The difficulty is one of the first things that comes to mind when playing Valfaris an old school run and gun platformer. Think Shadow of the Beast, Strider or something for you youngsters, My Friend Pedro. These games were hard, but we didn’t know anything else.
Valfaris, a once-bustling citadel for all the space boys and girls, reappears after a bit of hiatus and has become rotten to the core. Its inhabitants are now a population of nasty aliens and abominations, so hero, Therion, sets out to save civilisation.
That’s our story – don’t expect it to get complicated, it’s all gameplay from here on, with our titular hero. Therion is as hard as nails. He rocks up to the gig fashionably late in his wolf-like spaceship, his hair burning blue like he just walked out of a salon.
Death To All But Metal
The button setup is simple. First up is the standard-issue blaster with an endless supply of ammo and no reloads, bonzer. There is the melee attack in the form of a plasma sword at the start, which slowly solidifies into something much more dangerous. The final weapon is the heavy attack in the form of rocket equipped guns, super shotguns and a rubber chicken with a pulley in it.
All of Therion’s toys can be upgraded to be a bit more devastating or energy efficient. As there aren’t any bullets or rockets to collect, both the melee and heavy weapons use energy which can be accumulated through enemy deaths, or scattered around the levels.
Upgrades can be obtained through blood metal. These are like weapon parts as you can exchange them for improvements and they aren’t locked to individual weapons – they can improve any weapon. Unfortunately, they are quite scarce, so you need to them wisely or use the resurrection idols. Collect enough of these, and you can upgrade your weapon at the sacrifice of a checkpoint.
Unlike a typical rogue-like or Souls-like title, you keep everything after death. You don’t lose your idols, blood metal or weapons. Unless you activate each resurrection point in Valfaris, expect to return to the beginning upon death.
The developers, Steel Mantis, also made Slain, which has a similar theme; notably the soundtrack. One of my favourite parts of Valfaris is the heavy metal soundtrack. It’s awesome. If you don’t like thrashing guitars, it could get irritating but I loved every minute of it. The riffs kick in just at the right moment, and the volume seemingly adjusts to the action.
Valfaris PS4 Version Is Out Now
Valfaris is undoubtedly hard, but reasonably fair, and it’s easy to unlock early trophies to keep the motivation levels going. And, like most Souls-like games, working out how to beat a boss typically means learning their patterns (though there haven’t been any cheesing opportunities).
It’s a bit like Metal Slug 3 in that people can do speedruns without taking a hit. I was replaying the latter earlier in the week, and I think I died a dozen or so times on the first stage – despite attempting to do it in one.
Valfaris is the same in that it rewards the elite with achievements galore, yet somewhat accommodating to those with above-average skills. Certainly worth a look, and at the very least, a listen.
