NOTHING will compare to playing Valheim with my best friend for the first time. We're both pushing 40 now and that was an unforgettable experience. The immense feeling of venturing into the unknown, of exploration and adventure. I don't think we'll ever recapture that tbh.
My fondest memories of 20 years of gaming is LAN battles in AOE2 as a wee lad with best friends and playing Valheim with those same friends. The devs hit the perfect game feel, the perfect sense of progression. This is a game meant to be enjoyed, not rushed.
Lolol, the way you're talking about it makes it sound as if this was something that happened decades ago, during your childhood. I had to double check... game only came out like 3 years ago 😂 (what I mean is that you were pushing 40 when you played it back then too)
I am literally LOL right now @idontwantahandlethough comment. But aside from that, two of my best buds and I played this for the first time when it came out and let me tell ya, you are exactly right. This was a whole experience of total unknown and urge to keep going even after Yagluth. But the journey up to Yagluth was the best ever survival game experience we all had together bar none. Truly a great game and just recently we dove back in for the huge Mistlands update, I know it has been out awhile now, but we just recently started back up hearing Ashlands is coming later this year. Once again, still a total blast to play and loving all the new content. The devs are truly doing a remarkable job on this and I for one am truly grateful they made such a game and wanted to share it with us. Not only that even after Ashlands (if I'm not mistaken) there is more to come! Such a fantastic addition to my library especially my survival/build games genre.
well playing it with my wife so that we were both spending time together and sharing an amazing game experience is tough to beat. We play on a private server with my two closest friends and their wives. The six of us have an amazing time.
I still remember the first time me and my buddy rode a boat in this game. We were heading off to kill the Elder. The music was already amazing but then we passed through a narrow river with the sun shining through the treetops in front of us and a thin morning mist flowing here and there. Combined with the music it felt like we were on an actual adventure. Everything just came together in that moment in a way that's just hard for words to describe. I'll never forget that experience.
Creeping up on 4k hours played, no mods, Vanilla Valheim and I love it as much now as I did when I first launched it. Love finding Seeds with Supercontinents to start on so I can slowly make a road along the entire coastline using the time spent there scouting and gathering mats the whole while.
Ooof - I thought my 2,700hours was bad enough. LOL. Though I do like how you can explore vast areas some times yet still have unknown locations on your starting Island due to the way the map spawns items or you didn't get round to exploring that yet. Those 'quick' 20 minute sails to return ore to home by taking a shortcut that leads to an inland sea, or the coast of a vast continent and you are left with trying to decide if it is better to back track, or sail onwards hoping for either river or lands end to be faster to get home. Though I have started with some mods - but they are more quality of life ones. Life would be sad without the veinmine mod. LOL.
I had a seed with a perfect ring of mountains with meadows and plains in the center I conquered the whole of it and made it an enormous stronghold with farm that was unassailable.@@sociallyferal4237
Been playing it virtually every single day since I installed it 7 months ago. Sometimes I can only dip in for 30 minutes but I dip in every single day. Love this game. Same deal, just the vanilla game - no mods, no creative mode.
Definitely not for me. It's actually the most unrealized game in the genre by far. Devs had a once in a lifetime moonshot opportunity and dropped the ball so ridiculously hard with this game. Worst update cycle ever.
@@amarthyashankar5895 They've made hundreds of millions and yet release no updates and never admit they've made a mistake about something (like building for example). Just lazy and greedy such wasted potential. Just hire more dev's if you can't be arsed finishing something.
@@isaacs3413 Yes. The only problem of the game is basically lazyness and greedyness of developers. So much money, so close to zero updates with a small amount of content. I discovered Epicloot Balanced and Creature Loot and Level Control mods that basically revived game for me. It made it more challengable, added some quests with reasonable rewards, forcing you to actually explore the world instead of its 1/4.
My most memorable gaming moment in recent years was getting chased by trolls for the first time and excitedly yelling and running away with friends. Or getting 1 shot in front of my group by a mosquito. You captured why this game is such an experience. The timing of its release was also very fortunate, being at the start of Covid lockdowns. I'm not sure I'll ever get a group of 10 friends, all over 30, to invest so much time in a video game together again.
If you'd like I can send you an invite to our server. We've got 7 people atm and have been having lots of fun. We plan to reset when ashlands comes out.
3:13 Smoke is probably one of my favorite parts about Valheim, it encourages more creative building like you said, but it also can allow for some more interesting base set-ups defensively, like what if you deliberately set your base up so all the smoke pools in a small room full of valuable items first before slowly being filtered out by a single hole that can barely keep up with the amount of smoke you produce, and it will somewhat obscure the room it fills providing some indirect protection on worlds with PvP if your friends try to shank you.
Yep. Actually having to add chimneys and air ducts in the tops of houses and huts was just the perfect amount of Viking for me. Such a great foundation for building too. Having to actually think about structure adds so much cool immersion and rewarding builds once you get it right.
Remember building that first chimney and feeling smart until the fire would flicker off and on. I assumed it was a glitch but later realized that happens if you don't let the smoke out quick enough! So you have to keep the fires covered but not smothered. Now with 1000+ hours still think about fire placement and smoke venting first in each build.
In 1989 I got my Bachelors degree in Industrial Engineering. In 1995 I got my Master's degree in Civil Engineering. In 2022 at the age of 56 I killed my first troll in Valheim. God! The sense of achievement was incredible! This morning (2024, I am 58) I started a new game. I thought I'd try passive enemies for a while, see how that works. My first death was by a tree. And they are the most passive beings on the map.
En 2021, à l'âge de 60 ans, j'ai tué mon premier troll à Valheim. Au cours du premier mois après la sortie du jeu, j'y ai passé 400 heures (893 aujourd'hui). C'est l'un des meilleurs jeux de survie auquel j'ai joué.
Me and my friends spent 8 hours digging a trench so our boat could cross our main island instead of having to go around it… the most memorable time I have had in a game in a long time!
@@foamslinger2787 Massive landscaping is a fun part of the game. I had a continent that only needed about 30 tiles cleared for a canal I needed where the continent had a huge lake in the middle of it. A couple times I have stored up a ton of stone by picking a large mountain peak and just slowly leveling it over time. Then you have an amazing view from the edges and I have a building full of stone where the peak used to be. It has a "stone," portal to my main base where I can transport stone any time I want it for building. Took like 30 chests to store all the stone.
Facts, it's an example of what a survival game should be. You don't mind the difficulty and penalty to mistakes, when it's presented so sensibly and comfortably. There are also options for adjusting ALL of them as well. You can go Immersive Viking Experience with no map, portals or mercy. You can go creative mode where you have free reign of all materials you've found once and build in this excellent build system! Such a fun game, just played over vacation and built a tribute to Ironforge in the mountains with my friend. Amazing experience, full of triumph, loss, and friendship. All done in vanilla normal so every stone of that place was mined by us or the Stone Golems. Made several rooms embedded in the mountain's rocks, sculpting stone walls. Revisions on numerous rooms due to more resources being available, or the Stone Golem dropping in on our ceiling and trashing the living room... We brought it light, we brought it comfort, and we brought it trophies! Stay Rested my Vikings.
@@gaup3171 Yeah, it baffles me that people call Valheim as Survival game. It has 0 survival mechanics. It's an action-adventure game with building mechanics. It's like trying to call Fallout 4 a survival game. Hella dumb.
I said this recently on another video, and I'll say it again here. Valheim is an experience. Not just the first time either. Every time you start a new playthrough, it's a completely new experience in so many ways. This is such a hard game for me to truly explain to people who have never played it. Not the base gameplay mind you, but what you get from it. It is a mood, it is passage, it is struggle, it is elation, it is beauty, it is achievement, it is chill time, it is all these things and so much more. Hardest game experience to explain ever. Everything in that game I want in future survival games (can weather effects and overall ambience ever be this good again?) I am spoiled.
The repeat experience of finally conquering a biome, feeling invincible, then venturing into the next biome and getting your ego deflated again, realizing your best is barely good enough all over again.
Its a survival game where you start of by gathering resources and the more you play you get to fight bosses and enemies I dont want to spoil anything I watched it on youtube before I played that was a mistake also play with friends 10x more fun @@tommyjones1357
@@tommyjones1357better than mc imo, love the game you should def get it if you haven't. so much time to be put in and it is so much fun, especially going in blind its way more fun and its prolly a number 1 or 2 for me in survival games
@@tommyjones1357 Has some similar aspects to minecraft, but is quite different. The solo player on it is many times more fun than minecraft, especially the combat. Also has a many times easier base building than MC if you want to make good looking functional builds. Best action survival game out there, you should try it.
I played this game a while ago and wasn’t really into it but watching this video made me try it again and realize I just didn’t understand what it was about. It’s amazing and exactly the type of game I’ve been hoping someone would make. Thank you for making such a good video explaining it.
I'm on Day 1010 in my original world, and have built a massive Seaside Stronghold of black marble, stone, wood, and iron that is unique and functional. I have not seen quite the level of creative building that is available in Valheim, and have been playing with friends from around the world for over 2 years. The game is unique unto itself. Waiting for Ashlands. Nice Vid.
3:29 My solution was using the roof tiles to leave staggered gaps at the top. Even though a block exists in a given space the game can identify gaps and let smoke out. This let me build more period correct viking huts and just hide a couple clever gaps and i never have to worry about smoke buildup.
Good one. Lot of creative ways. I sometimes use 4 posts at the top of a chimney, or even a simple hole on the roof with 4 vertical posts and horizontal to make a 2-d looking box. Then I can put roof tiles directly over it and the smoke still blows out the 4 empty squares on the side. And in my "Elder mount basement," bases there's so much space I can simply have a fire anywhere and it just spreads out enough it doesn't matter.
Valheim and Terraria are the two games I think about when I search for survival type games. Just about nothing else compares to those. Valheim also just has amazing atmosphere. Sitting in your house with the fire blazing and the storm outside going hard as Thor flies by in the sky is just... I mean its as I said... the atmosphere and ambience in Valheim is unbeatable. Also worth noting Valheim has a very well made VR mod that just adds wonders to that feeling.
@RthereNEusernames like hell they are. Grounded didn't break up the grind causing it to become stale and Palworld's building system is a joke unworthy to hide in Valheim's shadow. They're both fun games but no where near as fun as Valheim.
@@IamGhede entirely subjective on the fun aspect of it, but Valheim is far more grindy than Palworld and Grounded. I'm not saying Palworld or Grounded are better games necessarily, but they're easily in the same tier.
Mine are Ark Survival Evolved and Ark Survival Ascended lol. Valheim looks fun, but every survival game I have tried playing after touching Ark just gets stale since most are pve only.
Just had to leave a comment. This was a great love letter to Valheim, and I absolutely agree! I've got 1000+ hours in vanilla and I still feel like there is so much more to experience. My favorite game genre is survival, and I feel like Valheim is the best of the best. Of course, there could be improvements made, nothing is perfect. With the recent addition of the new settings sliders, I feel the replayability has been sent into the stratosphere. And of course, there is always the huge world of mods. This was a very high quality video, I subscribed, and I look forward to checking out your other content. You should have more subscribers! Happy New Year!
Played Valheim with my brother during COVID and we forgot about time. Last thing we knew it was morning! We've been playing for hours and hours all night, it felt so nostalgic. Amazing game, great game design, beautiful and so much fun with friends!
Playing with friends, we found out our tombstones eventually despawned, and that happened many many times. It was always after a long period of time though. We literally had to kill Bonemass again to get our silver locator thingies again once.
@@abekane7038 In our case it took waaaay less, like around 1-2 hours of playtime so there's probably some kind of bug involved, probably on ours, not yours I'd say. Maybe it fell through the ground or something. It was vanilla multiplayer and happened quite a few times like a year ago. If it was a bug I really hope it's patched now.
@@mendiganina6001 just spitballing here, but could be a performance/optimization issue too. You mentioned the couple of hours despawning was in multiplayer. When more of you are active on the same map, it has to have more things loaded especially if you are spread out to several places. Maybe it's like perfectly safe for an hour. But if you don't pick it up then it just gets demoted in priority order. No actual despawn until the system gets a bigger load when it needs to choose between remembering everything and massive lav or despawning 'unimportant loose items' to maintain performance. With multiple people working around a massive deforestation with wood all over the ground or the loot scattered after a raid event is much more likely to cause a bigger system loads. Then again if my hypothesis is correct, it's still kinda sad the single player/ lower player count has a stable enough build to essentially lure people into a false sense of security and stuff is not that always protected. But from a programming perspective somethings gotta give before the 20- FPS zone.
@@abekane7038 I had one tombstone glitch in mistlands and disappear after I respawned. I had fallen off my roof, making a balcony, and forgot food. So my tombstone was right behind my house. I went outside and it was gone. I think it's the "punt," glitch where an item sometimes is randomly launched like a mile away. I even logged out and back in. I clicked on the empty space where it had been in case it was still there but not showing. No dice. Only happened once to me. So I used Devcommands to respawn all the high level gear or mats needed to make them. After 3 playthroughs up to mistlands, only happened that one time.
Never had a tombstone despawn on me, maybe somone else got to it? Iv found player tombstones out in the middle of no where of people who havnt played in months.
A while ago I started a forever world on it. I previewed some seeds to pick one I liked but haven’t looked at the map generator since making the world. I have four characters that each live on that world, north east south and west and they have a hub by the spawn so I can share stuff like food between them. You can really play valheim however you like and I think it’s possibly my favourite game
@@rexaustin2885 it dépends of the games you like but i had ton of other games that was better than valheim, valheim is not even close to the other games i played
Valheim somehow is a game where you spend countless hours grinding for small amounts of loot but it’s still satisfying and fun, not an easy thing to do. I feel as though most of these hardcore survival games drop the ball when it comes to presentation, so they are super hard games for no reason other than to be hard, valheim seems like it might be that way but it isn’t, the gear is so badass and makes you so much stronger that grinding for an hour for one piece of gear is satisfying because of how much value it has to the player. The pacing of this game is next level, you start so incredibly weak but get hugely noticeable upgrades straight away, yet as soon as you reach the next biome you’re back to being “weak”, yet you still feel like you’ve made progress. It’s a very well made system.
8:30 in high school there was a poster on the wall in the science class it said in 20 years people won't remember what you wore or even what you said. They will remember how you made them feel though. Perfect analogy for video games. I can go back and play my favorite MMORPG of all time dark is a Camelot and it doesn't feel the same, and that's okay because the memories I got from it at the time last forever.
Valheim is the only survival game I like. I think two of the biggest parts are that I don't feel like I'm having to interrupt more interesting activities in order to keep my character alive, and I can build interesting structures with relatively few resources. In other survival games, I tend to build the bare minimum because it feels like a hassle, either because I'm constantly having to interrupt my work to stay alive or gathering resources is a tedious grind. Valheim isn't perfect, my Valheim group fell apart once we got to the Mistlands because we all found it too frustrating, but up to that point, I was having a great time.
Easy tip: Once you unlock portals, when setting out to explore a new region, always carry the materials to make a workbench and a portal with you. Then set up a new portal at your base before setting out and remember the name. Once you have discovered a region you want to explore, simply drop a portal there and link it with the name you set up in advance. Boom! Instant way back home. Portals by themselves are rarely bothered by mobs, so they're safe enough. If you really want to, you can build a base fairly easy by transporting mats (except metals, of course, but walls and basic buildings should be no problem,) through the portals. Unfortunately though, the best way to transport metals remains by boat, so setting up a port facility may still be required.
My favorite moment was when we found a fuling for the first time. It was wandering in a dark forest spot (probably attracted by other dark forest monsters) and since it looked so silly and small, we (my friends and i) were fully confident that we could kill him. We've just got our bronze tier armors a couple of hours ago and we felt invincible... we were wrong... very wrong. I ran towards him with my mighty bronze shield as i was attempting to parry him, instead, got instantly vaporized from a single blow. 10/10 experience. We laughed so hard for probably one hour. My only regret is not being able to record it a the time.
Our first encounter to plains was deathsquito. Our party of five ppl was very confident that we can easilly kill it since "it's just a bug". Oh boy was it fun to run back butt naked multiple times to pick up our stuff. Finally it found some group of graydwarfs to play with and we manage to escape
It's a rare game that draws me in for 1000+ hours. Valheim was able to do that for me! I've played through the game numerous times. Modded some playthroughs. Vanilla others. It's a gem.
Over 4k hours (I play with some people who have more than that). and I can agree with everything you've said. I've played solo, I've played on the default 10-and-under seeds with friends, and on much bigger 'public' seeds (anywhere from 25 - 125 players/day); modded, and vanilla. There's so much that can be done in this game either way. It ticks every box; and I'm finding myself comparing all the other survival games to this. I've played a bunch of them; my second favourite is The Long Dark. I don't know what kind of gaming history the people at Iron Gate have, or how they gained and worked through their insights on what a survival game should be. But they nailed it with this one. Well done on the video, too. Great job. Looking forward to more.
I wish The Long Dark had some online game modes. But yeah playing that game on some of the harder difficulties is such an experience. I've still never come close to surviving more than a couple hours of the hardest difficulty.
when i first started i struggled to keep my raft in one spot, so i built a fully enclosed garage that it can sail into that is built onto a deck that i can seamlessly walk onto (i used gates as the garage doors)
I just got the game and have been having a blast! I love the slow grind as it makes every accomplishment feel really rewarding. Sailing back from the swamps with a literal boatload of iron and seeing all the new crafting recipes was the best feeling!
AAAND you can play it all in VR for an absolutely MAGICAL experience! stalking a deer into the woods as the dark sets in and you're under the canopy, the forest flor lit by the moon. i just laid down in that peaceful night after the hunt and took a nap till morning came with it's cozy thick fog. sometimes you spend the whole night building your dream house and you just get tea irl and sit at the deck of the house you just built and have the tea watching the sun rise over the village you and your friends built. in all my 24 years of gaming and 4 years of VR gaming, nothing quite meets that mesmerizing feeling. sailing cant even be put into words. the pure wonder of living in and exploring that world. finding the tortoise for the first time, you have no idea what's happening, you and your buddy just found a weird island and suddenly the island is rumbling and sinking under your feet and you've got to rush to your boat and fast. incredible. best time of my life.
Surprised to find this video with so few views. Keep up the good work, I see great potential in your style! I recently got Valheim and I found myself agreeing with everything you said here, to me it feels like a great mix between sandbox and quest driven gameplay (mixed with a fantastic visual/sound aesthetic). I find myself coming up with my own challenges I want to overcome "just because".
I think the biggest factor you mentioned that sold me is how its inclusive and understands not everyone has hours to grind stuff only to lose it, even minecraft has become guily of that recently with unreasonable amounts of grind for stuff in a laidback game meant to be for kids. wanna do a boss alone cuz your friends are offline or dont play valheim ? sure. wanna have a raid sort of boss fight ? thats fine too the game just makes the boss stronger for your group.
check out Vintage Story. you will probably love that game as well. most say its a minecraft clone but it was created from scratch based off it and takes survival VERY seriously.
The first time me and ny friends went to kill Bonemass it was so far away from our main base that we had to travel for like an hour to get there. The whole travel was super fun (And we made the mistake of putting our base in the Mistlands before the update, so when it was updated we lost everything and had to make the travel all over again, but this time trough the Mistlands)
I LOVE valheim. Recently went from series S to Series X, and it gave me a reason to play valheim to see the difference. And i absolutely love the customization options they added. I've already done the grind 2 times, and this time i chose to have everything drop triple the resources to speed up the gathering process a bit. And i also decided to keep my inventory on death. Going for a little more casual and building focused playthrough this time. I love everything about the game, but the building is something else. It really pushed my creativity in building every time i tried to build something nice. I would constantly end up expanding on my original idea as I'm going. Can't wait to build more beautiful stuff in this game. And i also love the community, people are very supportive and positive on the xbox valheim community, you can come in as a newcomer and post your builds, and people will give you their honest opinion and no toxicity, only constructive criticism and good vibes! Love you all Valheim community
Playing on triple resources really helps cut down on the unnecessary hours and made progression a lil easier and faster. My inventory fills up so fast but that's a good problem to have
Valheim is excellent for all the reasons mentioned. I have two problems with it: the difficulty steps between the biomes is crazy. I don't mind dying because I am was being dumb or inattentive but getting one hit from a wasp is too much. The second thing is that I really like my bases but feel like I have to rebuild for every new biome.
I love Valheim. It has to be my favourite game over the last three years. I have put over 2000 hours into it and love the fact that you can (as you said) either seek to challenge yourself or just bimble around the easier biomes gathering materials or building things. I can't wait for Ashlands to appear and to see what else Iron Gate are going to add to the game. I played it heavily when it was first released and then put it aside for months before returning to try and improve my builds. Then I played it for a few more months and set it aside once again, before getting back into it on the lead up to Mistlands being released.
I also like how the random biomes can mean some games you have good resources close by, others - you struggle for ages to even find and get into the bronze age.
Valheim is hands down the single one and only best bang for buck game out there. You get one of the BEST gaming experiences I have had in 15 years of PC gaming for less than 10€. And not only this! I cannot appreciate enough all the crap that you DON'T get for that! Skins, lootboxes, microtransactions, pay to win, toxic communities, shitty servers. Everything just works! Its so beautiful and it really makes me humble to see such a gem of a game in 2023. Play Valheim. You deserve this!
"Devs made a game that respects the players time." Are you sure you played valheim there m8? Valheim wastes more time on crap you shouldn't need to do more than any other game.
Video games in general are "time wasters" but especially resource-gathering survival games lmao... That being said, I love wasting time in Valheim. It's relaxing to me to chop down trees and run around and hunt + collect berries. The only resource I hate is farming. Screw farming in Valheim. H8
I was totally stuck on the boss after Eikthyr, didn't know what to do. In most games i'd be stuck, but in Valheim i had a friend join me in coop and he showed me what to do. Didn't have to level up anything and that is the most awesome feature of Valheim - the seamless joining into another players game session, and that you can bring items with you. Sure, people can cheat easily by bringing OP gear they spawned, but that is a problem more with them than with online play. First time i saw a troll, i had already levelled up archery to the point that i was able to kite them and take them out from a distance. Got some gold out of it and there were much rejoycing.
i played valheim in released i sunk many hours into it, but as i had new things to do, and new problems and ive reached near the end of the game, and update taking years i kind of got over it
Let me say this first: Valheim is a good game with even greater potential. The building system is one of the best ive seen, the art style is great and i love the Terraria inspired progression system. But this video makes it seem like its some huge masterpiece without even mentioning any issues. The combat feels clunky, the weapon movesets for some weapons are pretty bad. If you fight in a sloped area it becomes exponentially worse(which means the entire Mistland is incredibly annoying to fight in). The enemy movesets are not varied and very basic so most enemies are very easy to dodge, parry or kite(i dont think thats a huge problem with regular enemies but bosses having only like 3 moves is kind of a joke), so the enemy difficulty that is there either comes from them just being damage sponges, or them doing super high damage themselves. Exploration does become pretty boring after youve seen all biomes once, due to the lack of handcrafted places/events in the world. With the exception of finding a cool place to build now and then, there is nothing to find. Lastly, having to build a new base with workbench upgrades and smelters at each new biome or having to ship huge loads of ore across the map feels like the devs just want to waste your time. Skyrims exploration is vastly superior because you can actually find unique handcrafted structures, npc quests and enemy encounters in the world Dark Souls combat is better than Valheims in every way and its not even close. It feels better, there are more weapons, more unique movesets, build diversity, complexer enemy movesets, planned encounters(which isnt really possible in a randomly generated world) and lastly and most importantly better bosses. Terrarias gameplay loop is way more fun in subsequent playthroughs than Valheims because there is a sheer infinite amount of items and weapons that you can use, the masterfully designed underground area that is filled with content to the brim and the way less tedious process of turning ore into equipment makes mining way more fun than in Valheim.
i just caaaaaant i tried describing why valheim combat felt better to me but youtube just deletes my comment every. hecking. time. im so aaargh why does it do that
Tris is so true, the visual effects, lighting and weather makes the world so much more alive than any other game I have ever played, I still after almost a thousand hours stop to just admire a sunrise, sunset or some beautiful vista, and the feeling sailing the long ship is wonderful. And the building system, with how all the parts just work together, makes building nice looking homes easy while allowing for so much customization. I have never been able to build anything as good in any other game.
I have spent far too much time in Valheim. One of the things I loved was simply building and listening to podcasts. What I would love to death is to have an easy way to build structures have move them between worlds. I tried mods, but I never really got the hang of it. I have a difficult time choosing between functional boxes, or killer castles that I leave after I finish them :-(
Maybe try to play on servers, for me it felt pointles to build something for hours if I was the only one to see it. I like to join servers and build something for people there, nice storage, kitchen or ruins out in the world filled with loot for someone to find and then move to another server.
@@sergioippolito Thanks! I know it can be done, but I wish it was a lot easier. I have poked at it a few times, just never gotten it to completion. Oddly right now, I can't even get Valheim to install/play on my current computer. Not a big issue at this time as I am fine with taking time away.
Valheim is reallly really really addictive. even when you manage to break away and then decide to play it for a minute, you end up playing hours again.
Ive been thinking about making a new world lately as well, but have been hesitant to because I will have to do it solo if I do. Some of your footage seems to be of you olaying alone. How was the overall experience of playing solo?
I have only been playing solo since buying game two months ago and I like that I can do whatever I want at my own pace. Soloing the first boss was easy and only thing where I have thought help from other players would be nice is locating the second boss. Found the right island earlier this week and now I want upgrade my armor before next boss battle that I believe I can also solo. Playing solo is cozy and relaxing most of the time and challenging when I want it to be challenged. I can focus on stuff I want to do when I want to do it instead of just running after others while ignoring my own whims and needs which I'm doing in some other multiplayers games. I recommend trying Valheim solo. Though I also intend to play it in group one day to get that experience too.
Did a bit more research, and learned that they have added world modifiers at some point to make solo play a lot more viable. A couple people on Reddit even said they've played through the game twice solo. Playing in a group of friends though is such a blast. It also definitely has its inconveniences, however.
I agree with everything said here except for one aspect. The game does not, at all, respect your time. The game requires way more grinding than it should. If you intend to play the game and you don't wanna spend an insanely long period of time to progress, I'd recommend increasing resource drop rates. Maybe put it on 2 or 3 times (I'd recommend 2 times). As of the time of writing, you can do this in vanilla, and it made my first playthrough with my friends very, very fun.
Yeah, I agree. On my current playthrough, I haven't increased drop rates, but I have allowed metal through portals. If there is basically no danger between me here on one side of the ocean, and the chances of encountering a sea serpent is already low, all I'm ultimately just losing is time.
The game literally has a resource drop rate value you can increase or decrease and 3x is almost overkill entirely with basically no grinding at all. I do agree that the grinding for large scale builds can be cumbersome but that's the same in other games such as minecraft. My main issue with the game is stamina system while building, a hammer / hoe / cultivator using stamina is annoying as shit but thats what mods are for.
@@Subt0nix The game, even at x3, still has a fair amount of grinding. I'd know because I recently just finished got a four person multiplayer save to the Ashlands on x3 and it still took about 60 hours. A full first playthrough of Hollow Knight is 45 hours and it arguably has more content to get through. A full Minecraft playthrough by a novice usually takes 45 hours. I literally mentioned the drop rate modifier. I said that I use it at x2. You can't honestly believe that Valheim respects a player's time unless you believe respecting player's time means not putting time limits on things, which I heavily disagree.
At every turn valheim gives you a way to speed up the next big resource. In the Forrest its carts, in the swamp its the iron boat, in the mountains its the wolf cape (and a combination of the previous two), in the plains all the resources regenerate, giving you time to remodel your base and give care to other parts of the game than straight grind. In the mistlands you explore and find more dwarf camps to make more eiter pumps. In the Ashland's its the stone portal. Of course if you ignore every aspect of the game aside from progression (like you may if you want to see the new Ashland's content) it becomes a bit of a problem, but at that point, commands are so accessible for a reason I suppose. Over all though I suppose I shouldn't be getting this upset over a perfectly reasonable opinion that the game can take a little longer than you enjoy. Like I said the console commands are accessible for a reason
@@generalmcguffin593 I agree with you, the stamina system is annoying when building and the hammer and hoe probably should have a significantly smaller or no stamina use, but that doesn't affect as much of the game as the progression system. It affects me even less since I mostly play multiplayer, and my friend usually wants to build (and he's very good at it). Just because it gives you a way to speed it up doesn't mean it's acceptable. In most cases, the item used to speed it up feels more like a neccessity than a helpful addition. A survival game shouldn't take 150 hours to complete, especially when it has a relatively similar amount of content in comparison to other games I could play. Of all the people I know who play Valheim (which is about eight people), every one of them say the worst part of the game is the grinding. I personally think that grinding in games is almost always bad when that grinding requires many hours to complete. I just don't want to cheat in or devote massive amounts of time to a game to enjoy the game. That's antethetical to the point of a game. It's not like I think Valheim is a bad game. I was just rubbed the wrong way by the video's "the game respects your time" section, because I've only ever felt the opposite, and I've felt it consitently.
If you want an idea of a new video, here's one: there are plenty of "completing valheim as a pacifist" and only using certain weapons etc. i did a playthrough (pre mistlands) where I wasn't allowed not even once to use a bow. the bow makes the game super easy but without it you have to work around it. for example i only used sword and never once touched a bow. and did the whole game. don't know if anyone else has done that on youtube but if not, you can take my idea and do it yourself and make a video of it =) I'd sure watch it to see how YOU played the game. (i have around 700 hours of gameplay, I love it)@@MasonEllisShow
Very good video, but one of the key and most important things you overlooked are the mods and the massively extensive mod community, which has completely changed the game. For example, other rideable mounts (wolves, pigs, etc.) have all been introduced and are available through mods. There are also mods that have redefined Valheim. Classes, Leveling, Diablo-style weapons, UI changes, etc.
@@MasonEllisShow Yah the mods are IMO what make the game truly amazing. With the new difficulty settings, the mods are more QOL than anything else. Here's the list I run: UseEquipmentInWater SpeedyPaths PlantEverything Minimal_UI SteadyRegeneration AutoRepair FuelEternal Sailing Ranching PackHorse Mining Lumberjacking Farming Evasion Cooking Building Blacksmithing Slope_Combat_Assistance MassFarming TargetPortal Max_Dungeon_Rooms AzuMapDetails AzuExtendedPlayerInventory AzuAutoStore AzuAreaRepair EquipmentAndQuickSlots CraftFromContainers InstantMonsterLoopDrop Seasonality HD Texture packs also completely change the look and feel of the game. Seasonality is amazing; nothing like experiencing Winter in the Meadows!
I have a rule that I always play a game through vanilla at least once before I mod it, but I really have to confess that I am very excited for the day when I mod this game the hell out now that I know it's actually an expansive field. (I had a feeling, but hadn't looked into it to confirm.)
I had a server set up a server back when we were in lockdown, and playing with some friends, shooting the shit for a few hours definitely helped me really get into the game, and I spent something like 200 hours in a month just getting lost in the world and enjoying it. Love this game to bits
I can get behind no portals for metals but the weight limit is just painful, not fun. Especially when everything is so heavy and costs so much. You can’t build with a full inventory because you can’t walk. It’s just a handicap with no up side.
@@bramvanduijn8086 Nothing wrong with logistics. My problem is with the weight limit as it is, the game leans heavily towards Viking trucker simulation with a max speed of about 4 km/h or you’re forced to do 10 trips. That’s not logistics as no logic will solve the weight problem. You solve the problem with boring grinding. I don’t mind grinding, but there is always a limit where the devs are artificially extending gameplay using the pain and frustration of the player. That’s not good game design. Being able to progress past some weight limits(more than the belt) would be an application of logistics. Like a potion of strength, a trophy power, being able build a better cart, being able to use an animal to pull carts or even more interesting and an application of logistics if you could use your animals to set a trade route along a designated path so you can haul large amounts of metal. Especially since to build really nice building you need large amounts of various metals. I’m saying the weight limit is not well balanced, especially when considering the massive amounts of materials needs for even just a medium build.
@@bramvanduijn8086 The logistics planning pretty much ends the moment you have a boat because then you're just hauling all resources by ship and all the weight limit does is make it annoying to haul resources around your base when building or smelting or whatever.
@@ManicPandaz It is logistics mate, use a boat to transport them or make mini bases near the minerals. Also you can buy a Superhuman Belt from the Merchant. Also you can use a cart if you already want animals.
how is Valheim a survival game?base building, exploration, and combat yes, survival no. you do not need to eat, drink, shelter from the weather, or any other survival elements . i enjoy Valheim just not as a survival game. there are no elements of the struggle to survive, so it is not a survival game. food and drink are buffs like in an RPG. the building system has major problems. primary in my opinion is the max build height is set by ground level, making a foundation gets you nothing. you need to build on flat ground or build everything on a slop. flat ground is hard to find anywhere except the starting biome. what game focuses on surviving only? that is what makes most gave survival a problem. at the start you can not just stay home and survive. you need to go get the stuff to start a farm or whatever the game has. once you get the food and water going you could just stay home and survive but will not advance the game. if you explore too much you neglect the farm and stop surviving. survival games are about the balance.
If you want to have anything resembling a decent amount of stamina, which you need to survive encounters then you most definitely need to consider food, drink, weather, and rest. Just because it doesn't kill you doesn't mean it isn't fun. Honestly, games that kill the player more tend to be more grindy, i.e. less fun. You'l;l have to keep doing corpse runs, which just isn't fun. Tip: you can level the ground yourself.
@@bramvanduijn8086 yes, you NEED to buff before a fight if you want to win. like many RGPs try to have you do, but most fail. you do not NEED to buff to survive a fight, you can run. i play most of the game (by time) un-buffed. "Just because it doesn't kill you doesn't mean it isn't fun." - i never stated it was not fun. i actually stated the opposite i enjoy the game. it is not a survival game, but non-survival game are still fun. corpse runs have nothing to do with survival games. they are part of the combat system of the game. your tip - that is my point i need to "fill" the side of a hill making it useless space instead of building a stone wall and using the space as in interior rooms. the plains counter to what there name would suggest are vary hilly. the hole map is a series of small islands so it makes they are high in the middle and low by the water. it just does not make sense in terms of a real world layout. i know why it is this way they want you to need to sail places. on a sailing not that is the least fun and least respects my time. if you are the "driver" you sit there making small course corrections for hours of your game experience. occasionally out running a sea serpent or having your crew fight it wile you maintain a safe distance. if you are the crew you sit and do nothing unless you are hunting sea serpents.
You can flatten the ground with a hoe or pickaxe btw. Also, it definitely is about survival in my 15 hours of playing the game. Like you need food to get higher hp and stamina which are important in combat and when trying to start a base, you have to fight off enemies often in an attempt to establish yourself in that area. Then there are the random forest moving encounters which has a swarm of enemies attack your base. The whole game is about surviving and exploration. Once you've mastered one area, you move on to the next snd repeat the process. I have encountered many problems with the building element but really these are only caused because of the degree of freedom they give the player that makes building so much fun. I haven't reached the hight limit yet though and my stronghold is like 6-8 walls high with a roof I built on top.
Best thing is sailing around the world collecting valuables. And then (just because you are close to the edge) you decide to check how the edge of the map is. The current near the edge sucked our boat and we fell off the world (5 persons). We lost all our best upgraded iron gear and tons of resources. 5/5 would sail to the edge again.
I don't know what lightning they've captured in this bottle called Valheim, but it has taken days of my life away now. My session went for 16 hours just a few days ago, all dedicated to building my log cabin in the snowy mountain peaks, and here I am spending more hours on the same cabin.
Got into this game a while back on my One S, but it was so leggy. I got used to the leg for a while, but it got too bad as my base got bigger. So I eventually left Valheim behind. I just recently bought a next gen, and I’m getting back into this game HEAVY again.
I played Valheim for 5 hours of my life that I will never get back. Maybe it gets good after 100+ hours, but honestly it is way too boring for the first few hours for a reasonable person to get into. The early gameplay of Valheim is both terrible and boring. Killing the first boss is way too easy. The grind is excessive for anyone who wants to have fun.
Why even kill the first boss? Grab a troll to smash copper and tin for you. There's no rules, you can play it how you want to. Every game starts out fun, depending on what you're willing to try. I understand the game won't be for everyone and that might be you. I hope you give it another go and after making a flint knife, you hit the plains to kill deathsquitos for arrows. Either way, have a good one
Im on my fourth playthrough now that ashlands released. Me and my playgroup dont have a lot of time on our hands though and we want to progress together. so we just entered the mountains. In between we have been building bases and exploring. I am so looking forward to the new additions in thw ashlands. Our playgroup has not had many spoilers so far. Its the best experience to stumble across things and find out this way.
I don't know. Valheim starts out really strong, but it's got some major flaws that start to become obvious about the time you reach the swamp. For one, there isn't enough variety in monsters. There's way too much hauling. Mining iron is tedious. Mosquitos get drawn too far out of their biome, so you can be insta-killed the moment you see the shore line if it's plains. The taming mechanic is pointless. I could go on. I feel like I got my money's worth, but it's not a _great_ game.
Agreed on the lack of variety in monsters, I want more of them too. Hauling is only partially required, quite often it is a choice. And if you build roads and use carts you can massively increase how much you can move. I know of three sources of iron, so if you don't like one of them, do the other two. They are (1) in the dungeons, (2) outside underground deposits, and (3) you can find it in the mistlands. Personally I prefer the dungeons because you also get to fight there and it is most efficient. But finding enough of them can be hard. Taming means you need to haul a lot less of the animal products because you can have their resources just spawn inside your base as long as you feed them. If you manage to tame the higher level animals they produce even more loot. Oh, and they can help fight when you are being invaded.
My only problems with Valheim are a handful of questionable design choices. 1. Death punishments are incredibly annoying because they take away several hours worth of skills. I really don't think this adds anything to the game. I find it doesn't discourage poor play that leads to death, it's just an excessive punishment. Shouldn't losing all your items and having to sprint to retrieve your things while defenseless be punishment enough? 2. Portal mechanics are arbitrary and tedious. Not being able to teleport metal is a huge problem. People say that "it would make the gameplay loop too easy", but that's stupid logic. If the gameplay loop is too easy, then you should find ways to improve it other than arbitrarily limiting what tools the player can use. In this case, they have the worst of both worlds, as they'd like you to have the convenience of fast travel, but simultaneously don't want you to have the convenience of fast ore transport. It would be better if they either got rid of portals or allowed portals to transport all/no materials, instead of this blatantly arbitrary system. 3. Building physics are absolute garbage. I'm actually a huge fan of the idea they had of structural integrity and support, but the system is unintuitive and only serves to make you bang your head against a wall if you even dare to build anything bigger than a small town. 3.5. To add on to this, building material requirements are ridiculous, especially when you reach stone onwards. Three stone for a 1x1 block?? Are you serious? If you want to build anything in this game, then be prepared to spend 4 hours grinding for every 1 hour actually building. 4. Fall damage is way too strict. Falling a distance that's any greater than one and a half times your height is enough to do damage to you. Sure, it encourages you to be careful, but I find that terrain is often difficult enough that I'm being punished simply by navigating it. God help you if you're being chased by an enemy that you're too weak to defeat at the moment. You'll be stuck between getting one-shot by the enemy, or one-shot by accidentally doing the equivalent of slipping on a banana peel, and falling a handful of feet. These issues plague my experience with the game every time I play, and it's what contributes to my consistent burnout with it. Sure, I could argue that these mechanics are not fun, but I think that's a weak argument. My real problem is that not only are these mechanics unintuitive, but they don't serve to teach the player anything about the game or extend the gameplay loop in a meaningful way. They are shallow and arbitrary obstacles and annoyances that can be slapped on by any dev with any game. I'm actually a huge fan of Valheim. It's a unique and beautiful game. It's had some of the most engaging and fun moments I've had with games in years, and I have no problems with the game's core design. I'm just sad that I have to deal with this crap every time I want to try playing it again.
@@98LONGS Game is extremely easy because of the insanely generous parry window and massive riposte damage + the fact that the most challenging enemies attack as predictably as the first hollow soldiers you run into in DS, so calling anything in it a skill issue is kinda funny. Everything this person described is just tedious nonsense that slows down the game for no reason than to make you sink more hours into it.
I'm playing Valheim again atm, but even after having played the latest survival games trending like Enshrouded (far from being that good to be honest), I still can't find any game toping the experience I have with Project Zomboid, a game that is still in Early Access. In a completely different style, I quite enjoy Grounded too but it's a bit too hard and grindy for me to play alone. Green Hell would be close behind if they added more content, clutter and stuff.
Eh, a single cart full is enough for most your needs. So sure, it takes a while, but it is quite doable. And you don't actually need bronze armour, it is an armour you can safely skip.
Definitely agree with you there, it'll be even better when Valheim gets more content and systems. I just wish the modding community was as active as Minecraft's because it's way more difficult to find stuff to spice up your gameplay that is high quality AND up to date
@@GabKaulemMinecraft _is_ just a survival game with building mechanics. The community around Minecraft is what makes the game incredible, but just the game itself is probably less enjoyable than valheim, at least for me.
@@biggestofriches I'd personally put Vintage Story as my survival GOAT. But hey, Valheim is the only other I consider in the same league and they do emphasize different things, so personal preference is gonna do do it's thing.
Valheim is an irreplaceable experience. I absolutely agree with you on everything in this video. Also I am so happy to see that we shared similar experiences and the most notable one being the chimney peeking our interest in how much 'can' we actually do with the building in this game. The answer, A LOT. I ended up building an entire settlement with a keep for myself by leveling out an enormous part of the Black Forest that was neighboring the Plains in my world. I aggro'd a troll and baited him to swing at me to expedite the clearing of trees in Black Forest. I LOVE Valheim and I am eagerly awaiting the Ashlands update so that I can continue my journey I have invested a large chunk of time into.
Honestly I agree with a lot of your points, Valheim is a great game with a very fun and rewarding building system but I notice you fail to mention some of its biggest weaknesses. For starters, the absolutely miserable metal grind. The fact that the teleporters don't work with metal forcing you to lug it yourself is fine(ish) for your first node, but after a while it gets really repetitive. This is ignoring the multiplayer experience, where you are basically "trapped" in this stage of progression while you get everyone in your group outfit with metal gear leading to hours of grind mining the resources, then transporting, then ALSO finding and mining and transporting tin back to your base. Keep in mind im currently talking about the copper tin and bronze grind. and also IGNORING the fact that sometimes world gen fucks you hard, and the nearest dark forest is ridiculously far away from your spawn (where most people decide their first base is). (as a side note I do actually enjoy the dungeon diving for teleporter + smelter parts, and the dark forest as a whole, just not the metal grind) (times mentioned may vary from player to player, though keep in mind most of my time metrics come from games with 2-4 players overall, and may not fully explore how quickly a solo player can get past the grind) and then after you have got full bronze gear and tools + boat the exploration begins, which I have *some* issues with (which will be covered later). So after you find and dive into your first swamp dungeon when you thought the metal grind was finished its EVEN WORSE, you spend 20-30 mins clearing this dungeon only to be rewarded by 20 more minutes lugging iron back and forth to your boat, only to THEN spend the next 40 mins getting your boat back to your base (travel times may vary, but overall if you get fucked by world-gen it can become ridiculous), this ignores how much of a slog this is for the solo player, the multiplayer gameplay isn't even that much better considering most people like to stay in the same tier of progression as their friends, causing you to again be "trapped" in this tier while you are forced to grind metal for your friends. Now after this point in progression (or just after you get the bronze boat depending on preference), there is usually the DREADED search for the merchant. This NPC spawns RANDOMLY on coasts in a large radius around the spawn island, and sells an actually useful tool to reduce grind that increases player carry-weight by a decent amount. The search for him feels like pulling teeth and has typically taken between 3-6 hours (consider that I have only played 2 games and that this number can be significantly longer), all while not even providing that much of worth. You can go an entire game from start to mistlands without really explicitly needing the extra carry-weight, its just a convenience tool. Thank god he isnt tied to progression, as this whole "diversion" just detracts from my previous experience fighting trolls and diving into skeleton-laden dungeons, just to be sent onto the ocean with the vague promises that the merchant will be just around the corner, and that I can't go back now, what if he was right over there? etc repeat for 6 hours until I either burn out and take a break or find him. Essentially just seeing how patient you can be. Moving to the metal grind in the mountains, I actually have no experience taking silver back to my base like I did with iron or copper / tin, at this point in the game me and my friends modified some configs (or added a mod to) allow players to be teleported with metal. This made the silver grind way more enjoyable, and way less of a truck simulator than the previous sections, so i dont particularly have some "scathing review" for this part of progression and have nothing to say here. Moving on to the furthest i've ever gotten, the search for Yagluths altar. Why in all that is survival gameplay is this altar so hard to find, I honestly have nothing really to speak about here other than my utter irritation at my lack of ability to find this thing. And honestly at this point in the game, me and my friends were not up to spending another god knows how long searching the plains for this altar. Keep in mind as well at this point im probably 20-30 hours deep and just not enjoying it. Now at this point you can see why im completely stumped that you referred to Valheim as a game that "respects your time", its a great survival game and I really enjoy its building system, food mechanics, and combat, but the amount of time you have to spend just not engaging with any of the above and listlessly searching the ocean really tanks any and all enjoyment for the game. And even its replay value for me, knowing exactly how much time im going to have to spend engaging with dull and tedious tasks really saps any motivation to start a new playthrough, even in the face of new content which im excited about. (I understand they probably do this to pad hours while they add new content as a small team, but that just makes me think they are insecure about their product and its replay value. You shouldn't be forced to mod the game to avoid 10 or more hours of grind) as a final mention, I say all of the above as someone who actually likes the game and hopes it sees improvement in the future, not as someone who wishes the worst of it. TLDR; great game but the amount of grind enforced by progression makes it unfun to me after a certain point.
You don't need full bronze gear, personally I prefer the troll gear set anyway. Why don't you build a forge closer to your mining operation? You can usually find a piece of grassland nearby. And lay down roads and use a cart. It sounds to me like you're putting goals down for yourself that are extremely hard, try to reach those goals suboptimally, and then say the game demands you do these things. The game doesn't care if you have a fully upgraded bronze armour set or whatever, that is a playstyle choice you made. Anyway, yeah the trader and some boss locations can be really annoying to find.
The 2nd time I ever beat Elder I was kiting and using arrows, long range. Then a troll appeared. I had to avoid the troll's log and try to get shots on Elder without getting "shot gunned," by Elder. And then a 2nd "punchy," troll arrived. I was cursing and kiting, and managed to pull it off. It took over 20 minutes and I almost died several times. I can't portal to that Elder mount base without remembering that time. Great game. And still $20 and I got it like $14 black Friday sale last year. You can give them a "tip," by buying merch from their website.
I love Valheim, I especially love the building system and how creative one can be. We build some really epic bases in super nice locations. The only thing that always annoys me is the performance of the game. it can feel very sluggish and laggy in fights and the movement could be more crisp. but i look forward to ashlands!
Could you do a comparison of Valheim Vs. Enshroudded? So many friends compared them each other but I haven't played the latter, and played Valheim only when it was released.
I like valheim but the longer you play the more tedious the bosses get. Im sure with a crew of friends the bosses aren't a big deal but as a solo player the bosses don't scale and can take longer than 10 minutes to kill. Also at least when i played it the boss music only ran for about 1 minute so most of the boss battle is just dead quite for some reason. base building is great at least, I honestly think enshrouded has one upped it in some ways at this point but we won't know for sure until both games exit early access
3:56 I still remember the "Ah-hah" moment I had when I chopped a tree and it felled other nearby trees on its way down. Turned me into a tactical lumberjack 🪓
had a blast with the initial game, but its also like a full time job... and for me it kinda ended all survival games too but in a bad way. I'm just over that grind approach for resources etc...
Devs really nailed the exploration experience. I initially used the seed generator site to speed up progress, but learned that I'm actually the type that has more fun wandering and hunting. Not knowing what lies beyond the fog pumped up the thrill in ways that I cannot describe. Definitely one of the games of all time.
I find Valheim really fun but if you do a cold analysis of it's gameplay systems they are all sub-par. Survival elements are barebones and easy to overcome, combat is clunky as hell and doesn't provide enough variety, itemization is simplistic and boils down to just getting the best gear available, exploration is also quite luck luster since there is not enough interesting things in the world and they do repeat a LOT.
I love the atmosphere and building in the game, but unfortunately I've been put off the game multiple times now. The game really is extremely hard if you're playing solo. I've never progressed beyond bronze working because of this. Every time I've tried to unlock iron working, ive been killed by swamp or plains creatures, losing all my gear in an extremely dangerous area with no way to get it back... It's so demotivating I've stopped playing for a few months a couple of times now. Last time i played, i finally went into a crypt in the swamp to try and unlock iron working, and even though i had a level 3 axe and shield, and level 3 troll hide armour, i was killed instantly. Before i even left the raised area of the entrance in the crypt area, i was immediately attacked by 4-5 blobs and one of those swamp zombies. I managed to kill them all only to drop dead from poisoning seconds later. How are you supposed to survive that as a solo player? I was so frustrated i again haven't played for months. A huge pity, because i absolutely love the atmosphere of the game to bits. But it's so frustrating at times as a solo player...
You only have to grind the armor upgrades and you should upgrade to lvl 2 atleast I forgot that weapons might be more important it just depends if you prefer defense or combat
@@breadstick8502 Nope, the armor is more important, though this guy bull$hits, there is no grind. Also I upgrade my weapons cause I like competition, but having them at level 1 is an advantage as you got to land more hits to finish opponents. That levels up your weapon skills more leading to more damage and less stamina usage, leveling up your weapons completely only gets important past the swamps.
@@breadstick8502 You don't need to do that at all, why would you upgrade to lvl 2 instead of lvl 1? Honestly if you get good enough, you don't even need armor in most cases as the dodge ability is overpowered. An increase to level 2 does minimum numbers, so might as well max it.
been thinking of going back to Valheim haven't play the Ashlands update yet, one thing i miss its the food system in valheim, been playing many other survival games and all of those food systems they got really suck compared to valheim, dunno what is it but in Valheim it feels good to look for ingredients and craft your things etc, and you are not even forced to do it, you just do it because it feels worth it.
I guess I'm the only one disliking this game and I've played various games which are smiliar like The Forest, Minecraft, Terraria, 7 Days to Die and what not. It's pretty simple why: 1. It's extremely grindy, 2. It's also boring. You spend hours and hours in the same region just mining ores and fighting the same 3-5 enemies again and again. Aside from that the game is terrible in it's sense of progression and open world. There's barely anything cool to find in the world. There's a jarringly low amount of half assed structures and you will never find actually cool interesting unique items like weapons and tools in the open world. You only get good items from ores and bosses and like I said before it takes way too long to farm these. Adding insult to injury you can't even transport ores by teleporters. Like why? Why would disallow all ores to be brought through portals which a few of are alread too heavy for your character and many times you had to travel far to get them. Why artificially stretch out the game in the most bland and infuriating way ever if the open world is already dead and ugly as it is? And even then there is not enough variety. There's just bows, swords, maces, spears and shields and that's it.
No offense, but you sound like an absolute !mbecile mate, like holy $hit. First of all it isn't grindy at all, in the least bit. If you want to be like me and have all maxed out items and many mini bases yeah it's grindy, otherwise it ain't. It's not boring at all, so many people have over 1k play time on Valheim, that's impossible on a boring game son. The progression and open world is great and one of it's main features. Why can't you transport minerals through portals? To make geography a thing son, you either transport them with a boat or you make a small base in the area to smelt it and make items.
NOTHING will compare to playing Valheim with my best friend for the first time. We're both pushing 40 now and that was an unforgettable experience. The immense feeling of venturing into the unknown, of exploration and adventure. I don't think we'll ever recapture that tbh.
My fondest memories of 20 years of gaming is LAN battles in AOE2 as a wee lad with best friends and playing Valheim with those same friends. The devs hit the perfect game feel, the perfect sense of progression. This is a game meant to be enjoyed, not rushed.
Lolol, the way you're talking about it makes it sound as if this was something that happened decades ago, during your childhood.
I had to double check... game only came out like 3 years ago 😂 (what I mean is that you were pushing 40 when you played it back then too)
I am literally LOL right now @idontwantahandlethough comment. But aside from that, two of my best buds and I played this for the first time when it came out and let me tell ya, you are exactly right. This was a whole experience of total unknown and urge to keep going even after Yagluth. But the journey up to Yagluth was the best ever survival game experience we all had together bar none. Truly a great game and just recently we dove back in for the huge Mistlands update, I know it has been out awhile now, but we just recently started back up hearing Ashlands is coming later this year. Once again, still a total blast to play and loving all the new content. The devs are truly doing a remarkable job on this and I for one am truly grateful they made such a game and wanted to share it with us. Not only that even after Ashlands (if I'm not mistaken) there is more to come! Such a fantastic addition to my library especially my survival/build games genre.
One of my best gaming times was learning conan exiles.
well playing it with my wife so that we were both spending time together and sharing an amazing game experience is tough to beat.
We play on a private server with my two closest friends and their wives. The six of us have an amazing time.
I still remember the first time me and my buddy rode a boat in this game. We were heading off to kill the Elder. The music was already amazing but then we passed through a narrow river with the sun shining through the treetops in front of us and a thin morning mist flowing here and there. Combined with the music it felt like we were on an actual adventure. Everything just came together in that moment in a way that's just hard for words to describe. I'll never forget that experience.
Poetic and accurate
rode* a boat lmao
@@Heroo01 Fixed.
I remember building a raft and recklessly going out to sea, where a storm brewed and we me the serpent the first time.
@@Colinization18dude I did the same thing lmao
Creeping up on 4k hours played, no mods, Vanilla Valheim and I love it as much now as I did when I first launched it. Love finding Seeds with Supercontinents to start on so I can slowly make a road along the entire coastline using the time spent there scouting and gathering mats the whole while.
Ooof - I thought my 2,700hours was bad enough. LOL.
Though I do like how you can explore vast areas some times yet still have unknown locations on your starting Island due to the way the map spawns items or you didn't get round to exploring that yet. Those 'quick' 20 minute sails to return ore to home by taking a shortcut that leads to an inland sea, or the coast of a vast continent and you are left with trying to decide if it is better to back track, or sail onwards hoping for either river or lands end to be faster to get home.
Though I have started with some mods - but they are more quality of life ones. Life would be sad without the veinmine mod. LOL.
I had a seed with a perfect ring of mountains with meadows and plains in the center I conquered the whole of it and made it an enormous stronghold with farm that was unassailable.@@sociallyferal4237
wow 4000 hours!! Just over 2000 here. Wonderful game 🤩
Fuckin virgin lol
Been playing it virtually every single day since I installed it 7 months ago. Sometimes I can only dip in for 30 minutes but I dip in every single day. Love this game. Same deal, just the vanilla game - no mods, no creative mode.
True words spoken. you can feel the love investied in the game while playing it.
Definitely not for me. It's actually the most unrealized game in the genre by far. Devs had a once in a lifetime moonshot opportunity and dropped the ball so ridiculously hard with this game. Worst update cycle ever.
@@derpderpin1568 hard when devs are still new. at launch it really is a amazing game
@@amarthyashankar5895 They've made hundreds of millions and yet release no updates and never admit they've made a mistake about something (like building for example). Just lazy and greedy such wasted potential. Just hire more dev's if you can't be arsed finishing something.
@@isaacs3413iron gate also has to work on deep rock galacyic dumbass
@@isaacs3413 Yes. The only problem of the game is basically lazyness and greedyness of developers. So much money, so close to zero updates with a small amount of content. I discovered Epicloot Balanced and Creature Loot and Level Control mods that basically revived game for me. It made it more challengable, added some quests with reasonable rewards, forcing you to actually explore the world instead of its 1/4.
My most memorable gaming moment in recent years was getting chased by trolls for the first time and excitedly yelling and running away with friends. Or getting 1 shot in front of my group by a mosquito. You captured why this game is such an experience.
The timing of its release was also very fortunate, being at the start of Covid lockdowns. I'm not sure I'll ever get a group of 10 friends, all over 30, to invest so much time in a video game together again.
If you'd like I can send you an invite to our server. We've got 7 people atm and have been having lots of fun. We plan to reset when ashlands comes out.
@@LinkTom86 invite still stand? definitely looking to pick it back up soon with Ashlands
foh calling 2021 "the start of covid lockdowns" hasnt even been that long at all and youre already making up illusions in your head
You are not investing anything, you are just playing a game.
@@spankyjeffro5320negativity alert
3:13 Smoke is probably one of my favorite parts about Valheim, it encourages more creative building like you said, but it also can allow for some more interesting base set-ups defensively, like what if you deliberately set your base up so all the smoke pools in a small room full of valuable items first before slowly being filtered out by a single hole that can barely keep up with the amount of smoke you produce, and it will somewhat obscure the room it fills providing some indirect protection on worlds with PvP if your friends try to shank you.
That’s a really interesting idea, love that!
Back when the game first released, I was on a mega server and we did that for one of our bases,
we called it the gas chamber
The beauty of sandboxes. Experimenting with what's available.
Yep. Actually having to add chimneys and air ducts in the tops of houses and huts was just the perfect amount of Viking for me. Such a great foundation for building too. Having to actually think about structure adds so much cool immersion and rewarding builds once you get it right.
Remember building that first chimney and feeling smart until the fire would flicker off and on. I assumed it was a glitch but later realized that happens if you don't let the smoke out quick enough! So you have to keep the fires covered but not smothered. Now with 1000+ hours still think about fire placement and smoke venting first in each build.
In 1989 I got my Bachelors degree in Industrial Engineering. In 1995 I got my Master's degree in Civil Engineering. In 2022 at the age of 56 I killed my first troll in Valheim. God! The sense of achievement was incredible! This morning (2024, I am 58) I started a new game. I thought I'd try passive enemies for a while, see how that works. My first death was by a tree. And they are the most passive beings on the map.
had a friend who finished the game multiple times,to this day most of his deaths are from trees
truly a force to be reconed with
En 2021, à l'âge de 60 ans, j'ai tué mon premier troll à Valheim. Au cours du premier mois après la sortie du jeu, j'y ai passé 400 heures (893 aujourd'hui). C'est l'un des meilleurs jeux de survie auquel j'ai joué.
@@ninoskaelgueta4440 ❣
All of my deaths are fall damage while building. I've become the but of jokes among friends
@@curtisreimer4592 at least mistlands introduces something to help remedy that unfortunate habit :D
Me and my friends spent 8 hours digging a trench so our boat could cross our main island instead of having to go around it… the most memorable time I have had in a game in a long time!
That stone was useful later on, and a cleaner shot to your base can even save you time in the long run. Especially if a sea serpent breaks your ship.
You're over here in 3024, teach us more! That's freaking smart!!!!
no idea why but canal building really checks some boxes for me
@@foamslinger2787 Massive landscaping is a fun part of the game.
I had a continent that only needed about 30 tiles cleared for a canal I needed where the continent had a huge lake in the middle of it.
A couple times I have stored up a ton of stone by picking a large mountain peak and just slowly leveling it over time. Then you have an amazing view from the edges and I have a building full of stone where the peak used to be. It has a "stone," portal to my main base where I can transport stone any time I want it for building.
Took like 30 chests to store all the stone.
That's dedication. Respect.
Facts, it's an example of what a survival game should be. You don't mind the difficulty and penalty to mistakes, when it's presented so sensibly and comfortably. There are also options for adjusting ALL of them as well. You can go Immersive Viking Experience with no map, portals or mercy. You can go creative mode where you have free reign of all materials you've found once and build in this excellent build system!
Such a fun game, just played over vacation and built a tribute to Ironforge in the mountains with my friend. Amazing experience, full of triumph, loss, and friendship. All done in vanilla normal so every stone of that place was mined by us or the Stone Golems. Made several rooms embedded in the mountain's rocks, sculpting stone walls. Revisions on numerous rooms due to more resources being available, or the Stone Golem dropping in on our ceiling and trashing the living room... We brought it light, we brought it comfort, and we brought it trophies!
Stay Rested my Vikings.
You are such a dude!
And it only took 2 years for that simple options menu to be added. Maybe in about 14 years the game will actually be complete.
I disagree, because of the fact that valhiem realy isn't a survival game. It has some survival elements but the gameplay loop isn't about survival
@@derpderpin1568 Yea literally, such potential wasted in a game full of pointless time wasting to make it appear more full.
@@gaup3171 Yeah, it baffles me that people call Valheim as Survival game. It has 0 survival mechanics. It's an action-adventure game with building mechanics. It's like trying to call Fallout 4 a survival game. Hella dumb.
I said this recently on another video, and I'll say it again here. Valheim is an experience. Not just the first time either. Every time you start a new playthrough, it's a completely new experience in so many ways. This is such a hard game for me to truly explain to people who have never played it. Not the base gameplay mind you, but what you get from it. It is a mood, it is passage, it is struggle, it is elation, it is beauty, it is achievement, it is chill time, it is all these things and so much more. Hardest game experience to explain ever. Everything in that game I want in future survival games (can weather effects and overall ambience ever be this good again?) I am spoiled.
Never in my life have I experienced the terror of a storm as I have in Valheim. With my room lights off, I feel cold, I feel wet, and I feel alone.
The repeat experience of finally conquering a biome, feeling invincible, then venturing into the next biome and getting your ego deflated again, realizing your best is barely good enough all over again.
Valheim is the only game where sitting in a boat traveling in a straight line not doing anything is fun
Never seen this game before. Is it any good? Looks like minecraft
Its a survival game where you start of by gathering resources and the more you play you get to fight bosses and enemies I dont want to spoil anything I watched it on youtube before I played that was a mistake also play with friends 10x more fun @@tommyjones1357
@@tommyjones1357better than mc imo, love the game you should def get it if you haven't. so much time to be put in and it is so much fun, especially going in blind its way more fun and its prolly a number 1 or 2 for me in survival games
@@tommyjones1357 Has some similar aspects to minecraft, but is quite different.
The solo player on it is many times more fun than minecraft, especially the combat.
Also has a many times easier base building than MC if you want to make good looking functional builds.
Best action survival game out there, you should try it.
Have you played sea of thieves? Best pirate boat game! But not as fun as valheim over all.
I played this game a while ago and wasn’t really into it but watching this video made me try it again and realize I just didn’t understand what it was about. It’s amazing and exactly the type of game I’ve been hoping someone would make. Thank you for making such a good video explaining it.
Im so glad to hear that! It’s an amazing game!
try vallheim roleplay server it is totaly new way of playing the game with many other ppl on the server
@@zumrok4884 roleplay isn't for everyone really
The fact that to this day I can play in the meadows for HOURS alone, still fascinates me to a degree no game ever did for me
I'm on Day 1010 in my original world, and have built a massive Seaside Stronghold of black marble, stone, wood, and iron that is unique and functional. I have not seen quite the level
of creative building that is available in Valheim, and have been playing with friends from around the world for over 2 years. The game is unique unto itself. Waiting for Ashlands. Nice Vid.
3:29
My solution was using the roof tiles to leave staggered gaps at the top. Even though a block exists in a given space the game can identify gaps and let smoke out. This let me build more period correct viking huts and just hide a couple clever gaps and i never have to worry about smoke buildup.
Good one. Lot of creative ways. I sometimes use 4 posts at the top of a chimney, or even a simple hole on the roof with 4 vertical posts and horizontal to make a 2-d looking box. Then I can put roof tiles directly over it and the smoke still blows out the 4 empty squares on the side.
And in my "Elder mount basement," bases there's so much space I can simply have a fire anywhere and it just spreads out enough it doesn't matter.
Valheim and Terraria are the two games I think about when I search for survival type games. Just about nothing else compares to those.
Valheim also just has amazing atmosphere. Sitting in your house with the fire blazing and the storm outside going hard as Thor flies by in the sky is just... I mean its as I said... the atmosphere and ambience in Valheim is unbeatable.
Also worth noting Valheim has a very well made VR mod that just adds wonders to that feeling.
VR mod? please, where?
Grounded and Palworld are easily on the same level of Valheim
@RthereNEusernames like hell they are. Grounded didn't break up the grind causing it to become stale and Palworld's building system is a joke unworthy to hide in Valheim's shadow.
They're both fun games but no where near as fun as Valheim.
@@IamGhede entirely subjective on the fun aspect of it, but Valheim is far more grindy than Palworld and Grounded. I'm not saying Palworld or Grounded are better games necessarily, but they're easily in the same tier.
Mine are Ark Survival Evolved and Ark Survival Ascended lol. Valheim looks fun, but every survival game I have tried playing after touching Ark just gets stale since most are pve only.
Just had to leave a comment. This was a great love letter to Valheim, and I absolutely agree! I've got 1000+ hours in vanilla and I still feel like there is so much more to experience. My favorite game genre is survival, and I feel like Valheim is the best of the best. Of course, there could be improvements made, nothing is perfect. With the recent addition of the new settings sliders, I feel the replayability has been sent into the stratosphere. And of course, there is always the huge world of mods. This was a very high quality video, I subscribed, and I look forward to checking out your other content. You should have more subscribers! Happy New Year!
Happy new year to you too! Really grateful for the kind words!!
Played Valheim with my brother during COVID and we forgot about time. Last thing we knew it was morning! We've been playing for hours and hours all night, it felt so nostalgic. Amazing game, great game design, beautiful and so much fun with friends!
Playing with friends, we found out our tombstones eventually despawned, and that happened many many times. It was always after a long period of time though. We literally had to kill Bonemass again to get our silver locator thingies again once.
I've had a tombstone for 400 days on one world, do you know how long it takes?
@@abekane7038 In our case it took waaaay less, like around 1-2 hours of playtime so there's probably some kind of bug involved, probably on ours, not yours I'd say. Maybe it fell through the ground or something. It was vanilla multiplayer and happened quite a few times like a year ago. If it was a bug I really hope it's patched now.
@@mendiganina6001 just spitballing here, but could be a performance/optimization issue too.
You mentioned the couple of hours despawning was in multiplayer. When more of you are active on the same map, it has to have more things loaded especially if you are spread out to several places.
Maybe it's like perfectly safe for an hour. But if you don't pick it up then it just gets demoted in priority order. No actual despawn until the system gets a bigger load when it needs to choose between remembering everything and massive lav or despawning 'unimportant loose items' to maintain performance. With multiple people working around a massive deforestation with wood all over the ground or the loot scattered after a raid event is much more likely to cause a bigger system loads.
Then again if my hypothesis is correct, it's still kinda sad the single player/ lower player count has a stable enough build to essentially lure people into a false sense of security and stuff is not that always protected. But from a programming perspective somethings gotta give before the 20- FPS zone.
@@abekane7038 I had one tombstone glitch in mistlands and disappear after I respawned. I had fallen off my roof, making a balcony, and forgot food. So my tombstone was right behind my house. I went outside and it was gone. I think it's the "punt," glitch where an item sometimes is randomly launched like a mile away.
I even logged out and back in. I clicked on the empty space where it had been in case it was still there but not showing. No dice. Only happened once to me. So I used Devcommands to respawn all the high level gear or mats needed to make them.
After 3 playthroughs up to mistlands, only happened that one time.
Never had a tombstone despawn on me, maybe somone else got to it? Iv found player tombstones out in the middle of no where of people who havnt played in months.
Great video! We're all a bit starved for content right now while we wait for Ashlands so it's nice to be reminded why we love it so much. 😀
A while ago I started a forever world on it. I previewed some seeds to pick one I liked but haven’t looked at the map generator since making the world. I have four characters that each live on that world, north east south and west and they have a hub by the spawn so I can share stuff like food between them. You can really play valheim however you like and I think it’s possibly my favourite game
That's seems like a case of split personality ;D
Valheim is an overatted game i played it and i saw nothing spécial about it you make no sense
@@THELIONMAN7 can you name some other ones that you really liked more than this?
@@rexaustin2885 it dépends of the games you like but i had ton of other games that was better than valheim, valheim is not even close to the other games i played
@THELIONMAN7 enough with the suspense, give me some names man. I'll check them out.
Saleblazers? Palworld? Voth similar to valheim and great games :)
Valheim somehow is a game where you spend countless hours grinding for small amounts of loot but it’s still satisfying and fun, not an easy thing to do. I feel as though most of these hardcore survival games drop the ball when it comes to presentation, so they are super hard games for no reason other than to be hard, valheim seems like it might be that way but it isn’t, the gear is so badass and makes you so much stronger that grinding for an hour for one piece of gear is satisfying because of how much value it has to the player. The pacing of this game is next level, you start so incredibly weak but get hugely noticeable upgrades straight away, yet as soon as you reach the next biome you’re back to being “weak”, yet you still feel like you’ve made progress. It’s a very well made system.
Playing with friends is the best
8:30 in high school there was a poster on the wall in the science class it said in 20 years people won't remember what you wore or even what you said. They will remember how you made them feel though. Perfect analogy for video games. I can go back and play my favorite MMORPG of all time dark is a Camelot and it doesn't feel the same, and that's okay because the memories I got from it at the time last forever.
I remember Dark Age of Camelot very fondly, too. Much fun was had there.
Valheim is the only survival game I like. I think two of the biggest parts are that I don't feel like I'm having to interrupt more interesting activities in order to keep my character alive, and I can build interesting structures with relatively few resources. In other survival games, I tend to build the bare minimum because it feels like a hassle, either because I'm constantly having to interrupt my work to stay alive or gathering resources is a tedious grind. Valheim isn't perfect, my Valheim group fell apart once we got to the Mistlands because we all found it too frustrating, but up to that point, I was having a great time.
Same mistlands stopped my groups progress trying to progress through very confusing but I could tell their is alot to discover
Wait until you hit ashlands, makes mistlands seem like the plains
Easy tip: Once you unlock portals, when setting out to explore a new region, always carry the materials to make a workbench and a portal with you. Then set up a new portal at your base before setting out and remember the name. Once you have discovered a region you want to explore, simply drop a portal there and link it with the name you set up in advance. Boom! Instant way back home. Portals by themselves are rarely bothered by mobs, so they're safe enough. If you really want to, you can build a base fairly easy by transporting mats (except metals, of course, but walls and basic buildings should be no problem,) through the portals. Unfortunately though, the best way to transport metals remains by boat, so setting up a port facility may still be required.
My favorite moment was when we found a fuling for the first time. It was wandering in a dark forest spot (probably attracted by other dark forest monsters) and since it looked so silly and small, we (my friends and i) were fully confident that we could kill him. We've just got our bronze tier armors a couple of hours ago and we felt invincible... we were wrong... very wrong. I ran towards him with my mighty bronze shield as i was attempting to parry him, instead, got instantly vaporized from a single blow. 10/10 experience. We laughed so hard for probably one hour. My only regret is not being able to record it a the time.
Our first encounter to plains was deathsquito. Our party of five ppl was very confident that we can easilly kill it since "it's just a bug". Oh boy was it fun to run back butt naked multiple times to pick up our stuff. Finally it found some group of graydwarfs to play with and we manage to escape
It's a rare game that draws me in for 1000+ hours. Valheim was able to do that for me! I've played through the game numerous times. Modded some playthroughs. Vanilla others. It's a gem.
Over 4k hours (I play with some people who have more than that). and I can agree with everything you've said. I've played solo, I've played on the default 10-and-under seeds with friends, and on much bigger 'public' seeds (anywhere from 25 - 125 players/day); modded, and vanilla. There's so much that can be done in this game either way. It ticks every box; and I'm finding myself comparing all the other survival games to this. I've played a bunch of them; my second favourite is The Long Dark. I don't know what kind of gaming history the people at Iron Gate have, or how they gained and worked through their insights on what a survival game should be. But they nailed it with this one. Well done on the video, too. Great job. Looking forward to more.
I wish The Long Dark had some online game modes. But yeah playing that game on some of the harder difficulties is such an experience. I've still never come close to surviving more than a couple hours of the hardest difficulty.
when i first started i struggled to keep my raft in one spot, so i built a fully enclosed garage that it can sail into that is built onto a deck that i can seamlessly walk onto (i used gates as the garage doors)
I just got the game and have been having a blast! I love the slow grind as it makes every accomplishment feel really rewarding.
Sailing back from the swamps with a literal boatload of iron and seeing all the new crafting recipes was the best feeling!
AAAND you can play it all in VR for an absolutely MAGICAL experience! stalking a deer into the woods as the dark sets in and you're under the canopy, the forest flor lit by the moon. i just laid down in that peaceful night after the hunt and took a nap till morning came with it's cozy thick fog. sometimes you spend the whole night building your dream house and you just get tea irl and sit at the deck of the house you just built and have the tea watching the sun rise over the village you and your friends built. in all my 24 years of gaming and 4 years of VR gaming, nothing quite meets that mesmerizing feeling. sailing cant even be put into words. the pure wonder of living in and exploring that world. finding the tortoise for the first time, you have no idea what's happening, you and your buddy just found a weird island and suddenly the island is rumbling and sinking under your feet and you've got to rush to your boat and fast. incredible. best time of my life.
Surprised to find this video with so few views. Keep up the good work, I see great potential in your style!
I recently got Valheim and I found myself agreeing with everything you said here, to me it feels like a great mix between sandbox and quest driven gameplay (mixed with a fantastic visual/sound aesthetic). I find myself coming up with my own challenges I want to overcome "just because".
Thank you so much!
I think the biggest factor you mentioned that sold me is how its inclusive and understands not everyone has hours to grind stuff only to lose it, even minecraft has become guily of that recently with unreasonable amounts of grind for stuff in a laidback game meant to be for kids. wanna do a boss alone cuz your friends are offline or dont play valheim ? sure. wanna have a raid sort of boss fight ? thats fine too the game just makes the boss stronger for your group.
check out Vintage Story. you will probably love that game as well. most say its a minecraft clone but it was created from scratch based off it and takes survival VERY seriously.
Valheim is an overatted game i played it and i saw nothing spécial about it you make no sense
The first time me and ny friends went to kill Bonemass it was so far away from our main base that we had to travel for like an hour to get there. The whole travel was super fun (And we made the mistake of putting our base in the Mistlands before the update, so when it was updated we lost everything and had to make the travel all over again, but this time trough the Mistlands)
I LOVE valheim.
Recently went from series S to Series X, and it gave me a reason to play valheim to see the difference.
And i absolutely love the customization options they added.
I've already done the grind 2 times, and this time i chose to have everything drop triple the resources to speed up the gathering process a bit.
And i also decided to keep my inventory on death.
Going for a little more casual and building focused playthrough this time.
I love everything about the game, but the building is something else.
It really pushed my creativity in building every time i tried to build something nice.
I would constantly end up expanding on my original idea as I'm going.
Can't wait to build more beautiful stuff in this game.
And i also love the community, people are very supportive and positive on the xbox valheim community, you can come in as a newcomer and post your builds, and people will give you their honest opinion and no toxicity, only constructive criticism and good vibes!
Love you all Valheim community
Playing on triple resources really helps cut down on the unnecessary hours and made progression a lil easier and faster. My inventory fills up so fast but that's a good problem to have
Valheim is excellent for all the reasons mentioned. I have two problems with it: the difficulty steps between the biomes is crazy. I don't mind dying because I am was being dumb or inattentive but getting one hit from a wasp is too much. The second thing is that I really like my bases but feel like I have to rebuild for every new biome.
Great video brother! I can't get enough of great Valheim content like this. Well done
I love Valheim. It has to be my favourite game over the last three years. I have put over 2000 hours into it and love the fact that you can (as you said) either seek to challenge yourself or just bimble around the easier biomes gathering materials or building things. I can't wait for Ashlands to appear and to see what else Iron Gate are going to add to the game.
I played it heavily when it was first released and then put it aside for months before returning to try and improve my builds.
Then I played it for a few more months and set it aside once again, before getting back into it on the lead up to Mistlands being released.
I also like how the random biomes can mean some games you have good resources close by, others - you struggle for ages to even find and get into the bronze age.
Valheim is hands down the single one and only best bang for buck game out there. You get one of the BEST gaming experiences I have had in 15 years of PC gaming for less than 10€. And not only this! I cannot appreciate enough all the crap that you DON'T get for that! Skins, lootboxes, microtransactions, pay to win, toxic communities, shitty servers. Everything just works! Its so beautiful and it really makes me humble to see such a gem of a game in 2023. Play Valheim. You deserve this!
"Devs made a game that respects the players time."
Are you sure you played valheim there m8? Valheim wastes more time on crap you shouldn't need to do more than any other game.
Video games in general are "time wasters" but especially resource-gathering survival games lmao...
That being said, I love wasting time in Valheim. It's relaxing to me to chop down trees and run around and hunt + collect berries. The only resource I hate is farming. Screw farming in Valheim. H8
Hey, anyone know the name of the song that starts around 5:10 ?
It doesn't seem to be either of the listed songs
Like it Loud - Dyalla 😊
Thanks!@@MasonEllisShow
@@MasonEllisShow sorry to bother, i can't manage to find the one at 1:40
Absolutely insane game regardless of the release schedule controversies. Great video
I was totally stuck on the boss after Eikthyr, didn't know what to do. In most games i'd be stuck, but in Valheim i had a friend join me in coop and he showed me what to do. Didn't have to level up anything and that is the most awesome feature of Valheim - the seamless joining into another players game session, and that you can bring items with you. Sure, people can cheat easily by bringing OP gear they spawned, but that is a problem more with them than with online play. First time i saw a troll, i had already levelled up archery to the point that i was able to kite them and take them out from a distance. Got some gold out of it and there were much rejoycing.
i played valheim in released i sunk many hours into it, but as i had new things to do, and new problems and ive reached near the end of the game, and update taking years i kind of got over it
Not many non RuneScape players know this, but Valheim takes absurd amounts of inspiration from RuneScape and it’s fkn awesome
like what?
@@c1oudskyGrindiness
Let me say this first: Valheim is a good game with even greater potential. The building system is one of the best ive seen, the art style is great and i love the Terraria inspired progression system.
But this video makes it seem like its some huge masterpiece without even mentioning any issues.
The combat feels clunky, the weapon movesets for some weapons are pretty bad. If you fight in a sloped area it becomes exponentially worse(which means the entire Mistland is incredibly annoying to fight in).
The enemy movesets are not varied and very basic so most enemies are very easy to dodge, parry or kite(i dont think thats a huge problem with regular enemies but bosses having only like 3 moves is kind of a joke), so the enemy difficulty that is there either comes from them just being damage sponges, or them doing super high damage themselves.
Exploration does become pretty boring after youve seen all biomes once, due to the lack of handcrafted places/events in the world. With the exception of finding a cool place to build now and then, there is nothing to find.
Lastly, having to build a new base with workbench upgrades and smelters at each new biome or having to ship huge loads of ore across the map feels like the devs just want to waste your time.
Skyrims exploration is vastly superior because you can actually find unique handcrafted structures, npc quests and enemy encounters in the world
Dark Souls combat is better than Valheims in every way and its not even close. It feels better, there are more weapons, more unique movesets, build diversity, complexer enemy movesets, planned encounters(which isnt really possible in a randomly generated world) and lastly and most importantly better bosses.
Terrarias gameplay loop is way more fun in subsequent playthroughs than Valheims because there is a sheer infinite amount of items and weapons that you can use, the masterfully designed underground area that is filled with content to the brim and the way less tedious process of turning ore into equipment makes mining way more fun than in Valheim.
i just caaaaaant
i tried describing why valheim combat felt better to me but youtube just deletes my comment every. hecking. time. im so aaargh why does it do that
Tris is so true, the visual effects, lighting and weather makes the world so much more alive than any other game I have ever played, I still after almost a thousand hours stop to just admire a sunrise, sunset or some beautiful vista, and the feeling sailing the long ship is wonderful.
And the building system, with how all the parts just work together, makes building nice looking homes easy while allowing for so much customization.
I have never been able to build anything as good in any other game.
I have spent far too much time in Valheim. One of the things I loved was simply building and listening to podcasts.
What I would love to death is to have an easy way to build structures have move them between worlds. I tried mods, but I never really got the hang of it. I have a difficult time choosing between functional boxes, or killer castles that I leave after I finish them :-(
Maybe try to play on servers, for me it felt pointles to build something for hours if I was the only one to see it. I like to join servers and build something for people there, nice storage, kitchen or ruins out in the world filled with loot for someone to find and then move to another server.
in the video "Building a Full Adventure Map in Valheim - Start to Finish" they import the buildings 4:48
@@sergioippolito Thanks! I know it can be done, but I wish it was a lot easier. I have poked at it a few times, just never gotten it to completion.
Oddly right now, I can't even get Valheim to install/play on my current computer. Not a big issue at this time as I am fine with taking time away.
Did you try enshrouded?
Valheim is reallly really really addictive. even when you manage to break away and then decide to play it for a minute, you end up playing hours again.
Ive been thinking about making a new world lately as well, but have been hesitant to because I will have to do it solo if I do. Some of your footage seems to be of you olaying alone. How was the overall experience of playing solo?
I have only been playing solo since buying game two months ago and I like that I can do whatever I want at my own pace. Soloing the first boss was easy and only thing where I have thought help from other players would be nice is locating the second boss. Found the right island earlier this week and now I want upgrade my armor before next boss battle that I believe I can also solo. Playing solo is cozy and relaxing most of the time and challenging when I want it to be challenged. I can focus on stuff I want to do when I want to do it instead of just running after others while ignoring my own whims and needs which I'm doing in some other multiplayers games. I recommend trying Valheim solo. Though I also intend to play it in group one day to get that experience too.
Did a bit more research, and learned that they have added world modifiers at some point to make solo play a lot more viable. A couple people on Reddit even said they've played through the game twice solo.
Playing in a group of friends though is such a blast. It also definitely has its inconveniences, however.
I genuinely love YT's new algorithm. Being able to stumble upon creators like this is what UA-cam was always supposed to been about.
to be*
What was the music at 5:25?
6:20 you can actually tame wolves
What game is on min 1 ?
Just past minute 1? Return to Moria.
I agree with everything said here except for one aspect. The game does not, at all, respect your time. The game requires way more grinding than it should. If you intend to play the game and you don't wanna spend an insanely long period of time to progress, I'd recommend increasing resource drop rates. Maybe put it on 2 or 3 times (I'd recommend 2 times). As of the time of writing, you can do this in vanilla, and it made my first playthrough with my friends very, very fun.
Yeah, I agree. On my current playthrough, I haven't increased drop rates, but I have allowed metal through portals.
If there is basically no danger between me here on one side of the ocean, and the chances of encountering a sea serpent is already low, all I'm ultimately just losing is time.
The game literally has a resource drop rate value you can increase or decrease and 3x is almost overkill entirely with basically no grinding at all. I do agree that the grinding for large scale builds can be cumbersome but that's the same in other games such as minecraft.
My main issue with the game is stamina system while building, a hammer / hoe / cultivator using stamina is annoying as shit but thats what mods are for.
@@Subt0nix The game, even at x3, still has a fair amount of grinding. I'd know because I recently just finished got a four person multiplayer save to the Ashlands on x3 and it still took about 60 hours. A full first playthrough of Hollow Knight is 45 hours and it arguably has more content to get through. A full Minecraft playthrough by a novice usually takes 45 hours. I literally mentioned the drop rate modifier. I said that I use it at x2. You can't honestly believe that Valheim respects a player's time unless you believe respecting player's time means not putting time limits on things, which I heavily disagree.
At every turn valheim gives you a way to speed up the next big resource. In the Forrest its carts, in the swamp its the iron boat, in the mountains its the wolf cape (and a combination of the previous two), in the plains all the resources regenerate, giving you time to remodel your base and give care to other parts of the game than straight grind. In the mistlands you explore and find more dwarf camps to make more eiter pumps. In the Ashland's its the stone portal. Of course if you ignore every aspect of the game aside from progression (like you may if you want to see the new Ashland's content) it becomes a bit of a problem, but at that point, commands are so accessible for a reason I suppose. Over all though I suppose I shouldn't be getting this upset over a perfectly reasonable opinion that the game can take a little longer than you enjoy. Like I said the console commands are accessible for a reason
@@generalmcguffin593 I agree with you, the stamina system is annoying when building and the hammer and hoe probably should have a significantly smaller or no stamina use, but that doesn't affect as much of the game as the progression system. It affects me even less since I mostly play multiplayer, and my friend usually wants to build (and he's very good at it).
Just because it gives you a way to speed it up doesn't mean it's acceptable. In most cases, the item used to speed it up feels more like a neccessity than a helpful addition. A survival game shouldn't take 150 hours to complete, especially when it has a relatively similar amount of content in comparison to other games I could play. Of all the people I know who play Valheim (which is about eight people), every one of them say the worst part of the game is the grinding.
I personally think that grinding in games is almost always bad when that grinding requires many hours to complete. I just don't want to cheat in or devote massive amounts of time to a game to enjoy the game. That's antethetical to the point of a game.
It's not like I think Valheim is a bad game. I was just rubbed the wrong way by the video's "the game respects your time" section, because I've only ever felt the opposite, and I've felt it consitently.
good video, background music was a bit too loud for my taste tho. hard to hear your talk sometimes
Noted! Learned a lot from these first two videos.
If you want an idea of a new video, here's one:
there are plenty of "completing valheim as a pacifist" and only using certain weapons etc.
i did a playthrough (pre mistlands) where I wasn't allowed not even once to use a bow.
the bow makes the game super easy but without it you have to work around it. for example i only used sword and never once touched a bow. and did the whole game.
don't know if anyone else has done that on youtube but if not, you can take my idea and do it yourself and make a video of it =)
I'd sure watch it to see how YOU played the game.
(i have around 700 hours of gameplay, I love it)@@MasonEllisShow
Very good video, but one of the key and most important things you overlooked are the mods and the massively extensive mod community, which has completely changed the game. For example, other rideable mounts (wolves, pigs, etc.) have all been introduced and are available through mods. There are also mods that have redefined Valheim. Classes, Leveling, Diablo-style weapons, UI changes, etc.
Really grateful for the feedback! I haven’t personally used mods but I’ll check them out 😊
@@MasonEllisShow Yah the mods are IMO what make the game truly amazing. With the new difficulty settings, the mods are more QOL than anything else. Here's the list I run:
UseEquipmentInWater
SpeedyPaths
PlantEverything
Minimal_UI
SteadyRegeneration
AutoRepair
FuelEternal
Sailing
Ranching
PackHorse
Mining
Lumberjacking
Farming
Evasion
Cooking
Building
Blacksmithing
Slope_Combat_Assistance
MassFarming
TargetPortal
Max_Dungeon_Rooms
AzuMapDetails
AzuExtendedPlayerInventory
AzuAutoStore
AzuAreaRepair
EquipmentAndQuickSlots
CraftFromContainers
InstantMonsterLoopDrop
Seasonality
HD Texture packs also completely change the look and feel of the game. Seasonality is amazing; nothing like experiencing Winter in the Meadows!
@@MoofyCakesgoing to check these out! Thanks Moofy!
I have a rule that I always play a game through vanilla at least once before I mod it, but I really have to confess that I am very excited for the day when I mod this game the hell out now that I know it's actually an expansive field. (I had a feeling, but hadn't looked into it to confirm.)
I had a server set up a server back when we were in lockdown, and playing with some friends, shooting the shit for a few hours definitely helped me really get into the game, and I spent something like 200 hours in a month just getting lost in the world and enjoying it.
Love this game to bits
I can get behind no portals for metals but the weight limit is just painful, not fun. Especially when everything is so heavy and costs so much. You can’t build with a full inventory because you can’t walk. It’s just a handicap with no up side.
The upside is that you need to plan your logistics, which is fun.
@@bramvanduijn8086 Nothing wrong with logistics. My problem is with the weight limit as it is, the game leans heavily towards Viking trucker simulation with a max speed of about 4 km/h or you’re forced to do 10 trips. That’s not logistics as no logic will solve the weight problem. You solve the problem with boring grinding. I don’t mind grinding, but there is always a limit where the devs are artificially extending gameplay using the pain and frustration of the player. That’s not good game design.
Being able to progress past some weight limits(more than the belt) would be an application of logistics. Like a potion of strength, a trophy power, being able build a better cart, being able to use an animal to pull carts or even more interesting and an application of logistics if you could use your animals to set a trade route along a designated path so you can haul large amounts of metal. Especially since to build really nice building you need large amounts of various metals.
I’m saying the weight limit is not well balanced, especially when considering the massive amounts of materials needs for even just a medium build.
@@bramvanduijn8086 The logistics planning pretty much ends the moment you have a boat because then you're just hauling all resources by ship and all the weight limit does is make it annoying to haul resources around your base when building or smelting or whatever.
@@ManicPandaz It is logistics mate, use a boat to transport them or make mini bases near the minerals.
Also you can buy a Superhuman Belt from the Merchant. Also you can use a cart if you already want animals.
@@ManicPandaz And what are you even on about? There is no material needs, it's only for stone structures.
Wood is so easy to get due to sapplings.
What is the song around 5:15?
how is Valheim a survival game?base building, exploration, and combat yes, survival no. you do not need to eat, drink, shelter from the weather, or any other survival elements .
i enjoy Valheim just not as a survival game. there are no elements of the struggle to survive, so it is not a survival game. food and drink are buffs like in an RPG.
the building system has major problems. primary in my opinion is the max build height is set by ground level, making a foundation gets you nothing. you need to build on flat ground or build everything on a slop. flat ground is hard to find anywhere except the starting biome.
what game focuses on surviving only? that is what makes most gave survival a problem. at the start you can not just stay home and survive. you need to go get the stuff to start a farm or whatever the game has. once you get the food and water going you could just stay home and survive but will not advance the game. if you explore too much you neglect the farm and stop surviving. survival games are about the balance.
If you want to have anything resembling a decent amount of stamina, which you need to survive encounters then you most definitely need to consider food, drink, weather, and rest. Just because it doesn't kill you doesn't mean it isn't fun. Honestly, games that kill the player more tend to be more grindy, i.e. less fun. You'l;l have to keep doing corpse runs, which just isn't fun.
Tip: you can level the ground yourself.
@@bramvanduijn8086 yes, you NEED to buff before a fight if you want to win. like many RGPs try to have you do, but most fail. you do not NEED to buff to survive a fight, you can run. i play most of the game (by time) un-buffed.
"Just because it doesn't kill you doesn't mean it isn't fun." - i never stated it was not fun. i actually stated the opposite i enjoy the game. it is not a survival game, but non-survival game are still fun.
corpse runs have nothing to do with survival games. they are part of the combat system of the game.
your tip - that is my point i need to "fill" the side of a hill making it useless space instead of building a stone wall and using the space as in interior rooms. the plains counter to what there name would suggest are vary hilly. the hole map is a series of small islands so it makes they are high in the middle and low by the water. it just does not make sense in terms of a real world layout. i know why it is this way they want you to need to sail places.
on a sailing not that is the least fun and least respects my time. if you are the "driver" you sit there making small course corrections for hours of your game experience. occasionally out running a sea serpent or having your crew fight it wile you maintain a safe distance. if you are the crew you sit and do nothing unless you are hunting sea serpents.
You can flatten the ground with a hoe or pickaxe btw.
Also, it definitely is about survival in my 15 hours of playing the game. Like you need food to get higher hp and stamina which are important in combat and when trying to start a base, you have to fight off enemies often in an attempt to establish yourself in that area. Then there are the random forest moving encounters which has a swarm of enemies attack your base.
The whole game is about surviving and exploration. Once you've mastered one area, you move on to the next snd repeat the process.
I have encountered many problems with the building element but really these are only caused because of the degree of freedom they give the player that makes building so much fun. I haven't reached the hight limit yet though and my stronghold is like 6-8 walls high with a roof I built on top.
Oh btw there are rest and cold debuffs that exist to
Best thing is sailing around the world collecting valuables. And then (just because you are close to the edge) you decide to check how the edge of the map is. The current near the edge sucked our boat and we fell off the world (5 persons). We lost all our best upgraded iron gear and tons of resources. 5/5 would sail to the edge again.
I don't know what lightning they've captured in this bottle called Valheim, but it has taken days of my life away now.
My session went for 16 hours just a few days ago, all dedicated to building my log cabin in the snowy mountain peaks, and here I am spending more hours on the same cabin.
Got into this game a while back on my One S, but it was so leggy. I got used to the leg for a while, but it got too bad as my base got bigger. So I eventually left Valheim behind. I just recently bought a next gen, and I’m getting back into this game HEAVY again.
I played Valheim for 5 hours of my life that I will never get back. Maybe it gets good after 100+ hours, but honestly it is way too boring for the first few hours for a reasonable person to get into. The early gameplay of Valheim is both terrible and boring. Killing the first boss is way too easy. The grind is excessive for anyone who wants to have fun.
Why even kill the first boss? Grab a troll to smash copper and tin for you. There's no rules, you can play it how you want to. Every game starts out fun, depending on what you're willing to try.
I understand the game won't be for everyone and that might be you. I hope you give it another go and after making a flint knife, you hit the plains to kill deathsquitos for arrows.
Either way, have a good one
Im on my fourth playthrough now that ashlands released. Me and my playgroup dont have a lot of time on our hands though and we want to progress together. so we just entered the mountains. In between we have been building bases and exploring. I am so looking forward to the new additions in thw ashlands. Our playgroup has not had many spoilers so far. Its the best experience to stumble across things and find out this way.
I don't know. Valheim starts out really strong, but it's got some major flaws that start to become obvious about the time you reach the swamp. For one, there isn't enough variety in monsters. There's way too much hauling. Mining iron is tedious. Mosquitos get drawn too far out of their biome, so you can be insta-killed the moment you see the shore line if it's plains. The taming mechanic is pointless. I could go on.
I feel like I got my money's worth, but it's not a _great_ game.
Agreed on the lack of variety in monsters, I want more of them too.
Hauling is only partially required, quite often it is a choice. And if you build roads and use carts you can massively increase how much you can move.
I know of three sources of iron, so if you don't like one of them, do the other two. They are (1) in the dungeons, (2) outside underground deposits, and (3) you can find it in the mistlands. Personally I prefer the dungeons because you also get to fight there and it is most efficient. But finding enough of them can be hard.
Taming means you need to haul a lot less of the animal products because you can have their resources just spawn inside your base as long as you feed them. If you manage to tame the higher level animals they produce even more loot. Oh, and they can help fight when you are being invaded.
the development is slow
Alternative Title of this Video: Loveletter to Valheim, a Game that will be lovingly remembered for decades
However Enshrouded already does much better imo. So I think that in "a few decades" well...
@@nawack2774 lmao
My only problems with Valheim are a handful of questionable design choices.
1. Death punishments are incredibly annoying because they take away several hours worth of skills. I really don't think this adds anything to the game. I find it doesn't discourage poor play that leads to death, it's just an excessive punishment. Shouldn't losing all your items and having to sprint to retrieve your things while defenseless be punishment enough?
2. Portal mechanics are arbitrary and tedious. Not being able to teleport metal is a huge problem. People say that "it would make the gameplay loop too easy", but that's stupid logic. If the gameplay loop is too easy, then you should find ways to improve it other than arbitrarily limiting what tools the player can use.
In this case, they have the worst of both worlds, as they'd like you to have the convenience of fast travel, but simultaneously don't want you to have the convenience of fast ore transport. It would be better if they either got rid of portals or allowed portals to transport all/no materials, instead of this blatantly arbitrary system.
3. Building physics are absolute garbage. I'm actually a huge fan of the idea they had of structural integrity and support, but the system is unintuitive and only serves to make you bang your head against a wall if you even dare to build anything bigger than a small town.
3.5. To add on to this, building material requirements are ridiculous, especially when you reach stone onwards. Three stone for a 1x1 block?? Are you serious? If you want to build anything in this game, then be prepared to spend 4 hours grinding for every 1 hour actually building.
4. Fall damage is way too strict. Falling a distance that's any greater than one and a half times your height is enough to do damage to you. Sure, it encourages you to be careful, but I find that terrain is often difficult enough that I'm being punished simply by navigating it. God help you if you're being chased by an enemy that you're too weak to defeat at the moment. You'll be stuck between getting one-shot by the enemy, or one-shot by accidentally doing the equivalent of slipping on a banana peel, and falling a handful of feet.
These issues plague my experience with the game every time I play, and it's what contributes to my consistent burnout with it. Sure, I could argue that these mechanics are not fun, but I think that's a weak argument. My real problem is that not only are these mechanics unintuitive, but they don't serve to teach the player anything about the game or extend the gameplay loop in a meaningful way. They are shallow and arbitrary obstacles and annoyances that can be slapped on by any dev with any game.
I'm actually a huge fan of Valheim. It's a unique and beautiful game. It's had some of the most engaging and fun moments I've had with games in years, and I have no problems with the game's core design. I'm just sad that I have to deal with this crap every time I want to try playing it again.
All of those issues sound like skill issues to me, bro
@@98LONGS Game is extremely easy because of the insanely generous parry window and massive riposte damage + the fact that the most challenging enemies attack as predictably as the first hollow soldiers you run into in DS, so calling anything in it a skill issue is kinda funny. Everything this person described is just tedious nonsense that slows down the game for no reason than to make you sink more hours into it.
@Nuvizzle fall damage Isn't a skill issue. Building Patience/skill issue
@@Nuvizzle Motherfucker really is sad Cuz he has to transport his ore
And the first point is literally death. Punishment just don't fucking die
I'm playing Valheim again atm, but even after having played the latest survival games trending like Enshrouded (far from being that good to be honest), I still can't find any game toping the experience I have with Project Zomboid, a game that is still in Early Access. In a completely different style, I quite enjoy Grounded too but it's a bit too hard and grindy for me to play alone. Green Hell would be close behind if they added more content, clutter and stuff.
Have you played Project Zomboid? .. a very different survival game, but the Best zombie survival game out there.
I have! I love Project Zomboid!
Just started playing for the first time and lobing it so much. Haven't felt the level of joy of exploration in a game in so long.
Before you burn out in the Swamp due to potentially dying 100 times. Pro tip: Build a cauldron and use it well.
I love Valheim but hate the grind for bronze. Most biomes you progress to, you're not really ready for until you get what you need from that biome.
Eh, a single cart full is enough for most your needs. So sure, it takes a while, but it is quite doable. And you don't actually need bronze armour, it is an armour you can safely skip.
Valhiem > Minecraft
Definitely agree with you there, it'll be even better when Valheim gets more content and systems. I just wish the modding community was as active as Minecraft's because it's way more difficult to find stuff to spice up your gameplay that is high quality AND up to date
Nah thats just cap. Minecraft is more than just a survival game. And since survival game are kinda juste the same and meh...
@@GabKaulemMinecraft _is_ just a survival game with building mechanics. The community around Minecraft is what makes the game incredible, but just the game itself is probably less enjoyable than valheim, at least for me.
Valhiem is way better than any survival game
@@biggestofriches I'd personally put Vintage Story as my survival GOAT. But hey, Valheim is the only other I consider in the same league and they do emphasize different things, so personal preference is gonna do do it's thing.
Valheim is an irreplaceable experience. I absolutely agree with you on everything in this video. Also I am so happy to see that we shared similar experiences and the most notable one being the chimney peeking our interest in how much 'can' we actually do with the building in this game.
The answer, A LOT. I ended up building an entire settlement with a keep for myself by leveling out an enormous part of the Black Forest that was neighboring the Plains in my world. I aggro'd a troll and baited him to swing at me to expedite the clearing of trees in Black Forest.
I LOVE Valheim and I am eagerly awaiting the Ashlands update so that I can continue my journey I have invested a large chunk of time into.
Honestly I agree with a lot of your points, Valheim is a great game with a very fun and rewarding building system but I notice you fail to mention some of its biggest weaknesses.
For starters, the absolutely miserable metal grind. The fact that the teleporters don't work with metal forcing you to lug it yourself is fine(ish) for your first node, but after a while it gets really repetitive. This is ignoring the multiplayer experience, where you are basically "trapped" in this stage of progression while you get everyone in your group outfit with metal gear leading to hours of grind mining the resources, then transporting, then ALSO finding and mining and transporting tin back to your base. Keep in mind im currently talking about the copper tin and bronze grind. and also IGNORING the fact that sometimes world gen fucks you hard, and the nearest dark forest is ridiculously far away from your spawn (where most people decide their first base is).
(as a side note I do actually enjoy the dungeon diving for teleporter + smelter parts, and the dark forest as a whole, just not the metal grind)
(times mentioned may vary from player to player, though keep in mind most of my time metrics come from games with 2-4 players overall, and may not fully explore how quickly a solo player can get past the grind)
and then after you have got full bronze gear and tools + boat the exploration begins, which I have *some* issues with (which will be covered later). So after you find and dive into your first swamp dungeon when you thought the metal grind was finished its EVEN WORSE, you spend 20-30 mins clearing this dungeon only to be rewarded by 20 more minutes lugging iron back and forth to your boat, only to THEN spend the next 40 mins getting your boat back to your base (travel times may vary, but overall if you get fucked by world-gen it can become ridiculous), this ignores how much of a slog this is for the solo player, the multiplayer gameplay isn't even that much better considering most people like to stay in the same tier of progression as their friends, causing you to again be "trapped" in this tier while you are forced to grind metal for your friends.
Now after this point in progression (or just after you get the bronze boat depending on preference), there is usually the DREADED search for the merchant. This NPC spawns RANDOMLY on coasts in a large radius around the spawn island, and sells an actually useful tool to reduce grind that increases player carry-weight by a decent amount. The search for him feels like pulling teeth and has typically taken between 3-6 hours (consider that I have only played 2 games and that this number can be significantly longer), all while not even providing that much of worth. You can go an entire game from start to mistlands without really explicitly needing the extra carry-weight, its just a convenience tool. Thank god he isnt tied to progression, as this whole "diversion" just detracts from my previous experience fighting trolls and diving into skeleton-laden dungeons, just to be sent onto the ocean with the vague promises that the merchant will be just around the corner, and that I can't go back now, what if he was right over there? etc repeat for 6 hours until I either burn out and take a break or find him. Essentially just seeing how patient you can be.
Moving to the metal grind in the mountains, I actually have no experience taking silver back to my base like I did with iron or copper / tin, at this point in the game me and my friends modified some configs (or added a mod to) allow players to be teleported with metal. This made the silver grind way more enjoyable, and way less of a truck simulator than the previous sections, so i dont particularly have some "scathing review" for this part of progression and have nothing to say here.
Moving on to the furthest i've ever gotten, the search for Yagluths altar. Why in all that is survival gameplay is this altar so hard to find, I honestly have nothing really to speak about here other than my utter irritation at my lack of ability to find this thing. And honestly at this point in the game, me and my friends were not up to spending another god knows how long searching the plains for this altar. Keep in mind as well at this point im probably 20-30 hours deep and just not enjoying it.
Now at this point you can see why im completely stumped that you referred to Valheim as a game that "respects your time", its a great survival game and I really enjoy its building system, food mechanics, and combat, but the amount of time you have to spend just not engaging with any of the above and listlessly searching the ocean really tanks any and all enjoyment for the game. And even its replay value for me, knowing exactly how much time im going to have to spend engaging with dull and tedious tasks really saps any motivation to start a new playthrough, even in the face of new content which im excited about.
(I understand they probably do this to pad hours while they add new content as a small team, but that just makes me think they are insecure about their product and its replay value. You shouldn't be forced to mod the game to avoid 10 or more hours of grind)
as a final mention, I say all of the above as someone who actually likes the game and hopes it sees improvement in the future, not as someone who wishes the worst of it.
TLDR; great game but the amount of grind enforced by progression makes it unfun to me after a certain point.
You don't need full bronze gear, personally I prefer the troll gear set anyway.
Why don't you build a forge closer to your mining operation? You can usually find a piece of grassland nearby.
And lay down roads and use a cart.
It sounds to me like you're putting goals down for yourself that are extremely hard, try to reach those goals suboptimally, and then say the game demands you do these things. The game doesn't care if you have a fully upgraded bronze armour set or whatever, that is a playstyle choice you made.
Anyway, yeah the trader and some boss locations can be really annoying to find.
The 2nd time I ever beat Elder I was kiting and using arrows, long range.
Then a troll appeared. I had to avoid the troll's log and try to get shots on Elder without getting "shot gunned," by Elder. And then a 2nd "punchy," troll arrived. I was cursing and kiting, and managed to pull it off. It took over 20 minutes and I almost died several times. I can't portal to that Elder mount base without remembering that time. Great game. And still $20 and I got it like $14 black Friday sale last year.
You can give them a "tip," by buying merch from their website.
I love Valheim, I especially love the building system and how creative one can be. We build some really epic bases in super nice locations. The only thing that always annoys me is the performance of the game. it can feel very sluggish and laggy in fights and the movement could be more crisp. but i look forward to ashlands!
Could you do a comparison of Valheim Vs. Enshroudded? So many friends compared them each other but I haven't played the latter, and played Valheim only when it was released.
You never forget your first experience with a troll
Much like the first time you meet ogres in Skyrim
You also never forget your first death loop. Or hour spent fighting a boss
I like valheim but the longer you play the more tedious the bosses get. Im sure with a crew of friends the bosses aren't a big deal but as a solo player the bosses don't scale and can take longer than 10 minutes to kill. Also at least when i played it the boss music only ran for about 1 minute so most of the boss battle is just dead quite for some reason.
base building is great at least, I honestly think enshrouded has one upped it in some ways at this point but we won't know for sure until both games exit early access
Valheim ruined it for me too. It's 3 years out and we got almost zero new content. What a dream of early access it is.
This aged poorly.
3:56 I still remember the "Ah-hah" moment I had when I chopped a tree and it felled other nearby trees on its way down. Turned me into a tactical lumberjack 🪓
had a blast with the initial game, but its also like a full time job... and for me it kinda ended all survival games too but in a bad way. I'm just over that grind approach for resources etc...
You missed the skill penalty from dying. All your skills take a level hit after death.
omg what are ur visual graphic options???
I like how Valheim balances out the survival elements so they are not tedious and confusing like in many other crafting survival games.
Devs really nailed the exploration experience. I initially used the seed generator site to speed up progress, but learned that I'm actually the type that has more fun wandering and hunting. Not knowing what lies beyond the fog pumped up the thrill in ways that I cannot describe. Definitely one of the games of all time.
I find Valheim really fun but if you do a cold analysis of it's gameplay systems they are all sub-par. Survival elements are barebones and easy to overcome, combat is clunky as hell and doesn't provide enough variety, itemization is simplistic and boils down to just getting the best gear available, exploration is also quite luck luster since there is not enough interesting things in the world and they do repeat a LOT.
The exploration is amazing *at first*. Once you see everything, though, you're so right. I wish there was more to come across as you travel.
I love the atmosphere and building in the game, but unfortunately I've been put off the game multiple times now. The game really is extremely hard if you're playing solo. I've never progressed beyond bronze working because of this.
Every time I've tried to unlock iron working, ive been killed by swamp or plains creatures, losing all my gear in an extremely dangerous area with no way to get it back... It's so demotivating I've stopped playing for a few months a couple of times now.
Last time i played, i finally went into a crypt in the swamp to try and unlock iron working, and even though i had a level 3 axe and shield, and level 3 troll hide armour, i was killed instantly. Before i even left the raised area of the entrance in the crypt area, i was immediately attacked by 4-5 blobs and one of those swamp zombies. I managed to kill them all only to drop dead from poisoning seconds later. How are you supposed to survive that as a solo player?
I was so frustrated i again haven't played for months. A huge pity, because i absolutely love the atmosphere of the game to bits. But it's so frustrating at times as a solo player...
"There's something so exciting about a trip on a boat" cap
2:07 the transition for alone to friends when the other player popped into view was beautifully done!
Was good for the first 20 hours or so, then the grinding it's just unbearable
Not much grind in it unless you force it.
You only have to grind the armor upgrades and you should upgrade to lvl 2 atleast I forgot that weapons might be more important it just depends if you prefer defense or combat
@@breadstick8502 Nope, the armor is more important, though this guy bull$hits, there is no grind.
Also I upgrade my weapons cause I like competition, but having them at level 1 is an advantage as you got to land more hits to finish opponents.
That levels up your weapon skills more leading to more damage and less stamina usage, leveling up your weapons completely only gets important past the swamps.
@@MartialArtsNk for me weapons are more important because I like to choose offense
@@breadstick8502 You don't need to do that at all, why would you upgrade to lvl 2 instead of lvl 1?
Honestly if you get good enough, you don't even need armor in most cases as the dodge ability is overpowered.
An increase to level 2 does minimum numbers, so might as well max it.
been thinking of going back to Valheim haven't play the Ashlands update yet, one thing i miss its the food system in valheim, been playing many other survival games and all of those food systems they got really suck compared to valheim, dunno what is it but in Valheim it feels good to look for ingredients and craft your things etc, and you are not even forced to do it, you just do it because it feels worth it.
I guess I'm the only one disliking this game and I've played various games which are smiliar like The Forest, Minecraft, Terraria, 7 Days to Die and what not.
It's pretty simple why: 1. It's extremely grindy, 2. It's also boring. You spend hours and hours in the same region just mining ores and fighting the same 3-5 enemies again and again. Aside from that the game is terrible in it's sense of progression and open world. There's barely anything cool to find in the world. There's a jarringly low amount of half assed structures and you will never find actually cool interesting unique items like weapons and tools in the open world. You only get good items from ores and bosses and like I said before it takes way too long to farm these. Adding insult to injury you can't even transport ores by teleporters. Like why? Why would disallow all ores to be brought through portals which a few of are alread too heavy for your character and many times you had to travel far to get them. Why artificially stretch out the game in the most bland and infuriating way ever if the open world is already dead and ugly as it is? And even then there is not enough variety. There's just bows, swords, maces, spears and shields and that's it.
No offense, but you sound like an absolute !mbecile mate, like holy $hit.
First of all it isn't grindy at all, in the least bit. If you want to be like me and have all maxed out items and many mini bases yeah it's grindy, otherwise it ain't.
It's not boring at all, so many people have over 1k play time on Valheim, that's impossible on a boring game son.
The progression and open world is great and one of it's main features.
Why can't you transport minerals through portals? To make geography a thing son, you either transport them with a boat or you make a small base in the area to smelt it and make items.