G-Doc: Hi everyone!
GDoc here. I'm the writer on the team who made Elderborn. I'll be happy to answer your questions about the game. A friend is taking some GUI screenshots now, so I can post them here for you (that's a very valid point, by the way! we need to add some to the game page as well before the release).
Dark Messiah was indeed our great inspiration (one of the main ones!) and we did our best to live up to its high standards. I'd say for a team of less than 10 (started off as a team of 2 5 years ago), we did ok, even measuring up to a classic A-tier game made with more manpower and budget. We didn't try to mimic any particular game, by the way, even if the inspirations and homages are apparent. Hopefully you'll get to see that our Elderborn is a game standing on its own. :)
Anyway, nice to be back here! Screenshots coming up soon.
EDIT: Here they are. As you can see the UI is pretty minimalistic (but not as minimalistic as in the gameplay video linked above) :) There are some additional pop-ups and notifications showing up from time to time. The other two screenshots show the skill tree screen and the lore codex.
Elderborn looks good. This is the first I have heard of it. I like the vertical level design and exploration. I take it the hud components are optional, similar to the way Prodeus proposes having their hud? I have seen some game play footage with no hud at all.
I am not sold completely on the regenerating health. However, it seems, in this case, the way it is done it adds to the tactical game play. I did not see any health pick ups in the video I saw. Looking forward to trying it out. Any ETA on the release date beyond coming soon. I imagine when it leaves early access on Steam.
Are you going to be offering GOG connect for Steam owners?