Fimbul (Almost Big Frikken Game)
Yeah been looking to hack and slash my way through a game recently and this one happened to randomly appear in my queue. Any game with big frikken beasts is sure to please a little, and if they’re trolls, well cool then because lots of black metal maniacs read this site and they like that big frikken ugliness. Fimbul brings all the big frikken troll action you need, though no black metal, but you get to turn into a troll and like go MMA on them so that’s cool. Flashy smashy is always fun and this one is built on ancient, esoteric texts about massive shit so let’s see if it’s as frikken big as that.
The title comes from the idea of the “Fimbulwinter,” a time preceding the mythical Ragnarök (sad if you don’t know what that is), which is, well, a big frikken winter. As an elderly berserker you are killed during an assault on your village and then resurrected to stop trolls and the Jotun (basically giants) and save Midgard (just look it up if you’re pleb). As you’d expect the hack-and-slash mechanics are introduced progressively. You learn basic tactics, are thrown into a quick and generally easy fight, and then it builds. The story is presented through comic-book-styled cut scenes and there are moments where you can make critical decisions that affect the overall outcome of events; so though quite linear in most respects it does have some variation. But is it frikken big? That’s the big question, without the frikken.
Fimbul benefits most from its spectacular, grandiose (ie frikken big) visuals. The graphical presence of the main scenery is vast (such as the shot I capped below), with the camera zooming depending on terrain, sometimes awkwardly as others have noted. Others have complained about the stylized, smooth approach, but in the overall schema of things it’s purposeful. But, sadly…those cut scenes, which not only sometimes oddly present text so you read it incorrectly, but also look like the work of a child who just learned to stay in the lines. This game is about big frikken trolls so it should overwhelm me WTF. Thankfully most of the game focuses on the play, so you don’t have to worry about that too much. But wait man is it frikken big? Sadly no. Just a little big.
Fimbul is deserving of some, but not all, of the complaints it’s received. Most enemies are easily vanquished by button mashing and the minimal strategy you use is pretty much fail-proof. Where it is somewhat frikken big is the various battles with big frikken creatures, which rely, of course, on recognizing weak spots and patterns, thus not differing in essence from bigger frikken games. However, if understanding Fimbul as a simple, quick play (it only takes about 2-3 hours tops to complete), it is nonetheless enjoyable. A more complex combat system would have been needed for true big frikkenness and cut scenes that connected better to the visual breadth of the main game. At the moment, I’d wait for possible updates before purchasing because it will be a bigger frikken blow to your bank account than your gaming pride. Challenge there is not, it’s more style than substance, and even some of that is questionable.
Written Stanley, Devourer of Souls
Fimbul
Zaxis (developer), Wild River Games, (publisher)
3.8 / 5
