Summary
Crafting endings to sandbox games likeValheimcan be challenging. Their premise is built on surviving a vast landscape where players create unique storylines. As such, playthroughs don’t have a definite end, which can pose a fatigue problem for even the most imaginative gamer. Plotlines need a conclusion that ties their events together, and final bosses currently serve this purpose in the sandbox landscape.Minecraftdeveloped the famous End Poem after defeating the Ender Dragon as its epilogue story, andValheimwent down a similar path with Yagluth before itsAshlands update. Some consider Fader as the new end boss due to his novelty, but there’s still room for improvement in the interest of storytelling.
It’s worth noting that several elements ofValheim’s tale are still shrouded in secrecy since the Iron Gate brainchild was released in early access and is still receiving updates and patches. With this in mind, the end boss designation might change hands several times before the game is considered “complete,” but there’s an obvious path for the developer to tread whenValheimgets to its finished phase. WhereMinecraft’s ending speaks about the player character from a detached point of view, the Norse-inspired survival game could neatly tie its plotlines by bringing Odin to the battlefield. ConsideringValheim’s teased role as a purgatory before ascending to Valhalla, facing off against the All-Father presents the ultimate test of worth.
Valheim’s Final Boss Needs a Godly Touch to End its Story
Traversing throughValheim’s treacherous biomesgives several clues to the experiences of warriors who have walked the Tenth Realm before the protagonist, although there’s no definite pointer that details how their stories ended. The rune stones that litter the world tell of characters dying and resurrecting multiple times, showing thatValheimis a test of wills and not mortality. So, while it’s unclear how an ascension to Valhalla takes place for now, the NPCs inhabiting the world before the player-character must have either succeeded or given up trying.
Before the Ashlands update, Yagluth served asValheim’s final boss, but it was hard to visualize defeating the king of the Fulings leading to freedom from the hellish landscape. Since there were no traditional rolling credits that players have come to expect from sandbox game endings, it stands to reason that there’s more than meets the eye inValheim’s lore. Additionally, taking comments from Iron Gate back in 2021 into account, there is a definitive end in sight for the title. If such a conclusion exists, the Ashlands update doesn’t appear to include it in its extensive offerings.
Valheim’s Odin Minion Premise Should Come to a Head
The idea surroundingValheim’s plot is that Odin sent the protagonist to the Tenth Realmto kill the Forsaken to prove their mettle. However, since viewing these halls of immortality might be one step too far, given the sandbox scope, Iron Gate might need to roll up its sleeves and get creative with the ending. The developer could go down the well-choreographed route of a true final boss, and there’s no better character to step into these fictional shoes than Odin. The All-Father is the reason the protagonist has had to labor past the seven-and-counting Forsaken altars, and he provides the perfect nemesis.
Filling the role with just another “evil” figure seems trite after going through however many biome bosses will be available comeValheim’s final state. Instead, every boss fight leading up to a grand finale against Odin — who sent the protagonist to do the dirty work of clearing a realm filled with his enemies — completes the story nicely. The All-Father splitValheimfrom the rest of the world tree as a way of exiling his foes, and judging by the rune stones, has sent countless warriors to clean up after him. The protagonist, having gone through all the suffering to prove his worth, could win vengeance forValheim’s wealth of NPCsand earn the rolling of credits in a showdown against Odin.
