Expeditions: Viking

Expeditions: Viking is a game with a lot of features, but those features don’t really blend into a cohesive whole, and with lack of a single strong point the entire experience just feels uninspired. Viking is supposed to be a blend of a cRPG, turn-based tactics and a strategic campaign-lite with survival/immersive elements, but it doesn’t really shine at any of these. Quest design looks like what I’ve seen in the budget games of the early 2000s and mostly consists of running to a single destination and talking/fighting there, then getting back to a quest giver. Sometimes it includes a couple of intermediate stops, but the core is still the same, and you can likely play it with your eyes closed, especially since none of the stuff I’ve seen so far makes you feel invested in what’s happening. There’s always a direct route (just kill everything), and a route that involves first talking to a supposed target, finding out that the situation is more nuanced than you’ve been told, and then deciding on what to do. Any Finesse or Sense check is typically a ‘press X to win’ if you can pass it. Turn-based combat is passable. Not a lot of variety in how you can approach the encounters, not a lot of effective builds. Skill tree is large, but mostly for the sake of it, and the result can’t be compared, in my opinion, even to the likes of Wasteland 3, let alone true tactical games like XCOM. Interacting with the party is very shallow- you don’t really talk to any of them outside of the scripted story points, you can’t influence them in any way, they are just there, and don’t provide more personality that randomly generated NPCs that you can include in the party. There’s a morale mechanic and some kind of loyalty mechanic, that affects how party members react on your quest decisions, but instead of providing additional immersion, it just breaks it for me. NPCs can be aggressive-peaceful, altruistic-greedy etc, and any of your dialogue option during a quest will lead to morale/loyalty getting lower and higher for your entire party- the issue is, the party is huge, with 5 people, and with such shallow personalities you don’t really get involved with any of them, so mostly have little idea on how each NPC will react, and these morale changes for all 5 NPCs looks like just random punishment/reward that changes nothing and is just there. Actually this “it’s just there” can be said about a lof of other mechanics, including those survival parts of a strategic mode, with camping and stuff, and homestead improvements. Lots of features for the sake of features, but they don’t work well with each other- you play through a dull game with many mechanics from other, better, more focused games, and the only redeeming quality is the world itself, as there’s not many viking-themed RPGs out there. Writing is mostly dull, and so is the overarching story. It’s not bad, it’s not good- it’s just there. The story alone won’t make you interested in this, but the question is- what will? For me the answer is no- I believe that Viking is too unfocused and doesn’t do anything really well. I’d much rather prefer a game with a strong core at the expense of weaknesses in other areas, than something that’s just ‘okay’ at everything, like this title is

This game is older, so if you are looking at it now you are likely buying it during a sale. As an on sale pick up, this game is absolutely worth it. If its full price, you may well still enjoy this a lot, but you simply have to know what you are buying. This game is a point and click adventure with text based story line. The story is cliche, with tropes aplenty. The combat is an old school, turn based hex-movement system and works pretty good. Your attributes are permanent and don't increase with level, you level based on quest progression not combat, characters must be specialized as well-balanced characters are effectively useless, shields are a must, and you cannot replace hirdmen once the first 10 are selected. I didn't understand all of this on my first play through and ended up getting to a point where I couldn't advance further because I had under leveled characters, under leveled gear, and I hadn't specialized my forces. I have now reset, and I am enjoying my second play through even more with the increased understanding. A great, classic style RPG. Tons of fun if you like the genre, and absolutely worth picking up.

Bardzo solidne RPG z naprawdę świetnym wikińskim klimatem. Dużym plusem jest możliwość stworzenia własnej postaci, zebrania drużyny i podejmowania decyzji, które faktycznie wpływają na przebieg naszej wyprawy. Turowa walka wymaga trochę myślenia, rozwój drużyny daje sporo satysfakcji, a fabuła i eksploracja dobrze oddają atmosferę epoki wikingów. Gra może nie wygląda już najnowocześniej, ale nadrabia klimatem i rozbudowaną rozgrywką. Trochę niedoceniany tytuł, szczególnie dla fanów klasycznych RPG i historycznych klimatów. Zdecydowanie warto zagrać.

I've played the Rome and the Conquistador games in this series. I found this one to be very addictive and quite polished. Sad to see the franchise ends after Rome

I did not pay the Steam $30 list price. And boy am I glad I did not. This game is weak overall. The graphics and gameplay are a bit clunky and the pacing is atrocious. This game isn't even worth the 7 bucks. It's not fun. It's stupid and unnecessarily tedious. I can't recommend this game at all. The first 15 hours are nothing but stupid grinding until you can build a ship. No in-game help to guide you. Limited exploration. Boring.

I wish I could give this a neutral review because it was an okay game, but I found myself disliking more aspects of the game as I played versus enjoying. Pros: - Music was great. - Banter was good between characters - Morale system was easy enough to understand and so was leveling, traveling, etc., across the maps. - The system itself/recycling/repairing gear, tinkering, etc., also was very easy to do and easy to understand Cons: - The UI was tiny. I am playing with my TV as a monitor, so I am sure that if you are on a PC it wouldn't be as bad. I had UI settings increased to max and was having to squint to still see anything. The suggestion/tooltip boxes were so small despite increasing the UI and it was just a miserable experience for me - Pushing WASD made the camera fly. I wish I was exaggerating. There was no way to adjust the camera scaling speed. It was a major adjustment having to get used to my camera being halfway off the map for pressing WASD even minimally. - This game was pretty short, or felt pretty sparse in comparison to the other games in this franchise. There are only two acts, one of them being an introduction to the system, one traveling and doing your expedition, and then the few ending quests. I would say that I would maybe get it if it was on sale, but not at full price.

what a perfect game! pros: +graphics, music, the whole art is well done and beautifully delivered +very interesting scenario/plot (reminded me a lot the Vikings TV series) +simple and nice village building +the camping menu was interesting (especially the weapons/armor crafting) +solid battles with a nice varity of skills and ways to combine them between your party members +44 hrs of gameplay cons: - couldn't find any

ВЕЛИКАЯ ИГРА! Прошёл её за пару недель, до сих пор под впечатлением. Напомнила мне ощущения от первого Baldur's Gate — в хорошем смысле. Настоящая классическая партийная RPG, в которой можно отыгрывать викинга-отморозка. Я грабил монастыри, ломал кресты, уничтожал всё, что попадалось на пути. Получил достижение "Великая языческая армия", уничтожив и пиктов, и Нортумбрию, а заодно сломал все кресты в игре, выбив одно из самых редких достижений. Жаль, что подобных игр так мало. Предыдущая часть серии, Expeditions: Conquistador – странненькая тактика. А следующая, Expeditions: Rome, зачем-то ушла в стратегию с армиями. Потом студия и вовсе закрылась. А вот Expeditions: Viking — это малоизвестный бриллиант жанра. Кстати, неожиданно игра напомнила мне Rogue Trader от Owlcat Games. И по композиции повествования, и по подходу к геймплею, и по структуре... Только вот это — Rogue Trader здорового человека: на 40 часов, а не на 130. Особенно запомнился момент высадки на Британию. Причаливаю с отрядом к деревне, нас встречает местная делегация, что-то говорят на непонятном языке. В отряде есть парень, который вроде как может перевести. Но я решил поступить как викинг — после реплики «эй, похоже они решили сделать нам что-то нехорошее» мой хирд вырезал всех. Разграбил и вырезал всю деревню, разграбил монастырь, сломал кресты и обрадовался золоту. Честно говоря, не знаю, каков опыт от этой игры, если нормально разговаривать с людьми и выполнять квесты. Я играл отморозком, и мне было весело. Игра предоставляет массу возможностей для отыгрыша поехавшего викинга-гопника во славу Тюра. Романтические линии — тоже огонь. За одно прохождение я умудрился жениться на охотнице, переспать с ведьмой и получить предложение от местной дамы в одном из городов. Правда, после того как я вышел из её дома довольный, моя охотница посмотрела на меня испепеляющим взглядом, и отношения упали на -10. Пришлось загружаться — совесть замучила, невеста все-таки… Шутка! Я же викинг. Немного побузила, но простила. В итоге: три женщины за одно прохождение — чек. Ах да, после ночи с той дамочкой мне прилетело "воспаление паха". Вывод: с ней, похоже, половина Британии уже успела переболеть...