Author: Jacob Bullard

Valheim is an early access multiplayer third-person open world survival game. Set in Valheim (basically Limbo for vikings) you explore, fight, gather, and craft to survive the harsh environment. Although similar to Limbo you won’t be leaning under any sticks, just getting whacked with them. As soon as you spawn in it is made clear that your main purpose is to fight five bosses that Odin wants dead! There’s not a lot of story or exposition dumped on you, so it’s straight to the action. We’ve all seen our fair share of open world, survival, crafting games that you can probably guess how the first 15 minutes of gameplay go. But in Valheim it’s a little bit different and in all the right ways, specifically in the progression.

Compared to other OWSC (Open World Survival Crafting) games Valheim likes to revolve around the bosses that you are meant to hunt down. You start gathering flint, cutting down trees, you know the usual stuff. Well how do you start mining copper and other metals? Well you simply SACRIFICE DEER HEADS TO THE DEER GOD AND BATTLE HIM AS HE SHOOTS LIGHTNING OUT OF HIS ANTLERS AND CHARGES YOU AT MACH 10. With that out of the way now we can make a pickaxe out of his bones! I bet you know history as well as I do, it goes (Stone Age, Demon Deer God Age, Bronze Age, etc). Having certain resources, essential tools, and areas locked behind bosses means that you can’t just craft your way to victory. Combat is essential and is a driving force that makes you fight bosses multiple times to create and upgrade your weapons while you get ready for the next one. With a lack of story I will be dedicating most of this review to multiple aspects of gameplay that make Valheim stand out to me. With the core driving force out of the way, let’s get to the second course of this meal, literally!

With all this fighting you are going to be getting some hefty battle wounds and you’re gonna reach for a health potion pretty quick, but there’s none around. In Valheim you need to eat food consistently to keep your health-bar at a fighting standard. Now you can’t just down 10 cheese wedges Skyrim style and get fighting fit, you’re a viking and you need a balanced diet! Mixing three different food types that can give you three different benefits before combat is the most optimal way to slay Deer butt. You know what papa Odin always says “You can’t expect to kill my foes on an empty stomach!” Later on you even unlock a cauldron schematic that allows you to create soups that combine and enhance certain effects to use before battle. Along with a Tony the Tiger approved balanced breakfast you also need to rest those big viking muscles, with a super comfy crib!

Building a shelter doesn’t just protect you from the rain and monsters in Valheim, it also provides comfort. Comfort is a status applied to you by being in shelter, standing by a fire, and having furniture and rugs in your lodging. After being surrounded by enough comfort objects you will get the “Rested” attribute that greatly enhances your stamina regeneration that you will desperately need to outrun your electric elk-kin killer. A lot of your gameplay is preparing your gear, eating right, and getting rested up to fight which adds a lot to the realism of the game even if that’s not the key point it’s still a very interesting feature that really grounds the fantasy styled world of Valheim. So you have your purpose, your lunch packed, and your feet rested so what about the actual gameplay?

The current gameplay is serviceable but is slightly lacking. With the amount of detail the rest of the game has the combat feels a bit floaty and the AI tends to just run straight at you. Thankfully the developers “Iron Gate AB” have said this is a feature that they intend to expand upon in the future. Although the fighting itself is okay I do like the skills that you develop while you play. Running, jumping, sword fighting, these are all skills that you can increase as you use them. Small milestones like these with incremental bonuses make you feel like your character is actually developing said skills and not just the master of all weapons and combat like most games. When you die you lose progress on these skills so you are less likely to just jump into the fire repeatedly just to get your gear back. Preparing is an essential piece of Valheim but so far nothing has felt too grindy. There are also plenty of quality of life aspects in Valheim that I always beg for in other games!

A lot of simple features in games get overlooked when in reality they make games so much more enjoyable. Moving while your inventory is open, being able to make custom marks on your map, holding control and instantly moving an item to storage, being able to turn snapping structures on and off. I could go on but there are so many quality of life changes in this game that you can tell these developers have played a lot of OWSC games and they KNOW what they want. Being an early access, open world, survival, crafting game is a combo that plenty of people will roll their eyes at and not even give it the time of day. If you haven’t taken a look at Valheim I implore you to watch some gameplay and try to tell me the ambiance, the style, and the world doesn’t make you want to explore the hazy mystical forests. 

A note to end on is that Valheim mixes preparation, combat, and crafting all while displaying a unique artstyle akin to a high resolution playstation one callback but somehow showcasing beautiful scenery and landscapes. With over 5 million purchases already I doubt you haven’t heard of the title, but I still felt I needed to write this piece for any of those who haven’t gone and picked it up. Twenty dollars and I’ve already dropped 40 hours on this game without getting to the 3rd boss. With more updates on the way, an improved combat system being created, and continued support I suspect Valheim will be around for a long time. I would even say it can compete with titles such as ARK and Rust. Multiplayer, solo, or in a private world with friends, go carry out Odin’s will!