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Review: Valdis Story – Abyssal City (. stars) (Part 1). Plenty of hidden treasures exist on the map, and all of them will augment your character. This video is unavailable. Watch Queue Queue. Watch Queue Queue.
Valdis Story: Abyssal City | |
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Developer(s) | Endless Fluff |
Publisher(s) | Endless Fluff |
Composer(s) | Zack Parrish |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, OS X |
Release |
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Genre(s) | Platform-adventure, Role-playing video game, Metroidvania[1] |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Valdis Story: Abyssal City is a 2013action-adventureplatform game developed by American indie studio Endless Fluff. It was funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign which concluded on April 27, 2012 with $49,574 raised, over six times its $8000 goal.[2]
Plot[edit]
According to legend, long ago the Goddess Valdis birthed two daughters into the world; one of Light (Alagath) and one of Darkness (Myrgato). One day Myrgato attacked her in her home city of Sitheil. Alagath arrived too late to prevent this, and her subsequent battle with her sister sunk the holy city.
During the present day, while on a sea voyage in search of a Knight in Myrgato's Dark Army, the Four Protagonists (Reina, Wyatt, Gilda, and Vladyn) are attacked by massive sea creatures and sucked into the submerged city of Sitheil. Sitheil-once believed to have been lost-persists underwater; the submerged city is encased in a barrier that allows for the remaining humans and feral creatures in it to live underwater. Alagaths' Angels and Myrgato's Demons still occupy areas of the city, vying for supremacy.
Each of the four protagonists set out to find the ship's crew, from whom they have been separated. Aided by the few remaining humans in Sitheil across several towns, the protagonists manage to find each other and their crew whilst uncovering the truth behind Valdis' supposed death and the war between Alagath and Myrgato that is consuming their world.
According to old texts strewn about, the world of Erebus is a living entity which is connected to all humans through spiritual energy. Initially, only a few humans were able to wield large amounts of this energy, but through humanity's history more and more people were able to tap into this unseen energy. Powerful beings from another world would emerge on Erebus, drawn by this powerful energy. These 'Tyrant Gods' would rule over humanity, until a small tribe led a rebellion against them. When the rebellion's leader was assassinated, his grief-stricken wife—Valdis—would awaken to her powers over death and lead humanity towards victory.
Becoming a Goddess, she would then create a daughter of Light (Alagath) and a daughter of Darkness (Myrgato) to watch over humanity in her stead. Wishing to live in solitude, Valdis would then live among nomadic warrior tribes (The Goibniu) in frozen wastelands. Living amongst them would reignite her passions and lead her to becoming an active part of Erebus once more. The frozen wasteland she inhabited would then become the prosperous city of Sitheil, with Valdis as its leading figure.
Towards the end of the game the protagonists find Valdis during her final moments of life, where she reveals that it was both of her daughters whom attacked her, not just one. They did so out of fear of her power over death and fear of the Goibniu's acquired knowledge of weaponry and techniques in defeating the Gods. In her final moments she laments that her daughters became as Tyrannical as the Gods she freed humanity of many years ago. She reveals that Reina is her daughter; she precipitated the protagonist's capsized ship to bring Reina to her; and that Wyatt's father was a Goibniu whom assisted her in getting Reina out of Sitheil and who also bred with a powerful demon for the explicit purpose of having strong offspring who could protect Reina. Before she dies she informs Reina that her sisters do not know of her existence, and that she must eliminate her two mistakes.
As the protagonists make their way out of the now inundated city, they all form their own personal resolves to bring the war between Myrgato and Alagath to an end, with Reina as their leading figure.
Gameplay[edit]
Valdis Story is a side-scroller in which the player controls one of four protagonists. Each can run, jump, traverse obstacles, and use unique weaponry and magic to defeat enemies. The undersea city consists of several zones, between which he player can freely move. The player will acquire many items throughout their journey, and some of them will grant new abilities; for example, they will be able to create platforms out of ice, which will allow them to access areas that were previously inaccessible. The game contains many RPG elements; enemies will drop loot (i.e., better equipment), and the player character gains experience from combat. As they level up, the player will be able to acquire new combat skills from the in-game skill tree.
Reception[edit]
Valdis Story received positive reviews, and currently sits at 83/100 on Metacritic.[3] Andrew Barker of RPGFan gave it 93%, saying he 'had a wonderful time playing Valdis Story. Time and time again it exceeded my expectations, and it's a privilege that I was able to play and review it.'[4]Destructoid awarded the game 9/10, concluding that it 'simultaneously succeeds as both an action platformer and a Metroidvania with RPG elements, and it's a must-play for fans of either genre.'[5] GamingTrend scored it 8/10, criticizing the game's control scheme; it said the '[j]umping has an uneasy float to it', and was particularly critical of the need to do a 'Street Fighter-style 'hadouken' movement' to perform a dash, noting that this requirement was '[a]ll the more confounding [given] that the left and right bumpers on the controller go entirely unused while combinations of buttons are needed for things like menus and special attacks.' However, it still recommended Valdis Story overall, saying, 'Valdis Story makes you earn your progress, and that makes success all the more satisfying.'[6]
References[edit]
- ^Pinsof, Allistair (May 2, 2013). 'Calling all Metroidvania fans: Check out Valdis Story'. Destructoid. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
- ^https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/460275866/valdis-story-abyssal-city/description
- ^'Valdis Story: Abyssal City'. Metacritic. Retrieved September 17, 2016.
- ^Barker, Andrew (September 16, 2013). 'Valdis Story: Abyssal City'. RPGFan. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
- ^Carter, Chris (January 2, 2014). 'Review: Valdis Story: Abyssal City'. Destructoid. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
- ^Buckley, Matt (2013). 'Valdis Story hurts so good'. GamingTrend. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Valdis_Story:_Abyssal_City&oldid=949260798'
'Valdis Story: Abyssal City is an outstanding game that I struggled to tear myself away from.' Valdis Story began as a short, free game developed by EndlessFluff a few years ago. It was taken to Kickstarter sometime later where it found overwhelming success, easily smashing its funding target. Now that I've played it, it's easy to see why.
Valdis Story: Abyssal City is an outstanding game that I struggled to tear myself away from.In a world where demons and angels are at war, Wyatt and his crew set sail in order to track down his missing father. During the voyage, their ship is attacked by creatures from below and sunk. Beneath the water's surface, they find a slowly dying ancient city under constant attack from angels, demons and ferals. Separated from his crew, Wyatt must now reunite them while continuing the search for his father.
During his journey, he discovers lost secrets and unravels mysteries surrounding him and his friends.The premise and setting for the story are brilliant. The actual storytelling is sparse (which may be hit or miss for some players), but by speaking to NPCs, collecting items and fully exploring the city, additional information and lore entries fill in the gaps.
The circumstances surrounding Wyatt's father's disappearance, the true nature of the two goddesses Alagath and Myrgato, and even the backstory of the game's bosses are there to be discovered. Even better, neither angels nor demons fit their typical alignments of good or evil, but are both considered the enemies of humans. By the end, it feels like only the surface of the story has been scratched.Valdis Story rewards those who go out of their way to explore; a vital aspect of this Metroidvania-style game. As you leap around the beautiful 2D world, you acquire new equipment and spells that allow access to previously unreachable locations.
Summoning ice pillars as temporary platforms, short-range teleports and wall-kicking are just a few of the abilities needed to fully traverse the city. Dozens of hidden items, chests and crew members wait to be found, some of which are extraordinarily hard to find, making it sweeter when you do.As you explore, it's hard not to notice the fantastic musical score. At just the right moments it adds to the beauty, tension and isolation found in the game. Check out if you'd like to know more. You'll have plenty of chances to hear it during your wandering as, without a cohesive world map (though there are area maps), remembering which locations connect can be tiring. While few items can be permanently missed, one location cannot be returned to and one village, without warning, is abandoned after playing through enough of the game. This could potentially aggravate players hoping to achieve 100% completion.There is an excellent variety of places to see, from sewers filled with green goo to palaces literally sparking with electricity.
The visual design of these locations is beautiful and the sharp 2D graphics and animation breathe life into it. Each area poses new environmental challenges such as frozen locations that drain your health over time, or rocky regions with collapsing platforms. Jumping is a little imprecise, which can cause problems on the more difficult platforming sections. This, along with the layout of certain rooms, leads to immense frustration when, after falling from a high room, you return to a lower one and must beat the same enemies and challenges to climb back up again. It's bearable once or twice, but it's thrown frequently at you near the end of the game.At the moment, there are two playable characters to choose from: Wyatt or Reina. Two additional characters, Vladyn and Gilda, will be released for play at no extra charge at a later date. They should be something to look forward to, because Wyatt and Reina both have strikingly different styles of play.
Where Wyatt sticks to his sword and uses both light and dark magic, Reina fights with her fists and has a completely different selection of offensive and defensive spells. Both characters have different skill trees too, and with a maximum level of twenty, more than one playthrough will be required if you want to try everything out.
Not all combat mechanics are explained though, and while many are self-explanatory, others remain a bit of a mystery.Combat flows smoothly, and stringing attacks together is fast-paced and exciting. The keyboard controls are clunky, but they can be rearranged or a gamepad can be used.
You can execute short-ranged dashes that allow you to dodge and move past foes, or employ more than twenty spells to deal damage, heal, boost your own abilities or reach new places. The sound effects that accompany them are appropriate, though a little artificial at times.
Nevertheless, spell diversity is outstanding, and there are dozens of ways to approach combat in any particular battle. Often, you will need to mix up your strategy as some enemies focus on speed and manoeuvrability, while others are heavily armoured or stand back and shoot. There's a solid variety of foes, though their design relies on palette-swapping as the game progresses. On level up you can assign stat points and choose to focus on magic, melee or a mix of the two. It's a fun, flexible system that provides great variety on additional plays.There are plenty of bosses to test your skills against, both story-based and optional, and you'll always need to be at your best to beat them. Monstrous armoured angels and sleek, agile demons are just a few you'll encounter.
Different bosses require you to take down shields, stay above poisonous gas, navigate precarious platforms, destroy healing devices and even beat a time limit in order to destroy them. There's terrific variety, and, even on the normal difficulty setting, they are a real challenge to defeat. Once you do so, you are given a rank based on how soundly you thrashed them, and may be rewarded with extra experience or even additional stat or skill points to assign. At the end of the game you receive an overall ranking too, so completionists have a huge task ahead of them.I had a wonderful time playing Valdis Story. Time and time again it exceeded my expectations, and it's a privilege that I was able to play and review it. Just when I thought I had seen the greatest boss or most intense challenge, it threw another one at me. One play through, as Wyatt, takes about 10-15 hours, so there's at least twice that to play as Reina and collect all the hidden items.
Once Gilda and Vladyn are added, you can double that play time again! As long as you're prepared for a challenging game, I can't recommend Valdis Story enough.© 2013 EndlessFluff Games. All rights reserved. © 1998—2020 RPGFan Media, LLC.
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