Elderborn
ELDERBORN is a Metal Action Fantasy Slasher with brütal FPP melee combat and souls-like/RPG character progression. In the times of legend, the barbarian tribes need a new dark messiah. The player becomes a merciless slayer who will uncover ancient secrets in the city of doom, and forge their own destiny. This ambitious indie game, five years in the making, combines old-school single-player feel, a classic heroic story, and modern level of skill-based challenge. All this and more creates an action-packed, lore-filled, engaging adventure that will last 8-10 hours in a single play-through. Prepare for: Skill-based, souls-like melee combat in first person perspective, complete with 11 varied weapons to master Character progression and skill system that allows you to play the game in your very own way A hand-crafted, mysterious, and dangerous world to explore – catacombs, ancient, monolithic city, and more
Game Discussion
Steam User 7
ELDERBORN is a fun, short melee-focused first person game bookended by engaging opening and closing chapters with a lukewarm filling in the middle. To its credit, this game starts off well and has a nice labyrinthine opening chapter where you will spend roughly half of its brief, approximately 3.5 hour runtime before stepping out into the world in a fairly bland, unfinished-feeling middle section, before concluding in another intriguing area.
ELDERBORN excels at having a good variety of enemies and weapons at your disposal. You will be able to find roughly 10 weapons which all feel pretty unique and vary in damage output and countering options (some simply block while others allow you to parry and counterattack) though I did find myself just swapping to the hammer and bashing through opponents' defenses pretty often. You also have a kick that can stagger enemies or push them into fire, spikes, and off of cliffs but I think this gameplay element wasn't emphasized or implemented very well here (compared to something like Bulletstorm or Dark Messiah)
ELDERBORN feels a bit 'budgety' in some of its production, however I don't mean that as a slight. If you enjoyed the heyday of games on the 360 / PS3 era, you may want to give this a chance. Its graphics may not look the most polished and some of the music may sound a bit generic, but it also bothers to present a full story with narrated cutscenes, hand-drawn art, and notes scattered through the world that expand on the game's lore and craft an overall immersive experience.
Once you get into a rhythm of dashing toward (and away) from your enemies while holding down a heavy attack to do a big swing and take them out with the occasional decapitation, ELDERBORN's core gameplay loop feels pretty good (especially leveled up on a NewGame+ playthrough)
That praise aside, I found myself disappointed with the game's middle area. After the intricate, somewhat mysterious level design of the opening cavern area, I was expecting the game to then lead me to more engaging sequences, but once I realized the outdoor environment of its second chapter was going to be it and not much else was on the horizon, I couldn't shirk the feeling that the game is somewhat unfinished, particularly in the middle after the well-crafted opening.
As the epilogue rapidly approaches, it picks up steam again to end decently enough. I believe the studio has a sequel in development, so I am curious how that will turn out and will definitely keep an eye on that release after having an overall good (not mind-blowing) time mashing through this.
Steam User 8
Really fun ragdoll physics, kick and bash them everwere! Really good combat!
Steam User 5
A good, simple game that is fine for a single playthrough, provided you buy it on sale. There is nothing new or groundbreaking here, and the experience is quite short. Featuring a pseudo-Bronze Age Hyperborean setting, the entire game is a homage to sword-and-sorcery à la Howard or C. A. Smith, combined with a blue-collar power metal aesthetic. It is simple and doesn't take itself too seriously. Elderborn is to Dark Souls what Howard's "The Tower of the Elephant" is to "The Lord of the Rings" in literature, or Manilla Road to Blind Guardian in music. It's not about intricacies or a face-melting challenge; it's all about the atmosphere.
Steam User 6
Great game. A perfect mix of Doom and Dark Messiah.
I've just finished 1 out of 3 chapters. The combat system is simple but good and so satisfying. There is light attack, heavy attack, dash, block, parry (only with certain weapons) and some special abilities.
I'm liking every aspect of the game: the fast and intense combat, kicking enemies off cliffs, the simple progression system, how weapons differences impact gameplay, the responsiveness, the music, the comic-style cutscene, the size of the game (only 5 gb), the crisp graphics, the performance optimization and the price.
There is no reason not to buy it if you like the genre.
Steam User 14
Some of these reviews are crazy; this game SLAPS. It's not super long (I haven't finished it yet but, based on reviews, I'm ~ 1/3 - 1/2 way) the combat is fun, the slowness is very-obviously intentional, ya'll are insane for calling that out, the level designs are great and not overly-complex, the backtracking is easy enough to figure out, the soundtrack is BANGIN'. I'm having a blast with this one. Is it AAA? No. Does it have to be to be good? Also, no! Big fan, Doomguy would be proud.
Combat: 8/10
Combat feels heavy, brutal, and very intentional. Every hit has weight, and once it clicks, fights become extremely satisfying. It rewards patience, timing, and learning enemy patterns.
Story: 7/10
The story stays pretty minimal and mostly lives in the environment. It’s not the main draw, but it does enough to support the world and tone without getting in the way. The cutscenes are pretty sick though.
Music / Sound: 10/10
Easily one of the strongest parts of the game. The sound design and music absolutely carry the atmosphere and make combat feel intense and powerful from start to finish.
Art: 9/10
The art direction is fantastic. Dark, metal-inspired visuals give the game a strong identity and make it stand out immediately.
Edit: Just finished, game still slaps; worth 3-4 hours 100000%
Steam User 4
Great first-person slasher. Very heavy on the Conan vibes and reminiscent of the Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, Blade of Darkness, and Deathtrap Dungeon. It surprises me that very few people actually played and completed the game. Awesome soundtrack.
Steam User 5
Okay, I don't think this was *fantastic*, but for a short indie hack-n-slash with soulslike elements, I give it a pass.
The good:
The difficulty is fine. Once you learn the patterns for all the baddies, no enemy is particularly insurmountable.
The graphics are pretty good, especially for an indie.
If you're old hat at soulslikes, I think you're going to find the combat very simplistic. As I'm a relative newbie to the space, I was ok with it. If you're expecting crazy combos, forget it, but you eventually end up with a large collection of weapons, and the strategy comes knowing which ones to use when.
The music is appropriately rocking.
The meh:
I wasn't a big fan of the level design. The caves early on were confusing, and the city later on was rather sprawling - though I eventually got the lay of the land.
Some of the objectives could have been spelled out a bit better.
The story and voice acting are nonsensical and overly melodramatic.
The progression system is just a bit too minimal. I would have liked a few more upgrades to spice things up.
The verdict:
As a baby's first soulslike, I have to admit I kinda liked it - though a lot of my 8 hour run time was spent lost and accidentally backtracking. As long as you keep your expectations low (and get this on sale - I got it in a bundle), I think you can have some fun with Elderborn.