A Beginner's Guide and Tips to Play ELLIA - A Gameplay Walkthrough

Welcome to the beginner’s guide and tips to play ELLIA - a gameplay walkthrough, your essential companion to mastering the enchanting world of ELLIA. Designed for newcomers and seasoned gamers alike, this guide aims to streamline your journey through the game, enhancing both your skills and enjoyment.

ELLIA is not just any rhythm game; it combines intricate musical patterns with a compelling narrative to create a uniquely immersive experience. As you help the girl recover her lost memories through the Beatravel system, you'll navigate through various tracks, each with its own challenges and rewards.

This walkthrough will cover everything from basic controls and settings adjustments to advanced strategies for handling different note types and optimizing your gameplay settings. Whether you're looking to fine-tune your reaction times, master the art of timing, or simply get a better understanding of the game mechanics, you'll find valuable insights and tips here. So, let's play ELLIA on PC with LDPlayer, set up your play space, and prepare to dive into the rhythms and beats of ELLIA. 

Game Overview

In the game, you dive into the story of Ellia, a girl whose lost memories are being recovered by a doctor using the innovative Beatravel system. This system extracts emotional fragments from music tracks. To unlock these fragments, players interact with a variety of notes synchronized to each track, hitting them as they cross the judgment line.

Note Types and How to Play

The gameplay involves various types of notes, each requiring a different interaction to successfully capture Ellia’s memories. Here’s how to handle each type:

• Normal Notes: These are the most common notes. Simply tap them once as they approach the judgment line.
• Highlighted Notes: Highlighted in yellow, these notes function just like normal notes. Tap them once as they reach the judgment line.
• Drag Notes: Identified by their small size and green color, drag notes appear with a gap between them. Tap and hold your finger on the judgment line as the first note passes and release it after the final note in the sequence passes through.
• Flick Notes: These notes are marked with an arrowhead. When they reach the judgment line, tap and quickly flick your finger in the direction the arrow is pointing.
• Long Notes: Similar to drag notes, but longer. Press and hold on the judgment line as the starting bar of the note passes through, maintaining pressure until the end of the note.

When playing, always wait for notes to reach the judgment line before interacting. For flick notes, ensure your flick is both quick and in the correct direction to maximize your score. By mastering these note types and understanding the timing, you’ll be able to help Ellia recover her lost memories while enjoying captivating music tracks.

Scoring System Overview

In ELLIA, progressing and unlocking new tracks requires players to achieve a score of at least C. This is monitored via a gauge on the left side of the screen, which adjusts in real time based on your performance. As you play, the gauge will increase with correct hits and decrease with mistakes. Dropping the score gauge to zero results in a stage failure, and you'll need to restart.

The game provides instant feedback on your timing accuracy for each note. The types of feedback you'll receive range from 'Perfect+' for hitting exactly in the middle of the judgment line, to 'Perfect' and 'Best' for very close and near-miss timings, respectively. 'Good' is awarded for decent timing near the middle, while 'Bad' results from touching too early or too late. Missing the note entirely yields a 'Miss.'

To unlock the full potential of the game and possibly achieve full completion, aiming for ‘Perfect+’ on every note is ideal. However, for those not pursuing perfection, consistently scoring at least 'C+' is sufficient to progress through the game and enjoy the journey of helping Ellia recover her memories. 

Choosing the Difficulty Level

To start playing ELLIA, tap the play button and select the soundtrack you wish to play. Successfully completing tracks unlocks new ones and allows you to collect memory pieces essential for progressing the story.

After selecting a track and pressing the standby button, you'll be presented with three difficulty options: Comfort, Delight, and Intense. Each level escalates the number of notes you must handle each second, demanding higher levels of dexterity and coordination:

• Comfort: Recommended for beginners, this setting offers a manageable pace that helps you get accustomed to the gameplay mechanics.
• Delight: As an intermediate option, Delight increases the challenge, requiring quicker responses and more precise timing.
• Intense: This mode is best suited for experienced players using a tablet, as it requires using several fingers from both hands to manage the rapid pace of notes.

Choosing a higher difficulty not only offers a more challenging experience but also increases the number of memory pieces you can collect. Thus, your choice should reflect your skill level and readiness for a challenge. Players are encouraged to start with Comfort and gradually move to more demanding levels as their skills improve.

Adjusting Your Speed and Offset

In any rhythm game, including ELLIA, fine-tuning the speed and offset settings is crucial to match the game's pace to your personal reaction time and ensure the audio synchronizes perfectly with the visuals. 

To adjust these settings while in a session, you can press the pause button to access the adjustment options. In the pause menu, you'll find the speed adjusting option on the left side and the offset adjusting option on the right side.

Speed Adjustment

The speed setting determines how fast notes travel across the screen. It should align with the time it takes for you to see a note approaching the judgment line and react by tapping. Adjusting the speed helps in landing more "Perfect" scores, especially during songs with dense note sequences. Although aiming for "Perfect+" is ideal, setting the speed to allow for consistent "Good" scores can provide more wiggle room during complex passages.

Offset Adjustment

The offset helps in synchronizing the audio with the video. If the notes' arrival at the judgment line doesn't seem to match the beat of the music, adjusting the offset is necessary. If notes appear too early, decrease the offset; if they're late, increase it. This adjustment ensures that the beats and notes hit simultaneously, enhancing your gameplay experience by making it feel more rhythmically cohesive.

Note: When you change the game’s difficulty, it might also be necessary to adjust your speed and offset settings accordingly. Each level might require slight tweaks to these settings to maintain gameplay precision and enjoyment.

Lowering Your Graphics Settings

If you're experiencing difficulty maintaining consistent offset and speed settings in ELLIA, it might be due to performance lag, especially on devices that aren't high-end. The game is resource-intensive, but adjusting your graphics settings can significantly improve responsiveness and gameplay smoothness. Steps to Adjust Graphics:

• Go to Settings: Navigate to the graphics settings section.
• Reduce Graphic Quality: Set the graphic quality to "Very Low" to lessen the load on your device.
• Enable Safe Rendering Mode: This option simplifies the rendering process, further reducing strain on your device's processing power.
• Lower Render Scale: Adjust this to the lowest possible setting to decrease the detail in game visuals, which helps in reducing lag.
• Disable Touch Effects: Turning off touch effects reduces the visual complexity during interactions, making the game less demanding.
• Turn Off Bloom Effects: While bloom adds aesthetic value by giving light a broader appearance, disabling it can improve game performance.

After making these adjustments, restart the game to apply the changes effectively. Although these changes might reduce visual quality, they generally do not significantly impact the enjoyment of the game. Simplifying the graphics can make setting your game speed and offset easier, allowing for a smoother playing experience.

Experiment with Your Thumbs and Fingers

Understanding how to best interact with the game can greatly enhance your gameplay experience. It's important to recognize that players vary in their dexterity; some may find they have quicker thumb movements, while others might excel using their index and other fingers. To discover which method suits you best, conduct a simple experiment:

Use both thumbs and other fingers across several matches. Note the time it takes for you to respond and hit the notes with each method. For a more challenging and revealing test, increase the game's difficulty one level higher than your usual play. This will help accentuate the strengths and weaknesses of each finger style.

Through these tests, you'll gain insights into which fingers are more effective and comfortable for your style of play. This knowledge allows you to adjust your approach, ensuring you're set up for success and enjoyment in the game.

Using Your Peripheral Vision

In ELLIA, effectively using your peripheral vision can significantly enhance your gameplay. When intensely focused, it’s common to develop what’s known as tunnel vision, where you only see the area you’re directly looking at. However, for rhythm games this should be intentionally avoided.

Tips on How to Use Peripheral Vision:

• Shift Your Focus: Instead of staring directly at the notes as they appear, try looking slightly above the middle of the screen. This position allows you to better anticipate upcoming notes.
• Plan Ahead: By using your peripheral vision, you can see notes approaching from the edges of the screen. This broader view helps you plan where to place your fingers next, ensuring they are in the correct position to hit the notes as they pass through the judgment line.

Adopting this technique allows you to see more of the game area at once, making it easier to manage multiple notes and sequences. This strategic use of vision prepares you for more complex levels and can lead to a higher score and more fluid gameplay.

Wearing Headphones

In rhythm games synchronizing your actions with both audio and visual cues is essential for success. To truly excel, using headphones can make a significant difference. Benefits of Using Headphones:

• Enhanced Audio Clarity: Some notes in the tracks are subtle and can be difficult to hear through standard speakers. Headphones ensure you can hear every note clearly, especially those that are barely audible otherwise.
• Improved Timing: As you become familiar with the game’s tracks, memorizing melodies and musical nuances can help you anticipate and time your actions more accurately. The direct, detailed sound from headphones aids this learning process.
• Guided by Sound Effects: Each note’s sound effect is crucial for timing. Headphones help you catch these cues without the ambient distractions of your environment.

Incorporating headphones into your gaming setup allows you to immerse yourself fully in the musical world of ELLIA, enhancing both your enjoyment and performance.

Conclusion

Mastering ELLIA requires a blend of rhythm, strategy, and precision. From understanding note types to fine-tuning settings and experimenting with finger techniques, this guide equips you with the essential tools to excel in the enchanting world of Ellia. By delving into the gameplay mechanics, scoring system, difficulty levels, and optimization strategies, you're poised to guide Ellia on her journey of rediscovery while immersing yourself in captivating music tracks.