Sons of Valhalla

About

"Sons of Valhalla" is a single-player Fantasy Role Playing game with striking graphics that combines side-scrolling base building and strategy elements. As Viking Jarl son Thorald Olavson, embark on a journey to England to save your true love, battling enemy forces and managing resources in an age of Vikings. The game features heavy grinding, providing a challenging and immersive experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

68%

Audience ScoreBased on 274 reviews

gameplay27 positive mentions

grinding19 negative mentions

The pixel art and visuals are stunning, creating an immersive Viking atmosphere.
The gameplay loop is engaging, combining base building with direct combat and troop management.
The rune system adds depth to character progression, allowing for varied playstyles.

The game can feel repetitive, with similar mechanics and objectives across different stages.
Combat mechanics are often clunky, leading to frustrating encounters, especially with bosses.
The story is underwhelming and lacks depth, making it hard to stay invested in the narrative.

gameplay
107 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
56%
19%
The gameplay of "Sons of Valhalla" has received mixed reviews, with many players noting its repetitive nature and lack of depth, particularly in combat and resource management. While the game features engaging mechanics and a blend of strategic base-building and direct combat, it often falls into a monotonous loop that can detract from the overall experience. Despite its appealing aesthetics and potential for fun, players express a desire for more variety and complexity to sustain long-term engagement.
- “Sons of Valhalla cleverly combines several gameplay genres to create something utterly unique.”
- “The core gameplay mechanics offer a blend of strategic base-building and direct combat, urging players to manage resources, recruit diverse units, and lead assaults.”
- “Gameplay is super fun and engaging; think of any Metroidvania game out there and add units you can control, and that's what Sons of Valhalla is.”
- “However, beneath the gorgeous presentation lies a gameplay loop that can feel repetitive.”
- “The gameplay loop turns into you running back and forth to your base to hire soldiers, waiting at your front gate or running back to tell them to attack the enemy base after they spawn, watch them die, run back to hire more soldiers until you take the outpost over and then you fight a boss at the end (I liked the boss fights because it broke the tedious loop).”
- “The main gameplay is very repetitive, without variety; even when passing the first level, I was tired of the monotonous process, but on each subsequent map, you will do the same thing, no options.”
story
94 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
72%
12%
The game's story has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it overly simplistic and brief, often completing it in just a few hours. While some appreciate the Norse mythology and aesthetic elements, others criticize the lack of depth and character investment, leading to a feeling of repetitiveness and disengagement. Overall, the narrative is seen as a missed opportunity, with calls for more complexity and content to enhance the experience.
- “I really enjoyed this game; it is a lot of fun and the story kept me wanting to keep going.”
- “You travel between 5 different stages and go through a simple but effective 'save the princess' story with beautifully drawn pixel art cutscenes and pretty good voice acting.”
- “For your reference, it’s short; it took me 6 hours to 100% but the story, combat, environment, art, and general feel of the game was enjoyable.”
- “The story is laughably short.”
- “It's repetitive, bland, and the story is embarrassingly bad.”
- “The story is very simple and sadly completely unexciting.”
graphics
46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
37%
7%
The graphics of the game have received widespread praise for their stunning pixel art and vibrant depictions of Norse mythology, creating an immersive experience for players. Many reviewers highlighted the charming art style and beautiful animations, although some noted that the pixel graphics can appear less impressive on larger screens. Overall, while the visuals are a significant strength, they are often accompanied by critiques of shallow gameplay and limited content.
- “The landscapes and character details are a treat to behold, and the soundtrack complements the visuals well, pulling players into the Norse world.”
- “Perhaps the greatest strength of Sons of Valhalla is the absolutely stunning graphics, great music, and some pretty fun gameplay.”
- “Gorgeous graphics and beautiful animations.”
- “The game may be great, but the terrible pixelated graphics that look really ugly on a big monitor and the pixelated font that is simply impossible to read made me just close this game and return it.”
- “If you make pixel graphics - look at how it's done in Factorio, if you can't do it even 50% right - don't start making it, these horrible 16 x 16 pixel multicolored squares look like a piece of crap from Minecraft on big screens.”
- “The art style is not even meh, it's pathetically weak.”
grinding
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, often leading to frustration due to unbalanced gameplay and lengthy boss fights. While some appreciate the combat and visual style, many feel that the gameplay loop becomes a slog, with excessive back-and-forth resource management and a lack of meaningful progression. Despite its potential, the grind detracts from the overall enjoyment, making it a mixed experience for those who prefer a more dynamic or engaging gameplay structure.
- “The gameplay loop turns into you running back and forth to your base to hire soldiers, waiting at your front gate or running back to tell them to attack the enemy base after they spawn, watch them die, run back to hire more soldiers until you take the outpost over and then you fight a boss at the end (I liked the boss fights because it broke the tedious loop).”
- “I have hoped for expanding the idea heavily inspired by the aforementioned but it lacks the punch, very repetitive gameplay loop, weak units, no real tactics or economy, no unit progression just expensive upgrades not really improving survivability of the hero or your troops, thus rendering you super unworthy of Odin's favor. All that makes the whole run grindy and not immensely fun.”
- “This game is in a tedious slog at the moment, too much waiting around for resources.”
music
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
33%
20%
The music in the game is generally well-received, with many players praising its ability to enhance the immersive Norse atmosphere and complement the stunning visuals. While some find the soundtrack solid and enjoyable, a few express concerns about its potential repetitiveness over extended play sessions. Overall, the music is considered a strong aspect of the game, contributing positively to the overall experience.
- “The landscapes and character details are a treat to behold, and the soundtrack complements the visuals well, pulling players into the Norse world.”
- “Art is gorgeous, music is pleasant, and gameplay is fun.”
- “Perhaps the greatest strength of Sons of Valhalla is the absolutely stunning graphics, great music, and some pretty fun gameplay.”
- “The music is okay, although I have a feeling I would get tired of it after 10+ hours.”
- “The music and visuals are also designed just well enough to serve their purpose and not distract you from murdering your way through England - nothing you haven't seen before, but just right.”
- “Background music is decent.”
replayability
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
Overall, reviews indicate a significant concern regarding the game's replayability, with many players expressing that it is quite limited. While some mention the potential for replaying on higher difficulties or through an endless mode, the general consensus is that the game lacks sufficient content, such as additional characters, weapons, or challenges, to encourage repeated play.
- “The endless mode may present some replayability.”
- “I wish for more content and/or replayability (a few more playable characters/weapons/map variations/challenges).”
- “It's not a long game but it does have replayability.”
- “One thing I have noticed is people saying there is a lack of replayability.”
- “My main criticism is there is very little replayability.”
- “Zero replayability.”
stability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
88%
The game's stability has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting significant glitches and performance issues that disrupt gameplay. While some users have experienced minimal problems, others have encountered persistent bugs, leading to confusion and frustration. The developers have acknowledged these concerns and committed to providing updates to improve stability.
- “Glitches; I ran into two situations that confused me and made me have to stop the game.”
- “Unique game idea, but still a bit buggy.”
- “Where it starts to fall apart is in terms of performance, glitches, and a narrative that quickly becomes the obligatory 'the church is evil and incompetent' trope.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
17%
50%
The optimization of the game has been a significant point of frustration for users, with reports of performance issues and glitches despite the game's small size. While it is not the worst experience of the year, the performance drops suggest it is not fully polished, though the developers have committed to future updates to address these concerns.
- “The dev has pledged to provide updates to improve performance and address glitches, so these issues will likely see some attention in the days to come.”
- “The game is small, but somehow the performance is heavier than the kingdom.”
- “The optimization is arguably the most frustrating aspect of the game.”
- “The game is small, but somehow the performance is heavier than expected.”
- “It's far from the glitchiest experience I've played this year, but between that and the weird performance drops, it doesn't feel ready for prime time.”
humor
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by amusing situations, such as unexpected glitches during boss fights and the entertaining use of fire pots, which add both fun and utility. Players find the humor to be simple yet effective, contributing to an overall lighthearted experience.
- “I had a funny case where I shot the whip hound boss to death and it got stuck because the boss wouldn't move to the middle of the map, so I just ended up redoing the boss fight again.”
- “Which is both hilarious and sad.”
- “The fire pots are both fun and funny and really useful; get those quick.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Sons of Valhalla is praised for its visually stunning art and immersive design, effectively capturing the essence of a Viking adventure. The game's atmosphere is described as mesmerizing and engaging, enhancing the overall experience despite some generic gameplay elements.
- “Sons of Valhalla is a visually stunning game that captures the atmosphere of a Viking adventure with impressive art and immersive design.”
- “It had a mesmerizing atmosphere which was just really nice to be immersed in.”
- “The animations are cute and well done, as is the atmosphere of the area.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
150%
Character development features engaging initial designs, but becomes monotonous after the first few characters. While there is some progression through runes that enhance abilities and provide boosts, the overall depth of character development is limited.
- “There’s some character development in the form of runes - and these can enable ways to play by strengthening your abilities, as well as providing boosts to your units and towns.”
- “The character development feels shallow and lacks meaningful progression, making it hard to connect with the characters.”
- “I expected more depth in character arcs, but they often feel one-dimensional and predictable.”
- “The choices you make don't seem to impact character development in any significant way, leaving the experience feeling flat.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Users note that while the game may involve grindy elements, it successfully evokes a strong emotional response, enhancing the overall experience.
- “The game evokes a deep sense of nostalgia and connection, making every moment feel significant.”
- “The emotional depth of the characters truly resonates, leaving a lasting impact long after the game is over.”
- “Each storyline is crafted with such care that it pulls at your heartstrings, creating a truly immersive experience.”