only kept up with the upkeep but started developing more content for the original game, and for Elona+, which is still being translated. The adoration of this game is something to be admired.
1
Availability – Elona
Not Without One Huge Caveat
At a base level, Elona comes in a few different versions. Similar in concept, but widely different in execution. Elona and the fanmade Elona Plus are free, while the mobile version is free on most mobile phones. Other than making some significant changes, the catch with the mobile version is that they’ve added an in-game gacha shop that you pay real money to use. It could be considered a downgrade, depending on how you look at it.
Elin is in early access as of writing this list, and while not free (costs 20 US dollars), you’re guaranteed a quality game that is currently being updated and worked on daily. The game is full of potential, and can only grow from here, but it is limited to Steam. Hopefully, if the game gains traction, it’ll get ported to other platforms.
A sequel to the legendary Japanese free game “Elona,” which has inspired countless tales and adventurers who never returned. While retaining the traditional roguelike gameplay, Elin introduces crafting, survival elements, and base building/management, creating an even more open and chaotic experience.
Live freely as an adventurer with your companions and pets. The marks you leave and the scars you inflict upon this world are entirely up to you.
Roguelike
JRPG
Dungeon Crawler
Open-World
- Developer(s)
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Lafrontier
- Publisher(s)
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Lafrontier
- Number of Players
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1
- Steam Deck Compatibility
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Unknown
- Early Access Release
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November 1, 2024