Elvira: Mistress of the Dark

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Game Review

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark is a survival horror developed by Horrorsoft and released by Accolade in 1990 for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS computers.

It is well known that the world of video games does not get along with movies. Every time I see that a game is based on a movie or vice versa, several flashbacks run through my head, and I can only think, "here we go again." On the other hand, this clashed with my memories of the Elvira: Mistress of the Dark game since I played it when I was a kid, and I liked it. The big question is, when I enter this world again, who will have won? My melancholy or the trashy essence of a game adapted from a movie? You are about to find out.

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, starring the actress Cassandra Peterson as Elvira, the witch, is based on the movie of the same name made in 1988.

The story of the game continues with the plot told in the film. After the death of her evil uncle VIncent, Elvira tries to turn her castle into a center of attractions. In the process, she accidentally releases a legion of monsters that follow a powerful witch called Emelda, things that happen, am I right? Then, as Elvira didn't have enough of a bad day, she is captured to use her as a sacrifice to revive her ancestral leader, who wants to dominate the world. So, the protagonist, caught by these monsters and saved by Elvira, joins her to stop the enemies and save the world.

The gameplay is composed of two modes: exploration and combat. The player will advance through different sectors with a point-and-click style in the first mode, getting several items needed to stop the witch. The adventure is also full of puzzles that must be completed to successfully advance in the game and have the necessary items to avoid dying in certain sequences. Then, the combat mode is a little more simple. When starting the battle, the player has the option to attack or block an enemy attack, which must be done at the exact time of your attack. Despite having a good experience and stat system, I found the combat very repetitive. Each enemy is recycling the previous one (they didn't even bother to change the audio track of the enemy's voice when he receives damage). Otherwise, the exploration mode is very well achieved, the puzzles are fun, and the point and click exploration are one of the best of the time.

Regarding the graphics, Elvira uses the AberMUD graphic engine, distinctive of Horror Soft at the moment. The images are made in 8-bit and use a wide range of green colors combined with greys that you can expect from a game that takes place in a castle. The developers intended to generate image-induced horror, so they avoided using more modern methods such as excessive darkness. Consequently, instead of using black for shadows or darkness, they portrayed them with dark green. The sound is good, the tracks, although memorable and well-directed, are scarce, as are the sound effects.

Either because of the lack of ideas or the fact that being a game based on a movie, they didn't have to make an effort to attract new fans, Elvira is a great game. To be honest, not all ideas contained in the game are good. A couple of hints suggest a very misogynistic message at the end of the game, which also makes no sense inside the plot. Still, Horror Soft did an excellent job with the setting, the experience system, levels and statistics of the player, and the character design in general.

Just one last suggestion. After playing it, I recommend you look for a video with all the main character's deaths. It could be called "A thousand things you can do to a head."

Review by: Gustavo
Published: 7 February 2021 10:26 am