Alice Bee: I'm probably the most positive out of the group, in that I think this game could properly own if it didn't keep massively getting in its own way.

I really like the look of it, the monster design is great - properly epic - and you'd probably see very cool stuff with late game weapons and abilities.

I was half way through our second game before I discovered there are combat classes and skill trees I could have been using to give myself a fighting chance.

Trouble is, days just aren't long enough for you to settle in, gather resources, or make any significant progress before night comes and you have to return to base.

Katharine: Personally I think Tribes Of Midgard's biggest problem right now is its Souls economy.

Souls are needed to upgrade your townsfolk to get better weapons, armour, traps and other resources, and you also need them to construct fortifications, rebuild your town's disued facilities… It's a lot, and fully upgrading each one requires more Souls than you could probably ever give it before your big bad jötunn boy turns up to properly deck you.

Alice Bee: A rebalanced Soul-conomy would speed progress and make you feel like you're achieving something, not flinging resources into a massive pit.

Ollie: I actually felt like the Souls weren’t what was holding us back, it was all the other stuff?

Whenever the game asked for Cut Stone and Wrought Iron and so on, progress ground to a halt, first because we didn’t know how to get such things, and then because such things turned out to be hard to get.

We needed the Souls to beef up our townsfolk so they could make us the Cut Stone and Wrought Iron in the first place!

Ollie: See, that still sounds like a Wrought Iron problem - crossed with a “What the fuck is going on, game?” problem.

At least that part of the game felt familiar.

Although to be honest the combat felt pretty off, too.

I never got to try the bow because I didn't have any resources to make one.

I felt like we were being most productive when we worked together to take down enemy camps, not only for mega Souls bonuses, but also more valuable resources.

I think a bunch of problems could be fixed in one go with rebalancing the resource costs, and maybe making it so resources near your town slowly replenish over time.

And also spawning more scrub enemies near the start so you can get the resources to craft armour, instead of running around naked for the first 20 minutes.

Just remember to make sure it's equipped before you start a game, though, as I found the game often forgets to carry it over from previous outings.

And I like the combat, we just didn't get to properly explore the different biomes or higher level gear!

I'd also like to be able to permanently carry over skills and classes I'd unlocked, too, as currently you start over with each new game.

Ed: Anyway, anyone got any Wrought Iron.