Expeditions Viking - Should I Buy This? Game Review - Historic RPG Simulation with Tactical Combat

[@Slaphappy1975]

Saw this on the Steam Summer Sale (75% off!). Looks like I'm gonna pick it up. Thanks for the review.

[@MushisCow]

Bought it, looking for some nice story driven game, played it, realized it was turn based combat (I HATE THAT....normally) - Sucked it up and fell in love with how important my choices was prior to leaving for England. (restarted three times due to fucking up majorly, so I discovered how my little changes could have major plot changes. If you're looking for a good story driven Rpg that doesn't focus on you eating giants for breakfast then this game is awesome! Also as a Dane myself I feel like I learn a little about the time era and the difficulties that society dealt with whilst dealing with it in my own modest viking assuming behavourial way. - Love this game despite the bugs that I've encountered. Also the devs listen to their community and push out fixes with a very neat indie studio mentality being that they're in touch with their customers and their needs. Kudos.

[@VanillaPCStrategy]

Glad you enjoyed it! I'm a big fan of turn-based fighting so I am glad that it was able to win you over. Usually it's the other way around and I have to accept that real-time is the only option. Anyway I agree it is really fun - even more so than I expected. The release version has a lot more loot than there was in the pre-release I reviewed, I am really happy to get all of the great weapons and equipment I am finding. Not so much that I feel like super heroes, but enough that I am excited to check every body and chest I come across.

[@yakojjy]

I love turn based combat. SO much better than just mashing some buttons.

[@MushisCow]

Vanilla PC Strategy I absolutely agree, with the both of you. - I still recommend this game heavily to any peers for a new game that wants something different than usually. - As you said very few games have made me want to loot everything with such genuine excitement! :-)

[@bloodrunsclear]

It's a robust RPG! I actually really enjoy the interactions with the characters, and its nice to have decisions that matter.

[@daniels4742]

Great review.

[@michaelfreeman3189]

Was interested in this but the timegated feature really turns me off.

[@Unibot47]

Same, what's up with that

[@valentinoaditya2458]

That's what makes it interesting. It's basically XCOM mechanics.

[@WolfeRavenwood]

@@valentinoaditya2458 Timegating in single player games is bad game design, nothing else.

[@TheChurchofJim]

@@WolfeRavenwood Completely disagree, it can be done well and done poorly, examples for both are Bad: Dead rising 1, sandbox game shouldnt have a timelocked campaign. Good: as above said Xcom or banner saga, failing time mechanics doesnt necessarily lose you the game but it does put you at a a disadvantage

[@labowski11]

Just got the game and slammed in around 5 hours. so far it is a blast, much of it reminds me of fallout, the multitude of choices in conversations and the fighting. so far I'm loving it and I haven't even made it to the English isles, so technically I'm not even a viking yet.

[@VanillaPCStrategy]

There's something about it that is so unique that is really hard to put your finger on. The camping/resting thing for example, it seems to be such a small part of the game but it really makes a big difference and is very well done. And of course the many quests and decisions to be made. It's a shame I haven't gotten far enough in it yet to know how much of a consequence your decisions have, what all the factions and stuff do.

[@Unibot47]

You mentioned armor and gearing up but didn't really talk about doing that, so does each character gtet their own gear?

[@FhargaZ]

For me it was good, it was different from many other games.Even so many things could be better, like camping and trading, Damage Reduction is crazy for some enemies so you will need abilities to pass it. Now Expeditions Rome is coming out so i hope is good.

[@Vurt72]

heh, looks like they used NGplant to create the trees, you get that rather unnatural fractal/spiral look when you view a pine from above. I used that program to create pines when i was new to 3D modelling. Looks like a great game though, would love to mod in better looking flora and trees for this game :D

[@VanillaPCStrategy]

I don't know all the technical stuff of course, but I should say that most of this was recorded at a slightly lower quality than is possible to keep the video from being crazy big. Everything looks amazing to me, but I am just some nobody who mostly plays independent games with very simple graphics. That being said, the real driving force of this game is the fighting and story, both of which are really great in my opinion.

[@Vurt72]

it looks great for what i guess is a low budget game. i bought their previous game but it didn't click for me, might try it again.

[@bloodeaglepvp437]

how u gonna make a viking game with not even a little bit of sailing or naval combat D: game looks great tho that aside

[@TOFKAS01]

Its deffinately worth it...if you are in games with more of a non-fantasy touch.

[@VanillaPCStrategy]

Yeah for sure, there's not many non-fantasy RPGs out there. This definitely is a very fun historical RPG, and the tactical turn-based battles are a great touch. Even if I get super frustrated at how often the enemies use their demoralize function. :(

[@Draconicrose]

Nice review, I liked it. Could definitely tell the scripted nature of it but that's life. I'm not too enthused about the movement tiles but I suppose that's fine. I do like me some story-driven RPG though!

[@VanillaPCStrategy]

I've tried doing unscripted videos of this sort and they always end up rambling and like twice as long. So I figure a short and tight scripted video (like my rimworld 5 medical tips) is the way to go. Although honestly I don't like doing scripted stuff in general... I'm glad to provide my opinion and help promote a fun game but blech it's my rambling chatter that is more fun.

[@Draconicrose]

You'd probably do better with a bullet points script. Kinda just 'I have to hit these points' kinda script.

[@VanillaPCStrategy]

Well, the problem with that sort of thing is I get a lot of "um" and "ah" and use the wrong word. With a script I always say the right thing and don't use filler words, which is pretty important for something like this. There's also the problem of editing the video together, which is already pretty time consuming and would be even more so with a more free-form audio. That's partly because I don't have amazing editing software - I just use Windows Movie Maker - but honestly I feel like the results I get now are just fine for my needs. A few scripted videos a year can come out OK at best considering how little of my overall output they make up.

[@Draconicrose]

Ah right. Hey, you can do a lot with windows movie maker! :P I use an open-source alternative, OpenShot which is a piece of shit but still good enough to even do that fancy end card thing. Audacity can be used to edit the audio, make a single track that you can then slot into the video.

[@bm8350]

Wait.. You can lose a battle and continue the story?!? I never lost a battle so I had no idea lol. That's pretty cool, what happens when you lose?

[@bm8350]

Idk man, I didn't find it to be that hard lol. That said when I realized I could make my own team members I dropped all the originals and made what were essentially super soldiers/campers. Before the end of the first act I basically had maxed out equipment (All weapons were maxed, only some armor, hides were harder to come by early on) on the hardest difficulty. That made me super strong for basically the whole game. In the second act you could easily arbitrage the traders markets and had essentially unlimited equipment. That let me only take maxed equipment with what I believed to be the best bonuses which only made me stronger. Nothing ever really challenged me. Maybe I'll play again without all the exploitation though lol.

[@bm8350]

Idk, maybe I just had a better team comp? I used a sword shield, axe shield, dual wield sword and axe, a dane axe user, a bowman, and a person who's only real job was to demoralize and heal sometimes lol. All my other people were dedicated to camping. I gave all my combat units + movement armor (different levels depending on what they needed, Ex. shield users had maxed armor for the defenses, bowman had a low tier so if he ever needed to move he could cover a very large distance quickly and catch up to everyone), and set their primary weapons to shields in case I had a battle where I was attacked first. The two regular shield users were basically invincible and just sprint forward drawing attacks and protecting everyone else from bows, they didn't even attack all that much because they had such heavy armor they just used double run to stick to opponents so they wouldn't be able to attack my back line without invoking opportunity attacks (which they basically never did). The dual wielder and dane axe user would prep a crit if they couldn't hit anyone (and still hold the shield, if for any reason I couldn't hit anything I would swap back to the shield), and usually one shot everything, the crit basically just guaranteed it (an important part of the damage was that I gave all my melee units level 1 throw and the skill that deals bonus damage vs. harried opponents, this was usually the difference between getting a kill and not) and the archer pretty much never moved, just spamming the skill that lets him fire twice, or sometimes the long shot if he needed it. Demoralize seemed really important to me because it made enemy bow users essentially useless, especially at longer ranges, so I had a person dedicated to it and made her a healer so she could do something when there weren't enemy archers. If I play again I wouldn't use the dane axe again, the AOE skill never seemed to work properly so I barely used it (and it was the whole reason I even wanted a dane axe). I would probably use another bowman, but I think another of any of the role's would be fine depending on what kind of play style you want to employ. I thought it was an amazing game though, so maybe I'll play it again soon. I had a ton of fun, and next time I think I'm not going to optimize at all lol. I feel like it can take the fun out sometimes if optimizing makes you too strong.

[@bm8350]

Sorry for the wall of text btw lol.

[@kavinter9890]

For me not.Why? Only cuz the game story is short. For me other stuff are great

[@thepurenewb1584]

I really dont know how to feel about this dude calling your crew a herd lol

[@alexl.8748]

man im super disappointed, an RPG with a time limit?! idc HOW much time im given, i want freedom to explore and read stuff and take in this beautiful game, why on earth is there a dead line? cause of this, they lost a customer, i wont be buying this anymore.. i HATE games with time limits.. damn it!

[@VanillaPCStrategy]

Luckily for you then the developers have been up front and honest about it, saving you your $20 and saving them a negative review. Looks like you both win! There's plenty of games out there with unlimited play, I'm sure those developers will appreciate your purchase and the folks at Logic Artists can be happy they stayed true to their vision.

[@sanctumsomega]

Me too, fuck that. POOR DECISION.

[@josetorres3355]

@Alex L. It's part of the ROLE PLAYING. Luckily as previously stated they were up front about this and saved you from purchasing it and finding out after the game was already installed.

[@Northernmight]

Really? I mean.. What about the Fallout games?

[@domenicostrazzullo8911]

A late reply, but useful for new players so they don't get the wrong impression: there's no time limit while you are in any place/town. The time runs in terms of date, not time elapsed while playing. The date advances while in camps (1 night), riding (shown in hours before you set out), or sailing (shown in days before you sail). This still leaves you more than enough campaign time to visit all the "occupied" camps, sail a few times back and forth to Danemark, sail (or ride) a few times back and forth from Scotland to England, sail at least once to the North Channel. Concretely, when you visit Ribe, for example, where you should go 3\4 times if I remember well, you can stay there as many playing hours as you need, the timer won't tick. One last word, take the time it takes to know what you're dealing with before discrediting.

[@izas6853]

A game where you dont die...2018 gaming right here.

[@halfadeaty]

Nice baite m8

[@MrTradeTradeTrade]

Very intersting game, but really BUGY.

[@VanillaPCStrategy]

Interesting, I have only run into one bug, and that is CTD occasionally during loading screens. Not idea, but there's always an autosave to go back to so not terrible either. Sorry to hear that others are seeing more bugs, I didn't know about that.

[@MrTradeTradeTrade]

It the fire arrow shot, doesn't matter if it's me or the enemy. Computer freezes. Than sometimes on the enemy turn it will freezes on one player. Last mission I couldn't even finish the game, because for some reason, because Skule longhouse it's sorounded by barricades, the enemy players just don't move and it looks like it's my turn, but I can only move camera. I love the game and hate it for the bugs.

[@VanillaPCStrategy]

Yikes. That sounds pretty awful! Especially to make it so far, almost to the end of the game, and then have it freeze on you like that. I'm sorry to hear that, I can see why it would make you so mad. I hope by the time I get to that point that the devs will have that fixed, although it doesn't help you out now. Thanks for letting me know!

[@JwaaT5oh3]

I think the battles are a matter of lack of balance. That's what I didn't like about conquistador and its unfortunate to see it take place in this game as well.

[@dr.lexwinter8604]

The first minutes look so promising then you see the ugly 1980's Commodore 64 gameplay map, then realise it's not just a one off when you get to the 486 graphics straight out of X-Com.