Tribes of Midgard

Tribes of Midgard is trying to do a lot and implements some new and interesting mechanics in the process; unfortunately, the balancing and day/night cycle could use a little ironing out before it’s worthy of Valhalla. Still, it deserves your time and attention now, especially if you’re a fan of swiftly getting a system down perfectly and don’t mind repeatedly dying in an effort to achieve that. Once Tribes of Midgard comes into its own — and it will — it’s safe to say it’ll be a pretty addicting experience.

Tribes of Midgard has a lot of interesting ideas and systems, but it seems to fall short on implementing them all in a way that provides a better gameplay experience. The game, which is clearly designed to be played in a group, plays better with a custom lobby, where all the barriers imposed by the story mode are lifted, allowing the player to actually enjoy the game. The graphics and music are pleasant and never tiring. Sometimes less is more.

Tribes of Midgard is a well-polished, accessible experience. Allowing up to 10 players to take part, the game runs well on most hardware and is easy to pick up and play. The biggest concern is how unenjoyable the game is alone.

Its world, art-style, exploration, and hack-n-slash combat are super fun, but these feel hampered by Tribes of Midgard’s key conceit as a tough tower defence game. Increasingly long nights mean you get little and less time to explore, and this is exacerbated by growing demands on resources. Instead, Tribes of Midgard would have made a better open-world game—its procedurally-generated Norse realm is so explorable. I would gladly play Tribes of Midgard more if I wasn’t bound to the settlement as much, and I hope that’s a mode that could be explored in the future.

When you're playing with your whole clan, Tribes of Midgard is an exciting, hectic, co-op rush to hold off enemies and the elements – It's just a bit too unforgiving if you want to go it alone. Slaying a mighty jotun and racing against the coming of Ragnarok makes for plenty of Norse-flavored fun, but I longed for the chance to explore and interact with its world and systems with less constant upkeep, and at my own pace.

Tribes of Midgard is a great concept, but half-baked mechanics and design decisions prevent it from reaching the triumphs it could.

Tribes of Midgard is a good compromise between team play, exploration and survival. A sandbox with an intriguing setting, albeit artistically uninspired, which offers a type of approach to the genre by virtue of accessibility and cooperation: in short, the shy but dignified starting point for Norsfell. A team that thus sets foot in a market that is quite inflated in itself, laying the foundations for an experience that - if duly supported, especially in terms of content - could prove to be an excellent opportunity to engage in fierce survival challenges with friends. However, it remains a not very bold title on the action front, and the same can be said for its aesthetic identity, still too weak to stand out properly.

While some problems can be overlooked, the half baked ideas, bugs, and overall unbalanced experience keep excitement to keep playing in check.

Tribes of Midgard's quality is largely dependant on what the player enjoys but not in the traditional sense. It's a sort of all-or-nothing enjoyment where those that like making a task list and scratching off objectives will find something worth spending hundreds of hours in, but those that are on the other end of the spectrum will find it dull. If the player is that specific type of person, Tribes of Midgard will be well worth the investment, but if not, things may start to feel stretched a bit thin.

After a few hours of playing, you quickly realize that Tribes of Midgard is trying too many genres at the same time and doesn't follow through on its ideas. This RPG-inspired survival Rogue-Lite offers some great things, but too many game systems lack depth to engage players. The excessive simplicity of the combat mixed with a loot and a minimalist crafting hard to forget the redundant and unbalanced structure of the experience. There remains a sympathetic and pleasant universe to explore. Too bad it is impossible to do it at your own pace, because it is mandatory to join the camp after dark.