A Lovecraftian Metroidvania
Are you a fan of H.P. Lovecraft? Do you enjoy being thrown into a narrative that pits humanity against unfathomable cosmic horrors? If yes, then you may enjoy Graffiti Games’ Elderand. This Lovecraftian-inspired action RPG is a solid albeit basic addition to the Metroidvania genre. While Elderand does little to separate itself from its counterparts besides its aesthetic, it is a reliable repetition of predecessors for a mobile gaming platform.
Elderand’s greatest strength is its style. The setting, enemy character designs and music elevate the gameplay and reinforce that Lovecraftian aesthetic. Each section of the map differentiates itself from the rest, combining background art, music and design. The number of unique enemies you have to slash through kept me engaged throughout my time playing. While some serve as color-swapped versions of each other, these are few and far between. The rest of the monstrosities you face are uniquely disturbing in their design and the bosses are no exception. The best example of how grotesque these guys can get is the boss Erik Zan. The art direction is unique and disturbing in a way that makes the player want to learn more about the world they’re in. Unfortunately, there is not much to dive into regarding both the story and the gameplay aspects of Elderand.
Entertaining But Shallow
Many of the issues with Elderand lie with how little it dives into what is initially offered to the player. The story is linear and does little to build on the impressive visuals. While the game sports a Lovecraftian aesthetic, that is, unfortunately, where the influence stops besides some basic story beats. Similarly, the gameplay also feels shallow in what it offers the player. While Elderand has a vast array of weapons, such as swords, shields, whips, knives, magic staffs, and bows, the viability of these weapons dramatically differs. As much as I tried, I returned to the sword and shield playstyle and rarely used anything else. Elderand offers some secondary weapons in the form of throwables outside your primary weapons. Still, these weapons become less viable as you progress, pigeonholing you into the sword and shield meta.
At the same time, the double jump, air dash, and grappling hook help the character traverse the map, which is where it ends. While these upgrades offer some help in the later boss fights, no encounter requires the player to rely on any movement upgrades heavily. This is a huge missed opportunity. Usually, when the player acquires an upgrade like a grappling hook, it is utilized in a critical boss fight. Look at Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for a perfect example in the water temple boss Morpha. While other games have used movement upgrades to change the formula of their boss fights throughout the game, Elderand only uses these upgrades to allow the player to reach small parts of the maps they previously couldn’t reach for an underwhelming reward of coins or a slight increase of max health.
Great Potential
The biggest disappointment of Elderand is that I truly enjoyed playing this game. The art direction carries shallow combat mechanics, most notable in its background art and level design. The movement abilities and platforming make it even more enjoyable to explore the Lovecraft-inspired setting. However, this game has so much unrealized potential that its engaging pixel art feels wasted. The beginning stages of learning the basics of combat are fun and a few weapons offer interesting combo mechanics. However, there’s no growth to the combat aside from just having to hit the enemies more and the combos lose their viability as enemy health increases. It’s Elderand’s reluctance to dive into the nuances of the mechanics that keep it from being a great Metroidvania and results in it being a lackluster reflection of its inspirations.
