Smalland Review - Grounded and Valheim had a baby

[@WorthABuyreviews]

It's not a bad game it's just that some design decisions had me scratching my head, way too much micro for me which gradually started to ruin the fun of the game. Repairing armour is a huge deal as you have to get loads of different mats to repair it, every day we felt that all there was to do was busy work fetching mats, you never really had time to pause and take in all the games beauty. And with the silly combat system forcing you to carry and switch between all the games weapons every fight it made my whole experience pretty dull, the storms finished me off with the player having no protection, it's just constant frustration. One to keep an eye on though as it could be loads better than it is atm.

[@heetsees]

Ya man the game looks pretty good and stable but I'm not gonna pay someone to make me work. Where are the endorphin activators? If it's a slog I can't be bothered. I Thank you Mac for throwing yourself om the sword to protec us from rubbish 😅

[@WorthABuyreviews]

@@heetsees Xray vision, totally forgot about it as we never used it once.

[@Grandmastergav86]

@@WorthABuyreviews I quite like the idea of it as a Monster Hunter alternative; needs more time in the oven and a considerable deal more thought put into it from the sound of it.

[@leopoldbuttersstotch73]

All i heard was crying. ITS EARLY ACCESS!🤦‍♂️ I guess go back to Grounded with the 10 year olds.

[@ZM-dm3jg]

I've been excited for this game for months. Your review convinced me not to buy it, it seems you didn't find it fun at all just frustrating

[@robertrenato]

You're spot on with the not feeling small thing... Why is there "normal" sized grass and vegetation onthe ground? it's probably the thing that breaks the illusion the most!

[@TamanduaGirl]

That's moss not grass that's why it's got little spore things coming out of it.

[@SolDizZo]

Moss should look like shrek's swamp

[@box2231]

They need to fix that asap

[@TheSaintArmando]

I totally agree, it does indeed break the illusion. They should take a look at grounded, and see how they did it.

[@TamanduaGirl]

@@SolDizZo I've lived in the pacific north west my whole life. I don't need a cartoon to show me what moss looks like. moss grows all over. There's even a very short species of moss that grows between the grass blades. Shreks swamp also is a different climate so different species of moss. The moss in this looks very much like a common moss that grows here. Moss would very much be similar to tall grass if you're tiny. It's all very realistic for a wild space vs a curated garden space.

[@jackthelad9933]

Boss fights = I'm out.

[@beardedlonewolf7695]

Valheim is a kick in the balls as much as this game.

[@toonylcfc781]

We want RE4 not this garbage

[@Grandmastergav86]

Resident Evil 4....The superfluous remake of an overrated title (I did like the OG tbf) that's been infested with modern dayisms...Nah.

[@toonylcfc781]

Game of the year from what I’m hearing so far 😂

[@Retrosenescent]

"Let's get into the combat. The combat's terrible." Love how you just get straight to the point 😂

[@Charok1]

Mack, the windmill at the end of your video is spinning BACKWARDS. 0/10 haha

[@bloodrunsclear]

'If you plagiarize one person, you're a thief. Plagiarize lots of people...you're an artist!' - Dave Berry

[@tylerdurden7965]

hate it when different type bugs/monsters/animals/etc... just ignore each other and focus on killing the player. giant beetle and water bug here, smashing around right in front of each other but completely ignore each other, hyper focused on killing you. why?? their bugs, when did they become best friends and form a alliance to murder the player?? why do game developers do this...?

[@gucciguy3408]

They tend to be too lazy to develop these types of systems or don’t want to add it in the budget.

[@Sartekar]

Another thing that made Valheim so great. Greydwarves constantly fight the skeletons in the Black Forest. Every creature attacks other creatures if it makes sense for them to do so. Very immersive and enjoyable. Sometimes you just need to run away and lure hostile creatures into each other and then pick up the scraps

[@007ptb007]

​@@Sartekar the skeletons are hostile to absolutely everything in valheim, they've no desire to co exist, they just hate.

[@orlandosotelo9533]

hope you're doing well Mack, are you planning on doing "resident evil 4"?

[@rugoshath]

Really hope devs listen to your criticisms

[@troller9838]

Shame the game has this many design problems. It looked pretty interesting. Hopefully it gets better.

[@anasevi9456]

it's been in early access for over a year, so not expecting any changes for the better gameplay loop wise.

[@troller9838]

@@anasevi9456 The game is not released to the public yet. You're thinking of that other game, Grounded.

[@leopoldbuttersstotch73]

@@anasevi9456 No, it releases EA in one day.🥸

[@CAETT0]

The problem is, the game itself is not bad. He just payed 0 attention to it, therefore complains about situation that are avoidable or simply false. You don't need 3252 different armors. Just put 2 cold resistance pieces on and you're fine, no need for specific blunt or piercing resistance. You can use one weapon against every monster, you just deal slightly less damage. Storms don't come out of nowhere. The background is noisy for 10 minutes and you get a storm warning 5 minutes before. 15 minutes are enough to build/find a shelter. Repairing is free as long as it's above 75% health. He complains about nonsense, it's 100% a skill issue, not a bad game design.

[@PinchySkree]

The progression should be unlocked for everyone on kill. The loot should be crafting materials

[@CAETT0]

The game and its design are not the problem, it's 100% you. 1. The combat system is not bad at all. I mean, if you want a "one armor/weapon fits all" then well, you can go for that, but it's not efficient. But honestly? "You NEED the perfect armor against a boss"? No, then it's a skill issue imo. In our playthrough, we just looked at the 'basic' stats like "armor" and "cold resistance" and were totally fine against every boss monster. That you need a specific weapon type is also false. You can fight every monster with one weapon if you want to. But you deal slightly less damage. But this is not a "Smalland-only" system and not that bad as you state it to be. Nearly every game has those weaknesses ans strenghs systems, so wth is your problem here? Skill issue I guess. The combat is a mix of Valheim and Dark Souls and of course you don't just smash a monster. Again, a freacking skill issue, not a bad game design. 2. Really, you complain about the winter? Because it's cold outside? NO SHT Sherlock. Don't dare to say "OmG I nEeD 56233 diFfeRent ArmOr in My pOcKet" No. You don't. Put two cold resistance peaces on and you're fine. Put literally 0 blunt resistance on and YOU'LL BE FINE AGAINST BLUNT DMG, just use your brain and roll or block. Skill issue. 3. "And then a storm comes out of nowhere" This is a lie. The sky is noisy for like 10 minutes, THEN you get a storm warning and THEN have 5 minutes to find or build a shelter. ~15 minutes, that's enough time. Your problem: You pay like 0 attention to the environment AT ALL and then complain about it. xD Skill issue. 4. And of course the game itself does not mark you any cave, wtf. You can set marker by yourself, why would the game carry your ass like this? The game does not punish you like you state. It just does not treats you like a baby. Again, skill issue. 5. Durability. I can tell you something: You can repair your stuff for free when it's above 75% health. If you would just listen to the owls in the tutorial you could have known that, but well, you just don't care and complain AGAIN. Guess what? Skill issue. Bruh, your review honestly sucks. You're bad and don't pay attention to the game itself and then you complain about it. The game is great, even for a early access title. Just use your fcking brain next time.

[@WolfManCer]

Thanks for your honest review, I will check the game out then.

[@Sovjetski-]

you killed this game for me, i was locking forward of this one, but not anymore :/

[@Sonacnights]

Been playing this game for about a week and honestly, half the complaints are totally valid and agreeable while the other half feel like blatant oversight on the players part or just skill issues. The design flaw for armors is that durability doesn't increase proportionate protection, so whether you have the stone armor or the black hornet armor, the durability is the same. The specific damage type protection the armors offer is pretty negligible, too. To say you can't tell what enemies do unless you get close enough to fight them is just false. You're told about the antenna vision from the start which highlights resources and enemy stats from a decent distance, including their weaknesses, resistances and whatever special damage they do. Storms arriving in only 10 seconds is also completely untrue. It takes like an entire minute and yeah, you absolutely can build a shelter in that time - I was doing it with plenty of time to spare on day one since 'being in shelter' literally just means being under a singular roof. So drop a foundation, attach one of the curved roof pieces, sit there and wait. I definitely agree it's not very fun, but the complaint about the time and inability to prepare is bogus. As for being cold, you definitely don't need the padded armor to be ready for a storm once you have a cauldron, which is fairly early on. Could easily just make the foods that offer 50pts of cold resist which is enough to reduce the freezing effect in a storm down to just cold even when you're butt naked, and completely negate cold altogether if your wearing armor that offers more than maybe 2-3pts per piece, unless it's winter, in which case you'll still get the cold debuff even with the food. But as long as we're on the topic of cooking, which is super easy to do, make some foods that negate nourishment loss for anywhere from 5 minutes to 12 minutes. One food thing every several minutes for a constant nourished buff means that even with the cold debuff, you're passively healing as fast as you're losing HP to the cold. Also, repairing tools and armor does not take a ton of resources after only a couple fights, and in fact they take literally 0 resources to repair if they're still over 66% durability. Even then, after fighting a few stag beetles which are a nightmare for durability, I had to repair my black hornet set from as little as 2/140 durability and it barely took 1/7 the resources I needed to make the set to begin with. I rarely felt the need to go and grind out resources just in case I broke something or needed to repair stuff because once you reach those certain areas to farm resources, they are so abundant in that area that you end up with tons extra anyway. I have multiple stacks of iron scrap and ingots just from two trips to the street with a friend who took half the nodes we came across for his own separate base and stash. I'll gladly agree to things like the world feeling kinda small, or like you said, like a normal scaled big world or something. Once you get gliding armor especially, the scale feels way off. Tamed bugs absolutely need some work. Either a huge buff to their HP and DMG, armor, or maybe a knocked down state so you can at least pick them up within a certain time if they take too much damage. I had the grasshopper for about 5 minutes, only able to hop one time at a time because it fully drains stamina even if your hop is only a couple inches because it's uphill or something, and it got wiped out by a gecko in maybe three attacks? 0 reason to have mounts right now. The upcoming Hornet mount looks cool if only because you can fly up with it, I'd imagine. I'd like if they eventually added a leveling system where we might be able to apply small amounts of damage type resistances directly to out characters in place of having those resistances on the armor just so it feels like a permanent choice rather than a minor bonus for some armor until you find one that has better protection values, since that matters way more.

[@dirkbullet]

Nah, so bored and fed up of BOSS battles. Its just an instant turn off and never buy. Old hat.

[@zodiac8131]

5 minutes in and its obvious this guy went in to it with a negative opinion. So much of the stuff he complains about are either good features or things that are in either grounded or valheim and fans love them. He has some good points, dont get me wrong, but this video is borderline slanderous at a point without anything credible backing the hate in half of his remarks. Weapons should do certain types of damage that are needed for different enemies. That is a key part of these games in all honesty. That is just one example of many. Grounded and valheim both do it and the fact that he wasnt aware of it honestly makes me trust his judgement on these games much less

[@andrewnero3415]

Why was there never reviews for the latest god of war or resident evils? Anyway, appreciate the content. Only reviewer I watch

[@Plague_Doc22]

Will you be reviewing Terra Nil? It's a reverse city builder kind of a thing. Where u try to replenish nature instead of use its resources. Seems like a cool concept.

[@barbrady4916]

LOL this reviews funny af. Subscribed 😂

[@thefella131]

It's been on my wishlist for 2 years and after your review it's staying wishlisted.

[@ZM-dm3jg]

Same

[@theaoa2727]

This game is definitely worth it the day one patch fixed a lot of the problems

[@TranquillityOfficial]

Aww I was looking forward to this game too. It seems like it needs a lot more work to be enjoyable. Thanks Mack!

[@dustinduplechin9403]

the game is great trust me

[@Shishakind86]

It's a lot of fun. It's the review that is flawed. He sounds like survival games are just not his cup of tea and he disses the game for it.

[@abear131]

Just straight crying cuz the game is hard. Really really bad review on a beta version.

[@RichardPhillips1066]

Yes ...I don't understand how so Much Effort can be out into a game , bot no effort made to make sure it's fun

[@switchfoot8702]

Was thinking about trying this game, but with your review I will pass. Thanks for sharing!

[@markkelly9621]

Why would you still have lots of insects running about in the winter?

[@seanm3933]

Pass. these game makers need to learn how to make a fun game again. so sad.

[@Bertilz]

Interesting review but why on earth complain that the devs are patching the game PRE early access? Just want atleast until the game has been released in early access in that case.

[@WorthABuyreviews]

Because they made a review branch of the game that is for reviewers and a branch for retail, normally the review branch is the final build before release and any updates go to the retail branch for testing. This is so reviewers can play the game and post their review before the game releases, they wiped the review branch on Saturday which is ludicrous, we noticed a lot of servers running from reviewers that also got wiped, wonder why there are not many reviews out for the game lol

[@maltorsever]

BeeO girl (if you know you know ) 😆. Do Barotrauma next Mack !

[@maltorsever]

@@LongHairedYetiCave 🤣

[@wallsgreebo8352]

Bit gutted. Had this on the ol' radar for a while and hoped it'd be good but that thing about whether the developer thinks about 'is this mechanic actual fun?' really hit home. Seen too many games over last few years that dont seem to have that awareness - is this fun? Is it just busywork for the sake of busywork? Anyway, thanks for review and hopefully they'll sort it out cos it does look like it could be a cool game 🙏🏽

[@Gomezli16]

“Grounded” asset store version!

[@RichardPhillips1066]

Maybe these devs needs to hire someone that understands game mechanics an expert

[@leopoldbuttersstotch73]

maybe with your expertise you could make a better game?🤡

[@BlackGold-fc7tu]

Yah its weird there's small flowers and grass everywhere

[@cookiecracker2]

grounded seems way better than this.

[@nathanlee6099]

It's bad. It's like a budget version of Grounded that feels janky, stuttery, and awkward.

[@johndodo2062]

Did grounded still isn't finished ffs

[@Shakethebugs123]

@@johndodo2062 Grounded is out of early access

[@trickeh2k]

"Looks great". Uh, no not really. It's worse than Ark when it was in alpha, reflective spaces looks like plastic. I don't mind really but it doesn't look great at all, mate.

[@WoutieX]

The problem I have with your review is that you are reviewing it as AAA game were you should be review it as a indie game as there is only one developer ho made this game. Sure you can make suggestion for the dev to fix but it feels like you are just bashing the game.

[@WholeWhiteBaby]

My suggestion for games with temperature armors : underlay padding. One type for cooling effects, another for warmth. Completely plausible as a concept.

[@anttt7993]

I miss that ambient music in the background.

[@ComdrStew]

I remember reading that a couple guys that worked on this made Grounded. You don't look as small as in Grounded either. Instead of being 1 inch tall you seem to be 3 inches tall.

[@vaulk8949]

BWAHAHAHA OMG I DIED listening to you go on about having to carry a weapon for every type of of damage and armor for every type of resistance. Well done my friend, well done. "How many Fkin armor sets do you have to have"???!!!

[@zeehart]

Majority of the complaints in this video are "skill issue". It screams of "HEY THIS GAME SUCKS BECAUSE I CAN'T BE BOTHERED TO DO BETTER".

[@christopherwallace266]

Everything you complained about has a work around . Storm comes build a floor wall and flat roof and if you repair your armor before it's durability is to low it cost nothing Bring material for workbench . Just sounds like you've never played a survival game to me . Also valheim was 1000x more grind and terrible systems .

[@i11usive]

I don't know the game and I watch your reviews, but this review was just bad. Sorry, but it sounded more like whining than criticism; like you have beef with the game. I usually have fun with your comments, you mix some jokes in. This was just different... You made feel that you are angry and spent the time of the review trying to understand why, more than I paid attention to the actual content. No offence.

[@Strongfinger777]

Well apart from the TES and NWN games, this just sounds like every other frustrating and boring RPG Ive ever played. Some developers seem to think that the more content and complexity you add to a game the better its going to be. But unfortunately that generally just leads to frustration and no fun. Its true what they say; sometimes less is more.

[@ryanpongracz8051]

Man, I'm reallllly disappointed, thank you Mack for doing us the favor of finding all this out so we don't have to support this kind of development. Either have a concise game idea, or don't make it. Your just wasting the world's time putting out more trash.

[@MakoRuu]

I've been patiently waiting for something along the lines of The Borrowers, or Epic. This is pretty close, but it needs a ton of work.

[@evilmanc1]

balls ive had this on my wishlist since 30/12/2018 when it looked like it was being cancelled and i was excited to learn it was coming out. till now :(

[@jim7993]

He doesn’t know what he’s talking about

[@HatedSovietLion]

It reminds me of Outward a little bit, but with more survival mechanics. Anyone confirm or not? I've been waiting for another Outward style game.

[@gohomehero]

The dmg/resistance bs aside, the combat looks garbage. The second I saw you face tanking bugs with a spear it gave me flash backs of Conan Exiles and how trash combat is in that too. More games need to take a note from valheims slow and simple combat.

[@ares395]

I hope it becomes cool, cheaper grounded with a different feel without the asinine features of valheim. User feedback will be very important. Honestly the only 2 things I hate in grounded are the price and the fact that you need a damn xbox account to play on steam for no reason.

[@stevegee8010]

This game's been in development hell since forever. It was even removed from Steam as a 'coming soon' game years ago and it was stuck on 'coming soon' for years before that.

[@BertyBertsson]

I think it was dropped and another studio picked it up recently? That's also very bad imo.

[@calderarecords]

SO much potential. Needs a LOT of work & it could be fun. Also kinda looks dull graphically. But its a great concept. Hope they work on it more.

[@DublinOdinson]

Damn it. I've had this on my wish list since March of 2018. Gotta say, it is extremely disappointing to see this review and hear the state of it. Thanks for being honest as always, Mack.

[@dustinduplechin9403]

bro sounds like you're whining a whole lot, the game is a great game. Having different armors isnt a bad thing its to make you use a diversity of items in the game, one for cold one for hot etc. The type effective weapons are amazing it really just sounds like you need to get good. It has its cons but the pros outweigh the cons a ton its an early access games its going to have its bugs they are meant to be acknowledge and fixed not have someone cry about it like this im endgame for the content out along with alot of people that dont agree with you.

[@rhyswhittington8759]

the durability nonsense also was a big reason why i got put off by grounded, sank over a hundred hours into the game with a mate and that was by far my biggest complaint. feels like you spend way too much time repairing stuff.

[@roqsteady5290]

Don’t make a game you think people want, make one you want to play yourself.

[@Nanain]

re: storm shelter - it is possible to build a 1x1 foundation, 3 walls and a roof and be safe, while the game is swearing you are dying - it's not fun, but it's doable

[@TheSteveo909]

hm. As you say it may not be there yet but it can't be denied it looks like a game with a hell of a lot of potetntial. Think i'm going to hold off on it for now but if the devs do some decent updates I could defenitly see this beecoming a game i'm interested in the future as I loved games like Valhiem.

[@daemonthorn5888]

Speaking of winter.... what are insects doing out and about in the winter? You don't have grasshoppers and beetles running around in the winter, with snow on the ground.

[@felicitymorgan2456]

I thought point coop is so you can all be different "classes" I like maces, my sis loves bows 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@Bahamut998]

Dude when is the RE4 review coming? It's #1 sold game right now and you're behind in the reviews.

[@guilhermelopes986]

Outward vibes from this game, good concepts, but very flawed execution.

[@CrimsonFKR]

refunded it me. grounded just does everything better imo

[@xXFoundationXx]

i find it such a problem these days that devs get so busy working on making it look amazing, they forget to put time in to make it play amazing

[@samvimes9510]

Valheim felt like a massive slog to me, and this sounds like it just copied all the tedious parts of Valheim and made them worse. Come to think of it, even the menu and map look similar to Valheim.

[@ryanpongracz8051]

It will be too late for this game, they couldn't make it good fast enough, it will die fast. Grounded sucked too.

[@DirkusTurkess]

You're definitely not gonna like the upcoming "Get kicked in the balls simulator".

[@stewiedarkinvisibleid]

From your review, I took that this game has no quality of life aspects to it. Thanks for pointing these things out.

[@yyzdnl]

Shouldn't this be considered a preview considering it hasn't even released to early access at the time of your recording.

[@arrasonline]

Thanks for saving me some money. Why play this when we have Grounded and Valheim?

[@RatgenerationX]

Great review 👏 I'm still buying this game and I'll sit on it for the next 2 years like conan

[@aztecmummy1]

Lots of rolling around like a pr*ck, as Mac says, lol. Good review as always, I have bought some games based on your recommendations, and have not been disappointed! Thanks for your reviews!

[@demolicious1]

Just look at the 2018 trailer compared with the release trailer. All the creative energy looks to be lost

[@crtclstrike8560]

I hear a lot of crying, it is early access and it is a SURVIVAL game.

[@jacktodd3439]

You didn't explain who are you in this game, I don't get it what are those tiny humans ?

[@match30xgaming]

Whats your opinion on the state of the game now im thinking about getting this on ps5

[@bettertackle6549]

Awesome review Mac. Thank you for sharing how scuffed this game is.

[@alin.c7233]

When i watched your video it felt like you are describing destiny 2

[@Kidge.6081]

Note to devs. Please stop your development the week before release so we beta testers don’t lose our bases. 😂

[@warmongruel6418]

Best review ever!!! Haven't laughed that hard in awhile

[@titusvreeke]

Valheim also has different weapon types and NPCs are vulnerable to specific ones. I think that's great actually. But It's not super punishing in Valheim to have the wrong weapon type, i.e. you can kill skeletons with a spear, but it will be much easier with a mace. I'm not sure how punishing the vulnerability system is one this game.

[@thegoldenapple5314]

combat is not bad, its just like valheims combat makes it unique and cool

[@Czecher86]

should have done Diablo 4 instead of wasting 20hours here

[@jaidev777]

I guess you could say they turned a lot of bugs into features, eh? EH?

[@brichards989]

Similar to Valheim, as your title suggests, it definitely caught my attention and I will keep an eye on it.

[@Wolfsheim23]

Can't stand games that make me feel like I'm wasting all my time. Game alone waste our time, but they should be fun. Not just wasting time for no reason. I'll just stick with Grounded which was excellent!

[@rhyswhittington8759]

not sure about that one, i played the shit outa grounded but i gota be honest with the repair mechanic the way it is........... i dont think grounded gives a shit about your time, you waste a lot of time gathering more materails for repairing weapons and armour. your gear always feels like they are made out of playdough...... that was my biggest gripe with the game (also was really not fussed on how much time was wasted carrying grass planks and stems to the very top of my base (which was absolutely massive). wish you could carry more.

[@MellaniePlays]

Is ark different? No... this game is just not for you man.

[@CorDharel]

But hey Mack at least you don't have X-ray vision!

[@jaccatt3989]

this game looks like it can be so fun! i hope they sort it out. thanks for bringing it to my attention ill probably buy it

[@TheBestbackingtracks]

This looks to Asda smart price version of Grounded lol

[@IMeanMachine101]

Well what do you expect hence why I don't buy in early 😂

[@warrior1668]

this game reminds me of the movie epic if y'all remember that

[@testypresidentgaming]

when u said i need multiple armors and weapons that lost me lol i dont like that at all

[@bullet-catcherhohoho250]

I got the impression, the game was frustrating.

[@berkzyhd]

game looks boring just by looking at steam page tbh

[@adrianwilliams6577]

Thanks for the warning, steering clear.

[@Milupa5]

The graphics are underwhelming

[@TheMxrider25]

You obviously haven't played ark then lol. I love the grind

[@johndodo2062]

That's sad