Review: Valfaris
| Author: | Brian Powell Jr |
| Date: | December 14, 2023 7:53:00 pm EST |
| Last Updated: | June 1, 2024 9:01:59 pm EDT |
| Read Time: | 2 min read |
| Tags: |
Game Details
| Genre | Developer | Publisher | Release Date | Reviewer's Sentiments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Action Platformer | Steel Mantis | Big Sugar | 2019-10-10 | Recommended |
Summary
Valfaris is an action platformer game from Steel Mantis. The studio that brought us Slain: Back From Hell. The combat is well balanced and requires players to stay focused or else suffer numerous deaths. The game is relatively short and can be completed in under 5 hours if you aren’t hunting for secrets. The game supports multiple playstyles through the various weapons you unlock. I found this game more fun to play than Slain: Back From Hell.
A Deadly Homecoming
Valfaris starts with very little explanation of the events going on. In a way, it’s like a 2D side-scrolling version of Doom 2016. There is just enough dialogue to continue the story, but ultimately it’s just kill everything in your path. You play as Therion, the son of Emperor Vroll, on a quest to make your father pay for his crimes. You return to your home of Valfaris, a space station orbiting a star.
Upon arriving you find that everyone is hostile and that Valfaris has become infested. As you fight your way through the space station you learn that your father unleashed some horror and then fled. Those that remained succumbed to madness.
Gameplay
The gameplay for Valfaris can be described as: tough, but fair. The game has a well balanced difficulty curve. You will die numerous times. Most of my deaths were due to either my impatience or just lack of focus. There are multiple checkpoints placed throughout the levels. Valfaris innovated on the checkpoint system with adding a token system that when held they increase your max health. Additionally, any leftover checkpoint tokens can be cashed out at the end of the level for Blood Metal, an upgrade resource. This gives the player a choice of either skipping a checkpoint to have more health or having less health but less distance to travel after dying. For the most skilled players, you can unlock an achievement for completing the entire game with no more than 10 deaths. At the time of writing this review, only 1.2% of Steam users were able to beat the game with no more than 10 deaths.
The one thing I didn’t like about the combat was how ridged the controls felt. When aiming your guns you’re confined to 8 cardinal directions. While all of the enemies adhere to the same rules when aiming at you it does feel less fluid than I would have preferred. Towards the end of the game, I found using melee was just more efficient than using my guns. This will backfire a bit as some enemies have AOE attacks to punish you for being too close.
Final Thoughts
Valfaris is a fun game to play with well balanced difficulty and pace. If you’re a fan of action platformer games with pixel graphics then you’ll more than likely enjoy this game. Steel Mantis is a studio to keep an eye on over the years to come.