Developer: Zaxis
Publisher: Wild River games
Platform: PC, Switch, PS4, Xbox One
Tested on: PC
Fimbul – Review
Zaxis and Wild River gaming teamed up to give us an epic taste of the last winter before Ragnarök, well known in the Norse mythology as the Fimbulwinter. This single-player Viking action adventure will throw you in the heat of the ominous events that will become your journey. This path will lead you to Jotunheim, the land of the giants located in the Northeast of Asgard. Keep in mind that your whole world will be turned upside-down if you step into the shoes of our protagonist.
Story
This is where it gets a little complex. You start out as Ulf in a burning house, once you walk out the door, you see your brother Knut standing outside. Your relationship with him is all kinds of messed up because he murdered your father a while back. Now he travels with a posse of bandits and has returned to condemn you to the same fate as your father. A fight starts and in a turn of events, you get smacked on the head, from behind, with an axe which results in inevitable death.
But your story will not end here, you are destined to do great things and save the people from the threat that looms above their heads. So you get resurrected by the Three Fates. Meanwhile, you are in the depths of Jotunheim searching for a way out. Here you will finally understand what your destiny holds. You’ll find out who your real parents are and why you are the chosen one.
To make this even more complicated, after this big reveal you wake up outside of the burning house. Your ‘brother’ and the rest of his posse are gone and you make it your goal to seek revenge for the death of your father and all the innocent he has slain. Little did you know that this would only be the beginning of your journey.
Graphics
Obviously, the graphics of this game aren’t appealing to everyone but it has a certain charm when wandering around the world with your character. Fimbul has an old-school retro look to it and overall a snowy landscape is portrayed which makes it stand out towards the blood that you spill along the way. Looking at the cutscenes which are presented in a comic book-like fashion, give the game a fun twist in terms of storytelling. We have to say that it could be a little more polished at some points.
Sound
At first, we were blown away with the gorgeous Nordic sounds which accompanied us when we were entering the main screen, but sadly not all good things last. Fimbul doesn’t provide us with any voice acted content whatsoever. The only thing you hear that comes close to it are the grunts of the Vikings who are fighting alongside or against you. Ending this on a positive note, we did enjoy the soothing background noise when we were wandering through the game.
Gameplay
Fimbul is a single-player comic-book, action adventure which provides you with the bare minimum to handle the opponents you face in the harsh and cold environment also known as the winter before Ragnarök. The game keeps on being quite linear if we’re looking at the mixing of storyline and gameplay. You have little space to roam free and are always pointed in the direction of your next objective or task.
Looking at the quests, they are given to you while you watch the comic-styled cutscenes. You will enter an area where you need to progress down a path or an open space. The exact place you need to go is almost always visible by enemies coming towards you. You cannot escape these areas if you neglect the objective of killing all your enemies. In some cases the enemies are too hard to handle, so you need to sneak past them, otherwise you die. This make the game interesting as it isn’t always about throwing yourself into battle as a brainless meat sack.
Dying in this game is a little obnoxious because of the fact that every time you do, the Three Fates need to resurrect you again and they are getting tired of your petty ass not being able to survive. So they will mock you and send you back to the last autosave point.
The combat in this game is quite fluent and pleasant to handle. Unlike some other games, you can heal yourself whilst fighting. The fighting itself is very basic with you being able to block, light attack and heavy attack. In some cases, there will be asked a little more from you, like breaking your opponents’ blocks by throwing a spear at them or even knocking out a boss for a short period of time by hitting them on the spots that are marked on their body. You are not forced to use very much precision in the last case, just be quick about throwing the spear or the moment will pass.
Some minor issue we had playing this game was the duration, the game itself is rather short and that is a shame because it has a lot of good elements to keep players interested for a longer period of time.
Conclusion
Fimbul is a treat for Viking and lore fans. The comic-styled cutscenes give us a different way to look at a storyline, even though it could be a little more polished at some times but overall it is a very fun way to keep our heads in the game. Surely this game has a few downsides, like for example the lack of voice acting and the duration of the game, but if you don’t mind those and you are a sucker for action adventure games, Fimbul is exactly the game for you.
Fimbul - Review,
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