How Valheim Recaptures The Magic Of Survival Games
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- Опубликовано: 30 июл 2024
- Survival games have become one of the most popular genres, but it's a genre where many games share the same faults. Valheim seems to be ducking that trend, providing a unique experience that cleverly avoids the pitfalls of the genre while leaning into what makes survival games so great.
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Things I love about Valheim:
- The immersive feel. The simple textures and beautiful lighting give it a gorgeous, stylized look that stands out when so many games go for the same hyper-realistic look and drab palette. I can enjoy just vibing in my base and gazing at the fire. Each biome's visuals and soundtrack place you firmly in its atmosphere.
- The build system. It strikes the right balance with snapping angles and shapes, avoiding being too chaotic or too limiting. The materials give it a unified, natural look, so your buildings fit in even if you're not an expert builder. There's variety without it being overwhelming.
- Combat mechanics. There's certainly a lot of room to improve here, but I think the weapons are pretty well balanced, so no single weapon is perfect for every situation and any weapon type can be effective depending on your fighting style. The game doesnt force you into playing one way, like Skyrim and stealth archery
- Freedom. Like your video shows, Valheim has a pretty clear progression but it nudges players in the right direction rather than forcing you to do something. It rewards careful thought and preparation but isnt overly punishing of mistakes.
- Base-building and exploration support each other. The exploration/resource mechanics encourage you to set up outposts to rest & prepare for further fights. It resolves my main criticism of vanilla Minecraft, that there are few important resources you really need to explore much to get, so there's little inherent incentive to go very far from spawn
You didn't mention the lighting which is god tier
And the weather system. Imo, Valheim has one of the most immersive weather system in a game and I've played rdr2 lol.
The game is just so good at immersing you in each biome. I can go into any biome and just enjoy being in it (well, except the swamp maybe) or even just vibe by the fire in my base on a stormy day
They reward instead of punish. Even if, mechanically, it is the same, it leaves you feeling rewarded, instead of obliged, to engage in every aspect
A good example of this is the mountains and mining silver. I can basically skip silver and go straight to black metal at this point, but it’d feel much nicer to be more powerful and have silver gear at my disposal
If we were talking about pre ashlands, I would 100% agree. Ashlands was probably the first time I was genuinely mad about the game design
One other thing I love about Valheim is the Plains. It has such a pleasant, charming atmosphere that when you first encounter it you think its going to be nice and easy. Nope. Its zen vibes are a lethal illusion to new players lol
7:20 That's crazy, because that's how it was for me. I played Valheim with my brother and I didn't really enjoy it at first, in fact I remember saying one time "You're going to have to build because I can't figure this shit out". The best part, is now a days, I'll spend days working on just one build lol.
Also, just a helpful tip, like you said earlier, preparation is king in this game. So when you get there, being prepared for Mistlands and Ashlands will make the experience significantly more smooth and enjoyable.
I definitely feel you there. I found the building system really off putting at first but it's become my focus while playing and possibly my favorite in gaming.
The changes in world settings were a game changer, lowering the difficulty (for me) and allowing me to carry materials/loot through portals. A BIG BIG game changer! The first time I tried Valheim, I gave up at the swamp level (1.5 years ago) after enjoying the first two biomes. Two swamp archers were enough to drop me every time. I thought it was impossible. Now, after returning to the game, I am almost ready to move on to Ashlands. Incredible! I didn't think I'd ever make it. The base building is extremely good.
1800 odd happy hours in, my goto game, it's a joyous exercise in frustration, lol.
Ha! So true!
Agree. 1300 hrs in.
Wow! You all are an inspiration...or maybe just validating and enabling 🤣
I don't play for at least 1 week after a death
Great game! And fun fact, both Minecraft and Valheim is from Swedish developers
Dang, this review is likely the very best one I’ve watched, and I’ve watched many, hell I thought I watched em all. But you are absolutely correct. Like you I had valheim for some time prior to playing it.
I was stuck on, “I don’t wanna play a game with such lo res gfx. One day I got bored, fired it up. Made it past Eikthyr… and when the Black Forest grind hit me, I was absolutely hooked. I made my first cart, was able to design a road system… then thought “hmmm, I wonder if someone made a backpack or quiver mod? I found both of those items.
I now rent a server for my dad and myself. We use just under 100 mods. I could not be happier, or more impressed with a game. Best game of all time.
Excellent review and spot on. I've been playing this game a LOT for almost a year. I consider it my second home and love so many aspects of it. I also don't feel the need to rush through it and am just now savoring the plains. I've been tempted into the borders of the Mistlands but haven't even really finished appreciating all the aspects of the Mountain biome. It's this freedom to explore and have non-linear rewards that is pretty amazing. I think the comparison to Minecraft is spot on too. I jumped from Minecraft to Valheim and was instantly in love. Like you I usually just dig a hole or appropriate some old building but as time has gone on, I've started gradually getting more sophisticated in my building. The game is just full of potential and creativity without forcing you into any narrow path. And it is still challenging and even sometimes brutal. I even like the multi-world aspect. I have one world where i defeat the bosses and thus incur the more punishing raids but then I bring the resources back to my "retirement" world where I've only defeated Eikthyr and only have to deal with "The Forest is Moving"....which still sounds ominous even after all this time.
Take your time my dude. Wish I did my first playthrough... I mean I had 400 hours ish on it... but still wish took longer. If you're enjoying where you're at enjoy it!
Im in ashlands having fomo of finishing.
Same thing here… not sure of my hours. But I’m sure around 300 I wasn’t even at the plains yet. I wasn’t so starved for content that I felt the need to speed run just to see what’s next.
I do however feel the urge to suggest to everyone the utilization of mods. This game, is fantastic. Therzies mods. I’m r Epic loot, or both. Marlthons ship and farming mods. Backpack, quiver, and any build piece mod you can get your hands on to spice up your building if you LOVE to build.
Just you wait... The mistlands has a big surprise for you
Personally, my favorite biome
The Mislands took the worst part of every biome, and put it into one. Biggest L IronGate has ever taken
Mistlands is just a tutorial for what you are going to experience in the ashlands
I recommend upgrading gear a bit before you go into Mistlands... The enemies there hit hard, and the terrain is rough.
My favorite weapons are attgeirs and the Frostnir, which is a weapon that will carry you far into Ashlands if need be.
Pro tip & minor spoiler: Bring heat resist potions for mountain cave exploration. :P
Also, don't overlook the Resistance vs Pierce on the Root Harnesk! Aside from being useless in the Mountains, I've worn that armor all the way into the Ashlands.
I just yesterday completed mistlands & oh boys i can say new world will open to you, also new fears 😂😂
*Laughs in Morgen*
@@eamh2002 Morgens never gave me a problem on their own. Extremely easy to dodge, I don't think one has ever hit me, even when my attention was on other enemies. I can parry them with low level mistlands tier weapons. The only bad thing is they have so much HP they take too long to kill and end up keeping me distracted long enough for a whole army of charred to assemble. Valkyries and starred asksvin are harder, imo.
@@eamh2002 I like to keep Morgen around because they help kill all the other fodder chasing you. I haven't played since the Ashlands spawn rate nerf, so maybe now being swarmed is less of an occurrence xD
Level 2 or 3 Asksvins on the other hand... ugh.
@@barccy Yeah its 3rd party asksvins that come join the fun when youre fighting a valkyrie. Those are my nightmare :)
@@sweatyeti Agreed, they sometimes dont make any sound until you get headbutted to 50% hp or lava 💀
Iron armor and eating yellow mushrooms in the plains was killing me
So interesting to hear more experiences of people getting back into the game after so much time, I thought I was alone but the fact so many videos have talked about it lately kind of shock me. It makes me excited to learn more!
Worst parts of (vanilla) Valheim: The grind. Arbitrary transport limitations. Eventual unweildy inventory management. Not enough inventory space.
Best Parts of (vanilla) Valheim: The ambiance. The environment. Building. Terraforming. Exploring. Discovering new resources. Discovering rare items that unlock rare weapons. Biome themes and connected resources. Satisfying progression.
I don't really find the grind to be that bad. The only time I (or anyone else I've played with) felt like it was grindy was directly mining copper. Which is solved by digging under the node until there's nothing supporting it.
I also don't think the transport limitations are arbitrary at all, with 90% of limited items being metal. The other items mostly make sense to me, except the Dvergr extractor, but its used in the biome you get it from so whatever. I think the limits are great, and incentivize sailing, which is just super chill. Nothing beats the high of docking with a boat full of metal, then unloading it all.
Inventory can get messy at times, but honestly, I don't think its that bad.
I will say, I won't ever play vanilla Valheim again as there's just so many QOL mods that make the game much more enjoyable.
I hope this hasn't come across rude at all, we both love this game and are clearly passionate about it. I just disagree with your criticisms of the game currently, though I am very open to listen to the reasons you feel this way. I completely agree with the best parts you gave.
Valheim is so well balanced in progression and crafting. So that you'll always have something hard to complete, some new item to gather or craft, New base to build etc. Not having to craft the same item 100 times or grind the same mob for hours to progress. The crafting is also intuitive and cleverly done with expansions to the benches. I love not have to search through 15 benches looking for the thing I need to make a thing to make the thing, and then realising I'm missing a component I have no clue how to get. I love Valheim.
Yeah, it‘s my favorite death and headwind simulator. And for god sake… where is my bloody stamina 😂
I like how you mention food at the beginning and then later run into the Plains on mushrooms 🤣
Another great thing about valheim is the lack of responsibility. The game doesn’t make you do anything (leaving a lot of room for challenge runs, which is nice too) but rather recommends things to you. You don’t have to make a big storage area or an efficient farm, but it’ll help you in the long run. And hey, while you’re at it, why don’t you make it look nice too? Valheim makes you WANT to explore the mechanics and take in everything the game has to offer instead of shoving it in your face
This! The game offers you freedom while 'nudging' you in the right direction. I think the combat is a great example of that, where you have several different weapon types, and sure, some are clearly better than others in certain situations, but you can make any weapon type work if you adapt your tactics to its fighting style
Every single gameplay i log out with more knowledge. Every single world is awesome the way they can be. Valheim is def my favorite game on steam.
The fact it is a game made for gamers rather than primarily made for profit is where the root of Valheim's success comes from. The thing that stands out the most, as a veteran player of Valheim, is that you can play the game however you want, when you want. From just goofing around or building, or from no danger at all to intense battle, etc. The map you play on in of itself affects how you play, and the progression. The creative possibilities are, well, just look at what so many have done! Is it a game that is a canvas, or a canvas that is a game? Yes, and yes! On top of this incredible variation in play inherent in the game, the devs made the mod creators part of their plan by providing excellent SDKs. This means that you can mod, and have a fresh game, rinse/repeat. IMHO, replay-ability is why the game stays relevant all this time while still in pre-release, and DLCs so far apart did not kill it's audience. By far, the best game I've played in maybe....50+ years?
Good luck with mistlands and Ashlands. Skål!
My biggest problem with Valheim is the way that it just abandons its own progression tiers instead of scaling them up into the current one. It's most obvious with resources; for example if you're at the current endgame when was the last time you needed copper, or silver, or troll hides, or leather scraps from that 2-star boar farm you spent so much time on? How many chests full of Greydwarf Eyes do you have tucked away somewhere? ... I wish the Devs would spend some time raising those old tiers up into usefulness, maybe similar to how Conan Exiles does it.
I think the thing that i love most about valhiem is therr is no rush, it used to be like that for minecraft but it changed
Really love the game and your review captures some of why.
Nice video
0:40 holy shit that's a 2* Troll, pretty rare
For the reasons you've said, Valheim has replaced Minecraft as my go-to game.
Edit, you dont have to be in closed area, you can just sit nearby the fire on the ground without a roof. Also for roll dodge you dont have to crouch, just block and use jump key.
Make sure the block is depressed before the jump, otherwise it doesn't work.
I used to use first person mode on valheim, i hate third person, i almost not bought the game on pre release due to this point. But for god i have bought it, the game is insane cool. I guess the dark theme helps as well... I have down the first person mode due to issues with modes in general, i miss the first person mode, is not that hard to implement, the game is even amazing on first person, because you can 100% play just removing any helmet hair from the camera in first person and hook the camera on forehead of the character... The bow still aiming wrongly, the sword still swing on the same level, but the immersion is brutal dude... If i had a better palce to pick and easy install of modes, for sure i always used it... The game claims a first person against those giant boss, in third person you only aim to the foot, in first you aim to the head without any issue of not knowing the surrounds making a oddly movement or something in front of you character, i also can remember better any position in maps, because the move is much grounded and is easy to mind map anything, not just the minimap stuff LOL
Be prepared for the punishment when you get to the mistlands and then double that for the ashlands.
What I think Minecraft needs to adopt from Valheim is the food system and progression. Valheim does armor and tools so much better than Minecraft. I can get diamond gear after just 15-20 minutes of playing if I get lucky and find a village. No one ever bothers with wooden tools, except a pick, or leather armor (unless I find it in a chest). My first set of tools are stone until I get enough iron which doesn't take very long. Heck, I don't even bother mining iron anymore. It's easier to find a village and set up an Iron Golem farm. Then there are gold tools/armor which no one bothers with. At most, I craft a gold helm or boots when I go to the nether. There's no reason to craft full leather or gold armor because better armor is not hard to get early game.
Valheim's progression system solves this- technically, leather armor can be skipped but the Black Forest is a lot more dangerous without it. And without an antler pickaxe, it's nearly impossible to get iron- unless you're really lucky as it is possible to find mud piles outside of sunken crypts in the swamp meaning it's possible to get iron from these by getting an Abomination to destroy them. Oozers also have a very small chance to drop scrap iron. Silver gets even hard since I don't think silver veins ever generate exposed in the Mountains. But it can be found in the Ashlands. However, the Plains armor set cannot be crafted without progressing through the game as there is no way to get linen thread without fighting Moder. Of course, there are the light armor sets which don't require a pickaxe or fighting the bosses. Yet, it is not easy to get any of these sets without the previous- I also forgot to consider crafting upgrades which require the different metals.
While I don't think Mojang would make any big changes like this to the progression, I would love a difficulty setting that slows down the progression. I also think the Valheim food system would work well in Minecraft because food in MC has the same problem. As soon as I find a village I'm eating golden carrots. Best food in Minecraft without a doubt so there's no point in eating anything else. In Valheim, I eat different foods depending on what I'm doing. If I'm in a dangerous biome (Moutain, Plains, etc) then I want high health and stam. But when I'm just around my base I either don't eat or I eat cheap stam foods like honey and queen's jam.
I think the best way to slow down MC progression is by nerfing Villagers. It just so happens that Valheim also solves this with the trader. Haldor unlocks items as bosses are defeated. MC villagers could work a similar instead of just being based off how much you buy from them. Something like the dvergr totem could also prevent players from building OP early game iron farms.
Valheim is the best ❤️ the vibe of the world is unmatched
One of the best games.
love valheim, but ashlands has been a very laggy and frustrating experience. the endless hords of mobs and spawners that it doesnt feel like you can make a dent in. the game has been so fun up to this point but i find ashlands to be very frustrating.
I was confused why you were talking about minecrsft for a while
That's crazy dude you're gonna kinda hate the next two biomes lol. I know I did
I hate how it combines rpg and survival mechanics. Please dont make my character's health bar and life regeneration only come from food 😅
i cannot give valheim 10/10 just because the combat verticality is horrible, but its a great game
💯
See this is a beautiful thing and we know this. OG Minecraft and Valheim prepare us to be satisfied with the simple things while testing our hunger for exploration. This is known. This is a beautiful thing. Such a relation between our youth and content is proper. However, Nickelodeon committed itself to a more nefarious goal. Its crazy that nickelodeon just fed us the concept of punishing the innocent for laughs at such a young age. The episode depicting the angry citizens of bikini bottom beating, multiple times, the old man that says " oh i love the young people" really imprinted onto our minds and groomed us to be jaded for the future conditions of the economic and political ecosystem. It's after many beatings where the old man just greets his scalding executioners with warmth and a greeting, having forgot the hell they previously fed him. Now we can look at ourselves and see the beatings that the mob of organized boomer overlords have dished out to us. We looked up to them with trust in our hearts and they spat at us, "how many times do we have to teach you this lesson old man?" They maimed our old bodies with disastrous policy after disastrous policy. They kick our ribs in with their ownership of our stocks and land. And we laugh. We laugh and forget, and repeat. All because spongebob taught us to laugh at the beating of the innocent.
Don't step into mistlands o ashlands unless you want to be disappointed.
Mistlands fucked up exploration and ashlands fucked up the rest of the game.
It was very fun and rewarding before these, not after.
Also very bad design choices and complete lack of visual direction and later even basic quality control.
Just kill the plains boss and consider the game finished.
Meh. It has a lot of bad design decisions, like WAY too much grind, very limited inventory space, biomes that are very samey and not that fun to explore because there's not much in them, not allowing metals through portals because the devs can't incentivise players to build players in other areas other than forcing them to, and more. This all results in a game the doesn't respect the player's time.
Minecraft didn't have any of those restrictions and it was better for it.
Maybe you just aren't the "survival" type of gamer? Valheim is NOT for the CoD types and doesn't claim to be.
The game isn't that grindy. The only time its ever felt grindy is directly mining copper, which you can circumvent by mining under and around the node, causing the entire thing to explode. The biomes are all very distinct in feel and in mechanics in my opinion. The atmosphere, resource collection, and challenges are completely different in every biome. Metal isn't allowed through portals to incentivize sailing mainly. Sure you can build a new base in every biome but its absolutely not a requirement. I have never played a game with a better sense of progression than this. Minecraft is great, but its progression is over in the first few hours if you know what you are doing.
@@itztk6522 it's extremely grindy, while mechanics are designed around it, like not allowing players to take metals through portals.
Mining around copper deposits is itself super grindy.
It seems that author completely misunderstands what a survival game is.
Survival game is about saving your one and only life as the ultimate objective requiring appropriate actions taken to protect it.
Prime example are Green Hell, Card survival or Frost Punk for the community survival genre.
Valheim is not by any means a survival game, it is a generated open world RPG focused on journey to attain power and slay bosses. There are no survival mechanics or goals that would make it distinct from any other combat oriented genre.
It only borrows some mechanics from survival genre to use them as a way of progression in a different set of objectives.
😂 what a joke. Clearly you haven't played it...
There's casual gameplay... and there's one life to live immersive mode. Can be played with no map, and even if you have 200 hours in that playthrough and you die. You lose all items, bases built, you start back at the beginning... actually putting value on your life... soooooooo wtf are you talking about???
@@onelovedrumming What is your major malfunction?You have definition, you have argument, which both you can try to challenge.
You address nothing of it, you mention couple of unrelated facts and project your assumptions. You fail to differentiate it from any iron-mode combat game while trying to claim it is a survival game.
@@jansvoboda4293 More a ' You won't survive' game, lol
Got about 600 hours in valheim now, a build heavy player so my main issue with the game which only gets worse for multiplayer is the base instances count.
Being in a solo world build a house is no problem what so ever. But being like me wanting to build massive bases is performance killing, even for high end computers.
This is especially noticeable when you also do heavy terrain modifcation.
I had a server with a friend group, we were about 7 or 8 players and we all built houses and etc near eachother as a village with a defensive wall, we had to end the world because of bad frames.
I wish Iron Gate could somehow change how its being loaded or whatever causes the lag, I've done creative builds were I use spawn commands to spawn in world pieces instead of actual building blocks and it's far less laggy.
As I understand it, a lot of the lag comes from the game constantly calculating collisions, as every piece of every building is destructible. I heard Dhakhar or Ninebyte discuss how they had to mod their RPG map to make the builds indestructible or it would have been unplayable.
@@claptree3217 From what I understand there are multiple reasons but they all add up. But yes spawning in indestructible terrain really makes a huge difference