New RuneScape co-op survival game debuts to 79% positive Steam reviews in Early Access, but it can't escape Valheim's shadow

RuneScape: Dragonwilds, the new co-op survival twist on Jagex's iconic 24-year-old fantasy MMO, is out now in early access, and it's off to a "mostly positive" start on Steam.

Dragonwilds released in early access yesterday, April 15, and at the time of writing, 79% of its 1,900+ reviews are positive. That's not to be sniffed at – early reviews are praising its "very solid core game mechanics" and overall "potential" of the game, with one player saying that it's "shockingly well done and polished."

As for its concurrent player count, Dragonwilds reached a respectable peak of 41,270 in its first day, according to SteamDB. Given that we're currently in the middle of the week, it seems reasonable to say that number could rise even higher over the weekend when people have more time to play, so we'll just have to watch this space.

Not everyone is completely sold on the survival game, mind you. Others have criticized Dragonwilds for being a "little bit too undercooked at the moment," as well as "rough enough around the edges that it'll benefit a few patches before you should consider spending $30 and jumping in." Being an Early Access game, this isn't entirely unexpected – Jagex will be continually improving things going forward, but it's fair to say that if you want things perfect, you're probably not going to get that experience right now.

Given the crafting and survival elements, Valheim comparisons are also very much present, for better and for worse. While one player goes as far as to say that it's "better than Valheim," another notes: "Valheim being the gold standard of this genre means RuneScape: Dragonwilds has some seriously big boots to fill. At the moment, it does fall short in many regards and commits some open-world survival-craft cardinal sins."

One Jagex senior community manager, Jake Blunt, previously spoke to PCGamesN about how the team is hoping that the game "isn't just us being like, 'it's Valheim, but…'" The devs are clearly aware that they're entering a "very competitive" genre, but "we want to embrace the fact that we have things that make us unique, rather than that we're doing something better than something that already exists."

Only time will tell if RuneScape: Dragonwilds has what it takes to be one of the best survival games like how RuneScape is one of the best MMORPGs.