Im normally not one for feature suggestions, but i really think there should be some sort of rune codex in somewhere such as Eleanor.
Its a pretty obvious idea so i assume the devs have probably already thought of that, but id still like write this so i can highlight what i think would be nice about it/how it can be used to add cool things.
The general basic idea : After upgrading Eleanor’s shop, you gain access to her rune codex, and unlock more of its features by upgrading Eleanor further. It lets you collect the runes you find and place them there, and it can display information about them.
These are the reasons why i think it would be a super nice thing to add, and how it would help fix a lot of present issues in a nice and natural manner :
1- Like the director said, NPCs and shops should be more than glorified menus. So add some cool progression and goal to it that leads into more content.
Right now, Eleanor and the other town people are mostly indeed glorified menus. You really just go to her for enchants and purchases and sales, and not much grows from that.
A codex would be an excellent opportunity to add some content here, while making Eleanor actually have some character progression.
While you have this general side goal of collecting a lot of runes and filling out the codex on her request… What if upon reaching certain milestones, she gets some progression on her own goals, maybe point you towards her new sidequests, unlock new rune-related options in her shop so you gain more options, maybe some special reward like a quest for runes that cant be found anywhere else… and all that?
2- Being able to see more information about runes.
Right now the only way to see anything about runes is to try them out, and yes, experimentation is cool, but it would genuinely be good to be able to bring a rune somewhere to read information about it. Specially because some things can be vague and hard to gauge… Or maybe because you cant try out the damage numbers of a rune if you dont have the stats for it, unless you destroy the weapon and put the rune somewhere else. Or maybe to help people know if a rune has some effect like innate knockdown or bypassing shields. Or things such as being able to see the exact ratios off runes such as the one that converts health to focus.
A lot of people requested any sort of tooltip or general way to view information about runes and read upon what they do, and this would be a nice and immersive way without cluttering the UI. It also gives more meaning to Eleanor upgrades and the likes : Progress more, get to see more information.
3- Helps prevent some of the potential rune scarcity
Maybe a cool rune can only be found on a very specific weapon, and you want another copy, but you really struggle finding that weapon amidst the 9999 other weapons in the game that drop at pure random? Have little hopes of getting a rune belonging to low tier weapons while playing in your current tier? Someone in a replay really wants to try a certain rune, but cant find it after ages of searching?
The codex can help counteract those problems.
Maybe you could spend some resources to create a copy of a rune that you have on your codex. Maybe the codex could allow you/help you to identify and acquire runes that you dont have collected in some way.
4. It would genuinely be great for encouraging variety and experimentation
Not only gives the player higher incentive to check out random runes they find, but also gives them a more convenient and rewarding way to do it.
It would help the player keep records of runes without flooding their inventory, and be able to search them without having to use external resources. For example, if someone wants to add rune to their moveset in order to accomplish a specific goal, but doesnt know specifically which, they can go to their collection of runes and see if they previously found anything that fits their need.
If someone has no interest in a rune, they can put it there instead of discarding it and immediatelly forgetting about it. That way, theres now a higher chance that, in the future, they will see it in their codex and decide they would get some good use out of it.
A lesser optional thing : On the topic of rune previews
Korol once said that he wouldnt like something such as videos or representations, but to be honest :
Moon has a great art team, and tons of other games managed to do their own cool artsy ways to represent attacks and moves, letting people have an idea of what the moves do & making them more interested in trying them out, while simultaneously being a great touch of art that makes the game look cooler. Surely moon would be able to come up with some cool and thematically fitting manner to represent the rune attacks that isnt just a straight-up video? These “whispers” and all that, could have misty looking echo of a character performing the ability.
Theres even more potential when it comes to aesthetics : the concept of a rune codex definitely sounds like a place for a remarkably neat and interesting UI.
So yes, i think a rune codex would bring a lot of nice things, help Eleanor become a cool character with her own progression instead of mostly just being a menu-service, be a nice vehicle for good aesthetics… And even give some encouragement to do something about all these runes that are identical to others.