Good news everyone! I got Vikings - Wolves of Midgard to start after all. Wasn’t easy though. Last time I was really disappointed I couldn’t make it run (on account of my system being broken beyond repair). Every time I even considered doing something about it, I felt exhausted just by thinking about the sheer amount of data backup needed, and then all the work that would go into recreating the entire environment I’m comfortable with. After almost a year of postponing the reinstall of constantly deteriorating system, wanting to play V-WoM motivated me enough to finally get on with it. :) And yeah, it was not the game at fault, it was the system. Now it runs like a charm, as well as many other games that I had issues launching before. Which is nice, I will finally be able to play other things stuck in the ‘failed to initialize” pile :)

Vikings - Wolves of Midgard was my recent SG win as well as an entry for the July monthly theme, the long game. It took me almost 50 hours to beat, mainly because I was set on completing everything I could. And I did - all the map challenges, all the trials (at least 5 times each to get all the skill points and then farm all the runes), all the hunt maps, etc. If the game featured one single playthrough it would be marked as completed for all the intents and purposes. But it’s a hack&slash, so other playtroughs are encouraged with achivs, on different difficulties/ modes, or with different characters. I also played some new game+ with my main and created new character for the hardest difficulty. But for now I had enough and it’s time to move on to other games (and probably shorter ones, cause this was my 2nd large game in the row).

Still, I may play a map or two once a week or something, just for fun :) That’s because I really enjoyed it (and also it’s a bit addicting;). It looks beautiful - the maps are not randomized segments of same-yness, but instead they are handcrafted, thus really pretty and immersive :) The environmental effects are great, like for example deep snow not only just slowing down the character, but also slightly modifying their animations, so it shows that they struggle to move through there. Since the snow is knee or even thigh deep in some places (too deep for just the footprints), character does distort it clearly and visibly while trudging through it. So nice to watch. :)
And the music is oh so gorgeous. You’re greeted with an amazing song in the menu, and then experience equally great soundtrack throughout the game. ^^

I enjoyed the gameplay itself as well. The combat is visceral, the attacks have weight to them, the skills are fun to use, and their upgrades are significant (no bullshit +1% to damage, usually the dmg hike is significant, and additional mechanics are added like slow/stun/etc, and also the effects are magnified - greater aoe area, more pulses, pimped up animations, etc). The range is taken into account (both on the char and on mobs) - a spear/staff reaches much further than a sword or a mace, so one needs to account for that when dodging various enemies, cause there are different safe zones associated with them. Same thing goes for the shield - you can’t just bash an opponent with it when they are facing you shield forward - they will just block everything, you need to quickly attack to the sides or back. Also the bosses are really fun to beat, most of them looks distinct and has their own attacks/ patterns. Sometimes they are easier to beat, sometimes harder depending on which skillset you’re using and how that pairs with their resistances (for example a fire immune boss will force you to change strategy on the fly, since you can’t use that awesome OP fire skill from your arsenal;)
I started out playing with a dual wield build and it was really satisfying to use. There is enough points (provided you do the trials) to play around with 2-3 builds (unless your maxing out one, then just 2, but maxing is not necessary). And then new game+ lets you keep all your stuff and skills and upgrades while you replay the game, so in the end having all 5 combat styles on a single char would be possible.

And I also liked the playable character - no nonsense kind of gal, motivation: mass slaughter :D Her dialogues were to the point, impatient or egocentric, and made me giggle several times - positively. She was as refreshing as the new-back-to-the-roots Doom Marine, since her persona aligned so well with what player wants from those type of games - in this case, to click thousands of mobs to death and have fun while doing it ;) You can play as male as well (there are even separate achivs for finishing the game as a male and as a female), and I have one Viking dude, early levels, but he just doesn’t seem as fun as her. Yes, many dialogue lines overlap, but there are also some differences that make the guy somewhat tame in comparison. Not only that, the female voice actress seems to have put so much more passion in her lines, while the guy acted sometimes a bit disinterested or hesitant (as if he might have been thinking “are you seriously making me read this?”)

Honestly I don’t understand why this game has such mixed reviews. I do acknowledge that it had a buggy launch, so it might have been a bit low in the beginning. It went through several patches, but the score didn’t really change much. I got to play the 2.0 version (which had several 1.somethings updates in between) and the only “issues” (a.k.a. non issues) I’ve experienced was being stuck in the terrain once, for entire 10-ish seconds, but I dashed out of there after 2-3 tries, no reload or restart required. And also there is one achievement not working (hence why I wrote 33* in the header, should be 34 out of 39), but it’s a known issue and devs said it will be fixed next patch. Other than that no other issues, hitches, glitches, or anything whatsoever during 50 hours of my gameplay. Was this hyped somehow beyond reason and now people with exorbitant expectations are disappointed or something? No clue. To me it was very solid and enjoyable experience, with gorgeous music, really pretty environments, and fun combat. Totally satisfied my hack&slash cravings :)