They also each have a combo move that provides a more powerful melee option: two physical strikes followed by the spell attack become a close-up magical burst. The magic weapons - all staffs - can be used as melee weapons, but their primary function is a ranged attack that fires a mid-distance ball of energy. They function much like players might expect with swords as the all-rounder, dual blades working fast but close, whips with longer range, and great swords/axes being the slowest but most powerful. Each type operates differently, and all weapons have different stats, some coming with a secondary boost, like inflicting ongoing fire damage. The melee category is by far the broadest with swords, whips, duals blades, and great swords/axes. There's the occasional NPC, but most of the tale is told indirectly, like something from the famously confusing Dark Souls games.įirst finding a basic sword, players will slowly come across a wide selection of weapons spread across three general categories: melee, bows, and magic. As players progress, the story is told primarily through notes strewn across the levels and little bits gleaned from item descriptions. With little to go on, they must battle their way to the surface and beyond through a handful of levels, each with its own distinct biome.
The player character, an unnamed mercenary, has found themselves in a dank cave system following a supernaturally imposed shipwreck. RELATED: Bandai Namco was Pitched a 2D Dark Souls 3 Metroidvania Game Add to that a few troublesome bugs, and the whole package feels a little undercooked. Unfortunately, the execution of that power fantasy in Elderand - though certainly not terrible - is flawed enough that it makes that thematic disparity all the starker. The helplessness, dread, and human fragility at the heart of such stories are a direct contradiction to the power fantasy most games strive to offer. It neither goes far enough into its Metroid roots nor its Lovecraftian themes to fully succeed.ĭoing Lovecraft in video games is hard. Despite some deliciously depraved cultish imagery and a slew of equipment options to add variety to the combat, Elderand is held back by its own reluctance to dive deep into its ancestry. Lovecraft's work, it aims to combine the Cthulhu mythos with hallmarks of the Metroidvania genre like a connected world, challenging bosses, and unlockable paths. With a setting and story themes inspired by H.P. Elderand is a 2D action platformer that takes place in a world beset by madness and cosmic horror.
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