Valheim is a voxel based sandbox SCANDANAVIAN survival game! That's right, VIKINGS! If you've ever wanted a creative mode version of Skyrim without learning the Creation Engine, then this is kind of it.
The game starts with you, the player, being dropped via giant crow into the fictional (and by fictional I mean not traditional Norse mythology) tenth, eponymous realm of Valheim. The crow (whose name I cannot remember) then guides your actions through a tutorial that teaches you how to play. Like any other survival game, the first things you gather are wood and stones and before you know it, you'll have a house! Of course this world is not without danger; in the distance you might be able to catch impish creatures scurrying around in the woods.
The combat can be quite punishing. At times it reminds me of Dark Souls combat, but many other times it feels positively generic. The penalty for death is quite high, as you lose experience levels and all your items drop (safely stored in a tombstone though a la No Man's Sky). If you had sailed to another island during this time, your boat does not return with you. This is probably the most serious complain I have with the game, as travel time is this game is quite high and it can be a pain to build another boat.
Despite the many ways in which this early access game feels finished, there are many parts that don't: The edge of the world seems barren and there are not very many biomes to discover.
Though I have some complaints about this game, it is still in early access and I greatly hope to see it improve over time. Go check this game out if you are into difficult games and supporting creative indie developers.
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