Recent reviews by VerikoN

I've really enjoyed this game. I'm playing mostly co-op, because their co-op system is just far and beyond better than most soul-like games on the market. The magic and ranged weapon systems in the game feel great, and lend to diverse build capacity that even outstrips most Action RPGs like Diablo IV I've seen on the market as of late. They're consistently updating the game and have taken player feedback well, implementing changes to a number of features. When they made gear changes, they gave us extra materials to compensate. When they were getting feedback about the NG+ system, them implemented options for what kind of NG+ you wanted to experience. Overall, they've really impressed me.

The only complaint I have is the lock-on seems to be a bit inconsistent, especially in certain locations where it just doesn't seem to function at all.

This game has impressive length, and a wide world to explore. The fighting is satisfying, and watching your troop grow and develop is exciting. The economy of the game has plenty of utility and versatility. Overall, a very worthwhile title.

However, it does have faults.
1* The game needs optimized. It runs hot on the GPU at 60 FPS. Backing off some of the settings helps, and doesn't make a very drastic visual change to the game, which leads me to believe there are other issues with the higher end settings in the engine.

2* Bugs and variability in wording/tool-tips. Some base camp tools read their interaction tool-tips in a different language than the game is set to, such as the Tent saying "gérer" instead of Manage when set to English, which is French. Some tool-tips don't reference the correctly associated items, such as "Brave's Oil Concentrate" referencing a Courageous Oil, when it's supposed to say Brave's Oil. Some significant accessories are also broken, such as "Erkeshet's Chisel," which is supposed to increase the production of your active camp workstations by 1, but I still only get 3 Honey from the Beehive, 2 Ghost Leather from the Tanner's Rack and so on. The game still obviously needs some cleanup.

3* Strange designs of some weapons, such as the "Horoun's Partisan." This polearm has a reach attack, and will cause the unit using it to perform an attack of opportunity when hitting a target that has been struck by it's sister weapon, the "Narses' Bow." However, attacks of opportunity do not proc unless you're adjacent to a unit, negating the benefits of the weapon being a polearm if you wish to take advantage of this Legendary Weapon's effect.

4* Some professions are agony to level. Woodcutter for example only gains a pittance of about 13-16xp even with profession boosting effects per round, and each workstation in the world takes time to recover. I was able to level a Bard from Novice to Master in less time than it took my Woodcutter to finish leveling from Experienced into Journeyman, and now with the next level taking 1280 XP to reach, I will likely beat the game before he reaches Master.

All of this and of course Golden, Ornate and Crude keys will have you wanting to rip your hair out. But other than that, it's a great journey.

In my opinion, one of the greatest games of all time.

Lots of creative outlets, a clear path of progression, and diverse environments come together to create an extraordinary survival exploration experience.

I originally down voted this game because of significant flaws that hindered my experience. Since so much work has been poured into this game since, and many concerns have been addressed, I felt it was time to update my review.

With the change to save data handling, the game has become much more 'user experience' oriented, since players can make adjustments to their local save data. This allows a player to enjoy the game the way they want, which is significant. Along with new game modes, additional maps, and growing library of technologies to acquire and utilize, the game is really coming together. I personally feel it has something for all survival fans at this point, with more to come.

After over 125 hour in this game, playing both solo and with friends, I can honestly say this game has re-established my love of video gaming. After years of AAA studios slaughtering my faith in development/deployment, a 5 man development team that clearly has passion for what they're crafting has brought back craftsmanship and joy to the video gaming community.

Valheim has been a beautifully simplistic, and engaging experience since the get go. I spend hours progressing, without feeling as though I'm facing frustrating progression hurtles. The combat is engaging, and can surprise you when you are least prepared. The intensity and wonder of entering a new biome to find the next foe, and the next material, is such a thrill and pleasure!

I can not wait to see what the team at Iron Gate brings us down the road for this game. Please, developers (and pushy publishers\funders) all around: Pay attention to Iron Gate, they're going places.