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 encourages exploration and collecting hidden treats.
- It serves as a great introduction to VR, especially for kids and casual gamers, providing a relaxing and magical experience.
- The game is very short, lasting only about 30-45 minutes, which many players feel does not justify the price.
- Performance issues are prevalent, with reports of stuttering and poor optimization even on high-end systems, leading to discomfort and nausea.
- The lack of clear instructions and confusing gameplay mechanics can make it difficult for players to fully engage with the game.
- story82 mentions
- 24 % positive mentions
- 72 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The story of "Gnomes and Goblins" is described as fun, clever, and immersive, but it is notably short, lasting around 40 minutes to an hour, which has led to mixed feelings among players. While the post-story content offers additional exploration and activities, many feel that the abrupt ending and lack of direction diminish the overall experience. Despite its charming narrative and engaging visuals, some players express disappointment over the brevity and the absence of a deeper, more interactive storyline.
“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!”
“Unfortunately, the entire main story can be completed in less than an hour, which brings me to the first weakness.”
“You can plant seeds and grow crops, find hidden objects and craft furnishings for you and your goblin friend's tree house, but the reason you would want to go through the grind of doing all this is unclear, since the story-line ends rather abruptly without any clear direction after that.”
“Unfortunately, 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, then you will be disappointed.”
- optimization62 mentions
- 6 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 29 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players experiencing stuttering and frame 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.”
“Just poorly optimized.”
“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.”
- graphics56 mentions
- 36 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 5 % 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, particularly on higher settings, leading some users to recommend playing on medium or low graphics to achieve smoother gameplay. Post-update improvements have resolved some visual stuttering, enhancing the overall experience for many players.
“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.”
- gameplay16 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The gameplay has been criticized for its outdated controls and mechanics, leading to a frustrating experience for players. Many find the crafting system unclear and the interaction with the environment overly simplistic, with basic object manipulation and a lack of immersive physics. Overall, the game suffers from performance issues and design choices that detract from the overall experience, making it less compelling for those seeking engaging gameplay.
“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 other people to ask gameplay questions of!”
“It's atmospheric, which is great, because the gameplay is lacking.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
- atmosphere8 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is consistently described as magical and serene, particularly in its forest setting, which enhances the overall experience despite some gameplay shortcomings. Users appreciate the visual quality, especially on lower settings, which still deliver a captivating ambiance, although the reduced render distance is less noticeable due to fog effects. Overall, the atmospheric elements are a standout feature that compensates for other aspects of the game.
“Staged in a forest, the atmosphere is magical and serene.”
“Low does not change texture quality, and provides the darkest and most magical atmosphere and image quality; at least in the forest, low clearly looks best to me, so be proud to use low. Note that low will slightly reduce the render distance, but it's very hard to see (everything fades into a fog in the close distance anyway).”
“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.”
- music6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed feedback, with some players finding the repetitive "party gnome" tracks annoying and detracting from their experience. There is a desire for more variety and options for music during different scenes, as well as a wish for more engaging musical interactions, such as goblins playing and dancing. Overall, the current soundtrack may not appeal to everyone and could benefit from enhancements.
“It 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.”
“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.”
“It would be nice to have options for music choices during different scenes, as the experience can be meditative.”
“It would be exciting for the goblins to be playing music and dancing around more.”
- emotional4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is largely underwhelming, as it features only a brief 40-minute prologue that fails to deliver a compelling narrative or deep lore, leaving players to explore without a meaningful story. While the visuals may be engaging, those expecting a heartwarming tale about gnomes and goblins will likely find themselves disappointed.
“Unfortunately, there is not. 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 that sounds good to you, great! There is a lot to look at, but if you were expecting a heartwarming story about these little gnomes and goblins (which I was, given Jon Favreau's name attached), then you will be disappointed.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 150 % 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 developers could have focused on enhancing the main narrative instead, potentially making it more engaging and concise.
“The grinding mechanics feel unnecessary and detract from the overall experience, making it feel more like a chore than an enjoyable part of the game.”
“I wish they had focused on a more streamlined experience instead of forcing players to grind through crafting and gathering elements that don't contribute to the main story.”
“The amount of time spent grinding for resources takes away from the enjoyment of the game, making it feel like a tedious task rather than an engaging adventure.”
- stability2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game demonstrates strong stability across various graphics settings, performing well on both medium and ultra configurations. Users report smooth gameplay without significant issues, indicating reliable performance overall.
“The game runs great on graphics quality: medium, resolution: medium, antialiasing: medium, and performs well on ultra settings with medium resolution and antialiasing.”
