Last October Steam unveiled a new seasonal event called Steam Next Fest where you could check out a variety of game demos. By popular demand it’s back and during the week of February 6th-13th you can login and check out what games are on the horizon. During last year’s event we recommended checking out Manor Lords, a city builder/RTS hybrid that was primarily developed by a single person. This year we’re recommending a game that is developed by two brothers! Maybe a future Next Fest will have a developer trio?
Jokes aside, Pixel Chest is a developer brother duo and working on a game called Sons of Valhalla and is scheduled to release some time in 2023. I’ve spent a handful of hours with the demo ahead of its release next week and I have to say what I’ve seen so far is quite promising.
A God blessed Viking
You’re a Viking and you find yourself in a series of unfortunate events, but fortunately for you, Odin has given you his blessing. There’s a catch to this, however. Each time you die you’ll need to sacrifice one of your orbs that slot into your belt that give you buffs. These buffs can be anything from character stats, soldier’s stats, or your empire’s economy. Luckily, you get to choose which to discard and can acquire more from fallen enemies. However, as you get better orbs you’ll eventually be forced with a tough decision on which to sacrifice.
In traditional fashion, Odin is up to something. Ah, oh well, I’m sure it’ll be fine. With your newfound strength you’ll be in charge of building up a Viking empire to lay waste across England.
After making it through the tutorial it will become quickly evident that the world is persistent. Everything happens in real-time, very similar to a RTS game. Enemies will test your defenses almost instantly and it’s up to you to get your city situated quickly, both economically and militarily. Gates and watchtowers will need to be constructed to protect the city while various troop garrisons will eventually lead to mounting an offensive.
Building Your Empire
When starting out your workers are slow and your troops are pitiful, but in time, your frantic management of resources and troops will sway the tide of battle. Combat in Sons of Valhalla is entirely reliant on your economy, leading troops properly, and using boom n’ zoom tactics with your own character.
As you upgrade your city’s ability to produce resources, you’ll in turn be able to upgrade troop garrisons, recruit archers, and even create battering rams and catapults. Once you have a variety of troops to lead you can then attack economic targets like farms or woodcutting huts to further supplement your cities’ growth. However, the further you push the frontlines forward your supply lines will get stretched more and more thin, forcing you to run troops back and forth while resupplying and managing a city.
Leading Troops and Fighting Smart
Combat is unforgiving and intense, if you try and play the hero, you’ll be giving up some shiny orbs to ole’ Odin. As the leader you’re a glass cannon, you can hit hard but will get walloped in return. Think you’ll jump through a volley of arrows or jump into a mosh pit of shielded swordsman? Think again. Sons of Valhalla encourages you to pick opportune moments to affect the outcome of battles, not to Leroy Jenkins your way to victory.
There’s a standard health and stamina system at play here, but it will keep you on your toes with only two recovery items for each respectively. Once you’re out of consumables it’s back to town, leaving your troops to fend for themselves on the frontlines. Alongside your trusty sword you’ll also be able to unlock a plethora of ranged weapons at the town’s blacksmith to help keep your distance for less risky combat encounters.
As you adjust to the ebb and flow of combat you’ll appreciate the audio design and animations that accompany it; javelins launch through torsos, flaming arrows will set soldiers on fire sending them flailing about, the thud of a sword being slammed against a shield, it’s all very Viking- brutal and visceral. Melancholic music will play during downtime while you manage the city, then dynamically ramp up for battles or story beats. As far as audio goes it’s pretty solid despite some VO performances not quite sticking the landing at times.
Pixel Perfect England
On a visual level, Sons of Valhalla looks very good. Indie developers have been knocking it out of the park the last few years regarding pixel art and animation and Pixel Chest is no exception. There are layers of detail in the environments from the foreground to the background that give you the feeling of depth on screen. Scenes like these are complimented by accurate reflections rippling in the water as big longships head up stream. Wildlife scurries about as various city workshops chop wood or spear fish for its inhabitants. What makes all of this come together and breathe is a dynamic day/night system. Soft orange sunsets, rain, morning fog, smoggy burnt-out battlefields- you name it, it’s all there, and it’s beautiful.
At the time of writing there are a few issues with the demo, but none that ruin the experience. A few grammar issues during workshop upgrades or misspelled words in dialog windows will pop up now and again. In the beginning portion of the demo, stray enemy archers were able to launch arrows at a gate and my archers positioned in a watchtower nearby wouldn’t return fire, despite being equidistant and having a height advantage. When battles ramp up and there is a lot going on the framerate will dip from its usual 60fps down into the 50’s or 40’s, however this only happened on a couple occasions.
All things considered, Sons of Valhalla is a lot of fun and has a nice blend between combat and resource management, neither of which overcomplicate things. The pixel art is absolutely on point and is a joy to look at, for a moment, until you have to refocus your attention to the real time aspects of the game. Building and conquering cities while choosing orb loadouts lend options to how you approach raids, while careful planning and thoughtful combat tactics reward your chosen strategy.
You can check out the Sons of Valhalla demo on Steam next week!
