Valheim Mistlands Preview: A truly magical update packed with fresh ideas

I am decked out from top to bottom in ostentatious clothing. With a heavy hammer in my hands, a light over my head and bags full of food. We climbed a stone spire above oppressive mists only to see a vast landscape of dangers faced and few safe places. With only a limited opportunity to experiment Valheim Mistlands UpdateI am faced with something truly refreshing.

That was my main conclusion, anyway. Valheim exploded onto the indie scene in 2021 and managed to firmly capture the attention and love of thousands of people around the world. It’s tough, gritty and hilarious with friends. But, if there was one criticism of the game post-launch Early Access, it was the lack of new content for those who pushed through to the end game, as much of the post-launch support was refining and improving pre-existing content.

Mistlands is clearly an attempt to fix that, a point confirmed by artist Robin Eyre and developer Jonathan Smars at Iron Gate Studios. “When we released it in early access, we realized that the game had a lot of bugs,” says Smars. “So, we decided not to release any more content until it was stable enough for everyone to play the game. Going forward with Mistlands, we’ve established how much we want in a biome, and we want to see how we can surprise them a bit.”

But what exactly is Mistlands? Well, it’s a new endgame zone aimed at players who have already progressed through the pre-existing content. To enter, you’ll need to be equipped with some pretty good gear, as well as a Wisp of Light acquired from a previous boss. Once you’re inside, you can expect to take on the Seekers; Fierce and downright creepy insectoids that haunt the dreary depths.

What is immediately apparent about Mistlands is that it is very much a different region compared to other fantastic video game worlds out there. According to the duo, this is their big attempt to create something unique in the Mistlands, especially since the next two zones, Ashlands and Deep North, are pretty standard.

“A long time ago, it was meant to be this dark and brooding place. Very similar to swamps,” Eyre explains. “That’s why we didn’t want them to be swamps 2.0. Basically, you can think of Mistlands as if the swamps and the mountains have a child.

For what it’s worth, they’ve done a great job of doing something new with Mistlands. Ancient ruins can be found scattered around the region where some good loot can be found, the small towers occupied by Dverger act as safe places and sources of loot if you are willing to face the repercussions of robbing the well-armed people who live there. , and huge stone boulders stretch up above the mist like fingers, allowing you to see your surroundings clearly.

A personal highlight comes from the finder-invested ruins, comprised of oily black stone and cloaked in sticky yellow mucus. In terms of aesthetics and feel, Eyre and Smars told me their goal was to replicate that alien vibe in these dangerous dungeons, making sure to keep things claustrophobic and scary as enemies stalk and spring at you from doors in all directions. It’s really brilliant, and while I’m sure they’ll inevitably lose their impact as players continue to dig deeper, my first impression is that I’m confident in its ability to keep even the most dedicated gamers on their toes.

With these new dangers come new equipment. The most exciting addition comes in the form of magical and more legendary weapons. While Valheim felt somewhat grounded, with swords, shields, and arrows making up the core of the experience, the team believes now is the time to start slowly integrating into the mystical and otherworldly.

“Mountains were the biome that was meant to contain the most magical things, but it seemed too early to give players magical things. We don’t want to become World of Warcraft where things are ‘too epic,’” Smars says. “We don’t want players to be able to gain magic right away, we want you to go through the adventure, experience the hardships of the world, and then at the end of the game, be proper Viking material, that Vikings would tell stories. on.”

Casting Magic allows for a mage style of play, with specific armor and the ether resource allowing for a ranged casting approach to fights. Some of the stuff looks and feels absurdly powerful compared to what players may have come to expect. I asked if Iron Gate Studios was concerned that the addition of super-powered magic could lessen the impact of the pre-existing tooth and claw combat, and while he noted that he would keep a close eye on the balance, Iron Gate is confident that those of you, whom likes to play the tank archer, he will continue to play an important role due to the softness of magic casters and the limited resources they have to work with.

For builders, a new zone means new resources and new structures you can build. Using the new tiles and textures found in the Mistlands, players can build their own structures that visually fit the area, replicating features like some cute spiral staircases. With how dangerous the Mistlands are, taking down a house in the mists isn’t a great idea, but thanks to the rocky peaks that soar above the danger, raised lodges are probably the way to go.

Then there is also the fishing, which has been modified a bit. Before, there wasn’t much of a reason to, but now you can display captures as trophies that offer a more flexible factor in one of Valheim’s often unloved survival skills. Whether or not you have any luck catching something is another matter, as I had the brilliant life experience of failing an attempt to catch a fish in front of the main developers. Nothing embarrassing, I assure you.

But perhaps most importantly, hijinx still flows through Valheim in the Mistlands. Scaling terrain, defending yourself in treacherous caverns, and escaping a Dverger tower with loot only to have the entire party blown up and crushed under rubble is the kind of memory generator that keeps multiplayer co-op games like Valheim in hearts and minds. of their player base.

It’s an exciting time for the game, with the future firmly established and adding more and more new content now that the team is confident in the quality of experience that’s already out there. If perhaps you’ve fallen out of Valheim lately, Mistlands seems like the perfect excuse to jump back in.

You can test the Mistlands update yourself right now on the public test branch. I highly recommend it.