Author Archives: my0824yv

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Is Solar Opposites a Worse Rick and Morty?

  By my0824yv • April 16, 2021

 

Streaming exclusives: they’re great when they’re on the platform you have but beyond frustrating when they’re on the one don’t, and with every producer and their brother getting their streaming platform these days that’s becoming more and more common. The big two for exclusives would be Netflix and Hulu, platforms that most of the general population is going to have at least one of, and lucky for us, the show we’re talking about today is available exclusively on Hulu; a gag they run with a lot throughout the show.

So, what’s the deal with Solar Opposites? Odds are if you’ve been scrolling through Hulu you’ve seen the thumbnail pop up from time to time and perhaps have even caught an advertisement for it between watching your favorite shows. If you’re a fan of adult animation, like myself, you’re going to instantly recognize it as being very similar to another famous adult cartoon: Rick and Morty. Well, big surprise, it’s created by Justin Roiland who co-created the hit comedy. The biggest thing people want to know about Solar Opposites is if it’s just a watered-down version of Rick and Morty? Is it just the creator recreating similar success he had on one of his previous shows and now is trying to expand his shows for more revenue? Basically, is it the American Dad/Cleveland Show to Rick and Morty’s Family Guy?

Short answer: No. And yes.

Okay, I know that’s the most annoying and pretentious thing to read a reviewer say but you have to stick with me here because the more I compare the two the trickier it is. Let’s go back to the last example; is it doing the same thing Seth MacFarlane does with his animated comedies and by that I mean is it the same jokes with a different family? I would confidently say no. Everyone has their preference of which Seth MacFarlane they like. You have the classic that started it all: Family Guy. Then there’s a spinoff in the (basically) completely unrelated universe of American Dad which focuses on more family-based comedy over incessant pop culture references, though it doesn’t shy away completely thanks to that damn alien. And then there’s the Cleveland Show, which is Family Guy but black. Sure, the jokes are different but they’re the same formula, that strange and disjointed MacFarlane bit with the constant flashbacks and unrelated jokes that rely less on context and more on brief sketches as filler for their show.

So what’s the style of comedy for Rick and Morty as it pertains to Solar Opposites then? I’m not going to go too deep into the “genius” of Rick and Morty, many egotistical internet blowhards are happy to do that for me but I do enjoy the show. In a nutshell, it’s a multigenerational family sci-fi adventure that focuses on the relationship between a random and chaotic universe where nothing matters and the bonds and responsibilities of family. It’s irreverent and shocking at times but many fans of the show will reference many of the gut-punch moments where the show pumped the brakes on the fart jokes and violent comedy and tried to address some very real and scary issues such as loneliness, depression, and hopelessness. Solar Opposites does not do this. I mean, at all. You’ll find more serious moments in Spongebob Squarepants than you will on Solar Opposites.

The two Justin Roiland shows are very connected in animation and theme: God-like science fiction technology existing in the modern age able to do anything the characters needing it to do and their subsequent troubles stemming from that insane power. But it’s the dynamics and story it’s trying to tell that convince me that this isn’t just a rip-off of the creator’s huge success. For starters, the main characters are all aliens from another world. They exist in this universe among humans after the destruction of their planet and besides a little discrimination, everyone seems to be pretty aloof of the fact that they’re living amongst extraterrestrial life. And before someone with a film degree tells me this could represent the discrimination refugees face every day in America (taken from an actual Reddit comment), it’s not. Don’t even try to make that argument, all you’ll do is ruin a good thing. This isn’t even me trying to keep politics out of cartoons either, deep analysis of this show goes against what it’s trying to be. Let Rick and Morty have the deep existential questions and let Solar Opposites be what it is: a spoof on contemporary humanity.

Seriously, that’s all I can see it being. After watching the first season twice and just finishing the second one I’ve come to the conclusion that this show simply exists to make fun of us and I am absolutely in love with it. It starts right away with the irresponsible Terry, who shirked his scientific responsibilities to fully ingratiate himself with Earth culture by collecting pointless pop culture memorabilia and wearing dorky shirts from famous franchises like Harry Potter or twilight. He is the stand-in for human culture with an outside perspective, we get to see him fall into intense fandom with all of these fads that have passed only a few short years ago and by doing so we see how ridiculous we all looked during them. And it’s a lot of fun. The second main alien, Korvo, brings that same outsider’s perspective to our culture but in a more cynical tone. In fact, at the beginning of every episode after the introduction sequence we hear the main character vent about some facet of human life that seems so strange to him and normal to us – of course with that Justin Roiland shocking twist to it like some of the following:

“…people are stupid! They’re always talking about how they love their family, but they’re never making their family gigantic. They’re all normal-sized! If you like something you should be trying to make it gigantic!”

Or my favorite: “…people are stupid! Everyone claims to like old people, but they’re not fucking them! I fuck old people all the time, they love me!”

The two alien children, or “replicates”, meanwhile have to deal with the turmoil of high school. Something that’s a must for almost every comedy. They wind up with their issues and struggles of fitting in and while Jesse, the sweet young alien girl, tries to solve her issues with compassion and friendship, Yumyulack, the headstrong boy alien, tends to solve his problems using his advanced technology and intellect. Most importantly, he does this by utilizing a “shrink ray” to shrink people down and imprison them in this giant terrarium they keep in their bedroom.

By why are the shrink ray and terrarium so important? Because it brings us back to something similar that Rick and Morty uses; a disconnected in-universe plot with its characters and developments completely unrelated from the main cast. While I said I would argue that Just Roiland doesn’t just recreate the formula for Rick and Morty for another cheap show, he does take parts of it that have been successful and use them here. Notably: the wall.

The wall does the same thing that the “evil Morty” universe does in its namesakes show. Basically, there is a whole series of events going on that don’t concern our main characters, but through the spans of multiple episodes, we get drawn into them almost as little vignettes of these brief and interesting worlds. In Rick and Morty it was the council of Ricks and the citadel and Evil Morty’s brutal take over of the government. In Solar Opposites, the people that Yumyulack has so casually pumped into his terrarium have started a culture and lifestyle of their own to adapt. The show goes deep into the daily life of the people living here: how they adapt to the struggles of being tiny, the government, society, it could be an HBO series on its own if it took itself a little more seriously. I don’t want to go too far into it because I don’t want to spoil anything but it does an interesting thing where it eases the gas on humor just a little bit. It tells a story of control and insurrection, sacrifice, and freedom all in the context of this ridiculous world where people shoot toothpicks as arrows or milk rats for fresh dairy. You become more interested in the main plot and the rules of the wall and don’t find yourself missing the humor as much as you think you would, not to say it’s completely dour and serious but it doesn’t have the irreverent punch that the alien’s storylines do.

What I’m getting at here is Solar Opposites stand on their own legs. Of course, the elements from Rick and Morty are there I mean look at the animation style, it’s the same animators. But so what? Futurama and the Simpsons did it and you can’t tell me those are even close to being the same show. Bobs Burgers and The Great White North also share the same animators and they’re not nearly the same either. So yes, they’re different shows, but they use the same themes and rules of the universe to tell their jokes and make their points. I guess the big question is “If I like Rick and Morty will I like Solar Opposites?” and I would say it depends. What did you like about Rick and Morty? Was it the brutally dark comedy or the aloof nature of the characters in the face of all these dangers and questions? Then yes, you probably will. Did you like Rick and Morty because liking it made you feel smart or you like shows that have an emotional punch and depth to them? Maybe not, though I will say without spoiling that there was a scene from the wall’s storyline that got me very close to tears and I’m man enough to admit it.

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Should You Buy: Mansions of Madness?

  By my0824yv • April 2, 2021

 

    Horrifying eldritch monsters, creepy and iconic locations straight out of 1920’s New England, and a plethora of items, weapons, and spells to defend not only your physical well-being and health but your sanity as well. All of these and more are something you can expect after you pick up the box set of Mansions of Madness vol. 2. Inspired by the Lovecraftian lore, specifically the Cthulu mythos, Mansions of Madness is a recent entry into the Arkham Horror franchise by fantasy flight games. Is it right for you? Is it the type of game that might be next for your upcoming board game night? Read on ahead and decide for yourself!

To address the last question posed: is it a game that your friends and family would enjoy on your next board game night? The first thing to consider is how long you have. The scenarios that come on the required free app have adjusted time frames for how long an expected game could last based on the depth and complexity of each mission. The first “introductory” scenario, which takes the player into a mansion to attempt to put a halt to a summoning ritual that would invite terrifying and powerful cosmic beings into our world, can take up to 2 hours, and you should give yourself some extra time just in case. That first scenario is the shortest duration so that should give you a sense of just how long the game can last. The last scenario in the free app suggests that it can take up to five hours, which might seem like a lot because, well, it is. The scenario I mentioned before takes the investigators to the hostile town of Innsmouth where a transformation is taking place to sink the city. Perhaps it’s because I enjoy the game so much, but it took about three and a half hours and time flew by.

            The length of the game may put some people off, as well as the plethora of cards, tokens, and sheets that are included with the game. Looking at the components and giving the rulebook a once-over can seem daunting, but give the game one player whose familiar with the rules and has played before and you’ll have people understanding the concept and game in no time flat. Suggesting that you have someone who played the game before in a guide to help you figure out if you should buy it in the first place might seem a bit of a paradox but one of the great things about this particular set is that it’s possible to be played single player. Of course, people don’t typically get board games to play them solo, and the game is absolutely more fun with friends, but having a set of rules that allows a person to go into the game and figure things out for themselves before inviting friends and helping them along as the game plays. The thing that seems to daunt people so much are the number and stat systems, many people see all these different numbers and think the game is going to require some kind of complex crunching and memorizing when in reality all the numbers indicate is the number of dice rolled on the test in question. That’s kind of the overarching thing of the game; seems complex, really isn’t.

The game has one of my favorite techniques for looking up rules that board games can do: a separate rulebook of alphabetized terms for quick reference. This helps the game run smoothly and easily and negates the searching and flipping through the entire rulebook to find one specific entry. Enough about the rules, let’s get into how the game runs. You might remember earlier that I mentioned a “Free App” that’s required to play the game. The app runs simultaneously with your game, and updates along with the board – controlling the events and developments as a sort of “virtual dungeon master”. This is what allows the game to be played single-player and how it functions as a cooperative game. For me, that’s why this game is so unique. Of course, there’s plenty of cooperative board games but the use of an external app delivering flavor text and updates creates a nice level of immersion and flow. I could see how some people may not like the idea of having to have an app that’s crucial for the game to be played, though it’s worth noting the app doesn’t need a wifi connection which won’t leave you stranded without a connection or burn through all your data. It’s even better when you have a smart tv or some kind of casting device so you can pull it up on the living room television for everyone to see.

            The game operates in two phases: the investigator phase, where the players conduct their investigations and take whatever actions they need to and the mythos phase: where the game progresses and develops the story as well as controlling the NPC’s and the environment around the game. The modular game updates slightly differently each time the scenario is played to keep it from becoming stale and predictable, but for the most part, the game boards are similar and only diverge in a few rooms or locations. As the game goes on the players have to protect their health and sanity, but an interesting wrinkle comes in that keeps the game interesting and bold comes from the player gaining a detriment whenever their health reaches a certain threshold. For the player’s physical health these are pretty straightforward: the player loses the ability to run as far, their melee stats go down, etc. But the game becomes fascinating when a player becomes insane. With this little twist, the player’s investigator takes on a secret quirk or objective. Something that they keep to themselves at the help or detriment of the others. It’s a fascinating mechanic that helps to build mistrust and tension as the game goes on. Some of these effects are strange but don’t hurt the other players too much like the player not being able to talk and only communicating with gestures and grunts. Or it could be something brutal like the player secretly wants to set every room on fire or possibly even have one of the investigators perish in it.

So is this game right for you? Depends on your group. Do you have a long time to sit down and engage with the game? Do the people you play with like getting involved in a rich world and work together to survive the otherworldly terrors stretching out from beyond the infinite abyss of blackness and time? If you’re looking for something quick and straightforward like Catan or monopoly, this game probably won’t be a hit. Perhaps you’re interested in painting and collecting models? The game comes with a large number of plastic figurines detailed enough to point easily enough which can be a fun way to showcase your painting skills to friends and family. The game is a bit of an investment, averaging about $80-$90, but with the time it takes to play and the depth involved in the game you will get your money’s worth out of Mansions of Madness.

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Tabletop Gaming in the Digital Age

  By my0824yv • March 19, 2021

Gaming has come a far way. Normally, when people make that claim it’s usually accompanied by a side-by-side graphical comparison or reference to map size. What I’m talking about, however, involves the good old-fashioned pen and paper RPG. It’s strange to think of innovation with a type of game that relies on something so basic: pen, paper, math, dice, and whatever props you and your table deem necessary. The only innovations that came to mind were updates in rules/gameplay through the release of new games or editions. Then I realized, the internet is a thing! I’ve made a lot of like-minded nerd friends who’ve enjoyed tabletop gaming and as life goes on we find ourselves scattered across the country, but thanks to the previously mentioned internet we’ve been able to still find ways to play our favorite tabletop RPG’s no matter where we are. I’ve used a few different programs and applications and have learned some of the pros and cons of each. To use a cliché that we’re all tired of; this year has been different and some people are still a little uncomfortable with interacting face to face with a group of people. Others may not want to wear a mask during their weekly table sessions (which is understandable unless you’re role-playing a character that wears a mask I suppose) and some people might just be too far away from their friends to keep playing. If you’re trying to get into the world of online tabletop RPGs, here are a few ways to do it and some information to help you determine which one is right for you.

Tabletop Simulator

My first foray into online DM’ing. Tabletop Simulator, available on Steam, is a virtual space for you and your friends to do any kind of table gaming you can think of. From chess to poker to monopoly, Tabletop Sim has you covered. A friend and I have even used it to play games of Warhammer 40,000 remotely which is an absolute dream come true for me, not only because I get to stay in touch with my friend, but also because it saves me thousands of dollars on little plastic figurines.

The great thing about TTS is its versatility and depth. The game (though game might be a bit of a stretch as it’s more of an application) offers a lot of components built right into the file such as dice and little figurines but it’s the modding community that gives you all the tools you could want. There are thousands of assets, for free, in the steam workshop that any DM would die to have in their house. From mats and maps to character tokens and special dice Tabletop Sim gives you the chance to build your game exactly how you want to do it; a lot of bang for your buck at $20.00 as of this writing. IF you’re fortunate enough to have a VR headset and compatible system, TTS also gives you the option to slap that bad boy on and get even more immersed with the table, literally navigating yourself through virtual space. Though there are some assets for character sheets, one of the issues I’ve had comes from keeping and maintaining the character and stat sheets in-game. We used physical ones that we kept on our person as a workaround for that but it can be a touch frustrating to not be able to see and interact with each other’s stats.

Why you should get Tabletop Simulator: You’re someone who wants a lot of depth and a lot of variety. You appreciate the 3D playing field and the freedom to run your game however you see fit. You enjoy mods and all the craziness people can come up with and want to see it in your campaign. You and your group all have working PCs, a steam account, and $20.00.

Roll20

One of the more popular TTRPG sites out there, Roll20 is often the go-to for remote gaming. With tons of built-in assets and features, there’s a lot you can utilize to make your game work. From dice to character sheets for a huge variety of games, Roll20 has earned its reputation as a solid and reliable platform to launch your adventures from. One of the bigger draws is that it can be played for free, with optional premium subscriptions available monthly for $4.16/month or the super-premium version for $8.33/month unlocking more features and tools for DM’s and players alike. If you’ve ever watched a DnD video on YouTube, or any other related game, there’s a very good chance that the people were using Roll20.

Another feature that Roll20 boasts is its large community of players. Always wanted to play DnD but can’t find a group? Maybe there’s that new TTRPG that you’ve always been curious about but are wary to spend the money on the books? Roll20 has you covered with huge lists of players with games open to the public. Just check the prerequisites, request to join the game, and hopefully next thing you know you’ll be in a brand new game with a group of new friends!

A hiccup I’ve run into trying to utilize this site is it can be a bit daunting. It’s not the most user-friendly site to use and if you’re anything like me you’re probably going to be watching a few YouTube videos that break it down, which is helpful if you’re having a hard time making heads or tails of the included tutorial. Like Tabletop Simulator, Roll20 gives you a plethora of options for customization, including many built-in assets such as maps or character tokens to help build your world; though if you want to really flesh out your campaign you’re probably going to have to hand over a little bit of that hard-earned money for the premium subscription.

Why you should use Roll20: You want a free website that you can get you and all your friends on to start gaming. You have the time to figure out how it works and enjoy the built-in communication settings instead of having to rely on third-party programs like discord or Teamspeak. Perhaps you’re unable to find a group to play your fantasy games and want to meet up with new people and make different connections as well as broadening your horizons.

Fantasy Grounds

First things first: if you are going to get this program don’t make the mistake I did. You want fantasy grounds unity, not just fantasy grounds. Thank God for steam refunds. That being said let’s move on. Fantasy Grounds is the only entry on this list that can boast its official status as being partnered with Dungeons and Dragons and when you look at the program it shows. Just because it’s official for one game doesn’t mean it’s restricted to that, however, and exists with the same idea of being a virtual space for any tabletop game. It comes preloaded with a huge amount of content for specific games that are meant to make prepping much more of a breeze than in the conventional way.

Fantasy Grounds also works as a “DM hub”, so even if you’re still able to meet in person it’s still useful as a way to compile all your information and keep the game running seamlessly instead of having to shuffle through a mess of papers and disjointed files while your party eagerly awaits to find out whether or not the room was booby-trapped. I can’t help but feel like the interface is a little dated, however. Some of the files and the way things are constructed come off as rudimentary and just give me the feeling that this is an older type of program that really should have a new coat of polish on it by now. To be fair, the unity version did address a lot of these concerns and it looks much better now but it still comes off as confusing and awkward at times. The other issue is the price.

You’re getting what you pay for with the preloaded assets and sheets but at a whopping $40.00 it’s going to be difficult to convince everyone in your party to grab it unless you’re playing with some serious gamers. At that price point, it seems like it would work better as a DM’s assistant for in-person games, and although that’s not the point of this list it’s worth noting that we won’t be separated forever.

Why you should use Fantasy Grounds: You love Dungeons and Dragons and have the coin and time to understand the interface. You want to flesh out a campaign and go deep into all the features that are available in TTRPG. You like to run the games and want to have a competent and organized way of keeping the game running and you plan on playing games in person.

 

Whatever program you use, just make sure you’re having fun using it! Things kind of suck right now, but if we look on the bright side we’ll see that we have all these awesome ways to stay in touch with our friends and keep the fun alive. There’s a huge community for support with virtual tabletop gaming and whatever issue you may run into there are probably a hundred youtube videos or articles explaining how to work around it, so don’t get discouraged! So give your friends a text, throw them the information on where/how/when to play, and go on an adventure already!

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Valheim: Early Access Done Right

  By my0824yv • February 26, 2021

It seemed that for the longest time, we were trapped in “early-access” hell. Copy and pasted titles were dropping almost weekly all promising the same kind of experience: an open-world crafting/survival experience with friends. The concepts were intriguing and gameplay footage would get enough people interested in perhaps throwing it on their wish lists or perhaps even risking it and purchasing the game outright. But there was always one little tag on its Steam page, one little category that all of them had belonged to. Early access.

Early access is a great concept. It gives us the chance to support and feed creators for the promise of something better tomorrow while we pay less today. It’s not a hard concept to get your head around and in the right circumstances, it’s even a pretty good deal. But then, after a while, it felt like they were just getting worse. They were coming out with less and less polish, horribly broken and unplayable with delayed and stagnant updates and patches. There’s a game-breaking glitch that causes your character to get constantly trapped between two trees and somehow take fall damage until they die? Don’t worry player, we hear you and we’re happy to announce that our next patch will finally improve the lighting inside the tavern!

They’re not supposed to be finished when they’re made available to the public, but you should be able to play them, and by play them I mean sink some serious time in, not play for three hours and think “Yeah there’s not much to do now but it could be cool someday.” My advice: if you come away from a game and that’s your first thought, request a refund. They don’t usually get to that level and you’ll have just another program taking up space in your Steam library that you never touch.

All of this is why I’m not sure why I’ve been loving Valheim so much. Is it because I’ve slowly become so disillusioned with the survival/crafting genre and broken early access snoozefests that I’ve needed something resembling an interesting experience like a dying man needs water? Or is it just because the game is really good? My first steps in the world were filled with the same amount of trepidation I always feel when booting up a new game of this genre. As I picked up rocks and sticks and got into a couple of fistfights with boars, the whole time one nagging question stuck at the back of my mind, “At what point am I going to get bored with this game?”.

It’s a valid question, and it happens with every game we play sooner or later. The big question is will it be in four hours or forty? As of writing this I’m thirty hours in and have no intention of stopping, in fact, I probably would have had this written and a lot more work is done already had I not got into this game. Suffice to say my fears of getting bored of the game are no longer a concern.

Everyone is talking about this game at present, and for good reason. I’m going to offer some advice that I usually stay away from: the best time to get this game is right now. I like to tell people to wait on certain things if they’re unsure, I mean it’s a digital file for a game it’s not going anywhere and it can only get better over time, right? Well, yeah actually. The developers have released the 2021 roadmap and these updates and events truly are going to be game-changing. With the massive success of the game, there’s no reason these patches shouldn’t be released on time and complete. The reason you should get it now is that I really feel like we’re at the beginning of one of those great games that are going to stick around for a long while. The type of game that someday people will be nervous to get into because it’s been out for so long they would feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of different things to do and experience (which is the reason I still have yet to play Rust, and after this game, I may never attempt to). Getting in on a great game at the beginning is exciting and doesn’t happen often but this one is easy to get in on because it’s inexpensive ($20.00 as of this writing), it works, and it’s fun.

First off, who doesn’t like Vikings? Vikings are cool, they’ve got awesome beards and badass lore that works perfectly for video games. The setting takes place in the 10th realm, a kind of purgatory between Earth and Valhalla and your character has to prove their worth to enter Viking heaven by slaying a number of champions in Valheim. That’s it, that’s the plot. A bird takes you to this strange new world, plops you down, gives you a few tutorial hints, and pretty much slaps you on the ass, and tells you to get to killing. Anything you want to discover in the story you have to do so yourself; reading rune stones, listening to the crow, etc. It doesn’t shove story and exposition down your throat which makes you want to learn it yourself. In a game about Vikings, it’s pretty subtle with the whole Norse thing unlike the recently released Assassins Creed: Valhalla which portrayed Vikings as these ridiculous caricature buffoons who can’t go five seconds without mentioning Odin or Thor and have visions for breakfast.

I’ve always loved the Viking aesthetic which is another hook into why I’m so obsessed with the game. One of the first things you’ll notice when logging into the game for the first time is that the graphics are a little…pixelated. It’s kind of a shock at first but once you get into the game and begin playing you start to appreciate the unique and stylized look of the game. The beautiful lighting and weather effects add fantastical whimsy to the experience and I don’t think I’ll ever forget looking up into the night sky for the first time. I’ll let you experience it for yourself. The stylized method of graphics accomplishes two things: Firstly, it helped the developers create the game faster and with fewer issues, helping them focus on gameplay and creating a working product. Second, they’ll keep the game from looking out of date for a long time. No one complains about Minecraft graphics because the game was made with a specific style in mind and it works for what it’s trying to accomplish.

 

 

The most difficult part for me has been avoiding news and screenshots from the game. It’s always a good feeling to discover something for yourself in a game but so many of these crafting games have me getting instantly frustrated and just minimizing the game, opening google and having someone tell me what to do. Valheim makes you want to do it for yourself because when you do it is just so, so satisfying. Aside from the clips they play on their store page, I haven’t seen any of the upcoming locations or enemies and I don’t want to. The panic and excitement that comes from facing a brand new enemy, not knowing what its capabilities are or what it’s going to do to you, it’s how these games are meant to feel.

The game feels totally organic. No scripts, no railroading, nothing. It gives you a goal to work towards but you do with it what you will. You want to work on finding dungeons and fighting trolls and skeletons? Go for it. Want to kick back and build a gigantic mead hall instead? Sounds fun to me. Setting out to an unknown location comes with such a swell of the excitement of not knowing what you’re going to find. The first time we set sail across the ocean might be one of my favorite gaming memories just for how everything happened and how unprepared I was for it. (If you want to follow my method of avoiding “spoiling” the game I’d suggest you skip this paragraph).

The sun was rising over Valheim. I’d finally gotten my three fellow adventurers filled up on food, gear, and to the ship (which is an accomplishment of its own if you know the people I play with. Think “herding cats”). After setting out onto the ocean, congratulating ourselves on finally building a ship and taking to the sea like real Vikings, something troubling was occurring. Off the front of a ship, a giant toothy head emerged from the water, roaring, and hissing at the ship with its lashing tongue. Maybe we expected something to happen but a sea serpent? Just outside the starting area? That we were not ready for. We sailed the ship as fast as it would go, avoiding its bite as best we could while the rest of us feebly flung arrows as it chased us. We managed to avoid sinking, but just barely when we realized we needed to land somewhere to make repairs to the ship. Just ahead, a small island floated in the middle of the water. It wasn’t a base destination by any means but it would do. When we landed on it, we noticed strange barnacles on the island. In Valheim, whenever you find something new you have to harvest it because that’s how it progresses. So we get to swinging and the island starts to shake. Nothing happens at first and we keep swinging but the island shakes again but this time, it roars and begins to submerge. That was when we realized we escaped the attack of the serpent only to land on the back of a gigantic turtle, who does not appreciate us hitting his shell.

The rest of the adventure went on and we even discovered a new area which we got to explore for all of five minutes before we were brutally and systematically murdered by the new monsters. And we wanted to keep on playing.

To reemphasize the point of this post, Valheim is an early access game that feels like it’s complete. In the immortal words of Todd Howard “It just works.”. I’ve played thirty hours and feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of what is out there and what I can experience. I’ve killed one boss and have found the location of the other but it’s so far away I have a lot of work to do before I find myself in its neck of the woods and I absolutely love it. Currently, I’ve stuck a pin in exploring and upgrading my gear and am constructing the massive mead hall I’ve always wanted. The Greydwarfs and Trolls can try to knock my walls down all they want, but my roots are sunk deep, and I’m going to be in Valheim for a very, very long time.

 

If you’re interested in the future roadmap for the game, just follow this link: https://www.pcgamer.com/valheim-roadmap/