$14.99Is ELDERBORN worth it?
ELDERBORN is worth it if…
- you want first-person melee combat that rewards reading enemies, not mashing attacks
- you like souls-like games but wish you could swing a greatsword from behind the eyes
- you enjoy building a character your own way across three talent trees
- you want a dark fantasy run you can finish in a handful of evenings, with New Game + waiting after
Screenshots
Combat that makes you earn every kill
This is a game for people who want their melee combat deliberate and skill-based. Every enemy has its own fighting style, its own tricks, its own strengths and weaknesses, and the fights are built around learning them. You dash out of the way, block or parry depending on the weapon in your hand, and answer a well-read attack with a brutal counter. Two or three enemies at once can feel like a lot at first, but nothing here is cheap: once you know the patterns, the same fight becomes a dance. Death sends you back to a fountain, the enemies return, and you come back knowing exactly what went wrong.
Eleven weapons, eleven ways to fight
The arsenal is the heart of the game. Light weapons favour parrying and counters, heavy ones let you block and cleave through groups. There is no gun anywhere in sight, and the game is better for it. Weapons also grow with you, gaining bonuses as you kill, so a favourite blade can stay a favourite.
A doomed city and a soundtrack to match
The world is hand-crafted and grim: catacombs, a monolithic ancient city, towers in the sky and spiraling pits below. Exploration pays off with shortcuts, items, weapons and the occasional monster guarding loot. Lore comes through cutscenes, codex entries and the things you find, enough to give your slaughter a reason. All of it plays out to an original heavy metal soundtrack with tribal flavour and the occasional electronic beat, and when the action spikes, so does the music. You can also kick enemies off ledges, which never stops being satisfying.
What should you know before playing?
Can you play it in your own style?
Yes. Character progression runs through three branches covering strength, speed and resilience, with active and passive skills to unlock as you invest points. You are not locked into one path: spread your points however you like and change your approach mid-run. Level-ups are banked at the fountains that double as respawn points, so deciding when to commit your experience is part of the game.
Is there any way to make fights easier or harder?
The difficulty comes from the combat itself rather than toggles: enemies hit hard, and survival means dodging, parrying and picking your moments. What you control is your build. Investing in health makes mistakes survivable, while stacking attack power and speed turns you into the aggressor. Higher difficulty settings are there for players who want the pressure turned up.
Do you need to know the lore going in?
No. The story is a classic heroic fantasy setup: the barbarian tribes need a dark messiah, and you become one. The deeper lore is optional, told through codex entries, found items and the enemies themselves. You can ignore all of it and the game still works as a pure combat playground, though the city's ancient secrets are there if you go looking.
