Valheim’s Tutorial Raven Punched Over a Dozen Times In Funny Dev Video

Valheim’s tutorial raven Hugin, which is an NPC helper that gets newcomers acquainted with the game’s base mechanics, has been treated to a harsh beating in a funny video from developers. That’s certainly one way to communicate with players, although Iron Gate Studios usually just relies on official announcements.

Quite recently, Valheim’s developer has shared a sneak peek at what to expect from the upcoming content updates. The anticipated Heath & Fire pack, which had to be postponed due to the game’s explosive popularity, is coming together nicely, but the studio hasn’t reached the point to announce the exact release date. Not delving into specific details, the devs teased two upcoming additions, one of which could be related to functional irrigation mechanics. Apart from that, the small indie team also revealed that it is working on slight redesigns of certain creatures including the infamous Troll and a couple of bosses.

Valheim’s Hugin, a barely annoying educational NPC that appears any time a player reaches a certain progression milestone in the game, has been recently featured in a silly video by Iron Gate Studios. On Twitter, the developer of the indie-hit title published a short compilation of gameplay footage that included Hugin spawning at slightly awkward moments. For its unwanted appearances, Odin’s bothersome bird of unrequested wisdom got beaten multiple times, vanishing in clouds of black feathers. Interestingly, the community did not fall for that, defending the noble bird and calling the devs monsters for their violent behavior. Players might actually be right, as the video featured almost no scenes of Hugin interrupting the gameplay flow. There was a particular moment when the bird appeared in the middle of melee combat, but other than that, the video is mostly compiled of unfounded avian cruelty.

Hugin is an excellent choice for a tutorial NPC since the magical bird belongs to Norse mythology that Valheim is based on. Still, the game is not a direct citation of Scandinavian legends but rather more of a loose interpretation that features some of the key points. The titular Valheim is developers’ invention as it’s the tenth realm whereas conventional Norse mythology only includes nine. This slight discrepancy allowed the indie team to offer a unique world, nonetheless inspired by familiar myths.

While there could be opposite reactions to the footage of Valheim’s Hugin being beaten to death, the video itself is an indicator that Iron Gate Studios has embraced the memes surrounding the game. Although the specific topic of the latest Twitter post could’ve been thought through a bit more, the very fact that the devs are laughing together with their community is enlightening. Basically, that’s a sign of a healthy relationship between the supplier and consumers of content, which is something other developers should look forward to doing, also.

Valheim is available on PC.

Source: Valheim/Twitter

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