My friends and I gave Valheim a good red hot go this month and this is what we thought

We all agreed Valheim is basically a generic survival game. Albeit one that is done pretty well. Our immediate impression was that it was a very pleasant experience. And for a while that was quite refreshing. Because you don’t need to worry about raids, and getting dragged into toxic addictions (which survival games can be). We could progress at our own pace. The nice music and beautiful landscape. Life in this world was sweet.

But after a few weeks, we have grown tired of a number of issues.

1. The stamina.

I don’t know how relevant stamina is in later stages of the game, but we were all honestly exhausted by the constant management of our stamina. It was the bane of our existence. Whether it was travelling, fighting or cutting trees down. It became redundant focus for every action.

1. The building mechanic

Whilst on one hand it was intuitive, on the other hand it could drive you mad trying to snap walls and roofs together. The countless hours re-doing a basic structure so that everything fit the way you intended it to fit. It needs more polish.

1. The storyline is basic text (circa 1997 Zelda)

That might be nostalgic for some players, but I felt burdened by reading of tablets and crows texts. The storyline simply drags its feet and doesn’t motivate or inspire you to seek direction.

1. The graphics bloom effect is taxing on the eyes

The blurring effect is exhausting. On top of the grind, to not see clearly. And also weather effects (fog and darkness) and the basic polygon textures. My eyes suffered and friends agreed.

1. Enemies are a nuisance

If you don’t keep pushing out and venturing into the deeper map, the enemies become stagnant and a massive nuisance. Like swatting flies. It’s quite annoying after a while.

1. The resource management is laborious

All survival games have a resource mechanic, but we found valheims to be incredibly ‘needy’. It’s a full time job, getting firewood to make coal to burn copper to fuse bronze. Give me a break dude.