It's been two years since I last played Vikings of Midgard; back in its Ubersetzung days. In fact, it was the target of my very first review of an OHRRPGCE game (which is pretty obvious if you read it here). Vikings, overall, was a pretty awesome game. It is still a cool game today, and worthy of being bundled in the with official OHRRPGCE download. Unfortunately though, it still seems to be plagued by some of the same issues that were discovered during my Ubersetzung playthrough years ago.

The latest rendition of Vikings of Midgard does manage to show off some of the newer features of the OHRRPGCE. You will see nicely drawn portrait graphics, fitting sound effects, and multiple-layered maps throughout the game. Fenrir has done and still does an incredible job on the graphics. His battle backgrounds and sprites are among the best to ever surface in the OHRRPGCE community (in my opinion). While the maps themselves aren't quite as nice, they still are very well done and worthy of praise.

The music still remains an additional strong-point of Vikings. Artimus Bena, Moogle1, and Fenrir all did a great job on the music, and the soundtrack as a whole still manages to get me fired up even though I'm hearing most of the songs for the second time. The sound effects remain superbly placed although some effects, such as the Shaman's Meteor spell, seem to have had their sounds erased entirely.

Okay, so it still looks and sounds good, but what is actually new about the game? Since the Ubersetzung days, much has changed for the better. No longer do you start your quest by choosing your team of underdeveloped (backstory-wise) vikings and heading out to save the world. Instead, Vikings of Midgard introduces each of the original characters as the story progesses. In addition, you will find that most characters reveal their backstories along the way. I think this was an awesome change and adds a level of development with the characters that could not have been done easily the way they were introduced before. Don't fret, you can still form a team to your likings, but you most unlock each character first before doing so.

Honestly, I think that the new feature helps in other aspects of the game as well, and not just the story. Several times throughout your journey, you are forced to use specific team members. Often times, this forces you to get to know each and every character, along with their strengths and weaknesses. You will still probably find yourself using specific party members though because they still seem to be a bit unbalanced from the old days. Olaf and Night are still beasts, and even that fatty Frumpy has a trick or two under his sleeve (and he's a freaking healer for crying out loud!).

Regardless, the new character introduction feature helps pave the way to a bit of a different "twist" on the Ubersetzung story. You will not follow the same path as before, and you will traverse new areas and battle new monsters. 80% of the story at this point seems like a completely different game than what I played before, which is rad.

Another nifty feature is the way you acquire spells and abilities. No longer do you just learn them as you gain levels. Instead, the vast majority of your spells are learned by doing certain things in the game. Sometimes you will gain them from just walking the main story path while others force you to do side missions to discover them. These side quests usually don't take very long and are well worth the effort. Another good change in my book.

There are even more references to folks in the community in Vikings than before. Unfortunately, that could mean potential for more inside jokes that newcomers may not understand, but I think the author did a great job creating old ties to the community while keeping the content enjoyable to newbies as well.

Yeah, so I know that this game is a work in progress. Fenrir himself stresses this fact from the very beginning. Maybe I am picky, but there are still several things that rub me the wrong way in Vikings, regardless of whether it is a work in progress or not.

Overall, the game is still really easy, at least with the right party makeup. There are a few encounters that will give you a run for your money, but most enemies are just pushovers. I suppose a game introducing the capabilities of the engine shouldn't be stupid hard, but a little more of a challenge would have been nice. Perhaps next time I play I'll try using less powerful Vikings for a more challenging experience?

The money issue remains as well. You should have more than enough money throughout your adventure to buy the very best stuff, and still have change to spare. Even if you run away from a few battles, you'll still probably be in good shape. I guess this is a matter of personal preference though. Some people may not be bothered that items and equipment are easy to come by, but I think you should work for them some.

Alright, alright! Maybe I'm being a bit over-dramatic about some things. Maybe I can overlook the ease of money and difficulty. But this; this I can't look over. Spelling.

Anyone who knows me in real life knows that I suck at grammar. Heck, you've probably picked up on that just by reading this review so far. Of course, we all make spelling and grammatical mistakes from time to time, but the countless spelling errors in Vikings really bugged me. Why? Because it could have easily been fixed before release. Also, we are talking about Vikings of Midgard, a game that newcomers to the OHRRPGCE will play and possibly copy to a certain extent. When they see that an author with a game of this caliber has refused to pick up on their spelling mistakes, then why would they bother with it themselves? I stress this issue because I had this same problem with the Ubersetzung Vikings, and it hasn't improved at all. The game isn't riddled with spelling mistakes everywhere, but I think there are enough to make a bad impression on some people.

Besides the above, there were only a few other issues that I felt needed to be resolved. One being the mystery stats Vigor and Soul. You get items and equipment throughout the game that will occasionally raise these stats, but never in the game are the actual meanings of the stats revealed (unless I missed something). I got so frustrated with it, not knowing whether to raise one's Vigor or not, that I had to ask the author directly for an explanation on the stat.

There were also a couple of potentially game-breaking bugs present; one example concerning the Shaman, Night. There are certain parts of the game where your team members may be unavailable for use or "missing". As the story progresses, you will get them back. There was one point when I was in the Musphel Desert and was without Night; in my team or my reserves. Something in or around the tent in the middle of the desert taught Night a spell, and she magically came to be back in my roster. I originally thought it intended, because it took a good hour or so to discover that I hadn't unlocked her yet. When it came to that point in the story, I figured I would have two Night's in my party, but the bugged one was replaced by the correct copy.

There was also an issue with Night erasing herself from my party and reserves. I had her in my active lineup at the Valhalla Stadium fighting some battles. After defeating the final boss in the ranked section of the Stadium, I noticed she was nowhere to be found in my party. Not sure what would cause this kind of bug, but it sure did bug the stew out of me. I had to load my an earlier save to get her back. I'm assuming that the stadium is a work-in-progess, but if that's really the case, there should be a disclaimer like the one's Fenrir laid out in other incomplete areas of the game.

Some of the side missions also seemed to be incomplete and/or buggy. There is one in the Village of Thule that sends you off to get an item from a nearby cave. In exchange, the questgiver will supposedly teach you a spell or ability. Maybe I progressed the actual story too much before turning the quest in, but it seemed broken regardless. He didn't care about my item, so all it did was waste space in my inventory.

One last thing I'd like to point out that may or may not be a bug; the dash boots. First off, they were awesome, and helped out tremendously traversing through the land. I assumed that one would have to equip it in the extra slot for it to work, because it would offer nothing else besides the run speed increase. However, I discovered that the additional speed boost could be used without having the boots equipped; making me wonder whether it was a bug or not. Maybe it wasn't, but it's something worth thinking about.

Regardless, Vikings of Midgard is still a fine game. Fenrir and Co. have done a tremendous job on it, although some departments still seem to be lacking. I still urge everyone to play through it though, whether you have never played it or just haven't in quite some time. Despite its flaws, it is still worth three or fours hours of your day.