izigame.me

this game is so good... when i can see what is going on.
which, unfortunately, is only half the time.
they seem to have decided that "being really dark to the point it strains your eyesight" is a really fun biome feature. I'm pretty sure that playing this game has damaged my eyesight.

also the power creep on the enemies is huge, the mobs from the next biome up will insta-kill you! no chance no hope you are dead if they see you!
This is harsh because biomes 3/4/5 can border biome 1.

it starts so well, the meadows and black forest are delightful, beautiful and fun, if challenging to play in.

the swamp is miserable, just generally horrible, it literally turns to night and rains as you enter the swamp. you look in from the forest or meadows and the swamp looks cool. but as soon as you set foot in it it goes dark and starts raining. You are there for hours gathering resources and battling horrific brutal undead, but the whole time the dark and rain make it so depressing.
its not a fun experience.
if it had proper day and night at the same levels as the rest, it would be a much better biome.
but you only have to suffer through the one bizarrely dark biome, right?

The mountains are bright (too bright) and open and beautiful, if tricky and treacherous to navigate. again power creep on the mobs is huge. but its a cool biome. its a shame there aren't more uses for the resources you collect. obsidian is good for arrows for a bit, but the mountain crystals are worthless, and the stone golems are just there to ruin your day, they drop nothing.

The plains are awesome. big, bright, open, so cool. the lox, deathsquitos and growths are super dangerous, but the lox are awesome when tamed. the fulings are really interesting. there should be some fuling or dvergr mines in the plains to explore.
if magic was introduced in the plains or the mountains this would be the best biome by far. (the Dvergr could be battling the fullings on the plains for access to ygdrasil roots, then we encounter the shoots high up in the mistlands) but its like they forgot to add a whole resource stream to the plains leaving the biome half finished. its still one of the best biomes, though.

The mistlands is the worst!
it should be the most visually stunning biome and on the rare occasion you can see any of it, its very cool.
but its permanently dark and shrouded in mist. so you cant see anything any of the time. its just pure frustration. the mistlands changed the game from an open world survival exploration game into a crappy platformer. "jump jump jump jump dead!" and repeat.
if your stamina runs out you are dead so you need high stamina.
the enemies hit really hard so you need high health or you are dead.
so this is the biome where they introduced a third metric in the eitr that fuels your magic... which you have to sacrifice both health and stamina to use.
The eitr foods are terribly designed.
There are 3, they all, give majority eitr a bit of health and a tiny bit of stamina so there isnt a choice. seeker aspic is the best, it gives more stats for fewer resources and it lasts longer. then ygdrasil porrige, if you want a second eitr food, and stuffed mushrooms are rubbish, not only do the stuffed mushrooms give less on all stats, but they require more ingredients and have a 2 stage cooking process!
as eitr foods they should all give majority eitr, but one should give more health than stamina, another more stamina than health and the third should give equal health and stamina, so that there is a decision to make.
then theres the feast, "mushrooms a la mistlands"... which doesn't really require any mushrooms. *facepalm*
the mobs in the mistlands are cool, the infested mines, the dvergr, the accursed Gjall....
but its just so dark and miserable.
can we have some daylight, please?!

then we finally kill the queen in the most boring drawn out fight ever.... and we can finally sail to the ashlands.
.... where its deliberately dark and miserable!

the mobs and weather have been programmed by "that guy". the wind always swings round to blow from where you are trying to sail to.
if you are running out of your limited gaming time something will hunt you down and stop you getting to a safe save point, making your whole game session a frustrating waste of time.

how to improve this game:
1. sort out the lighting.
dark is miserable. miserable is a crappy gaming experience. if night and day are important in this game then give us proper night and day IN EVERY BIOME!
2. magic.
magic is cool but its introduced at a stage where its useless. if it turned up earlier in the game it would be so much better and it'd vastly improve the game.
there are literally resource gaps in the plains and the mountains, compared to other biomes.
the eitr weave suit ought to be the alternative armour for the Plains, biome, its mostly made of plains materials anyway.
The frost caves are just lacking in purpose, there are loads of crystals that are practically useless, you meet the fire slinging cultists in there, why isn't the fire staff something you can get from them?
on the plains the fuling shamen are also slinging magic, they should also be a source of magic resources.

2.a. Hildir's quests are pretty pointless. you get nothing for completing them.
they should be the key to unlocking magic.
The dead raiser should be in the smouldering tomb.
the ice staff should be in the howling cavern,
and the staff of protection should be in the sealed tower.

NOW Hildir is worth visiting for more than the barber's kit!

fishing sucks!
it is easier and quicker to catch and kill a giant sea dragon, than it is to catch a basic level 1 fish!
if you try to catch a higher level or more exotic fish you need your best stamina foods and stamina meads, you have to source and craft the right bait... its like prepping for a boss battle, then it takes hours of actual time, and the benefits are negligible.

if you could make a net that could be set from the boat and used to catch a shoal of fish then fishing could be a part of the game, but as it is fishing in valhiem is a complete waste of time and resources.

there need to be more craftable items. you end up with so many useless resources.

the Bosses
the boss fights are just drawn out and tedious. I hate the way you are forced to defeat the boss to get the item to progress to the next biome. the Forssken powers are terribly imbalanced.
The Forsaken powers from eikthyr, moder and the elder, are barely used and wouldn't be out of place if they were permanent character upgrades.
in fact, as permanent upgrades they would just improve the gameplay and make the boss fights worthwhile.
once you get to bonemass, its such a powerful "get out of jail free" card that you just don't look at any of the others again. and its such a faff to return to the stones to reset the power that you just don't bother.

in short, valheim has a lot of potential, but it still needs a lot of work.