Comments about Valheim gameplay, some bugs I’ve noted, and complaints. Will probably add to the list over time. Note that I’ve played the game enough to notice these things; it’s still one the best open world adventure games ever.
Terrain levels are very badly implemented. Frequently killed when I can't hit an enemy, but it can hit me. Like bows, melee weapons should be able to attack up and down as well as side to side.
Boss power progression doesn't make sense. The Bonemass resistances are the most useful. Later powers are weak or largely useless. Improved woodcutting, mining, a tailwind while sailing that must be set while standing on the ground, etc.
It should be possible to change direction and interact with the environment while in auto-run, map, and inventory menu. Deaths while in map and inventory screen because the player can't react to attacks until he can find the right button and get it to work (while the system is loading up--because of extra NPCS on screen?) are silly.
It is often impossible to change weapons once combat is initiated. This often results in pointless deaths, such as when attacked in melee while the bow is equipped.
Cooking is one of the most dangerous aspects of the game. Fail to watch something cook constantly, blink, and food you waited an hour or so to collect is charcoal. It should be possible to abort cooking items (and possibly other things, like sleeping?). Shouldn't have to wreck the cooking rack if the wrong item gets loaded. The charcoaling of overcooked items should be relaxed. It shouldn't be a nail-biting experience to cook stuff.
Sinking. Let something fall into water that's just a level deeper than wading, and it's gone. I can often see the resource or object, but am not allowed to select it, and there's no provision for diving below the surface. One can sometimes jump off something and get to sunken items, but it's rare.
Some timeouts in the game use a real time clock rather than a game clock. Not clear why in-game time doesn't regulate everything.
Agriculture is mind-numbingly tedious. Need automation, or at least a target grid overlay, maybe recommendation for position of next plant? A color flash if the plant is too close to an object or another plant before it's committed to the ground?
"Archepeligism": Many tiny biomes. For example, the "one tree swamp", plains just big enough for one deathsquito, Mistlands biomes of dozens of isolated small islands of no value etc..
Portals will often malfunction if changed to a second address but entered before it switches.
Visibility is very often very poor. Why do all the work to implement open-world art assets when they often can't be seen? Why does fog obscure insides of buildings? The fascination with ground fog is excessive. Sometimes can't see the ground to plant or mine.
Death penalties to skill points are excessive. Same penalty for falling off a wall as being killed by the Queen. (I understand that this is being fixed by introducing difficulty sliders, but now I'm going to feel like a slacker.)
Eggs are much too expensive.
Updated 4-30-23
If you land on a Kraken and your boat is destroyed, you're trapped. Building on the Kraken island is not allowed, so there's no way to leave, unless you are a really good swimmer.
Can't crouch in this game. No passing under many obstacles.
Would be nice if the mini-map was zoomable.
Can we get a game time of day indicator? Sun dial or something? You can face the "sun" and note the direction, if you can see the sky, but it's often hard to know if it's coming up or going down.
When traveling by boat, the game often mis-identifies the biome type you're passing by. Bug?
Making arrows often doesn't use any wood. Guessing this is a bug.
Update 5-6-23
Two things, in my opinion, make it reasonably possible to complete this game: the Atgeir, and Raised Earth fortifications. A 15-year-old with fighter pilot reflexes might complete it with deer hide armor and a stone axe, but that doesn’t really count as reasonable.