Eydigard

Yes, I highly recommend this game. I think this game may be a little misunderstood or perhaps misrepresented, be it intentionally or unintentionally. Great game, nice devs, they've been responsive on the Discord too. I've asked some questions about the game when I'm stuck and provided a bunch of feedback and they've been kind enough to respond and they're still working on fixing bugs and adding more content. [b]What is this game?[/b] This is NOT survivalcraft game. This is a very oldschool RPG with some crafting involved. Eating/drinking is far less important in this game than what is typical in survival games and there is no building system - rather it has villages that you rescue and unlock. Eating/drinking gives you a small convenient buff but you don't even need to do it. Oldschool RPG style, you're thrown into this world without too much of a guiding hand and any quests that you take on, you receive no exact quest markers or pointers to where to go, but instead you get rough directions and then you get to explore the game world as you look for the quest objective. The game is you, an adventurer and the game is an oldschool RPG experience, circa early 2000-2005 ish style I'd say. The game reminds me most of the games Valheim and Outward, with the combat being that of a druid in World of Warcraft and I think the whole shapeshifting thing is a big sell of the game's niche. It was the reason I got this game. The game looks most like Valheim than anything else, that with the Norse theme but that's kind of the end of it. Otherwise it's not anything like Valheim. What I really like is that the game is set in the real world of Norway and there is dialogue that references Sweden and Germany (Lubeck, the Hanseatic league etc) while also incorporating Norse mythology. Thematically, the game is quite like Valheim, but in gameplay it is not really like Valheim at all. The gameplay is more akin to the game Outward. It's an RPG, it gives you a narrative to follow, quests, you can craft stuff, explore the world, kill stuff, do dungeons, talk to people in the towns for some cool lore and a good idea of how the world here functions. I LOVE that you can just ask random people "what's life like on this farm?" or whatever and they'll give you some dialogue based on their personal experience, what is their trade, how hard is their life, what is their leader like etc that is a really nice touch. The actual gameplay loop is that you will cleanse old villages from a special kind of corruption that I won't spoil and you can claim these villages for two different factions that are competing with one another and you also gain reputation working for each faction. Each of these villages will provide improvements to the way you play the game with better gear upgrades or food and more. [b]The two factions are:[/b] -The Sjur family who are a type of aristocratic bourgois, or merchant family who look to invest and expand their wealth by claiming more land, paying mercenaries from Germanic lands and grabbing hold of these old villages and employing more people and let 16th century capitalism do its thing. -<I forgot this faction's name lol sorry> these are more inwards looking and care more about what they already have than to expand. They are traditionalists in that they have their village, their traditions, their way of life, they're essentially a tribe of Norsemen who are indiginous to this land. They are only looking to reclaim the old villages because they know that the Sjur family are here to, in their eyes, ruin the lands. There's also a pseudo faction of Sami people, who today are kind of known as the last indiginous people of Northern Europe and if you've not heard of these guys, do read about their history and culture, it's extremely interesting. Again, I love that this game is actually set in a real world setting. [b]Combat:[/b] You're a shapeshifter, at the moment you can turn into a bear and a lynx (looks like wolf form will also become a thing according to some UI elements) and if you've played World of Warcraft, you know what these two forms are for. Lynx moves fast, can sneak attack, cause bleed, best form against 1-2 enemies and also just for fast travelling. Bear form is tanky, slower, strong, very useful when there's more than 2 enemies. Combat is not that hard, bosses can be tough. It's actually really well balanced because you do have to keep on your toes once you get past the first troll enemies, but it's not dark-souls-difficult. You can also do some fighting in human form. You have your staff that you can use, it's not as good as the animal forms, but in human form you can also use ranged weapons which are good enough that you can kill enemies with it albeit not as fast as in animal forms - but they're also good for just pulling enemies if you want to single them out. The game has a block-parry-dodge system. It's actually really well made, it only needs a little bit better feedback which the devs said they're working on. During combat you want hold down the right click button to stay in this combat stance and block attacks, but you can also click it the second before an enemy hits you to parry it entirely and take no damage. There's also a dodge function to quickly shift out of the way of an attack. It looks like some people didn't realise that this whole parry system existed. Some in-game NPCs try to explain this but they're trying to not break the 4th wall. I think if the devs don't want to break the 4th wall, the game should in addition, explain it with a UI or tutorial pop-up or something because I think it's important to inform people of this. The game isn't about trading hits with enemies like some people seem to think, you have to determine when is a good moment to block/parry and when to strike. If you master this system, you don't need to use healing salves in this game ever. [b]A few cons[/b] Some consider this game to be janky but it's honestly not any more janky than the likes of Valheim or Outward. There's like 4 people in the dev team, that's just the way it is. The game economy, that is to say, the item values in the game are kind of messed up for the time being with some really common items selling for more than some rare items and some beginner mobs dropping higher value loot than higher level mobs etc. The devs have said they're working on this. Great game, love it. I hope I have explained the game well enough to perhaps have people reconsider some of their opinions because some of the negative reviews are based on incorrect information due to them either missing out on certain game mechanics or because the game just didn't do a good enough job of explaining it. I imagine this game has about 50 ish hours of gameplay and the devs have said they want to add even more content so I look forward to seeing more.

Despite what appears to be solid gameplay, I can't recommend Eydigard. The designers felt the need to give all the women in the game man-faces, PC and NPCs. During character creation only clothing and hairstyle make a visual difference between the two genders. And while they are named "sexes" in the character creator, not the dishonest "body types" of some other games, the names "male/female" are nowhere to be seen. Instead they are just numbered "1" and "2". There is no indication this will be changed before launch of the full version. When the women in your game are on average uglier than in real life, the problem lies with the designers, not the gamers. A design studio who doesn't take their audience and customers, for an indie action RPG like this roughly 95% male, serious, does not deserve their time and money. I recommend you take your free time and entertainment budget elsewhere.

Having followed the game for quite some time I was stoked to get into the thick of it. Yes, this is a early access game which does include some bugs. But the presence of the developers on discord is amazing. And getting almost instant feedback and fixes when you let them know of bugs you found feels so down to earth. Starting the game I was not prepared really. Having not long found out about my Sami heritage, seeing that there was the option to be sami in the game gave me such joy. This game has so much going for it and I cant wait to see where it goes from here.

I first played this game for approx 8 hours during playtesting (all in one setting, no need to restart), and had a blast! I enjoy co-operative games; playing with friends while chit-chatting is always time well spent. However, I am picky with co-op. I don't enjoy heavy crafting or survival elements. This game fits right in with single-player games I like (such as Skyrim) but with co-op and without the things I don't enjoy. I like that the fact that the difficulty depends on amount of players in the same game, and also that it relies only a little on crafting (upgrading, potions etc) and has no survival elements. Yes you need to start from almost nothing and then gear up, but you won't starve while doing it... The other players will get notified when a new area is discovered, and the players get the same updates on quests. No split screen gaming either. The only thing you need to do separate is gear up, cook/craft, buy skill upgrades etc. When the game released in early access, I knew I had to jump right back in, and I have not felt a single hour has been boring or annoying. The price? Worth it, no doubt. Yes, there are some bugs here and there, it's an EA version after all. The devs are very friendly and eager to help; they are constantly updating and improving the game, and very willing to take feedback. I trust that any bug that gets reported will be fixed. Already at the time of this review, there has been several bug fixes and stability improvements. Such devotion gives me as a gamer motivation to keep playing a game I already enjoy. The plot of the game is interesting, it takes a unique approach to plague but also dives into Norwegian folklore (hello Tusser and Troll) and Sami culture. As someone with Sami heritage this was delightful to see. I also enjoy the shape-shifting a lot, and try to use it strategically... Unless I am just free-spirit running across the hills as a lynx, no strategy needed except remembering to eat some sweet food. The quests will have you run all over the game world, and you need to think a bit before making any grand decisions, because what you do can have consequences. The combat system is so far not too complex but you should always think a little bit ahead before jumping into battle. The crafting system also has an interesting spin because you need to talk to all the different NPCs to understand if they can teach you something or not. You might talk to a quest-giver that asks for something you haven't heard of, and then you need to venture into the world to try to find the character that either sells the item or teaches you how to craft it. Sometimes it can be easy because you think "ah maybe person x in town x knows because [reason]", and sometimes you might just have to wait and stumble across said person. There is not much hand-holding here, and it feels very free and exploratory. This might not be for everyone, but to me it feels very realistic in such an unrealistic fantasy setting, and IMO that's a positive thing. On the aesthetics, I enjoy the look of the game; the world is beautiful, the day/night schedule works well, there are great visual differences between areas you visit so once you get used to it you can understand approximately where you are without looking at the map. The buildings look on point for the setting and everything from enemies to clothing to decor does too. On the audio side there has been interesting choices made for animal/enemy SFX, and the music is nothing but magical no matter which area you visit. The composer has done a good job making sure that the music fits the world setting. The UI could always be improved a bit; I had some usability issues when I first started playing. Nothing game-breaking or things I couldn't figure out, it could just use a little polish. All in all, I don't see any real negatives to this game.

Had a lot of fun with this, and will definitely play it more as development progresses! If you like games like Morrowind, Oblivion, Gothic or Outwards, you'll enjoy this one

Only played an hour or two so far but am really enjoying it! This is a fun indy RPG set in an immersive post viking open world (with little hand-holding!) that includes shapeshifting, looting and crafting making this game an enjoyable experience. Would recommend if this sounds interesting to you.

People will play the absolute soup that is Valheim then come drag this realistic Finnish life sim smh

⭐☆☆☆☆ (1/5) Eydilgard aims to be a survival crafting adventure in the vein of Valheim, but unfortunately, it falls flat on the Steam Deck in both performance and design. The world looks promising at first, but it's bogged down by frustrating controls, poor optimization, and UI issues that make it hard to enjoy even if you're intrigued by its concept. 🎮 Steam Deck Performance: Even on lowest settings, Eydilgard struggles: In the prologue, you’ll hover around 30 FPS After that, performance frequently dips below 20 FPS There are very few graphics settings to tweak, and no real way to improve stability 🔋 Battery Life: About 3 hours on Steam Deck OLED — which is the only positive here 🕹️ Controller Support: It’s listed as controller-compatible, but in reality, it’s partial at best. Many menus still require a mouse or touchscreen. The control layout is awkward and not designed with handheld play in mind. Navigating the game feels clunky and unrefined. 🖼️ Visuals & UI: Despite having some cool environments, the UI is poorly designed for Steam Deck. Text can be small or hard to read, and actions don’t always map correctly to the controller. It feels like the Steam Deck wasn’t considered during development. 📝 Conclusion: I really wanted to like Eydilgard — it looks like a stylish, darker take on Valheim — and I even received a free copy to test it out. But right now, it’s just not a good experience on the Steam Deck. Between subpar performance, clunky controls, and an unintuitive UI, I can’t recommend it in its current state for handheld players. Unless it gets serious optimization and UI fixes, this one’s a pass for Steam Deck users. Check out my video review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vffW4__em_Q

Starting out I was a bit confused about the depth of the game, but it really is old school in the way that you have to find your own way and discover the mechanics yourself. There is tons of stuff to discover and craft so I have had super fun so far. Love playing as the lynx with all the abilities it gets as I progressed! :D

Cool game with great music and atmosphere.