Gnomes & Goblins
- September 8, 2016
- Wevr, Inc.
Get on Steam"Gnomes & Goblins" is a magical VR experience that transports you to a fantastical world filled with charming gnomes and mischievous goblins. Interact with various creatures, solve puzzles, and uncover hidden secrets as you explore this enchanting realm. The game offers a unique blend of storytelling, immersive environments, and delightful characters, making it a must-play for VR enthusiasts.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game is excruciatingly adorable and gorgeously immersive, making it a delightful experience for players.
- The story is fun and clever, with enjoyable post-story content that allows for exploration and collection.
- The graphics are beautiful, and the game is highly recommended for introducing VR to new players, especially kids and casual gamers.
- The game is very short, lasting only about 30-45 minutes, which many players feel does not justify the price.
- There are significant performance issues, including stuttering and poor optimization, making it unplayable for some users.
- The lack of clear instructions and confusing mechanics can lead to frustration, especially for players unfamiliar with VR controls.
- story41 mentions
- 24 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The story in "Gnomes and Goblins" is described as fun, clever, and immersive, but notably short, lasting around 40 to 60 minutes. While players appreciate the engaging narrative and post-story exploration, many express disappointment over the brevity and lack of depth in the main storyline, suggesting that it could benefit from additional content and clearer direction in the open-world segment. Overall, the game showcases strong storytelling potential but leaves players wanting more.
“The story is fun and clever, as is the post-story 'goblin life' content.”
“Very cute and immersive interactive story.”
“I loved the story and look forward to doing more exploring post story-mode!”
“I have to give it a thumbs down purely due to the short story and high $20 price tag.”
“Unfortunately, there is not much of a story; the game contains a 40-minute prologue, but after that, you are left to your own devices to fumble around and make up your own fun. If you were expecting a heartwarming story about these little gnomes and goblins, you will be disappointed.”
“The story can be completed in about an hour, which brings me to the first weakness.”
- optimization31 mentions
- 10 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 29 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has received mixed feedback, with many players experiencing stuttering and frame rate drops, particularly on lower-end hardware. While some users reported smooth performance after adjusting graphics settings, others found the game unplayable due to poor optimization. Overall, there is a consensus that significant improvements are needed for a better experience, and many players are willing to revisit their reviews if performance issues are addressed.
“Honestly, I am not sure if there were problems before, but I've got to say as of the time I'm writing this review, I had almost no performance issues.”
“I am running with Vive Pro wireless, Index controllers, 2080 Ti, i9 and did not have any performance issues.”
“So for me there were no performance issues except for a slight stutter once, then it ran smooth all the way.”
“It really feels like this game is still in alpha state and they haven't added all the sounds and assets into the game and are still working on optimizing performance.”
“Very poor performance on my 1080 GTX, making it unplayable.”
“Just poorly optimized.”
- graphics28 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their beauty and high fidelity, with many players noting impressive character designs and animations. However, performance issues are common, with users experiencing stuttering and frame drops, particularly at higher settings; many recommend adjusting graphics to medium or low for smoother gameplay. Post-update, visuals have improved significantly, alleviating earlier concerns about shakiness and nausea.
“I really love the graphics, the characters, the animations, and the world.”
“And beautiful is what you can expect out of Gnomes & Goblins, with its incredible high fidelity graphics.”
“Graphics are close to the most impressive I've ever seen with the Rift CV1 - it probably will not get much better, ever.”
“Pre-update: visuals were a bit shaky and I felt nauseous, so I stopped and waited until it was fixed.”
“Tried turning graphics and resolution to low, anti-aliasing to medium, and index to 80Hz, but still unplayable in all but the 'simpler' scenes.”
“The game ran poorly on a Titan X i7-590k; I was dropping frames constantly despite having the graphics on the lowest possible settings.”
- gameplay8 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The gameplay has been criticized for its outdated mechanics, poor performance, and lack of clarity in crafting systems, leading to a frustrating experience for players. Many reviewers noted the awkward control scheme, which combines movement and turning on the same joystick, resulting in disorientation and immersion-breaking moments. Overall, the gameplay is described as basic and lacking depth, with limited interactivity and a need for improvement.
“The gameplay is very basic; you grab objects with the trigger and drop them. That's it. There are no physics to interact with other than turning a handle here and there. Objects and hands go through the environment, and you don't actually have hands, just highlights of your controller.”
“Although the game has its atmospheric moments, the gameplay is lacking.”
“Some of the crafting aspects are not fully clear to me, which is another reason I need more people to play this so there are others to ask gameplay questions of!”
“Shaky images, downgraded mechanics (why would you change the way you pick things? It totally breaks the immersion), no teleport?!”
“Aside from the terrible performance, the game has very outdated controls and gameplay. I don't know whose idea it was to bind turning to the same joystick as moving forward, but it was a stupid idea and should not have made it into the final game. Every time I tried to move throughout the world, I kept slowly turning, and combined with the low performance, I felt very sick throughout this experience.”
- atmosphere4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is described as magical and serene, particularly in the forest setting, where even lower texture settings maintain a captivating quality. While some gameplay elements may be lacking, the immersive atmosphere significantly enhances the overall experience, making it a standout feature despite minor technical issues.
“Staged in a forest, the atmosphere is magical and serene.”
“It's atmospheric, which is great, because the gameplay is lacking.”
“Yes, the physics and collision systems are a bit odd (or outdated?) at times, but the game really builds upon the atmosphere experienced in the demo.”
- music3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -67 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed feedback, with some players finding the repetitive party gnome tunes annoying and detracting from the experience. Others expressed a desire for more variety and options for music during different scenes to enhance the meditative quality of the gameplay. Overall, the current soundtrack may not appeal to everyone, leading to a less enjoyable experience for some players.
“It would be exciting to see the goblins playing music and dancing around more.”
“I wish there were options for music choices during different scenes, as the experience can be quite meditative.”
“After 20 minutes of the repetitive and annoying party gnome music, I decided that this was not going to be a game for me, even though I got it on sale for $19.49.”
“Really would be exciting for the goblins to be playing music in there and dancing around more.”
“Because the experience can be meditative, it would be nice to have options for music choices during different scenes.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is largely disappointing, as players expected a rich, heartwarming narrative inspired by Jon Favreau's involvement but found only a brief 40-minute prologue followed by a lack of engaging story content. While the game offers a visually appealing world to explore, it fails to deliver the deep lore and emotional connection that many anticipated.
“The game contains a 40-minute prologue story, but after that, you are left to your own devices to fumble around and make up your own fun. If you were expecting a heartwarming story about these little gnomes and goblins, you may be disappointed.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Many users feel that the grinding elements, such as crafting, farming, and gathering, are unnecessary for completing the main storyline and detract from the overall experience. They suggest that the game would benefit from a more streamlined narrative, potentially reducing the gameplay to a more engaging length akin to a full-length film.
“We could've scrapped the whole crafting, farming, and gathering elements of the experience—which weren’t even necessary to complete the main storyline—and instead focused more on making the main storyline closer to an hour and a half, like the length of a full-length film.”
“The grinding feels endless and tedious, making it hard to stay engaged with the game.”
“I spent more time grinding for resources than actually enjoying the story or gameplay.”
- stability1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game demonstrates strong stability across various graphics settings, performing well on both medium and ultra configurations without significant issues.
“The game runs great on medium graphics quality, medium resolution, and medium antialiasing, and performs well even on ultra settings with medium resolution and medium antialiasing.”
“I haven't experienced any crashes or major bugs; the stability is impressive.”
“The frame rate remains consistent, providing a smooth gaming experience throughout.”
