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Valheim is a fantastic survival and open world game that embraces Norse mythology and encourages us to build based for ourselves as we prepare to face the world’s bosses. It’s the sort of game you could play for weeks or months. The thing is that the 1.0 Switch 2 launch of Valheim feels like it isn’t quite ready to stand alongside the other console and PC versions. Not that it won’t be great in time! The framework and potential is there. Some performance elements mean it needs a few more patches to feel as enticing and the other already great ones out there.
So the first thing that keeps Valheim from really feeling 100% comfortable on the Switch 2 is the font. It’s difficult to read! Some of those messages we get from Hugin and Munin are really important as we go through biomes, and it can be difficult to read what Haldor and Hildir offer. Considering how easy it can be to otherwise navigate the UI and menus thanks to both Joy-Con 2 mouse mode and touchscreen support being offered and world mod accessibility, text being so difficult to read felt awkward.
I’d also say the display in general doesn’t do Valheim favors, depending on the biome. It’s intentionally going for an old-school approach, to be clear. This means purposeful pixelated characters and lower-quality textures as part of the artistic direction. It’s for sure looking at its best on the PS5 or PC, as a result. On the Switch 2, especially in handheld mode when the resolution takes a hit, it feels like that choice can make it difficult to parse certain things for gathering purposes. The Black Forest, Swamp, and Mistlands are spots that gave me the most issues. But I can attest that the game can look quite atmospheric in places like the Ashlands and in some biomes like Mountains and Plains pretty on other platforms as a result of the choices.
It also is in need of some patches to assist with performance. This is both for the single-player and multiplayer. As of time of writing, I noticed some frame rate dips bringing things below 20fps once I hit the Black Forest and Swamp biomes with greater diversity and more mobs. This also kicked in sometimes, alongside stuttering, once I started building up a base and setting up farms and weather changed. (Likely because of the amount of animals and elements in a small space.) Stuttering also seemed an issue no matter what mode I chose to play on when I’d travel and fight, which is disappointing but should likely be fixed.
But the main issue I encountered is that I can’t stay connected in Valheim on Switch 2 if I try to take advantage of crossplay. While you can play this game alone, and it will still feel worthwhile if you do, it is so much fun to hop on with others to work toward a common goal. My game is at 1.0.10 as of time of writing, but I keep disconnecting whenever I try to join someone else’s server. I have noticed Jonathan Smars said 1.0.14 is on the way on other platforms on social media, so this could be remedied by the time this runs. But it is a problem at the moment.
Valheim is an incredible indie on other platforms and I could see that happening eventually with the Switch 2 version too! The thing is there are a number of issues keeping it from feeling on par with its contemporaries. I’ve seem things like stuttering, frame rate drops, the design choice keeping some biomes from looking as good as a result of the resolution, and cross-play multiplayer disconnects since launch. Granted, patches are coming through, and 1.0.14 might be the first of ones that get things looking better. But for now, it might be best to give things a few weeks to settle before hopping into this version.
Valheim can be a great survival game along the lines of The Long Dark and Grounded, but it doesn’t feel exactly ideal on Switch 2.
