Norwegian outlet Gamer.no has published a hands-on preview of Elta: Defy All Gods, an action game set to arrive on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X, and Windows on February 2, 2027. Writer Øystein Furevik, whose impressions ran on October 13, 2026, describes a title that borrows the structure of the Metroid series while pushing speed and melee combat to the front. The preview was based on a PlayStation 5 build.
According to Gamer.no, the game's opening is its most striking choice: it simply begins. There is no cutscene, no menu of instructions, and no wall of text explaining the controls. Furevik writes that several seconds passed before he realized play had already started and that he could move the character on screen.
Why it matters
First impressions in this genre often hinge on how quickly a game hands over control, and Gamer.no frames that decision as the preview's central takeaway. Rather than pausing for films, story beats, or instruction screens, Elta: Defy All Gods teaches its core mechanics in motion, the outlet reports.
Furevik describes a sequence in which the player learns by doing: you approach a ledge, so you learn to jump; an enemy waits below, so you learn to fight. During combat, the game briefly slows time so the player can perform actions at the right moment and grasp the timing, instead of drilling the same input through repeated tutorials while waiting to be set free, according to the preview.
Only after that opening stretch does the introduction film appear. Gamer.no calls it brief, well directed, and intriguing enough to leave the writer wanting more.
A Metroid framework with its own identity
Gamer.no reports that players choose at the start what kind of Metroid experience they want: one with markers showing where to go, or one without them, where the map, your eyes, and your memory of where you have been and what you have done carry the load. Furevik picked the second option and says he was glad he did. He expects the result to feel highly recognizable while still doing something of its own.
Structurally, the outlet compares the game to the Metroid series, and to Metroid Prime in particular. Players roam a mysterious landscape and repeatedly encounter doors and paths they cannot yet pass. A three-dimensional map must be pulled up to show where movement is possible, and objects in the terrain can be scanned for additional information, Gamer.no reports. At a steady pace, the player finds a route forward, gains new abilities, and unlocks new areas.
What surrounds that familiar skeleton is where the game diverges, according to the preview. This is not a quiet adventure built on slow exploration. Gamer.no describes a high-tempo game in which you run, jump, double jump, leap through the air, and fling yourself between points with the help of a small dragon that serves as the protagonist's closest companion. The exploration draws on platformers and appears to emphasize speed, momentum, and never standing still, the outlet writes.
Fists instead of firearms
Combat is another point of separation from its inspiration. Gamer.no reports that the protagonist fights with bare hands rather than ranged weapons. Players run at enemies and strike using a combat system that, within the preview's first hours, was already noticeably upgraded through experience points the writer had collected.
The outlet describes a progression from basic punches to combos, flying kicks, rhythmic timing, and counterattacks triggered by well-placed dodges. Furevik writes that the game sits far from the nearest Souls clone and that it tastes good. He singles out the feel of landing hits: the game slows slightly so the player can register the impact of a blow before the pace returns to normal.
His one concern is that fights might grow repetitive over a longer stretch, something Gamer.no says will become clearer when the game launches early next year.
The preview's strongest praise, however, goes to the visual presentation. Furevik writes that the game looks unlike anything he has seen in some time, with a painterly style in which patches of color appear almost thrown onto one another, conjuring clear shapes in a nearly abstract way. He calls it remarkably stylish and says it sometimes feels like running through a painting.
Gamer.no concludes that if the developers play their cards right, Elta: Defy All Gods could be one of the early highlights of next year. The outlet describes a game with a very clear identity that nonetheless feels familiar, and in some ways a classic video game of the old sort: small areas packed with things to do, doors that must be unlocked, powers that must be upgraded, and new abilities arriving one after another.
Action games are plentiful, the preview notes, but with a distinctive visual style and a mix of elements that could produce something special, Elta: Defy All Gods is one to watch.
The game is scheduled to launch on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X, and Windows on February 2, 2027. Gamer.no tested it on PlayStation 5. Watch for fuller impressions closer to release, particularly on whether the combat holds up across a full playthrough.
