Elderand is aMetroidvaniadripping in beautiful pixel art, smooth combat and cool sound effects. It’s got a bunch of weapons and even more enemies to use them on. Heck, it’s even got a traveling merchant. This all forms a solid foundation for a game that packs a big journey with even bigger challenges into a relatively brief play time.
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With so much good going for it, Elderand doesn’t need to improve much, as it has plenty of space to expand on the things it’s done well, and add new, exciting features in the places where it might run a bit thin. Bigger isn’t always better, but in a world as rich and dazzling as that of Elderand’s, you can’t help but daydream about the possibilities that lie just beyond that final boss battle.
10Make Ranged Weapons More Viable
A well-balanced arsenal of weapons is a hallmark of a great Metroidvania, and while Elderand’s lineup of bashers, slicers, and pummelers gives players plenty to choose from, the most viable of the bunch tend to trend in the melee direction. Bows, staffs, and throwables mostly take a backseat to swords, whips, and battle-axes as you grind your way through punishing mobs and heavy-hittingbosses.
Not only could Elderand buff the overall strength of ranged weapons, it could introduce functionality that makes them more versatile on the battlefield - like giving them the ability to aim, and removing the ammunition limit on bows and throwables in exchange for a rechargeable stamina reserve akin to mana.
9Make The Game Longer
For all its richly detailed environments and the uniquely creepy enemies haunting them, Elderand is a noticeably short experience. In particular, players who are already familiar with the ins and outs of the genre and don’t require familiarization with the game’s mechanics and strategic best practices might be left wanting after the final boss bites the dust.
All games must draw a line somewhere, but it is easy to imagine an extended Elderand world—maybe in the form of aDLCor sequel—that adds more mystical lore to uncover, more shadowy corridors to wander, and most importantly, more daunting baddies to vanquish.
8More Magic, Please
At risk of overcomplicating things, Elderand could add an exciting new dimension to its game mechanics with a measured introduction of more magical elements. With your hunter already equipped with a supply of mana that mostly serves to regulate the ranged attack of staffs, that ephemeral, blue stuff of sorcerers has plenty of potential to serve as a foundation for an expanded palette of spellbinding abilities.
What if your hunter could cast spells like Amon, Master of Serpents? What if staffs could be dual-wielded with swords and had the ability to buff them with magic? These are just a few possibilities for a game that feels primed to take better advantage of its already well-functioning combat mechanics.
7Hunter Needs More Stats
As it stands, your hunter is limited to four upgradable stats that improve strength, magic ability, health, and critical hit chance. While there’s nothing wrong with this setup at face value, when combined with the suggestions offered in the rest of this list, it’s easy to imagine a more advanced skill tree that gives you the ability to make your hunter into a unique creation.
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In addition to forcing players to pay more attention to the way they spend their attribute points, an Elderand skill tree could introduce specializations that reward players for having a preferred play style. But make sure it’s simpler thanSalt and Sanctuary’s.
6More Creative Afflictions
Outside their basic attack mechanics, like agility and ranged ability, mobs in Elderand are relatively one-dimensional. Except for a few afflictions, like a bleed effect, they just hit hard and often. This works most of the time, because they’re generally hitting harder and more often than you want. But as you build patience and start understanding how to dodge, you might wish they had a few more tricks up their sleeves.
Give mobs extra abilities based on their type and origin, and players would have to adjust their play style more drastically from area to area. This is already a feature of bosses, but there’s no reason why their loyal subjects shouldn’t have even a fraction of that extra juice.
5More Character Customization
Just before you begin your Elderand journey, you get the chance to take just a little bit of artistic license on the look of your hunter. Try not to regret your choices, though, because you’re stuck with it until you start a new game.
Not only could Elderand give players the option to update these minor features throughout their experience, but why not introduce a more advanced customization tool set? Granted, there are only so many pixels to work with, but there has to be enough to give your hunter a cool scar, or a few more inches of height.
4A Crafting System
In a game with discoverability mechanics mostly defined by finding and opening chests hidden throughout the map, the thought of crafting items feels distant. Chests get repetitive pretty quickly, so giving players the ability to build and brew out of raw materials dropped from mobs, for example, might be a welcome addition to the game.
Enemies are already well-designed to appear native to their respective biomes in Elderand, so it’s a short jump from that to a more robust category of dropped items that reward players for exploring the map to completion, and with which you could craft things like extra potions or even new weapons.
3Side Quests
This could fit into the “make the game longer” suggestion, but even if Elderand wasn’t expanded physically (as in if the size of the playable area didn’t grow), the game could still introduce many more quest-dealing NPCs that both deepen the game’s lore and give players more to accomplish.
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This would also eliminate the need for so many hidden chests, by increasing the number of creative ways to give playersloot. It could also make combat feel more consequential if quests required players to kill a certain number of specific enemies or impose time limits on certain tasks.
2Hunter Needs A Wingman
In-game pets are rarely a nuisance. They’re more of a win-win: you get a companion that can help you in some significant way to achieve your goals. So, why shouldn’t you have one in Elderand?
Maybe your hunter could get a hunting dog that can be unleashed on your foes. Or maybe it’s not a pet at all, and rather a companion of the bipedal variety: someone who joins you on your mission into the dungeons and with whom you could experience more complex and rewarding battles. The possibilities are endless.
1Disable Enemy Respawn
Okay, okay, this is one of those things you should expect from Metroidvanias, but you’d be lying if you said younevergot a little bit exasperated when you exit a room you spent ten minutes clearing out just to realize you forgot to open the chest full of valuable loot.
Admittedly, enabling players to disable or slow enemy respawn would shorten Elderand’s already short play time, but for players who want a more casual experience, it might be a helpful option to include.
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