Games

Vinland Tales: Viking Survival Review: Crafting your Viking legacy in a harsh Winter world

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As a seasoned gamer with countless hours spent in various survival games, I must admit that Vinland Tales: Viking Survival has piqued my interest. Set in a harsh winter world during the Viking era, it seemed like a challenging and immersive experience. However, after sifting through the snowdrifts, I found myself yearning for more polish and variety to keep me engaged.

Review of Vinland Tales: Viking Survival

In this assessment, I tested Vinland Tales: Viking Survival on two distinct gadgets – Motorola G32, a budget-friendly device, and the iPhone 13, considered mid-range. Combined, these devices provided me with an overall gameplay time of 18 hours. This extensive experience allowed me to delve into all the features that the game has to offer on both platforms, resulting in a comprehensive analysis. This review will encompass a blend of both favorable and constructive comments.

Gameplay revolves around surviving the harsh winter, building and expanding the settlement

To begin our critique, let’s delve into the gameplay mechanics of Vinland Tales. Initially, the game is quite straightforward, offering a series of introductory lessons that guide you in locating various resources, rescuing captive tribe members, and completing simple missions.

In the early stages, you’ll encounter numerous easy tasks, one of which is constructing the main building of your Viking settlement, known as the Great Hall. An AI character will guide you with brief explanations about crucial structures such as the Great Hall, Altar of Knowledge, Meeting Point, and others.

In the initial stages of this game, it may seem rather sluggish and monotonous, particularly once past the initial few minutes. The tasks you’re given are quite straightforward, and establishing your base takes a fair amount of time in any survival game. However, here, it seems even more drawn-out. For example, it might take you 10 minutes just to fill an empty flask from the well. Essentially, you must endure these slow, repetitive chores to truly savor the survival game experience as you advance further.

Additionally, there’s an Auto mode feature that can be handy for both hunting animals and defeating your adversaries without requiring manual control. I found myself quite entertained as I pursued creatures such as rabbits, deer, and wild boars, and engaging in combat with the NPC opponents distributed throughout the map. However, these enemies do not regenerate, so once you’ve cleared the initial area provided, you’ll need to venture into new locales for additional hunting and resource gathering opportunities.

One advantage of this game is that it provides multiple work areas like cooking pots, hunting cabins, sawhorses, stone cutting stations, and tailoring tables among others. These, along with numerous other options, can be obtained from the Altar of Knowledge, enabling you to construct and expand your settlement more effectively.

The Stamina system for exploring the map feels very limiting

Let’s discuss a feature in the game that I find quite frustrating, and I believe others may agree with me too. This is the stamina system, a mechanism that has been popularized in numerous new mobile games. In this specific game, you navigate through various locations on the map, either by walking or running, which depletes your energy.

In this game, you’re given up to 100 units of energy, and the amount needed to traverse different locations depends on their distance. For example, it takes 16 energy points to sprint to the ‘Pine Forest’ from your settlement, while it requires 34 energy to sprint to the ‘Burial Chambers’. Although you can choose to walk instead, this method is quite slow, taking anywhere between 3 to 8 minutes to reach a destination.

Your best option is to run which only takes around 8 seconds, but it drains energy. I feel this system greatly limits both your progress and enjoyment, as you have to wait to refill your energy, which can be quite bothersome. On top of that, you have to carefully manage it to avoid depleting it, which may look like a fitting mechanic for a survival game, but it ends up being annoying rather than challenging.

Vinland Tales has a decent storyline but lacks any standout elements

If you’re captivated by the Vikings, chances are you’ll find the game’s narrative engaging. It plunges you into the gritty, medieval lore of the Viking Age, a time rife with bloody clashes between colonies over competing interests. You’ll have the opportunity to embody a Viking chieftain, battling for power, prestige, and territory. Furthermore, the obstacles you’ll encounter won’t be confined to rival colonies or tribes; you’ll also need to keep an eye out for marauding bandits and dangerous wildlife.

In this game, the adventure starts with the first chapter, titled “No Man’s Land,” where your task is to construct diverse workstations and structures to set up your own settlement. As the King of the Norsemen, your primary objectives are to safeguard your clansmen, expand your settlement, and ultimately explore the immense Vinland, uncovering what awaits you there. One aspect that will captivate you about the narrative is the chance to discover the epic tale of the renowned Viking explorer, Leif Eriksson. However, be prepared for a significant amount of gameplay to reach that stage in the storyline.

The game offers decent visuals and audio, though nothing extravagant

Now, let’s delve into the visuals and sounds. If you’ve played games from Colossi Games before, you might not notice a significant change. This game offers a visually pleasing experience, with an intricate portrayal of a rugged, icy terrain that depicts the Viking era.

While some players might find the winter theme less appealing, there’s room for improvement in its presentation. On the upside, the game typically showcases lush green landscapes, with the entire map turning into a frosty, snow-laden terrain during winter seasons, and these changes happen periodically.

A notable advantage is that you can customize both graphic resolution and frame rate according to your preference. Regarding audio, it’s commendable with a soothing, repeating melody enhancing the game’s ambiance. The sound effects for various actions are also well-executed. And if the music isn’t to your taste, there’s an option to mute it.

Controls and UI are well-designed without being overcrowded

As a gamer, I’ve got to say, this game’s controls and interface are impressively designed. It’s clear as day and super easy to navigate, even with all the features and extras jam-packed into it. It’s amazing how they’ve managed to make it interesting and well thought out, given that it’s an action survival RPG with sandbox mechanics and a heap of building elements. If not done right, it could be a confusing mess, but they’ve nailed it!

As a gamer, I’ve found this game to be an absolute breeze to navigate. The user interface is clean and straightforward, allowing me to easily tell storylines from side quests, resources, and other features. It’s like having a map that clearly marks my route. Plus, the controls are a dream – they’re simple yet intuitive, making every movement, battle against rebels or enemies, or hunt for animals an enjoyable experience. The game flows smoothly without many hiccups, ensuring a pleasant gaming journey for me.

You will eventually need to spend money to survive the winter and progress

Although you can play the game without investing any money initially, its leisurely pace and lengthy tasks might eventually lead to frustration due to the monotony. You may find yourself drawn towards in-game purchases to expedite your progress, as the game provides numerous items that enhance your survival abilities and accelerate your settlement construction.

Even though these purchases might appear inexpensive initially, they can accumulate rapidly and end up costing you significantly over time. Additionally, I find the advertisements rather pointless because their length is excessively long compared to the small rewards offered. For example, you must sit through a 55-second ad just to receive x5 Hide, which isn’t worth the time spent.

Apart from the game being quite affordable with various free items, you can also accumulate 10 Gold by viewing ads, though this option is limited to 12 instances and once a day. I’ve found that the Mystery Shaman Chest becomes beneficial if you don’t mind watching ads, as it can be claimed every hour.

Final Verdict

The Vinland Tales game offers a wealth of features initially, but it has difficulty maintaining interest in the long run. Though the beginning gameplay appears engaging, it soon turns monotonous. This game is set in a rugged winter landscape during the Viking age and presents a demanding survival experience. You’re tasked with establishing your settlement, creating weapons, managing your clan or settlers, overseeing resources, and more, which can swiftly feel overwhelming due to its complexity.

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This game has the potential to shine, but it needs some fine-tuning in its mechanics and visuals, plus extra content to truly live up to its capabilities. You might find that advancement depends on in-app purchases. Despite this, it’s quite a good game, particularly for survival enthusiasts. I suggest you give it a go and see what you think – your experience might differ from mine.

Vinland Tales: Viking Survival Review by GamingonPhone

Gameplay Mechanics – 7
Storyline – 7
Graphics and Music – 7
Controls and UI – 7.5
Free-to-play Elements – 6.5

7

Average

Vinland Sagas, despite being an enjoyable game initially, tends to lose its appeal as time passes. Although the early gameplay is engaging, it soon turns monotonous and uninteresting.

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2024-12-08 12:11

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