Eldervale Reviews

Ok little game Good: - maybe not entirely an artistic decision but the harsh, sparse, kinda early 2000's TV CGI look lends the game a certain creepy flair - very good sound/music - pretty well designed map with shortcuts and such, exploring it and finding tokens (to buy stuff) was fun Bad: - lame floaty melee combat. Shooting was ok - some signs and lettering seems straight out of MS Paint/Photoshop or whatever with no texturing or anything to make em fit at least somewhat into the environment. They stand out like TF2 Sprays and it just looks cheap and ghetto. Its such a little thing but so harmful to the games otherwise nice look, in my opinion Starts out abit boring but was unique enough to keep me engaged for the ~4 hours it took me to play thru it. If you wanna try it id recommend buying on sale tho, full price is abit steep compared to other stuff out there

The atmosphere is good, the story isn't much but is a welcome, is heavily inspired from Silent Hill and has some decent spooks in it. The issue is the game is really jank and feels unfinished so I suggest getting it on sale, if you don't mind jank or if you really love survival horror games. I suggest to play it in bursts to avoid frustration. So overall it is a negative review but if you don't mind the warnings I gave I highly suggest this game. The gun combat is serviceable and I like how scarce finding ammo is but the melee combat is horrible. No pain states to stun enemies, feels the animations don't really line up with attacks so you just end up trading blows with it being hard to dodge and block feels useless because of this so it just ends up exchanging health instead of ammo. It is hard fighting one enemy with melee, and the game likes to throw multiple at you or one really strong one. So what ends up happening is you end up running a lot, but you can't run far unless you know where you are going already. At first I thought crouching was just used to get into small spaces because stealth is just broken in the game, it doesn't work. I make sure to turn off my flashlight and even stay still and enemies still somehow notice me, and all of them run so you just can't walk around them. Token collecting I find extremely fun for some reason, the map is easy to navigate and is really hard to get lost which may be a pro or con depending on how you look at things and as I mentioned before I like how scarce ammo is, even if it does take a lot of ammo to take down an enemy. The music is also really good as well. No idea what candles are supposed to do but it is a mechanic in the game with limited matches.

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.

This is a very well made little horror game, I have enjoyed every minute so far... I still feel like there's a lot more to do so definitely got my moneys worth out of it, and am looking forward to the remaster.

I recommend to the survival horror group out there. Limited resources, some minor backtracking, and a big mansion. It has cartoonish graphics and the pickup items are so obvious you can't miss them because of how different they are to the map.

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.

Honestly surprised with Eldervale. The controls are a little clunky and graphically it's very minimal but the feeling, atmosphere and story are really well done. A pretty cheap, decent horror game which is rare to come by these days, definitely worth a go if you want that survival horror itch scratched. For Gameplay of Eldervale check out my video here: https://youtu.be/jAb7dt1Mhlw

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.

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 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.