Nordic Ashes: Survivors of Ragnarok is a ride and a vibe–or whatever these new Midgardians call things. It was a great time trying the early access on Steam, and I’ll tell you about it. This is a passive auto-combat… roguelike–it’s a Vampire Survivors type game basically.
Overall, these are good fun, and anybody can play them with a little familiarity with the genre. In this one, you play a Viking warrior (is that a redundant term?) It’s all about piling on the mobs and vanquishing them here. There are several upcoming characters, skills, and weapons on the horizon for its development.
Anyway, I’m pleased to bring this game to your attention, so let’s dive right in.
This game is available on Steam.
Thank you to NoxFall Studios for the press copy.
Go Berzerker
To begin with, it’s a real casual intro here in this early look. I am Axeldör, a Norse berserker. Starts off slow. I’m going. Hey, this is pretty good. Next, I’m getting overwhelmed. Next, I’m panicking. Dead. Okay… let me try that again. I decide to observe what is around me in the game so that I can relay a better account of what’s going on. Basically what’s going on here is a survival prompt in the frosty Viking wilds of antiquity. Those dire rats, they’re everywhere.
Every few seconds my weapon charges and swipes in a radius around me, exchanging vermin for shiny coins. The first two waves are fine at a beginner’s level. I’m wondering how I’m supposed to wipe out this plague of rats when they just keep coming through. Wave 2 got heavy quickly, but I may need to return to test my mettle.
For the most part, there’s some strategy involved, as usual. I’m probably too busy looking at the fantastic illustrations of the environment and characters. Wondering what I am even doing here in the game, but I’m determined to play it.
At some point, I wanted to just spam sword swipes at the throngs of rats, but that’s not how this works. Actually, you’ll do well to position yourself within crowds of mobs so that when your aura explodes with a circle of thunderous steel, you take out a bunch of minor mobs as you explore. Dang, it’s like going shopping on Christmas eve, except you’re radiating thunder and not seasonal panic.
What It Is, What It Isn’t
This is such a short attempt on my part at covering this great game, but here’s what I know. The reviews on Steam are telling me there are still 3-4 characters to unlock and a few levels in this early access edition. These are tied into the Viking mythos and aesthetic just fine and just look at all this other stuff everywhere in the world and features–even the UI looks totally great.
The graphics reminded me of the beautiful work of the games Hades and Bastion. I really felt honored to try this out, even when I first learned of it, because this is a simple operation here at Mr. Dave Pizza, and this game is brightening up the place.
Also, these games are great for a short attention span. Just find the one that you can jump into and lure in enemies till you get in the zone (that’s what this is all about, to be fair.)
As I search the open web for more, it’s clear that there is a lot more to this game than the mere sample of it I’ve tasted, so be assured that your sample of it will also be greater. For this, I suggest you check out the Steam page linked below.
Excessive Final Thoughts
I was really drawn to this in my personal enamor with Viking mythology as a topic of powerful symbolism. The gods have always represented the universal charge of deific family trees and their roots which draw deep into the foundation of the world. Games like this take the beautiful symbolism of antiquity and make them exciting. Games do this a lot, but this one is doing really well.
So, anyway, that’s about it. Again, thanks to Noxfall Studios, you guys rock, and I’m giving this game 8/8 pizza slices! Thanks for reading Mr. Dave Pizza. Enjoy the games.
