Tribes of Midgard is making waves as one of the latest in the long list of survival games. It's all thanks to how it attempts to transcend its own genre in favor of appealing to other fans of different genres. It has a little bit of everything from MOBA mechanics to rogue-lite RPG. There's no doubt it's a fun title but it tries to swallow too much much that it sometimes chokes on its own ambition.
The result is a flawed gem that requires too much buffing and cleaning in order to fully appreciate. Just as there are many things to love in Tribes of Midgard, there are also many aspects one might dislike. In time, the game might improve and become what the devs truly want it to be. I the meantime, here are some thoughts on its strengths and weaknesses.
10 Loved: The Visuals
Tribes of Midgard keeps things simple with its graphics. The game utilizes ever-popular and accessible cel-shading. It lends a more vibrant and light tone to the otherwise grim story of mere villagers preventing Ragnarok from happening to their world. More than that, it makes Tribes of Midgard's mixing and matching of genres more palatable.
The game being cel-shaded also means even newcomers to the genre won't be intimidated by the title, despite the rather steep learning curve. That means there are more players to play the co-op with. Boss designs are also interesting and inspire awe, providing a contrast to the effort of puny humans staving off literal gods.
9 Didn't: The Long Animations
There is one problem with the gameplay and also the graphical department; that would be the animations. The combat actions in Tribes of Midgard can be long especially for some classes. Swinging a sword or even using some class skills takes a relative while to finish and cannot be canceled.
This opens you up for some nasty enemy reprisals. One wrong button tap could end the game for you. In a game that's all about survival or starting again upon death, the long and rigid animations can easily become an enemy as well.
8 Loved: Norse Mythology Setting
Who doesn't love the turbulent and dysfunctional multiverse of Norse mythology? It's a setting that's ripe for other interpretations and iterations. Tribes of Midgard merely took advantage of this and turned the most catastrophic event in Norse mythology to create its own premise and gameplay loop.
The concept works surprisingly well here. They turned Ragnarok into a bid for survival and made a game about that. Of course, you also get the usual Norse mythology villain cast and most of you can probably agree that they were given on-screen justice. Perhaps even more so than their film counterparts.
7 Didn't: Short Content
While the game did its best to incorporated many elements of Norse mythology into its gameplay, it seems that wasn't enough to prolong the experience. For a survival game, it's rather short. The total run came in at around six to eight hours. Beyond that, you'll more often than not get bored at the gameplay loop.
At around two or three sessions, most players have already seen all that the game has to offer. The game is lacking in further content and more ways to spice up the endgame or late game. Multiplayer helps to add more value to it but don't expect to play this for a long time before craving something new.
6 Loved: Multiple Classes
To add more to the replayability, the developers of Tribes of Midgard opted to add a tried-and-tested RPG trope: multiple classes. There are eight classes in total in Tribes of Midgard and each of them has its own specializations and skill trees. They're enough to provide some gameplay variety.
At times, the selected class can also determine the gear or fashion of a character, adding another layer of personalization and activity for players. It's a breath of fresh air for a game that's primarily a survival title and works well in co-op.
5 Didn't: Time Pressure
At times, there are moments or mechanics that actually shorten Tribes of Midgard's game time. That would be the Fimbulwinter or endless winter mode. It's a semi-mandatory feature that takes place on the 15th in-game day. It adds an endless wave of enemies, making players turtle up in their bases or villages.
While it does provide an endgame challenge, it also robs you of one aspect of gameplay: exploration. That one is nigh impossible due to the enemies forever rising the Yggdrasil tree. An implication of this mechanic is that you're locked with rushing to better your village in as little as 14 in-game days. This kind of time pressure can ruin the fun for first-time players.
4 Loved: Multiplayer Survival
Thankfully, you can soften the blow of Fimbulwinter by toughing up the snow with your buddies. As mentioned earlier, Tribes of Midgard allows co-op multiplayer. You can invite up to nine other friends for a total party of 10. With that many hands, you can do a lot for the Yggdrasil and also in preparing for the 15th day.
It just so happens that playing solo in Tribes of Midgard is a difficult affair. Enemies increase in HP and damage dealt with every passing day or night. It's also exhausting trying to cover all bases while improving your character and crafting new stuff. Hence, the co-op mode helps a lot.
3 Didn't: AFK Leechers
Still, a co-op mode doesn't mean everything is well on the multiplayer front. There is a host of problems abound in Tribes of Midgard. There are the usual server issues and multiplayer bugs which can automatically ruin a session.
Apart from that, there's another rampant problem is leechers. Some players will join other sessions or worlds and just stand there doing nothing. They gain rewards regardless. Sure, this method of AFK farming isn't bad if there's consent from the host but many rarely ask for that.
2 Loved: Procedurally Generated Maps
Truth be told, Tribes of Midgard's maps are rather small and can easily be explored if you have many players in the session working toward exploration. That's why they implemented a procedurally generated system for creating maps per session.
Each game is thus a varied endurance run. It ensures that players don't min-max exploration by memorizing locations and resource nodes on the map. Moreover, the biomes and terrain textures can change with each game.
1 Didn't: Gear Durability
It's 2021 and Tribes of Midgard is still guilty of this aging video game mechanic. It worked well in RPGs that didn't dabble in other genres but here, it does nothing but provide a needless soul-sucking activity (literally, since you repair with souls).
Repairing your gear can be frustrating since many other things also need souls or other resources. More than that, it slows down the action and limits gameplay. It's counterintuitive since there is a time pressure element in Tribes of Midgard. Once the modding community picks up in Tribes of Midgard, you can expect this "feature" to be among the first ones modded out.