Japanese indie dev noa has announced an Early Access release date for Elin, the followup to legendary free roguelike JRPG Elona.
Originally funded via Kickstarter last year, Elin will enter Early Access on November 1st, according to a post on the game’s official Steam page. The devs say you can expect the game to cost you around $20.
According to noa, there’s still “a long way to go” before Elin could be called complete, but “over 150 updates” have been made since the game’s alpha version launched towards the end of 2023. If you’re interested, you can see the full Elin changelog, which contains details regarding all of the game’s updates, here.
Changes made to the build this month include the addition of “unique divine equipment from all gods”, as noa tells it, as well as new enchantments for both factions and equipment, new pet growth features, and “shipment reporting functions”.
Beta keys for Elin will also be sent to all backers who haven’t received a key yet in August, so if you’re still waiting on your chance to try the game out, you shouldn’t have to wait too much longer.
If you’re wondering exactly what Elin is, it’s a roguelike JRPG with an emphasis on the twin concepts of “freedom” and “chaos”, according to noa. It features a new isometric visual style, as well as an amount of content that “far exceeds” that offered by Elona, which, as noa points out, many people played “for thousands of hours”.
![Characters standing in an indoor environment in Elin, the followup to Elona](https://techraptor.net/sites/default/files/styles/content_inline_mobile/public/images/elin-early-access-release-date-indoors.jpg?itok=1n9txiiw)
Elin‘s Steam page promises a “sandbox RPG with survival, crafting, home and town building and management”, as well as a mixture of procedural generation and “well-developed fixed maps” that the devs say will be “faithful to the world setting”. In short, if you loved Elona, you’ll almost certainly love Elin too.
You’ll be able to check out Elin when it launches on PC via Steam Early Access on November 1st. Stay tuned for more.