Valheim

Valheim is already a paragon of the survival crafting genre, with excellent art and music highlighting a world that generates endless exciting stories from only a few simple ingredients.

Valheim might be the rare exception. The game as a whole is not complete, but the parts that are there do feel complete, if that makes sense. I can see the areas in which I'd like it to grow, but Valheim feels refined and satisfying as it is right now. I've put 70 hours into it so far, and I fully expect to at least double that, and it's a $20 game. No matter what happens in Early Access, it's hard not to feel like I've already gotten my money's worth.

Valheim's world is low-poly for the most part, but features enhanced lighting and water refraction effects that create a beautiful blend of the early 2000s and modern graphics. Oceans and rivers look lovely, while even the dreariest of environments somehow stand out. Particle effects bloom and blossom in snowy locales, with dense fog sometimes permeating endless meadows of yellowing grass. It made me stop and appreciate the environmental design and procedurally generated scenery. This approach also allows for those even with fairly low-end machines to run the game.

“Valheim” is a good, even great, game. But these days, games have to be more than just games. And “Valheim” is pretty good at that, too.

These issues will be ironed out and Valheim's content roadmap ensures that plenty of new content will be added to the game as well throughout 2021. In its current state, it's an incredibly engrossing experience and perhaps the first survival game of its kind to match Minecraft in pure fun factor. And if it's already this impressive in early access, one can only imagine how good it will be when it has its full release.

Gamers looking for a hardcore crafting/survival game on consoles likely won't be able to find much better than Valheim, and its inclusion in Game Pass further makes it an easy choice despite a handful of issues.

While there is a lot of content in this update to bring players back to the game, it may not be quite extensive enough to satiate fans long-term. Hopefully, the time between content patches will shorten as Valheim continues its Early Access period, and players can look forward to further updates as solid as this one.

Having achieved a modicum of security, I decided it was time to pack my bags, unfurl the sails and expand my horizons. Preparation is key – having a good variety of food and potions available, with better options being more complex to create, will dramatically increase your health, stamina, and overall survivability. Better armour and weapons, meanwhile, will greatly increase your effectiveness at fighting. The crafting system is satisfyingly deep, and finding resources to unlock new recipes provides a strong incentive to explore the world.

Overall, Valheim is a fairly complete game even though it is still in early-access. It suffers from some of the normal bugs and glitches that you see in other early-access titles but it also has a lot of content that is wonderful and works well. It is a great group game if you have a bunch of friends who feel like building Norse villages and going raiding. You can get this on Steam right now. I can't wait for future updates.

Valheim is definitely a title worth trying even if it's not usually your cup of mead. Survival elements are really well done here, and so everything fits together harmoniously and you won't want to turn the game off. Pick up your axes, head into the mountains and slay some wolves so you can sew yourself a proper cloak. Or head into the swamps and make some tasty sausage from the guts of dead draugrs. Don't be a pussy, you're Vikings!