Expeditions: Viking

This is a fine game, not one of the best but fine. I would consider it at least 7/10 in general and 8/10 if you are into turn based combat, realistic historical settings, vikings, medieval period..etc.
Pros:
+ Game music is great, it really creates the atmosphere of the time and region where the game takes place, and also it is responsive, it affects the players mood in parrallel to plot / game events.
+ I really liked realistic portraits and 2D art of loading screens.
+ Graphics are fine, not one of the best but still beatiful.
+ I really liked the idea of realistic setting. The devs created pretty solid skill system, although it has little variety, I think most of realistic systems would have variety issues, I still liked the skill system and camping mechanics.
Cons:
-The crafting and looting system is based on grinding. It was really tiresome.

-The characters and side quests are not memorable. Although hand drawn portraits are astonishing and really helps to player about imagining the personalities of the npcs, there is a lack of writing. The npcs are not backed with enough text, information and communication.
Suggestion: Lastly, I'd like to mention about language of the game that I am not fond of. Even there are a few mediaval elements in the game, I find the language game uses too modern.
When I look at the text closely, how people talk with each other, what jokes do they make each other, what are their belief system, what are their values.. etc., I realised that all this issues are considered and written in a very modern way of thinking. It felt like all the characters in the game are modern people who are put in medieval britannia.
I know the audience who lives in 2020 may not like the real mind set of medieval man, it might be found distasteful, boring, cruel, repulsive..etc but also a realistic representation of mind set of medieval times would create a truly unique experience. It might be the differentiating factor between a fine game and a cult classic.
I know there is litterally no developer would take such risks but one can only hope ...

It's a great isometric rpg with turn based combat, i was surpised by the overall quality of the game and lack of bugs. The story and writing are better than many recent AAA games.

It's a solid turn based RPG. Mid depth combat which resolves quickly and is less reliant on RNG, decent writing and not too much of it, multiple paths, well produced. If you enjoy the genre, chances are you'll like it, though I'd be inclined to hold off for a sale.
What I don't like:
1) 50 hours is far too long for the variety and mechanical depth this game has. You'll experience most of the game mechanics in a couple of hours. After that, you'll get to craft better equipment, pick some new abilities and follow the story, but it's really just the same thing over and over for 50 hours. 30 hours would be a much better game length.
2) There are far, far too many loot containers. There are probably a hundred or more in each urban map. 1-2 hours of finding and clicking on these over the course of a game is hardly a quality experience for the player. Less is more.
3) While there is some variation in character builds based on weapon type and other skills (leadership, witchcraft etc) all characters will pretty much end up picking the same stat boosting perks.
4) Base building provides so little benefit that it is effectively disconnected from broader gameplay. What you build and when won't provide you with very much extra resources, or advantages in combat.

Just finished my first playthrough and I absolutely enjoyed it.
This game gives you much more historical and believable vikings then any other game I have ever played. Shields are a must, archers can kill unarmored fighters with one arrow, two handed axes are the real dane-ax, everyone, even the civilians have names and soooo much more.
There is a real distinction between the danes, the picts and the angle-saxons. They use differend names, idioms from their specific languages and all that. The villages of the three groups are easily dicernable, the stuggle of christianity against the old pagan believes are pretty well executed and as a history nerd that just makes me happy.
Also the game gives you a lot of freedom in what you want to do. You can go to britain and raid, murder, loot. You can become the champion of the old gods and fight christianity. Or of course you can do the oppsite. You can help the Picts conquer Britain. Or you can help the Anglo-Saxons to to rule the island. Also you can get them to exhaust themselfs in fighting each other while you gather an invasion force that will take the weakened by surprise.
This game is great. There some bugs, some strange design oversights but as you are able to quicksave and quickload anytime, those did not matter to me, in comparison to all the stuff this game does right.
And so my viking thegn called Harald Blödaxe Oxenstjernason became a daneman of great renown and I had a lot of fun guiding him along the way.

I love this game! One suggestion though, one that I've seen elsewhere. Make a character, play the first part of the campaign (before you leave Denmark) and then start over, putting into practice the things you learned from the first time around. Going to England with a sub-par character and hird will land you in the situation I initially ran into: having a great time, invested in the game play and story, but getting beaten like a red-headed step child (which I am, BTW). There are also some excellent resources online with suggestions on character builds and combat. Well put together characters will be able to handle the challenges thrown at them, making play much more enjoyable.

Expeditions: Viking is a great game, more so in light of it being a small studio title.
I enjoyed the story, the concept and the tactical battles a lot.
The characters were nicely done and convincing, as was the great nordic environment.
Further:
+ good character generation and development
+ most quests are pretty cool, not too many fetch quests or other boring stuff in that regard
+ nice dynamics between the characters of your hird, not so cool as e.g. in Baldur's Gate though
+ graphics are ok
+ some of the music was cool
- the game is not totally bug free ( I played in September 2020), but nothing major: frequently NPCs who are supposed to run into a specific direction were following that path in circles, also I saw a dead opponent fall through the floor which made him unlootable, and I experienced a few crashes playing the game on a standard notebook
- some music was nerve-wrecking, especially the combat song
- I bought that soundtrack made by that famous Norwegian, but the music appears not in the game ?! I would suggest that this is something that should be done as those songs are really nice.
- some upgrades don't have any or only small effects in the game world, e.g. the speed of your ship which is only relevant for some random encounter but not when sailing
Some reviews mention that you have to decide whether you want to go for power or for prosperity. That is true so you have to follow one road when upgrading your village. You need 100 points in either way. It appears it is mutually exclusive. I ended with 79 prosperity and 123 power triggering the power ending after conquering Britain. I had around 80.000 valuables which probably could hace bought me the missing points in prosperity as well. so it seems that it is theoratically possible to acquire sufficient points for both ways in one game, but that would have to be planned thoroughly from the beginning.
Have fun with this game, I can recommend it! i would give it a 82/100 in the category of small studio titles.

Similar to battle brothers but with a more focused narrative.