I'm not a fan of survival games; the whole naked and afraid and punching trees with your fists never appealed to me. That said, for some reason, Valheim intrigued me enough to put it on my wishlist. A friend started playing it and gifted the game to another friend and me, and we started playing on his server. At the time of me writing this review, I have 182.5 hours played.

Sure, you start nearly naked, and I was a little uneasy, but the game guides you through the first steps, and soon enough, I had made a hammer and a stone axe, and I was chopping down trees and building basic structures. Then I began crafting rudimentary armor, and the various nighttime enemies became a little less scary. Once I met the requirement and could craft a pickaxe, I began to mine copper and tin and on and on. I’ve paid it forward and gifted the game to two other friends who had it on their wishlists. I’ve also started my own server.

Obviously, having played the game for 182.6 hours in two weeks and two days, I am having a blast. I mean, I’m having such a good time that I could easily see myself playing this forever. R.I.P. to my unplayed games.

The astounding thing to me is that a developer team made this great game of five people. This is an Early Access done right.

Things I like:

How easy it is to get started.
The graphics are pretty basic, but lighting and other effects really make up for it, so the game is gorgeous.
The music is really well done and very peaceful.
Building stuff is fun.
Sailing. The sailing music is my favorite; that French Horn kicks in, and I just melt.
The combat works really well, I thought I would miss being able to lock onto enemies like a Souls game, but once I figured it out, the combat became tons of fun.
The price. None of that No Man’s Sky $60 dollar pricing here; $19.99 is just right, especially considering the quality of the product.


Things that are meh:

I don’t like the way the whole server levels up. I’m nowhere near ready to enter some of the biomes, but others have, so some high-level stuff can attack my base, and I don’t have the gear yet to deal with some of them.
I’m sure this will be fixed, but the game could really use some optimization. My friends and I have it running pretty well, but it could be better.
Flying enemies. This is just personal preference, but I hate flashing back to Morrowind’s Cliff Racers.
I hate that I need to sleep in real life; I’d rather just play Valheim 24/7. 😏

TLDR: I hate survival games but absolutely love Valheim.

I'm not a fan of survival games; the whole naked and afraid and punching trees with your fists never appealed to me. That said, for some reason, Valheim intrigued me enough to put it on my wishlist. A friend started playing it and gifted the game to another friend and me, and we started playing on his server. At the time of me writing this review, I have 182.5 hours played. Sure, you start nearly naked, and I was a little uneasy, but the game guides you through the first steps, and soon enough, I had made a hammer and a stone axe, and I was chopping down trees and building basic structures. Then I began crafting rudimentary armor, and the various nighttime enemies became a little less scary. Once I met the requirement and could craft a pickaxe, I began to mine copper and tin and on and on. I’ve paid it forward and gifted the game to two other friends who had it on their wishlists. I’ve also started my own server. Obviously, having played the game for 182.6 hours in two weeks and two days, I am having a blast. I mean, I’m having such a good time that I could easily see myself playing this forever. R.I.P. to my unplayed games. The astounding thing to me is that a developer team made this great game of five people. This is an Early Access done right. Things I like: How easy it is to get started. The graphics are pretty basic, but lighting and other effects really make up for it, so the game is gorgeous. The music is really well done and very peaceful. Building stuff is fun. Sailing. The sailing music is my favorite; that French Horn kicks in, and I just melt. The combat works really well, I thought I would miss being able to lock onto enemies like a Souls game, but once I figured it out, the combat became tons of fun. The price. None of that No Man’s Sky $60 dollar pricing here; $19.99 is just right, especially considering the quality of the product. Things that are meh: I don’t like the way the whole server levels up. I’m nowhere near ready to enter some of the biomes, but others have, so some high-level stuff can attack my base, and I don’t have the gear yet to deal with some of them. I’m sure this will be fixed, but the game could really use some optimization. My friends and I have it running pretty well, but it could be better. Flying enemies. This is just personal preference, but I hate flashing back to Morrowind’s Cliff Racers. I hate that I need to sleep in real life; I’d rather just play Valheim 24/7. 😏 TLDR: I hate survival games but absolutely love Valheim.