Recent reviews by Scottstin

Incredible game! It strikes an amazing balance of exploration, small enemy fights, and grand-scale boss showdowns. The combat is crisp, smooth, and rewarding. The game constantly rewards you with new abilities, moves, upgrades, and items; all of which feel satisfying, and serve distinct purposes within the levels. The storytelling and visual prowess of this masterpiece is top of top! Even the developers know that they made a beautiful game as there are spots for "meditation" to enjoy key points of interest within the levels.

Overall, this game is stunning and so rewarding to play! The only downside in my opinion is there are many points within the level that have "invisible walls" blocking the player from moving past the boundary. This itself is not much of an issue, as the linear level design does open up a bit later, and allows players to stay on track and not get too caught up spending their time exploring under every rock and behind every bush (something I am very guilty of while gaming). However, there are also points in the levels where I thought, "Oh! I probably can't go past this point." or "Hmm...I don't think I can jump up this."; yet, I was able to explore beyond those points and discover 'secret' areas of interest within the level for fun new items.

TLDR; This is an incredible, must-play game for RPG enjoyers, engaging boss-fight fanatics, or anyone just looking for a beautifully-polished masterpiece from this generation of games. The only downside, is the unclear boundaries of exploration within the levels that lead to me missing multiple new items, unlocks, and mini-bosses.

Great early access experience! Enshrouded seems to be inspired by games like Breath of the Wild and Valheim. This game is an amazing blend of survival base building, and action adventure. Typically with creative survival games, the focus is on building your base and upgrading gear through multiple different stages. Enshrouded however, creates a beautiful blend of creative base building and upgrading gear with actual immersive combat and exploration. With combat mechanics that evolve with your level, it seems like there is something to please everyone in this game! Another great thing that Enshrouded expands on from other survival RPG games is the class system/skill tree. Though not incredibly in-depth, the skill tree is a fun progression system that allows players to specialize in different play styles. Everything from survivalist-focused skills that increase the amount of food you can eat, to powerful magic spells that topple enemies, there is something for everyone!

Overall, this game takes great aspects from many great games, and has either already started expanding on those systems, or has laid the foundation to build them out in the future. This is a perfect game to play solo, or with multiple friends. I have created characters for each and have gone through completely different experiences and play-styles on each character. Not to mention, this game has run so smooth and looks gorgeous, especially for being in early access! I would highly recommend checking this game out, and giving it a try. It is WELL worth the price tag!

-- One of the Greatest Games Ever Made --

Valheim is a uniquely-prefect gaming gem! The stylized and consistent art style, down to the simple yet expansive combat and leveling systems. It all mashes together to create a top-tier game that should be at the top of everyone's list!

If I had to compare this to other popular titles, I would say it is quite similar to Minecraft's building and survival, but with a Dark Souls-esque combat style and boss progression (this game can be extremely challenging and frustratingly-difficult at times).

All that being said, Valheim is a very simple, but incredibly in-depth game. The game does an incredible job at progressing players at a pace that does not overwhelm them from the start. It is meant to be relaxing and really soaked-in by the player. Playing through the game slowly and thoughtfully lets you really appreciate all the thoughtful decision making that went into the design of Valheim.

Though peaceful and artistic, the game can be tough and grueling at times. There is a prominent Yin and Yang of simplicity and complexity in every aspect of this game. This makes it very easy to pick up and play, and once you are hooked, the game keeps you involved with all the subtle nuances within every piece of the puzzle. One example of this is the combat. You begin the game picking up stone and sticks to craft tools. The first tool you make is an axe which you can use to chop trees, which levels your woodcutting skill. Additionally, the game encourages you to use that same axe to kill wild animals and monsters which levels your axe skill. Later in the game when you get access to better materials and can craft stronger axes, you not only speed up your woodcutting skill, but your axe combat skills also! Not to mention, the better tier weapons you get also come with their own special passives and skills. The combat is just one of the MANY examples on how Valheim is an incredibly thought-through and flushed-out game.

In summary; if you enjoy in-depth, creative, exploration games with simple, easy to pickup; yet generously in-depth systems in every aspect of the game. As well as hours upon hours of fun (which is also very fun with friends!), I cannot recommend this game enough. Definitely give it a try, and you won't be disappointed.

Great game! Some troubling optimization on release, graphics and voice acting could be better too. However, the implementation of the magic/leveling system, along with the weapon variety and combat mechanics all make for an engaging and extremely enjoyable game! If you are on the fence about buying it, maybe wait until there is an optimization patch allowing it to run better. Also I would highly recommend controller over mouse and keyboard, using a mouse and keyboard for this game is uncomfortable, regardless of the un-optimized port.