Yono and the Celestial Elephants Review

Yono and the Celestial Elephants

Release: October 12, 2017
Publisher: Plug In Digital
Developer: Neckbolt
Genre: Action, Adventure, Puzzle, Switch Reviews
PEGI: E
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You are an elephant and your name is Yono. You came from the sky and you are here to help people. This is the basic premise of Yono and the Celestial Elephants for Nintendo Switch. Yono is cute, without a doubt, but is it a good game too?

Yono and the Celestial Elephants put gameplay above story for the most part, but I still think the game’s story was pretty good overall. I thought the ending to the game was perfect. It should also be noted that there are some “books” in the game that you can read, once you collect the letters for them, that tell you even more about the history of the elephants in this game if you want more back story. But what about Yono’s gameplay? Is it good?

This game is heavily inspired by Zelda games such as Link to the Past and yet it also has its own personality. For instance, the main character of the game has very unique abilities that are put to the test in the game’s dungeons.

Each dungeon of Yono and the Celestial Elephants feels unique and has some mind bending puzzles. Just when you think this game has no more tricks up its sleeve, you’ll run into a new type of puzzle. The game makes great use of Yono’s picking up, blowing, and ramming abilities. Each of the games bosses are pretty unique too.

I also think that the towns in this game are fantastic. Each of them feel very different and are well worth exploring. And while I know some people hate fetch quests, I thought it was nice to have some light optional fetch quests in the towns. They were a nice break from the puzzle filled dungeons. Best of all, though, is how easy it is to control your elephant throughout all of this.

Yono and the Celestial Elephants has good controls too. The game is very easy to pick up and play. Thats not to say that the game itself is easy (there are some pretty hard puzzles), its just that its controls are not hard to learn. Yono features no Switch specific controls, such as touch screen use or motion controls, though those are not missed in this game. However there was some menu based features that I missed in Yono.

I was disappointed that there was no menu in this game that showed current quests nor was there a map for dungeons or towns. It could sometimes be tough to remember which quest or fetch quest I was on and a good menu for this would have helped. I also think the game’s dungeons were big enough to require a map. Many modern games have both quest trackers and a map and they were definitely missed in Yono.

It should also be noted that I ran into at least a couple of glitches in this game. None of them were major but they did cause me to die. The strangest one was when I wandered across a bridge that suddenly went to nowhere and I died. I’m sure that these glitches will eventually be patched, but I thought I’d mention that there are glitches because they are in the game now.

Yono and the Celestial Elephants, overall, is just a really fun game. Don’t let talk of glitches or lack of menus convince you that this isn’t a very good game. Yono is just plain cute and that especially shows in its graphics!

Yono and the Celestial Elephants is a really cute game. The graphics, at first glance, might make you think Yono is just a kids game. But Yono’s graphics are so detailed and so good that I think everyone should experience them. Everything from the character design to each and every environment is really good. And the game looks great on the Switch’s handheld screen and on TV.

And then there’s the music in Yono! Its pretty good too. There is a variety of music, everything from very cheery to sort of dreary. Yono also has excellent sound effects. Yono is an elephant and he makes all the sounds you’d expect from one.

Yono and the Celestial Elephants is a great game overall. I hope there is a sequel!

Yono and the Celestial Elephants is an excellent game. The story is interesting, the gameplay is even better, the graphics are super cute and detailed, and the game’s music is good too! While some glitches and lack of a good menu system hold it back from being perfect, it is still a game that I highly recommend. If you are looking for a great action/adventure to play on the Nintendo Switch, you should definitely check out Yono and the Celestial Elephants! I’m crossing my fingers for a sequel. I wonder what happens to Yono next!

Thanks to Niklas Hallin for providing a review copy of this game. Yono and the Celestial Elephants is out now for the Nintendo Switch eshop.

Trailer