Yono and the Celestial Elephants is a tale of charm and beauty told through the trunk of the titular Yono, the Celestial Elephant who falls to the world from the sky and instantly begins to search for adventure. The world in which this adventure takes place is vibrant and interesting, detailing a civilisation that deifies elephants as a species but also takes on a darker tone as you delve further into the story. Filled with thought provoking puzzles, engaging characters and striking environments, Yono and the Celestial Elephants is a game that might just look like a cute caper, but has the ability to draw you in and keep you wanting more.The gameplay offers an adventure in almost child-like wonder as you explore the world from the perspective of Yono, and learn about life among humans which he has never experienced. The sense of wonder is also mixed with curiosity as you discover what makes elephants so special for the people you encounter and what it means for them to have Yono arrive. As he is still quite a young elephant Yono must learn how people live their lives and occasionally lend a helping trunk.
From Monks to Bonewights, undead people who also inhabit the world, there is plenty of personality to be found. Why sssssso blue Yono?The simplicity of the adventure offered by Yono and the Celestial Elephants is something that will benefit both younger and older gamers.
Crafting in The Escapists is one of the only ways you're going to put your escape plan into action- without crafting you'll basically be stuck in your boring routine for the rest of your pixelated life, (or 32 years). The escapist crafting list. The player can craft items by pressing the '9' key on the keyboard or clicking the 'craft' button on the right side of the screen after gathering the necessary ingredients. There can be several types of items ranging from weapons to tools which can aid the player in escaping, smuggling and fighting.
From puzzles that involve sliding boxes onto pressure buttons to later situations that require you to find water and spray it on a wheel to turn platforms and explore hidden areas, the offerings of adventure will appeal to a broad audience and ensure that no one is overwhelmed by complex mechanics or suffer through difficult enemy encounters. Keeping things simple in this way creates a relaxed environment where you can take your time and really traverse the world at your own pace.The combat is also straightforward and while it doesn’t offer a challenging battle system laden with different types of attacks and combinations that can sometimes lead to confusion in games, it plays to an authentic feeling of controlling an elephant by letting you headbutt your way through enemies and triumphantly blow your trunk as a victory march. While it certainly doesn’t sound so impressive just reading about it, there is actually a feeling of satisfaction gained from charging at an enemy and knocking it out of the way.
Combine this with one of the spike pits you can come across in the dungeon areas and it makes for a fun activity. No funny line or terrible pun here. Just look how happy he is!Of course, the smaller things that are a part of Yono and the Celestial Elephants really add to the experience of playing the game, from picking up animals to wear on your head, blowing air at pinwheels to make them spin and a personal favourite, the in game fast travel system which puts you in a little train cart.
These details just provide even more charm to an already adorable adventure. Of course, another thing that provides extra fun is being able to customise Yono. Each town or village area has an equivalent to a barber shop where you can buy a new skin and really make the personality of the young protagonist shine through.
With the exception of Tembo the Badass Elephant (developed by Game Freak and published by Sega), I can't think of anything else until Yono.
Want to see what a checkered elephant looks like with a hedgehog on his head while you run past spike traps? Wonder no more.There is something else that occurs in this game as well that transforms it from the cute little experience to something that could possibly be more sinister.
As you learn about the missing princess from a very anxious queen, you also learn of the plight of the inhabitants of Freehaven, the robotic race called The Mekani. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website.
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A Legend of Zelda-esque adventure/puzzle game starring an adorable elephant? Yes, it is as good as it sounds.It is easy to be dismissive of games that, on the surface, appear to take one to many cues from another series, especially one as beloved as The Legend of Zelda. Whilst that feeling never truly goes away, Yono and the Celestial Elephant is not just another derivative.The basic premise is that you play an elephant named Yono who falls from the stars and immediately wants to help make the world a better place to live.
Quickly you discover that elephants are even rarer than they are on our own planet, to the extent that they are deified; but for good reason. Turns out elephants are literally gods that walk amongst the populace, except, Yono is the first to have graced the world for a millennium. Whilst the overarching story isn’t extensive, I was not expecting to be greeted by consistent exposure to political philosophy. At first, it was just Thomas Hobbes’ description of life being “nasty, brutish, and short” being quoted as Robogoblins are introduced, before long townsfolk are discussing the extent of political power as an extension of the physical power of violence.Yono is a mini adventure game filled with small puzzles. Each town provides Yono with the stereotypical RPG style quests of giving item x to person a for item y to give to person b and so forth. As superfluous as that is, the characters that you interact with make these tasks worthwhile and in their own small way contribute to the feel of the narrative, even though they don’t directly contribute anything. Outside of the towns is where the bulk of the action is to be found.
Connecting the towns are linear interconnected areas that require some solution to proceed. Combat is also present, but it is the weakest element of the game, as whilst functional there is very little development to this, plus Yono later espouses his aversion to violence as he pleads with enemies to avoid physical confrontation.The core of Yono is found in the games three “Levels” (AKA dungeons), with each one aesthetically matching its overworld location, making them not just visually diverse, but also providing thematically relevant puzzles. What’s commendable is that each level contains attributes found in the one before it without seeming out of place, as well as succeeding in adding to the complexity of the puzzles. Absent, however, are maps (which aren’t needed), unlockable weapons, and boss keys. Not that this matter, as the environment contains everything you need, including usable elemental “projectiles” that Yono can fire from their trunk providing both combat and puzzle solutions.
The levels are concluded with a boss fight, which relies more on timed puzzle solving than generic combat, offering more of a memorable challenge.Who exactly Yono and the Celestial Elephants is aimed at is not easy to determine. The pastel colour scheme adds to the whimsy of the world, whilst also covering the underlying rumblings of dissent from across the kingdom. The political leanings and plights of some of the major side characters will likely go over the heads of most children that might play it, but there is a solid core thread to follow of Yono’s journey to develop as a celestial elephant and in helping the inhabitants of the world, culminating in a quite a touching story. The journey also isn’t particularly long, but it is a satisfying one. It might seem a bit too short for younger players, but for adults, it offers a bite-sized adventure.