Angel_Arle Valis reviews
Part 2: Valis III for PC Engine CD
Bonus: Valis III for Mega Drive
Part 3: Valis IV for PC Engine CD
Part 4: SD Valis for Mega Drive
Part 5: Mugen Senshi Valis: The Legend of a Fantasm Soldier for PC Engine CD
Part 6: Super Valis: Akaki Tsuki no Otome for Super Famicom
Final Part: Mugen Senshi Valis for Famicom

I might do it this year but I also might not, I can't say but I just wanna kind of talk about my feelings on this franchise and go through the few games it has. I like this series. I think I'm one of the only few who actually cares about this series on this site. Not sure if anyone will care but regardless I don't mind if anyone doesn't. This is something I wanna do because I just think it be fun to do. I probably won't do one for Valis 1 Mega Drive since I already did a long review for it but for the rest, expect me to talk about them someday.

So Valis II, this was the beginning of the series on the PC Engine. Yeah it actually didn't start with 1 which ended up being the last one. This game would get versions on Japanese computers a few months later I think. The game's age has shown and I'm gonna say rn, this is a guilty pleasure for me.

If you read my Super Albatross review you'll know that I said it was a game where it felt like they had a good story in mind but put underwhelming golf gameplay second. Valis II is kind of like that minus the golf obviously. The story is pretty ambitious for a console game in presentation and just scope. I think the only thing that really could rival it was Ninja Ryuukenden or Ninja Gaiden as it's called here. That was also a game that had a good amount of story but had the limitations of being on the Famicom. Granted Valis games aren't something that's going to make you cry or feel super invested in but it's the thing I admire about this series is that it tried to tell a story and honestly I think it sometimes hits. But that gameplay though...

Yeah Valis II is what I like to call straight line the video game. So much of this game is just going straight with maybe some easy light platforming, many enemies to fight and idk sometimes you might go up or down. Levels can also tend to go on for too long at times though the game is only 6 Acts long.

Fighting enemies isn't too hard in fact I will tell you right now this game is incredibly easy once you realize the best weapon is that one thats like a slash wave I don't remember the name. It's not only powerful but it can delete enemy projectiles making the game a breeze. That doesn't mean you should be careless but it's the only weapon you should ever care about getting.

This game also I believe introduced special items that can do stuff like hit every enemy on screen, temporary invincibility, some items to circle around for protection, and even time stop. There's also a defense up item and speed up item that happen automatically when collected. This game is also pretty generous to not make items disappear if you wait too long, you practically have to try to make them go away.

Ohh can we go back to the story real quick? Well actually I have control so I will do that. It's nice seeing connections to the first game with Yuko meeting with a still dead Reiko (I still cry everytime!!) and you even get mentions of the previous game's antagonist Rogles. The new villain Megas is quite a tragic one actually. Once you beat him the game actually hits you hard basically reminding you that one day Yuko will also suffer a tragic fate that Megas had already suffer of that you almost can't help but feel bad for this girl or at least I did...This game also gives Yuko a new outfit in the 2nd half anddddd I don't like it sorry. What kills it for me is just the small little flap that covers her vagina like they knew exactly what they were doing. There's not even artwork for the outfit outside of the PC version covers. Look I'm not gonna sit you all down and tell you why the original Valis Armor was a work of art in design cause I'm kind of just neutral towards even though I've gotten a friend to draw my IRL self wearing the outfit...wait is admitting that going to get me laughed at? but yeah not a fan of the new one. I still do like at least how Yuko's sprite has 3 different outfits depending on where you're at in the game.

Speaking of Megas those bosses sure are easy...I really don't know why they're such a joke especially once you fight them once. You know what's also weird, you get to keep going if you do die, it's the one time the game won't take you back to a checkpoint. Though keep in mind your max lives count is 7. The final boss though is so easy that even in my first playthrough I beat it in less than 30 seconds. I really wonder why they aren't balanced better. I think another issue has to do with the fact that your health bar is massive especially once you get upgrades for it. Well I do at least like how they have random made up stats to pretend it means anything.

I just wanna say I love how this game does the music. It has such a heroic uplifting theme to it all. I like how a lot of the music sounds like it could match similarly to that awesome piece of music on the title screen. This game also marks the first and only time I believe the series has a victory jingle for beating a level but I could be wrong. (Note: I'm an idiot, I somehow forgot SD Valis has one.) My only real issue with the music is for some reason it loops poorly after stage 1. The game looks pretty good for the cutscenes even with that ugly green border cropping. The game itself though is nothing special and I'd argue some backgrounds just don't look all that good to begin with. The voice acting for the cast changes depending on the region you have it for. The english cast is bad but it's like a funny bad but I still do like the attempt at least. The japanese one sounds good and I feel like they must have enjoyed it as there's even a secret message you can find if you do the cheat Yuko tells you if you wait long enough at the "THE END" screen.

Valis II feels like a new beginning for Yuko on consoles. Sure she had a Famicom game before this but it was nothing like any other version of the game and is usually poorly received. Valis II is far from a good game but I still kind of enjoy it probably for being a quick easy game to finish. I admire the attempt it made even if some of it feels half hearted. Laser Soft would later go on to work on Valis IV and SD Valis and for their first attempt, it could have been a lot worse. All I have left to say is everytime the last cutscene plays, I love that shot of Yuko's face as you then see the view with the Valis sword on the ground. Who knows what will happen to Yuko next. The song fits the last scene perfectly really putting a nice end to the game. Am I too emotional about all of this? Yes. If you read all of this then thank you for your time. See you whenever I replay Valis III.