Dead In Vinland

I actually like Death in Vinland quite a bit… which makes it even more frustrating to say this: the game is kind of held together by duct tape, hope, and a mild contempt for the player. I finished it on easy vacation mode (the only difficulty I could survive), and even there I ran into a fundamental design problem: random events that are not just unpredictable, but occasionally run the game off a cliff. You can end up in situations where you need a specific item to progress… and the game has already quietly removed any possible way for you to obtain it. That’s not difficulty, that’s the game forgetting it has a main quest. And then there’s the real highlight: the woman with the giant sword who apparently crash-landed from Krypton. She is, for all practical purposes, indestructible. In about 50 hours of play, I managed to defeat her exactly once, and I’m still not entirely sure how that happened. This, on easy mode... with multiple saves. Meanwhile, the actual final boss felt like a warm-up act compared to her. It’s absurd in the worst possible way: I like hard games, but this isn’t challenging, it’s inconsistent design wearing difficulty as a disguise. Between progression-breaking …

I've never come across a game so dedicated to giving me motion sickness. Some of the settings can be changed, but not all of them, and quite frankly the 30 minutes I played weren't interesting enough to warrant using my dramamine so I could continue.

I love this game! There's a lot to keep track of, but in a way that's interesting and intuitive rather than confusing and overwhelming. The characters are charming, there's a surprisingly strong through-story, and I don't feel that the learning curve is too difficult, either. Highly recommend!

Nice story and relaxing gameplay. The fights get quite repetitive after a while.

I'm not good at resource management games, but something about this game simply kept me hooked. Definitely a good choice. And you can have a dog, so definite plus.

Dead in Vinland's story is a something of a cliched combination of Lost, Seven Samurai, Vikings, Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead. Having said that, the genuine lore referencing Norse mythology is very well done and interesting. Dead in Vinland is also one of those 'just one more turn' games, where I keep getting through 'one more day' to see if the rain stops and we can get something done, but alas, it is all just a slow spiral into a random degeneration of numbers with very limited control for the player. Eventually, the mechanics become easily controllable. Although they are quite simple, I really enjoy the camp mechanics and crafting. One thing still annoys me above all else: if I spend the time crafting armour, why does it only last a few days?! That is just building needless futility into the game, but that appears to be the point of Dead in Vinland overall... Having now finished it, I still find some things frustrating, but it is certainly my kind of game. The characters are at least somewhat realistic and relatable. The combat is annoying because of the RNG, but also well conceived and still manages to be fun. I do want to try their other games now.