Recent reviews by Dolan

I'm bored.. This feels like fantasy The Forest with extra steps.

This is the worst game I've ever loved.

An overwhelmingly MASSIVE achievement in modern gaming with traditional RPG roots and a strong bar setter for the future of the genre.

Okay, first off, this game is extremely good. The world is immersive and deceptively deep, and the scale of this game is incredible. I don't just mean the size of the map, but the incredible versatility of the environments and the sheer mass of buildings and geography are intense to say the least. It looks beautiful and plays like a dream. The gameplay is extremely polished, and I don't think I've ever seen cleaner hit-boxes.

All that said, this game is in SERIOUS need of balancing. I'm nowhere near the end of the game, but I still get routinely 1/2-shotted by some bosses I'm definitely leveled enough for. I'm also in full heavy armor and using a shield with the Barricade Shield ability. Even so, you'd think I wasn't playing a tank based on how much damage I take. Quite frankly, it's absurd. It's not as if the game is too difficult, but rather that the game is far too punishing for the tiniest of mistakes.
This isn't a problem on all bosses though. Margit is a great example of a perfectly tuned and incredible fight, assuming you approach the encounter without grinding too much (or too early, for that matter). It's a fantastic skill check to see if you are ready for what the game has to offer.
Not all bosses are as well tuned as Margit though. If you want to make a game difficult, don't just crank up the damage the bosses deal and call it good. That's poor game design. A difficult encounter should push you to the limit of your skill and make you better at the game than you were before, not just stun combo you into oblivion if you dodge 0.00001 seconds too early. It feels really cheap sometimes.
I know this sort of critique is likely to licit 25 variations of "git gud," but this is the one and ONLY problem I have with the game.
It's an astounding title and I can't wait to play it more, I just wish the difficulty was more rewarding to an increase in skill rather than level.

This game is great, but this port is absolutely terrible. It is SO hard to get controls dialed in, and once you do, you realize that they're bad anyway. I cannot stress enough how bad of a port this is. It's a shame, too. I'd love to play it more.

This game is... something else. I don't want to spoil anything. I'm only a little way into it and it's pretty crazy. Definitely play this if you're even remotely curious about strange and eerie experiences.

To preface this, I think I'm just wrong lol. Do NOT let me sway you from buying the game. Almost every single other person loves it.
Here's the problems I had.
-There is barely any ammo, and the only way to get ammo sometimes is running around in circles waiting for your chainsaw to recharge so you can buzz down an imp to get more.
- Platforming doesn't fit in this game. I don't want to jump around some platforms in some weird attempt at a puzzle.
- The level design felt like the original unreal tournament to me.
- The game punishes exploration because enemies never stop respawning, so you will run out of resources before you get anywhere.
- I found it stressful and boring at the same time because enemies never ever stop spawning, but they're the same enemies over and over again.
- Jumping and climbing ledges felt so janky.
- The health an ammo system felt like an N64 game. There are literally health and ammo packs laid out in rows in the middle of the floor. Felt really lame.
- "Secrets," in the game are just huge question marks. Spoiler alert, they're stuffed animals or some ♥♥♥♥.

Idk, I was so bored.

Update: It has been three years. I've been playing this game for three entire years. I've played other games, but I always come back to Valheim. I can confidently say that this is my favorite game. Now, with Ashlands right around the corner, I'm more excited than ever. I've put over 1500 hours into this game. I've built numerous communities, gone on so many spectacular journeys across the world, enjoyed endless discoveries and new experiences, but most importantly, I had countless adventures with friends and family. This game got me through lockdown and it's stayed with me. $20, people. If you're on the fence about buying this game, please do yourself a solid and just play it. You'll see what i'm talking about.

This game is astounding.
It's as if Minecraft and Rust had a child with a very old soul that just wanted you to remember every reason you used to play video games.
It should be stated, I really dislike Minecraft. I think it's boring and tedious. Valheim is in a league of its own. No game has ever made me feel so small in such a vast and wondrous world. I don't see myself playing anything else for a very long time.
And it's in early access... I can't believe how polished this game is. This is a $20 game that is worth at least $50, and it has such a bright future.

Pros:
-It's pretty.
-The game looks good.
-The graphics are nice.
-The game is really really pretty.
-Oh, and the puzzles actually require half a brain to solve. Crazy, right?

Cons:
-Enemy AI is lazy and majorly stupid. It's really not fun to fight anything. Everything just runs toward you or stays in one place shooting at you or looking at nothing. On the hardest difficulty this game is insanely easy. The very first Uncharted game had AI that would constantly adapt to your actions and was quite punishing. The combat in this game feels like playing Wack a Mole if it was designed by Michael Bay.
-Shooting feels really clunky and guns aren't fun to use. They feel like toys.
-The map functions like it was coded by a high school TA. Good luck using a controller lol. Gave that up real quick.
-NPC's faces move as though they are made of a unique formula of super botox developed in a secret lab somewhere. Seriously, NPC facial expressions and mouth movements are the most enjoyable part of this game. I can't stop laughing.
-Lots of clunky mechanics for moving around challenging areas, especially while using WASD on a keyboard.
-Lot's of arbitrary slowdowns to make the game feel longer. Waiting is not content.
-Characters are flat and really hard to care about.
-It's genuinely boring after about 8-12 hours into the game. I struggle to finish cutscenes because I can't muster the effort to care about what's happening.
-The story is so remarkably predictable that you can basically speak the character's dialogue before they even get to it.
-Important dialogue gets cut off constantly in "walk and talk," segments if you follow them at the speed they're walking. Similarly, while progressing through almost any area and you are communicating over the radio, dialogue will often be cut off if you continue walking to your objective. This doesn't end up mattering so much because NPCs barely ever say anything that wasn't obvious.
-About 1/3 of the skills are worthless, and the ones that are worth picking up are very underwhelming.

I loved the first two of the newer TR games, but damn. This one was seriously disappointing. I played it for over 20 hours and decided I was done waiting for it to end. I regret playing it as much as I have. I guess I'll keep it installed to use as benchmark software.