Eldervale
- June 6, 2018
- Solkitte
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Get on itch.io Store"Eldervale is a single-player horror shooter game, paying homage to early 2000's classics, with a gripping 3-4 hour story. As Ophelia Delaney, return to your childhood home, Alder Stow, to face the unknown horrors, lucid dreams, and suppressed memories, now threatening your sanity. Explore and unravel the estate's dark past, using puzzles, combat, and stealth to build up story and mechanics in this atmospheric survival experience."
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Reviews
- The game successfully captures the atmosphere and feel of classic survival horror games like Silent Hill, providing a nostalgic experience for fans of the genre.
- Puzzles are well-designed and challenging, adding depth to the gameplay without being overly frustrating.
- Despite some technical flaws, the game is a commendable effort from a solo developer, showcasing creativity and passion in its storytelling and world-building.
- Combat mechanics are janky and inconsistent, making encounters feel frustrating, especially with enemies that act as bullet sponges.
- The controls can be awkward and unresponsive, leading to a less enjoyable gameplay experience, particularly during critical moments.
- The graphics and animations are often criticized for being outdated and lacking polish, which detracts from the overall immersion of the game.
- atmosphere25 mentions
- 64 % positive mentions
- 24 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its eerie and immersive qualities, effectively combining visuals, sound design, and level layout to create a tense and creepy experience reminiscent of classic horror titles. Players appreciate the balance between moments of tension and safe respites, as well as the game's ability to evoke a strong sense of dread without relying solely on jump scares. Despite some criticisms regarding controls and graphics, the overall ambiance and storytelling significantly enhance the gameplay experience.
“It's creepy and atmospheric; each floor/room has its own ambient track.”
“One of the most important factors to nail in this genre is an eerie atmosphere; combining visuals, art design, and sound effects.”
“Atmosphere - perfect mix of tense with mild respites in a few safe areas, but you never were safe long enough to be lulled into relaxing.”
“One of the most important factors to nail in this genre is an eerie atmosphere; combining visuals, art design and sound effects.”
“The atmosphere, both graphics and sounds, are some of the creepiest out there.”
“The controls are a little clunky and graphically it's very minimal but the feeling, atmosphere and story are really well done.”
- story25 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The story has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it intriguing and atmospheric, while others describe it as confusing and difficult to follow. Many appreciate the Lovecraftian and Silent Hill inspirations, noting the depth of lore and the engaging, albeit cryptic, narrative that encourages exploration. Overall, the storytelling is seen as a strong aspect of the game, providing a compelling backdrop despite some gameplay frustrations.
“The story is good overall, not too simple nor complicated, cryptic enough to keep you pushing for answers.”
“Also, the story is genuinely interesting and creepy.”
“I appreciate how much attention to detail there is, and the story is ultra creepy!”
“The story is a bit Lovecraftian, but it's told in a rather confusing manner, and I had a hard time telling what's what even after reading every note I found.”
“My only complaint is the story, which in my opinion was very confusing and felt incomplete.”
“The story is a bit hard to follow, being delivered entirely by text and interactables.”
- gameplay17 mentions
- 24 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Eldervale is characterized by a unique atmosphere and horror elements, but it suffers from repetitive mechanics, inconsistent hitboxes, and awkward controls. While some players appreciate the puzzles and the horror vibe reminiscent of classic titles like Silent Hill, many criticize the dullness of opening numerous identical doors and the lack of engaging combat strategies. Overall, the gameplay is seen as needing improvement, particularly in combat fluidity and enemy interactions.
“Nice atmosphere, enjoyable gameplay, and the overall vibe.”
“Small quality of life mechanic I like is that locked doors have their locks slightly highlighted in a color of the key they require.”
“This game has a nice, unique atmosphere and is fairly scary, while employing some decent puzzles and some decent action gameplay.”
“The gameplay is dull and involves opening what seems like hundreds and hundreds of doors that all lead to bare empty rooms that look exactly alike.”
“Hitboxes are wildly inconsistent, and the blocking mechanic is a joke.”
“As it is, the gameplay is a little derpy with the melee combat being quite awkward and the correct choice usually being to run, whereas the best action-horror games abide both running and fighting or at least employ the use of strategy in determining which is the correct decision.”
- graphics15 mentions
- 20 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are described as a mixed bag, featuring a cartoonish style with faded visuals and a purplish haze that may detract from the experience. While some players appreciate the unique aesthetic and nostalgic throwback to early PS1 horror games, others find the graphics rough and minimal, with clunky controls. Overall, the atmosphere and art design are praised for their ability to create an eerie feeling, despite the varying opinions on the quality of the visuals.
“One of the most important factors to nail in this genre is an eerie atmosphere; combining visuals, art design, and sound effects.”
“The art style and atmosphere are a perfect throwback to those early PS1 horror games.”
“This game has a really good aesthetic from the lighting to the yellow, bulbous glowing plants; it's unreal that one person made all this!”
“The graphics are very faded and washed out with a purplish haze.”
“The visuals/assets felt a little rough around the edges at first, but I figured out the gamma/contrast was way messed up.”
“While the graphics weren't all to my taste, I must say the game really had a look of its own and that's a very good thing in this age of asset flipping and other games trying to chase some trendy look.”
- music9 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The music in Eldervale is highly praised for its unique and well-crafted soundtrack, effectively blending soft musical notes with eerie growls and ambient sounds to create a tense atmosphere. Reviewers note that this combination enhances the game's horror elements, with sudden stops in the music adding to the suspense and fear during exploration. Overall, the sound design significantly contributes to the immersive experience of the game.
“Eldervale is surprisingly well made indie horror puzzle action game with a very unique and well done soundtrack and plays off its limitations very well.”
“The music while exploring most places has a very strange style of mixing very soft musical notes with strange growls and echoing creature sounds.”
“Ever so faintly can you hear the soft musical notes playing in the background only to be tensed up by the strange sounds of whining pain or angry growls and grunts, and it gives off a great feeling of fear and curiosity.”
“Music and ambient sounds really built an amazing environment, and sometimes there were hard stops in the music, whether intentional or not, going around a corner, it terrified me!”
- replayability4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The "Deep Reserves" DLC is praised for its replayability, featuring a roguelike mode that, while somewhat short, offers multiple difficulty levels and skins to enhance the experience. Players find it to be a fun diversion that remains engaging even after completing Ophelia's quest.
“The Deep Reserves DLC is a replayable roguelike mode.”
“Somewhat short, but multiple difficulties and skins provide replay value.”
“Deep Reserves also offers a lot of replayability after Ophelia's quest is completed.”
“Somewhat short, but multiple difficulties (and skins) provide replay value.”
“"Deep Reserves" also offers a lot of replayability after Ophelia's quest is completed.”
“+ Deep Reserves is a fun rogue-lite diversion offering a lot of replayability after the quest is completed.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game exhibits some bugs and jankiness, but overall, it is stable enough to be completed from start to finish without encountering game-breaking issues. Given that it was primarily developed by a single individual, its stability is commendable despite its flaws.
“It has its flaws - really short and can be buggy and janky - but keep in mind it was essentially made by just one person, and for that, it's really good.”
“Can be played from start to end and get the two endings without any game-breaking bugs or glitches (at least not that I've experienced).”
- character development2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is noted to be somewhat basic in design, yet effective in fulfilling its purpose. Despite this simplicity, players appreciate the overall quality of the game, especially given that it was created by a solo developer.
“The game checked a lot of boxes for me, from the sound, atmosphere, level design, character designs, etc. I was surprised how well done the game is, considering it's made by a solo developer.”
“Character designs are a bit basic, but get the job done.”
“The character development feels shallow and lacks depth, making it hard to connect with the characters.”
“I expected more growth and complexity in the characters, but they remained one-dimensional throughout the game.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players express a strong sense of nostalgia while playing, drawing emotional connections to classic horror games from the 90s and 2000s, such as Silent Hill and Resident Evil. This retro vibe enhances their overall emotional experience, evoking memories of past gaming adventures.
“The PS2 vibes throughout the whole game made me feel nostalgic for sagas like Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Alone in the Dark, and similar titles from the 90s and 2000s.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, which detracts from the overall enjoyment of combat.
“This makes combat more tedious than it should be.”
“The grinding feels endless and detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.”
“I find myself repeating the same tasks over and over, which becomes incredibly boring.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 200 % positive mentions
- -400 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game is not fully realized, but players can achieve smoother performance by adjusting the settings to lower levels.
“The game runs significantly better after adjusting the optimization settings.”
“I appreciate the ability to tweak the optimization options to enhance performance on my system.”
“Optimization is not yet 100%, but you can lower the settings for a smoother gaming experience.”
“The game struggles with performance issues, even on lower settings.”
“I expected better optimization; the frame rate drops significantly during intense scenes.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its quality, especially given that it was developed by a solo creator and features no advertising, indicating a player-friendly monetization approach.
