Eldervale

[quote=] This review was brought to you on behalf of [b] Abyssal Ascent Reviews [/b] in collaboration with its developer. If you liked it, please [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32607787-Abyssal-Ascent/]Follow[/url] the Curator and [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/AbyssalAscent/]Join[/url] its group. Thank you! [/quote] Eldervale is an excellent way to remember the classic horror games or discover them yourself for the first time! Excellent sound and a third-person view will help plunge the player into the incredible atmosphere of the game! Eldervale is filled with interesting puzzles, exciting research, and persistent enemies. Do remember that the game is in early access though and therefore there are some bugs in it that will soon be fixed, especially given how timely the updates are. Throughout your adventure you will learn the story of Ophelia, her parents, and the estate that belonged to them. However, there are also other characters in the game whose fates you’ll learn about as well. Exploring the estate in search of answers, you’ll have to face many mysteries and enemies that lurk around every corner. The enemies are stronger than you yet your goal is not to kill them, but more often just try bypass them without being caught by them or utilizing the battle system correctly. You can choose the difficulty for each aspect of the game depending on your abilities or play style kind of similar to Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The gameplay is keyboard and mouse focused only but the controls make sense for this type of game. Though remappable keys would be great! Finally, the game looks great with a particular art style and it's all done by one person! Even though it’s in Early Access, it’s pretty easy to recommend this game, just be patient with the bugs as the sole developer is actively fixing them as they are reported.

i can't believe how much this game reminds me of Silent Hill, the sounds, the map, the horror... the game is really good, i'm glad i found and bought the game. What caught my eyes, was that the MC kinda looks like Alice (of Mcgee's Alice). Some indie developers that wants to make horror games should look your game.

[quote=]If you find this review helpful be sure to thumbs up and follow my [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33195105/] Curator Page [/url]. If I missed something leave a comment and I will try to update the review asap[/quote] [h1] Eldervale: A love letter to horror games from the early 2000's while also standing on its own as a truly original, creepy and dark experience. [/h1] Eldervale is a third person survival horror game where you play as Ophelia while exploring a seemingly abandoned Institution that is filled with puzzles, horrors and a dark story that you uncover during your time playing the game. The game unapologetically emanates similar vibes of games like Silent Hill and Resident Evil and it really shows with the lore, puzzles and exploration that you experience in the games world. [h1]Gameplay[/h1] The second you are placed inside of the Delaney Institution you are hit with a sense of uneasiness and discomfort in the best way. The game has you exploring this Institution uncovering the lore of what horrors have taken place here as well as setting the atmosphere for the rest of the game. If there is one thing I can say about the feeling of the atmosphere is that it's tone from start to end is very unsettling. Exploration in Eldervale doesn't feel overly complicated and there is a lot of extra details you can find just by looking around in mostly practical locations and a lot of the progression of the game will need you to look around for some of these clues to understand some puzzles in the game. The game does have difficulty options for the puzzles (among others like combat) that I had set to "Normal" and nothing felt overly difficult to understand during the puzzles in the game though there are some puzzles that may be confusing but after some time either searching for the answer or just guessing for some puzzles you'll be able to get through progress in no time. The combat in the game is pretty straight forward, in the beginning you will be defenseless but throughout the game you'll come across a melee weapon that has a very useful block mechanic which I recommend using at every opportunity. Some other weapons you get later in the game are a handful of guns that will make life a bit easier in some tight corridors of the game. You'll have to find ammo and health items around in the world or if you explore enough areas you'll find tokens scattered through the world that can be used at some vending machines in the game to buy ammo, health items and matches to help light some candles in the darker areas of the world. The pacing of the game is honestly fantastic and I ended up playing it a lot more than I thought I had and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the game. [h1]Graphics[/h1] Eldervale is made in the Unity engine and ran very well for me at Ultra settings at 1080p. The world is very dark, sometimes only being lit by a flashlight you get later in the game or candles that you light throughout the Institution. The creatures that occupy the world are very morbid and it is understandable when you learn about the horrors that happened in this location. All the characters and most assets were made by the developer though some things like the models for some weapons and the textures are some of the free assets used but overall the games world is impressive when considering it is all put together by just one person. The lighting in the game can get a little wonky sometimes showing cracks in the floor where two geometries are joined together and the camera at times will get caught in strange jerky motions sometimes when going through small crevices/crawl spaces but its nothing to bothersome. Overall the games' presentation lends itself well to the survival horror theme and most everything feels that it belongs there. [h1]Sound[/h1] What is a good horror game without the atmosphere? Eldervales atmosphere is absolutely filthy and uncomfortable from the moment you get through the front door of the institution and the sound design captures it with these very Moog like bass sounds that are drifting to a lower tone and everything has a feeling of weighing down on you like someone or something bad is always watching you. The tone of the game gets very shrill at times too, the ambiance in some areas just gets quiet, sometimes dead silence with nothing but the sounds of your foot steps. The creatures in the world have their own uniqueness to them with some like the nurses sounding very gaunt and stripped of life, while other creatures sounding like parasites or demons from hell and just absolute nightmare fuel. Needless to say the sound design of the game in my opinion is very good, and I was feeling very uneasy for the majority of the time I played. [h1]Story[/h1] You play as Ophelia Delaney, a young woman haunted by the early childhood she spent with her parents in the town of Alder Stow. Her family owned a large estate for many years, which was used for many things during the 20th century. There were plenty of horrible events that took place there that remain unknown. Ophelia was forced to leave the town of Alder Stow and move to her aunts who raised her. Now, 10 years later, Ophelia is tormented by images from the past and her suppressed memories. Those closest to her tell her she should consider increasingly radical treatments. After those failed, Ophelia is sure that she can only be cured where she was born. She must return to the Delaney Institution in Alder Stow. [h1]My Opinion[/h1] As a fan of horror games from the early 2000's this game genuinely felt amazing to play and I felt such a heavy emphasis of inspiration from games like Fatal Frame, Silent Hill and Resident Evil with Eldervale having such an emphasis on exploration and storytelling and lore just spewed throughout the world that some people might miss. The game does have multiple endings and multiple difficulty options which definitely make the game re-playable if you want to unlock all things in the game. The developer is also a really nice person to talk with and I recommend checking their discord if you are interested in the game or have any comments and concerns for them or ever get stuck. They have informed me that the game is very much still in progress as there are some quirks with saving and quitting/reloading that makes some events reset but nothing that should break your games progress and the harder difficulties are being reworked to be more interesting. It has an expected 3-4 Hour of playtime but it is very easy to spend twice that. I would highly recommend this game if you are a fan of classic horror games or horror games in general as this is a very fun and refreshingly original game.

Unfortunately I will not be recommending this product. As a whole the game has an immense amount of promise. Reminding me back in the day when I would play games like Silent Hill among many others. My biggest issue with the game will be most noticeably its controls. In particular controls regarding your flashlight, running, attacking, and interacting with environment. It seems that even though the game is controller compatible that isn't completely true. Where the mouse is extremely predominant with any action required in the game. You even have to click on objects when you open a drawer and have to line up and click on every door you open too. The flashlight though, whoo boy, that is another issue entirely. As of this moment the flashlight requires you to take it out, turn it on or off, aim it, or switch to another weapon with it staying on your hip. The flashlight really should just stay on the player's clothing at all times allowing the player to turn it on or off at the flick of a button. Sure you could equip it to focus the light but it's ridiculous needing to equip it in order to turn it off. Now for the running issue. I noticed that the button seems to extremely touchy. I tried it on a few different keyboards and controllers to try to locate the issue. Finding that running seems to be slightly delayed while also will easily try to switch to strifing instead of running straight. Because of this issue I had actually died a few times. Which again is another silly issue with the controls. Overall, I would like to play the game. But the controls are a curve that I am simply just not able to overcome. I mean these aren't particularly difficult fixes. Instead of using the mouse to interact with the hitboxes of object, the player instead could take place of the mouse. Where if an object comes within contact of the radius of said character then it will result in an opportunity to react. Running should be able to activate at the push of a button, where it can be left on without holding the button down. Upon stopping the running animation can reset. And hitting the button mid run will turn it off again.

I'm a huge fan of Eldervale!! 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 dev. The amount of work put into this title is impressive. I appreciate how much attention to detail there is, and the story is ultra creepy! Absolutely worth the price point, you won't be disappointed.

Świetna gra niezależna na jedno posiedzenie. polecam

If you are a fan of the last 90's early 2000's survival horror games you will love this. It reminds me of Resident Evil mixed with some Silent Hill. The art style and atmosphere are a perfect throwback to those early PS1 horror games. There is a bit of a difficulty spike towards the end but you always have the choice to switch difficulty. The dev is very open to feedback and can take constructive criticism well. I highly recommend you try this out.

Game has some highs and some lows. Tested on steam deck i wouldn’t recommend it on the deck.

Eldervale is probably what the later "Alone In The Dark" games after New Nightmare should have been. It goes far beyond the simple "zombie outbreak" schlock we are used to, instead opting for secluded schoolhouses,mad science,extra dimensional creatures,weird plants,and eldritch cults. As Ophelia you want to find out what happened to an institute that used to help gifted children after it was unfairly taken from her parents whom built it from the ground up. As expected, the new overseer and his cronies were not the nicest of people. I don't know why teenagers never just call the cops in these situations but I suppose if they did we would not have an adventure on our hands or a mystery that needs to be solved! (The game explains the residential zone around the institute is practically a ghost town so that alludes as to why the police are not there to be at anyone's beck and call. I'm just being a little fictitious!) It is a good thing Elvervale can pull you in with decent story telling and lore building because the usual frustrations of the classic survival horror genre present themselves from sparse ammo and sparse healing supplies all the way to cryptic puzzles. You don't even get a melee weapon right away so be prepared for a challenge in which attacking is not always your best option. Still, I know some of you are getting those guilty pleasure tingles from what I'm saying. In other words, you are probably a little tired of more polished bombastic offerings from triple A studios that seem to use stunning production values to distract you from the fact they do not remember how to create "true fear" anymore. Was Resident Evil Village truly terrifying? To me it seemed more like an action thriller monster shooter. By contrast Eldervale is rougher around the edges with a much slower burn yet it is masterful at a spooky atmosphere,creating tension,and making you second guess yourself. Yes, you'll deal with slightly awkward controls and a slightly janky camera but nothing is game breaking. Not every game has to have lock on whilst making you move around like a parkour ninja snorting lines of blow! In this game that would be counter intuitive as the whole point is you are a defenseless meek girl looking into her family's legacy and the rumors of missing children. What results is gameplay a bit like Resident Evil 4 minus the wrestling moves and other instant execution maneuvers that separated Leon Kennedy from the average person. My big gripe thus far? I wish the enemies had better hit detection. By that I mean they take damage just fine but they don't seem to register pain or allude to where you shot them or hit them. As such it makes you occasionally wonder if you somehow missed your mark. It is a minor point of contention but very noticeable. The game is interesting in that its' "Deep reserves" content levels you up as you go through a rogue-lite labyrinth. You can get runes that allow you to charge up your melee attacks,fire your guns faster,and other helpful quirks. It's a welcome edition and smart of the developer to give gamers other goals to work towards beyond completing the main story campaign. I realize Eldervale is not the prettiest game nor does it have "cutting edge gameplay" but it manages to be an actual "horror" game as opposed to merely being an action spectacle game wearing the empty husk of the survival horror genre. "Deep reserves" also offers a lot of replayability after Ophelia's quest is completed. When you realize this was all done by a single person (Solkitte) it's friggin incredible. The indie devs have really been giving it their all the last few years and I couldn't be happier about that! (Because I feel better giving my money to them as opposed to giving my money to Todd Howard or Bobby Kotick!) (Before I go I'd like to mention I also really liked the subtle tribute to American McGee's Alice. That game is also dear to my heart and I love how Ophelia looks like she could be a descendant or blood relative of Alice Liddel's!) Pros +Interesting visual style (Put Psychonauts,American Mc Gee's Alice,Fatal Frame,and Silent-Hill into a blender,shake,then serve!) +Fascinating lore and a decent story. +Allows you to fill in the gaps with your imagination. This is very important not just in the fantasy genre but the horror genre as well. +Does not fall into the trap of "Spooky-jump-scares-walking-simulator"! +Atmosphere and suspense so thick you need to cut them with a knife! +Game is indeed challenging +Combat is broken up nicely with exploration and puzzle solving + Deep reserves is a fun rogue-lite diversion offering a lot of replayability after the quest is completed. + You can adjust difficulty when it comes to combat and puzzles much like in the Silent Hill games. Cons -Camera is a bit jank -Controls are a bit jank -Idiots like me are not the fondest of those aforementioned puzzles. (Even on easy where everything gets laid out like bread crumbs!) Hear me "reee" autistically as I yank my hair out! (Lol.) -The enemies charge you relentlessly without recoiling when they're hit or shot. Then they unceremoniously drop like bags of potatoes when you finally kill them! -No voice acting,you have to "read". (Which I could care less about but I know certain people feel differently.) -Akin to other classic survival horror games you can get trapped in your own masochistic repeating loop of death if you save your game at low health whilst not having healing items on reserve to pep you up. (Or ample ammo to survive the next wave of enemies) Remember,use your head! Don't save your progress impulsively. Make sure you are well stocked for any upcoming challenges.

"Hach zu Hause ist es doch am schönsten. Zehn Jahre war ich ja nur weg, soviel wird sich kaum verändert haben. Mein Elternhaus sieht noch genauso aus wie früher, schön dunkel und düster ragt die finstere Villa einsam am Stadtrand auf, herrlich. Und meine Eltern sind auch weg, soso. Na erstmal bisschen rumgucken, was denn hier nur los ist, nichtmal ein Begrüßungskomitee gibts, ist ja fast schade. Aber egal, die Leute werden bloß viel zu tun haben. Aha, immer noch kein Mensch weit und breit, aber wenigstens hatte jeder noch die Zeit, vor seinem mysteriösen Verschwinden ein paar Post It´s und kleine Tagebucheinträge im riesigen Herrenhaus zu verteilen, sehr schön. Also alles finden und los geht die Leserunde, mal schauen... aha: Hier gehts los. Ein Zeitungsausschnitt meint: Düstere Machenschaften im Delaney Institut! Kinder im Folterkeller unter Drogen gesetzt und brutal... blablabla... Oha! Na das hätt ich jetzt nicht erwartet, dann hat sich ja doch einiges verändert, seit ich weg bin. Zu meiner Tante nämlich, die mich aufzog, nachdem ein mysteriöser Fremder im Gegenzug für die Heilung meiner todbringenden Krankheit die Leitung des Instituts verlangte. Denn sowas ist vollkommen normal und meine Eltern haben mich natürlich sofort weggegeben und ihr Lebenswerk noch dazu, denn so handeln normalen Menschen eben... Aber das mit dem Folterkeller und so... Ich weiß ja nicht so recht, muss das denn sein? Na erstmal das Haus weiter durchforsten, kein Mensch allerorten und das Licht ist natürlich auch kaputt. Es war so klar. Huch!?! Da liegt ein Toter, dem die Arme ausgerissen wurden! Puh, jetzt wird mir aber auch ein bisschen mulmig... Aber mit letzter Armkraft hat er vor seinem Tod noch geschwind eine Nachricht auf nen Zettel gekritzelt und den an seine Brust geheftet, ein Glück auch. Mal lesen: Aha, dachte ich´s mir doch gleich: Geheimgesellschaften, irgendwelche außerweltlichen "Alten", Horror Kinderlein und und und... ... na hier war ja was los, während ich nicht da war, puh. Gut, dass immer mal einzelne(!) Streichhölzer im Haus herum liegen und Münzen, mit denen ich mir am Süßigkeitenautomaten Spritzen mit Angst lindernden Drogen drin und Schrot-Patronen kaufen kann, wenigstens das ist noch normal geblieben, immerhin. Hah! Da liegt ja auch schon die Schrotflinte, na wunderbar. Einmal durchladen und los geht die Erkundungstour, alles wie früher also... Erstmal die Tür hier aufkriegen, oh da liegt ne Eisenstange, wie praktisch. Knartz.... Und schon offen, das war ja leicht, mal gucken, was dahinter zu finden ist: Ahhhh! Ein Mutanten Hund! Schnell weg! Naja, das war ja wenig erfreulich, lieber eine Tür weiter nochmal mein Glück probieren: Ahhhh! Eine Zombie-Krankenschwester mit nem Riesenmesser! Schnell weg! Hmpf, also irgendwie hab ich hier ja wirklich nur Pech. Egal, nächste Tür: Ahhhh! Horror Kinder mit vier Armen und verzerrten Gruselfratzen! Schnell weg! Ach wisst Ihr was, Ihr Horrorwesen, ich will gar nicht wegrennen. Hier fresst Schrot ihr Monster. Hahahahaharrrrrrrrrr" BÄMM! PENG! WUMM!!!! Tja, lieber Leser, alles recht normal für so ein Horror-Haus, aber sind deine Nerven auch stark genug, um die total generische Story und die bösen, bösen Monsterchen auszuhalten? Die Antwort lautet natürlich: "Nein!", aber am Ende machst Dus ja trotzdem, obwohl erstmal gar nicht so viel dafür sprechen mag. Die Story ist wirklich Stangenware und die typische Silent Hill, Resident Evil Wackelkamera samt Schleichen durch finstere Gemäuer reißt Innovations technisch niemanden vom Hocker. ABER... Hier gibts trotzdem nen Daumen steil nach oben. Soso, wieso denn das? Zum einen hat endlich nach gefühlt tausend und eins Jahren es mal jemand geschafft, dass genau die altbekannte Schwurbel-Kamera nicht stets total unpraktisch hakelig genau im Kampf gegen eine Hauswand zeigt, unübersichtlich rumruckelt und einen in den Wahnsinn treibt. Stattdessen gibts schicke, atmosphärische Schwenks und Einstellungen, die übersichtlich bleiben und stimmungsvoll ins Gesamtbild passen. Fast wie in Hollywood. Und allein dafür gebührt dem Dev der Ehre-Spiele-Oskar für gelungene Horror Innovation. Und außerdem gibts hier eine richtig sympatische Protagonistin, eine altbackene und dennoch spannend erzählte Geschichte und viel Grusel Standard Kost, aber diese ist nett verpackt, gut inszeniert und deswegen schmeckt sie am Ende trotzdem. Das Monsterdesign ist stimmig und die Viecher sind schrecklich und schick, die Jump Scare Momente halten sich angenehm zurück, stattdessen gibts bedrohliche Atmosphäre und eine wohlig in die Hirnwindungen einsickernde Schauer Stimmung. Nur die altbekannte Horror Game Logik ist genauso löchrig, wie mans halt gewohnt ist. Also denk lieber gar nicht zu angestrengt drüber nach, wieso in nem Kinderheim ein Süßigkeiten Automat mit Gewehrkugeln und Schmerztabletten steht. DAS IST EBEN EINFACH SO! Und Punkt. Da wird nicht viel hinterfragt. Falls Du aber so ein nörgeliger Alles-Hinterfrager bist, dann grübel auch gleich mal über die Monster, Zombies und Konsorten nach, die Dir in den Gängen entgegen schlurfen. Viel logischer wird das Ganze dadurch ja auch nicht. Diesen Games wohnt eben eine ganz eigene, verquere Logik inne, deren geheime Beschaffenheit uns Normalsterblichen leider für immer verschlossen bleibt. Schade. Oder vielmehr gut so! Denn daraus ergibt sich hier ein wirklich stimmungsvoller kleiner Horrorspaß, der mit seichten Stealth und Adventure Klängen beginnt und sich zum Ende hin in ein Schrot-haltiges Blei-Crescendo verdichtet. Zwischendurch wird immer mal ein bisschen Story aufgeschnappt und auch mal leicht gerätselt und gepuzzelt und auch Grafik und Sound sind für so ein Indie Projekt wirklich aller Ehren wert. Passt also alles und schwupp! Schon biste auf dem Weg ins alte Grusel-Häusli und flitzt durch die düsteren, Monster-verseuchten Gänge. Gut so. Und beim Erkunden, Dich manchmal Wundern und immer schön Erschrecken wünsch ich Dir wie immer... ... viel Spaß ;-) Und hey, wenn´s Dir gefallen hat, ne Runde von mir zu lesen, dann klick hier https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41622336/ und da gibts mehr von mir auf meiner Curator Seite. Schmökern for free: Also stell Dir nen Tee bereit und viel Spaß beim lesen...