At some point in the 2010s, the survival genre in video games exploded into every kind of experience that players would ever need. This led to some new and interesting takes on the genre, with some games like Don't Starve doing better than others. Now, it seems that some developers are seeking to re-invent the way players think about the genre, and there's no need to look further than Tribes of Midgard for that. Norsfell recently sat down with Game Rant to discuss the importance of creating a new survival game in Tribes of Midgard that improves on the success of past titles.
Julian Maroda, the CEO of Norsfell and Tribes of Midgard, feels really passionate about creating a sense of community around the games that he develops. It is Norsfell's hope that it can create that sense of working together as much during development as when the players finally enter the game. All in all, Norsfell seeks to make Tribes of Midgard as approachable to players as possible, so that fans of survival genres and new players will be able to pick up the game and work together with their friends.
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During the interview, Norsfell stressed the importance of creating a more approachable version of the survival genre. This will translate into a survival game that is missing the traditional hunger, thirst, and weight meters that often restrict what the player is able to do. As an Einherjar, the player won't have to worry about the normal constraints of a mortal life, and will instead be tasked with putting all of their energy into improving their gear and village before taking on the Giants of Ragnarok.
What we didn't want to do is to make survival kind of a chore. Too many things to manage, dying of thirst on your first 10 minutes of play because couldn't find some water and you're like 'What the hell is going on?'
This also plays into the design aesthetic that the team at Norsfell wanted to go with. Whereas some similar Norse survival games like Valheim choose to go with a darker and more solemn approach to Norse mythology, Tribes of Midgard is meant to create a much more welcoming and uplifting environment for players. That's why the developers chose to focus on brighter colors and a top-down approach that would be more accessible to new players.
From the get-go, Norsfell made it clear that it wanted to create a new kind of survival game, if not a unique genre entirely. This led to the developers considering how they could take the pressure of individual survival off the player and make it more of a community effort. In Tribes of Midgard, the players will only be able to defeat the Giants and protect the Seed of Yggdrasil if they work together to collect the proper resources, craft gear, and upgrade their defenses. If they fall to in-fighting or the monsters of Helheim, then Ragnarok comes to end all life as they know it.
We wanted to get rid of all of that, and so that's why that whole individual survival will be transferred to the community.
The upcoming community-based survival game, Tribes of Midgard, will have players working together to prevent Ragnarok by stopping the Giants marching forward. Unlike previous entries into the genre, ToM will take the pressure of survival off of the individual and put the entire weight on the community in that server to share. While it sounds exciting, one has to wonder what will keep one player from doing all the work. Players will be able to find out which of their friends' are the laziest when the game releases later this summer.
Tribes of Midgard will be available July 27th, 2021 for PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.
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