Rimelands: Hammer of Thor was originally released for iOS back in 2010. The game was highly rated on MetaCritic and seems to have had a fairly devout following for a turn-based RPG on cell phones. In October of last year, Rimelands was released on the Nintendo Switch and is currently being sold for just ten bucks in the Nintendo Store.
It is a surprisingly in-depth game that plays very well when the dice are on the players’ side. It can be unforgiving in difficulty at first or when the dice don’t seem to cooperate, though. Overall, Rimelands: Hammer of Thor is worth the investment, especially because it takes some time to really get into. That said, the aesthetic of mashing steampunk with Norse mythology is a great idea and should be done in more games.
10 Things To Love: The Dungeons
The dungeons in Rimelands require some strategy and can get fairly expansive later on. They offer challenging enemies that can be encountered alone or in groups, as well as safe space to recharge mana and health between fights. The layouts are easy to understand without all of the dungeons running in one direction.
There are side rooms worth exploring and more challenging enemies that can be encountered for better loot. Being able to run from a losing fight also helps when running low on potions. The dungeons are where all the gameplay takes place in Rimelands, and they have been intelligently designed, allowing the player to interact with the world in a meaningful way.
9 Reasons to Avoid: Hard to Get Into
Most games will ease the player into difficulty as the game progresses. Not Rimelands. After the brief tutorial, the enemies are ruthlessly hard to beat and have pretty much the same chance of hurting you as you do of hurting them.
Until the player can get a few abilities chained together and more dice blocks to attack and defend, this game feels very hard to deal with. So don’t be put off by a slow start. Expect to have some bumps and bruises at first.
8 Things To Love: The Abilities
There are three ability trees accessible in Rimelands: Hammer of Thor: Shaman, Barbarian, and Assassin. Each level provides the player with the opportunity to level one of these trees, and all three are available for upgrade at any time rather than having to choose an individual set of skills and abilities.
At first, upgrading is hard because of how difficult enemies start, but once the player finds a set of skills that cater to their playstyle, the abilities work well together. Being able to choose ranged, melee, or magic adds depth to combat and allows for creative approaches to different enemy types. Similarly, the player can just brute force their way through dungeons as well by maximizing a specific tree.
7 Reasons to Avoid: The Mechanics (At First)
While very simple after a few hours of play, it will take the player a brief period before they become familiar enough with the mechanics to feel comfortable going into a fight. Instead of numbers, 3 images can be rolled on the dice any given go.
This just takes a bit of getting used to, while understanding enemy patterns and how to manipulate walking to heal and regen mana takes some practice. Again, do not be discouraged after struggling through the first few dungeons, because it will become second nature to read dice rolls and understand a course of action to win fights.
6 Things To Love: The Loot
There is plenty of loot to be found in the world of Rimelands: Hammer of Thor. There are four equipment slots available to the player consisting of melee weapon, ranged weapon, armor, and a trinket slot. The chests that the player finds will have one of these four things OR a blueprint for crafting powerful weapons and armor.
Getting a good mix of equipment in chests is key in this kind of RPG and Rimelands does a good job of providing. That being said, if the player finds a particularly good piece and then dies before saving, the same equipment may not be in the same chest next time they get to it. So be sure to save often and don’t be afraid to loot and scoot if need be.
5 Reasons to Avoid: Gaining Abilities
As stated above, the first little bit of Rimelands can be frustrating. This is especially true when abilities haven’t been unlocked yet. Going toe to toe with any bad guy without help is difficult in this game, and this comprises the bulk of the fights at first.
It needs to be harped on that perseverance is key in Rimelands. Put in the time to progress and the rewards will come. It is also helpful to decide how you want to fight so that the ability tree of choice can be maximized.
4 Things to Love: The Simplicity
Rimelands is a great dungeon-crawling RPG in that it does not overburden the player with complex rules or lots of background dice rolls that represent chance in the world. Instead, everything is straightforward, with dice rolling happening right in front of the player during each turn. Four equipment slots and three easy to understand skill trees are all that is needed to customize playstyle for the dungeons.
While it may not be as flashy as other turn-based RPGs, Rimelands shines because of how accessible it is for the player. This is definitely a good starting point for players looking into D&D style gaming.
3 Reasons to Avoid: The Quests
While Rimelands does not tout itself as an advanced RPG, the quests are merely place-holders to get the player into another dungeon. Not too surprising, right? But one annoying glitch is that if the player finds quest items before they have taken on the quest itself from an NPC, then the giver of the mission will simply be excited about the player finding the item and the quest does not actually complete.
While this may not be the end of the world for Rimelands, it is also far too easy to find quest items in dungeons that are just sitting in chests. The best course of action is to talk to everyone in a given area before embarking on a dungeon, that way anything found will be able to be claimed for credit.
2 Things to Love: The Aesthetic
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see a Nordic Oracle in full steampunk regalia that is bent on destroying you? Well, look no further because Rimelands delivers this exciting (albeit niche) experience. The dungeons feel like something out of a Skyrim dwarven society mail-order catalog. Combine this with Nazis, packs of wolves, and a few Nordic Gods and the aesthetic of Rimelands: Hammer of Thor is born.
It is a cool and creative landscape to explore and with which to interact. The only thing that might make this experience better would be the inclusion of a bad pirate… oh wait, there’s that too.
1 Reasons to Avoid: The Dice
So you’ve spent the time and gotten a healthy set of equipment, upgraded the key abilities, and even have a few extra dice on attack and defense. It should be an easy road from here. But it is not. The dice rolls in Rimelands are absolutely brutal. It seems that when the player needs some luck most, they will have a roll with all Xs while the computer enjoys a fist full of skulls. Even with abilities, potions, and fine equipment, the player can be torn apart just by the luck of the dice.
This is an integral part of the game, but it feels terrible. The player can strike through two bosses, only to be killed by a wolf because of three bad rolls. It is completely necessary to how the game is played, but for the sake of Odin, please let the player have better odds or be able to manipulate the dice early on next time around.
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