The Survival MMO Valnir Rok from the German studio Encurio is set to receive a revision. It is supposed to become darker and even more brutal. Currently, it is in Early Access on Steam but has received only moderate feedback there.
What is Valnir Rok? The Survival MMO takes place in a world with Vikings. You are the last survivor of your crew after the ship you were on has been destroyed and washed ashore on an island.
There, the task is to survive, although wild monsters, other players, and the natural urge for food and drink want to stop you from doing just that. Gameplay-wise, it resembles Conan Exiles, which the game has been compared to.
Valnir Rok was released in Early Access back in 2017 but is now planning major changes.
What is supposed to change? According to the developers, the MMO is now supposed to become really dark and brutal. They write:
Big things are happening in Valnir Rok – in the coming months, the game will undergo some changes, it will become darker and more brutal – it will not be a safe place to live. Can you prevent this apocalypse in the once peaceful land with its green meadows?
A small preview was already provided by the latest update #78, which was released on March 31:
- It brought adjustments to the interface
- Added a damage log
- Improved colors and lighting effects
- Made changes to attack animations and speeds
- There were some balance adjustments and bug fixes.
Viking MMO impresses with realistic construction
Why could the game be interesting? On Steam, Valnir Rok currently has an average of around 4 players (via Steamcharts). The ratings are also rather mixed, with 56% positive votes out of 579 reviews.
There are some unique features of the game that have been positively highlighted in reviews. The user Asbestbrezel praised Valnir Rok in 2017 for:
- The overall Viking setting
- The crafting and building system, where recipes are discovered and realistic materials like mortar are used to build a wall
- The building system is also highlighted because load-bearing walls are supposed to play a role. If these are removed, the entire building collapses, much to the delight of any trained structural engineer
Others were also excited about the game at first. But that diminished over time.
Where are the problems with the game? Asbestbrezel himself updated his review in mid-2018, noting that a lot of content is simply missing. There doesn’t seem to have been much change even until today.
The latest reviews of the last 90 days criticize the game for being quite boring in combat, for having performance issues, and for hardly encountering other players right now. Nevertheless, many voices see potential in the game that has simply not been tapped yet.
Perhaps the new updates can change something in this regard. As it stands, Valnir Rok certainly does not make it into our list of the best survival games of 2020.
