Elderand Review

Developed by Sinergia Games and published by Graffiti Games, Elderand has players taking on the role of Hunter, a Bounty Hunter going after Sserthris, the force responsible for the darkness that is taking over these lands. Elderand is a 2D action platformer with RPG components that allow you to customise different elements of your character. Players can customise the appearance of this character by selecting their hair length — short, long, or long with a beard — and the colour of the skin and hair. You can also level up the character the way you wish. When the level meter is full you can select what to use your point on. You can improve strength by increasing your physical damage and stamina, focus on wisdom which increases the amount of damage your magic does, raise your dexterity to increase your chances of critical strikes and how much damage your secondary weapons like axes and knives inflict, or increase the amount of HP you have. Elderand makes it easy to grind and level up your character, as soon as you walk off the screen you are on you can return and fight all those same enemies again. 

The lands in Elderand are made up of several different themed areas, each with a large boss residing in it. In true Metroidvania style, you come across areas that you can’t access yet because you haven’t obtained the required skill such as double jump or the ability to use a grappling hook to hang. There is a map that displays all the areas that you have explored so far, marking where you can find vendors to buy supplies, or where campfires are located to save your game. I wish you had the ability to put markers on the map to show areas that require a special ability to get past, so you are able to find that spot again easily in the future.

Along with selecting what areas of your character you want to focus on when levelling up, there are a lot of options to select from for Hunter’s equipment. You get to select their primary weapon — like a large axe or blades, their secondary weapon which you will throw at the enemy including knives and axes, their armour, a shield if their primary weapon doesn’t require two hands, and rings that give you extra perks like showing the health meters of all the monsters. I also found Hunter has the ability to have two different setups that you can switch between with the tap of a button. I found this incredibly useful when I was using a bow and arrow for one setup and blades for the other because that way you are ready for any type of technique in battle.

Exploring the world of Elderand was very enjoyable, especially seeing the huge variety of enemies ready to attack you, including the insects and fauna that inhabit each area. There’s some really creepy stuff here, especially when you come across the cult members that you see worshipping some creatures that look like they are right out of a Lovecraft story. The area bosses that you have to battle are challenging and usually take a few tries to best. Luckily, there is usually a campfire to save your game so you don’t have to travel too far to try again. In some instances, I had to level up my character a little bit more to increase my strength to give me the upper hand. While battling enemies to level up, be sure to break any clay pots that you see to get more money you can spend with the merchant, or to get small health and mana potions to use while in battle. At the beginning of the game, the most you can hold is three of each, but being able to replenish your health multiple times really helped in these difficult battles.

The soundtrack in the game is great at capturing the mystery and dark ambience of the world in Elderand. It was catchy and epic at the same time and didn’t feel repetitive at all. Each of the areas has its own theme keeping the soundtrack feeling fresh, no matter how many times you need to return to the area to grind and level up your Hunter. Elderand is a beautiful, retro-inspired game full of violence and gore, so don’t be shocked if you chop off an enemy's head or see blood spraying. Just because it’s pixelated doesn’t mean that they can’t make it look gross! 

I had a great time playing Elderand. With a huge world to explore with a variety of areas to visit and backtrack to once you have the required ability, this game is sure to keep you busy for a while, as you will spend a lot of time grinding to level up. Every time that I died, it was because of something that I did — or didn’t do, like dodging an enemy — it was never because of poor controls in the game. For gamers who enjoy Metroidvania-type titles, Elderand should be a game that you look into, especially for fans of pixelated gore and mysterious Lovecraftian monsters.