Valorborn Early Access Preview – Ambitious but Frustrating RPG

Valorborn’s early access launch is one of those games that’s easy to get pulled into but just as easy to get frustrated with. I went in curious and cautiously optimistic. I mean, who wouldn’t like the sounds of a medieval fantasy sandbox RPG? With all Early Access games, I don’t go into it expecting perfection, as you know that it is an early build of the game, but I was hoping for something that could at least hint at its potential. And to be fair, there were moments where it absolutely does. But those moments were often held back by inconsistency, which left me stuck somewhere between impressed and unconvinced.

A World Full of Potential

It’s clear from the start that Valorborn is aiming for greatness. Right from the get-go, the world is the first thing that really grabs your attention. The map is large, visually distinct and packed with atmosphere. Whether it be crumbling fortresses that are being reclaimed by nature, or glowing, arcane-infused ruins that feel like there is a story buried deep within. Valorborn’s strong sense of identity is one of its positive traits, and I found myself exploring not because the game tells me to but because I genuinely wanted to see what is around the next corner.

The Medieval fantasy art direction does a lot of the heavy lifting, and in many ways, it carries the experience during its weaker moments. Even when the gameplay started to feel a bit uneven or buggy, the world kept the engagement and made the poorer moments bearable. The setting that Valorborn portrays is the kind of setting that holds history, but sometimes the game doesn’t always deliver on that factor in any fully satisfying way, though this could be due to the early access state of the game.

Gameplay and Combat Systems

Gameplay is the core of any game and from the trailers I saw for Valorborn I honest thought this would be the main thing that gets me pulled in and invested. Though this is where things start to get a bit more complicated. On paper, the core loop is solid—progression, combat, and multiplayer working together to create a layered experience. I feel like the combat system in where Valorborn tries to carve its own identity. It blends real-time action with tactical ability usage.

Which I thought I would like, but in hind sight found it quite dull and buggy. When it works, it’s genuinely satisfying. There were moments where everything clicked, timing abilities correctly, chaining attacks, working alongside teammates and when this happened the game felt great. It’s in those flashes that you really see what Valorborn could become with more time and refinement. But a big issue I have with Valorborn is its consistency.

Animations can feel stiff, hits don’t always register the way you expect them to, and enemy AI can be unpredictable in the worst way. I’d go from a fight that felt dynamic and engaging straight into one that felt clunky or repetitive which makes no sense. This back-and-forth makes it hard to settle into the experience, and after a few hours playing it starts to wear on you. It’s not that the combat is bad it’s that it hasn’t quite found its rhythm yet and this could be due to the early access build but personally I don’t feel like it should be this inconsistent.

Progression and Build Variety

When it comes to progression, I feel like it follows a similar pattern. The framework is solid and with it comes multiple classes, skill trees, and gear options that suggest a lot of potential with building variety for your characters. It was fun experimenting early on to try out different combinations and seeing what worked best for me but as I spent more time with it, it also began to show a few cracks.

Some builds clearly outperform others, which made no point in experimenting the other builds as they didn’t feel as rewarding. So instead of encouraging creativity it felt like the game highlight the best build and if you weren’t playing it, you were at a disadvantage.

Pacing and Progression Flow

I don’t want to sound like a bare of bad news all the time but pacing is another issue. Early progression feels right and keeps you engaged this is done in the form of a steady sense of reward. But later on, it slows down in a way that feels like more of a grind than satisfying. You will see repetitive with similar tasks that don’t really offer a strong payoff and some even feel like a drag. It gets in the way of the initial momentum of the game.

Multiplayer Experience

Multiplayer is clearly meant to be the right way to play Valorborn. In many ways it’s where the game shows the most promise. Which is a good sign. When everything lines up, it’s genuinely feels like a good game and I could see myself playing it on a regular basis. When you Coordinate with other players, combining abilities, and taking on tougher encounters it creates moments that feel rewarding in a way that makes the solo player experience feel lacking in comparison.

There’s a strong sense that this is what Valorborn wants you to invest in. But again, it isn’t always sunshine and daisies. Matchmaking can feel inconsistent, sometimes pairing players at very different stages of progression, which makes a lop-sided experience. It also messes with the balancing of encounters. Then there are the connectivity issues I had these happen quite a lot which ultimately took me out of the experience.

It’s frustrating because the potential is so obvious and you feel like if there was a bit more polish on these areas that the game could be so much more positive.

Narrative and Worldbuilding

The narrative side of Valorborn is interesting, but definitely underdeveloped in its current state. You can tell that there is a lot going on beneath the surface, in terms of different factions and a deeper lore that hints of conflict but most of it is delivered in fragments rather than a solid plot system. The game leans heavily on environmental storytelling, which works in some games but in Valorborn it feels more like a building block than a robust story telling system.

There were moments where I was intrigued, but never enough to feel fully invested. It’s the kind of storytelling that could really pay off later on when the game gets into full release and they have ironed out the kinks but as it is, it feels like it’s still finding its footing.

Technical Performance and Bugs

From a technical standpoint, the game is about what you’d expect when you pick up an early access game but that’s not always a good thing. When you invest in a game you expect a certain leave of performance and in Valorborn it is too uneven.

You can notice this more when you get into the larger encounters or busier areas. The drop in frames, minor bugs, and occasional glitches all show up throughout the experience which ultimately can’t be overlooked. For example, one of the bugs/glitches allowed me to go through a locked door into a building and I couldn’t get back out. Eventually I got out but it could potently ruin the game experience.

Some of these bugs and glitches could be game-breaking, but its that recurring factor that comes up in this preview and its that Valorborn has so many inconsistences that runs through nearly every part of gameplay in Valorborn right now.

This is really the key word here when I talk about Valorborn to other, inconsistency. Because for everything Valorborn gets right, there’s something holding it back. For every moment that pulls you in, there’s another that pushes you out. For every system that shows promise, there’s a lack of polish that stops it from fully landing. Even with all of that, I wouldn’t say that I’d never play Valorborn again. Would I say that I’m frustrated at the current state of the game? Definitely.

But not fully turned off right now. You can feel the ambition that the developers have for their game and what their intended vision is. And every now and then, you get a glimpse of what Valorborn could become if it manages to pull everything together. But these technicalities are hard to ignore.

Final Thoughts

In its current state, whether it’s worth playing really comes down to what you’re looking for. If you enjoy early access games and don’t mind dealing with rough edges, there’s enough here to keep you engaged. Valorborn has moments of genuine enjoyment, and the core idea is strong enough to carry you through the weaker parts. But if you’re looking for a polished, fully realised experience, this probably isn’t it at least not right now.

In the end, Valorborn feels like a game that’s still chasing its own potential. It has the foundation, the ideas, and just enough standout moments to keep you playing for a couple of hours but it hasn’t quite found the consistency it needs to truly shine. It’s ambitious, occasionally impressive but overall frustrating makes it and hard to ignore all the faults. For now, it sits firmly in that “wait and see” category.

But if the developers can refine the combat, stabilise the experience, and build on what’s already here, there’s every chance this could turn into a winner and a genuinely special final product.

Valorborn Trailer

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The game was provided to us for the express purpose of reviewing.