Angel_Arle Valis reviews
Part 1: Valis II for PC Engine CD
Part 2: Valis III for PC Engine CD
Bonus: Valis III for Mega Drive
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
Well it’s that time again for me to review another Valis game. I don’t know how I keep spacing these so apart, I guess time flies by too fast. You may be surprised to hear this but I was going in blind for this one. I really don’t know how it took me this long to get to this game. I was excited to try this one hoping for Valis III but better seeing as I knew at the very least it had multiple characters once again. Here are my thoughts on Valis IV.
Valis IV in a gameplay standpoint is not an evolution of the series compared to 3. It’s still your usual action game with multiple characters being playable during the adventure. Due to Yuko becoming a goddess, Yuko is no longer the star character this time around. Lena is the new protagonist and she is basically Yuko again in terms of gameplay. Though gameplay changes were made in general. The power bar from before is completely gone going back to how it was in Valis II though you’re still stuck with only one type of attack. It can at least be upgraded all the way to level 5 though it goes back to 1 if you die. The high jump is also missing this time around though it’ll make sense later. Magic is also a lot more limiting as you now have a bar that you can upgrade giving 3 different levels of the magic. This means sadly each character only gets one type of magic which is really lame for me personally.
Now let me talk about the characters now. First you have Lena who is basically Yuko for this adventure. She can shoot a short ranged projectile with her sword but she makes up for it with her slide. That’s right it’s now no longer a universal technique like it was in Valis III. Thankfully they did this time mapped it as down + A which I like a lot more. They removed the hitbox for the move but at least you’ll still stay invincible during it so it can be a big help just don’t rely on it 24/7. Her magic involves electricity and is rather situational though the middle power of it can be good on enemies above you. Next there is Amu who is Lena’s sister. Amu uses a bird that can hit enemies though she can only throw one at a time. It is more powerful then Lena’s attack but it has one problem, you can’t use it as a crouch attack because for some reason it angles more up when you try to throw it which sucks. Amu can also double jump but it’s so bad, it not only can’t activate if you already reached the apex of the jump but it barely goes anywhere. Why they didn’t just keep the high jump is a mystery to me as it makes vertical sections annoying since they’ll make platforms slightly too tall to make you try to use the double jump. Her fire magic is pretty good as it can also home in on an enemy and does good damage. Big surprise here is we got our first male playable character named Asfal, he’s the father of the main villain of this game. He is tall meaning he can get hit the easiest, his projectile is the strongest but it goes down and along the ground meaning it’s hard to hit some enemies. He can also crouch and stab which is really good if you can get it to connect. He also can’t get hurt by hazards and isn’t affected by stuff like ice physics. His magic isn’t anything too special as it’s just his normal projectile but goes in different patterns like a circle. You’ll need to master the levels to optimize when using the 3, you can press RUN to immediately change and it’s now instant which is nice. It also helps you get them very early compared to Valis III.
Now the story is something I couldn’t really follow due to my lack of knowing the language. This game never got a US release meaning no dub. Thankfully the Valis wiki did help me learn what is going on. I find the story interesting as I was surprised to see Cham and Valna here. Sadly they are basically here to show they’re useless with Valna being crucified for most of the game. It’s a shame Cham is just here for the game to be like “She’s too weak” like idk if this was to make Lena and Amu look really strong but it kind of depressed me. Speaking of Amu, she sacrifices herself near the end to save Valna from getting killed by Galgear, who is the main villain of the game. That’s the Valis series for ya, they always gotta tug at your heart even if I’m a loser who only reacts with “damn that sucks…” I’m sorry guys I’m just bad at feeling much in stories in most old games. I do find it cool how you actually have a relative of the villain helping you out which gives a completely new dynamic we haven’t seen in the series. I also like how Yuko is now just a goddess and Lena even gets a vision of her past struggles of Yuko which really gives a sense of nostalgia for how far we have come. It’s all good stuff and it’s part of what makes the series so cool, even if I poorly explained the story in the last review (I’m still really sorry about that.)
Now the level design is interesting to me. I thought it would be a lot like Valis III in that regard but I admire what they tried here. You see in Valis III, characters only differentiated in offensive matters meaning their techniques in platforming and speed were identical which meant level design was catered to whoever benefitted the most at fighting off enemies. In Valis IV, they now use it to design levels based on a character's strengths like Asfal being able to walk past hazards like spikes or having platforming designed with Amu’s double jump even if the way they implement some of it feels like it was just to excuse the absence of a high jump. This is probably why Lena only has the slide now to give her something to do. I really admire that they were still trying to make different ideas for how to construct levels even by the 4th game, they could have just copy pasted ideas from the III game for how you tackle everything but they didn’t. That said it’s not all perfect. The enemy placement is even worse then before and this game has a fetish for enemies that can shield your attacks in the 2nd half and it’s obnoxious. You will despise the last level for just how many awfully placed shield throwers there are, it’s insane how obnoxious it gets. It’s a shame because I do like some of the stuff here like they made a level where you have to get through it as Lena quickly and collect hourglasses to prevent a time over which is something unique and is perfect for a character with a fast movement option. It just really needed some changes in the 2nd half and it would be very good.
The bosses feel kind of nothing in this game especially if you bring Asfal to most of them. They kind of just aren’t memorable to me and I can’t really say much about them besides that some can be tougher than others. Well there was the fight with Yuko that was pretty cool but I beat one of the two by just mindlessly attacking which I’m never a fan of being a way to win even if I could just easily not do it. The final boss however is brutal, it’s easily the hardest boss I’ve done so far. He not only has two forms but the 2nd form takes forever and it’s so easy to screw up if you’re not careful. You can at least get healing items from the hands if you beat them but the head takes so many hits that you’ll have to be very careful or else you respawn at the 2nd form with no upgrades meaning you might as well not bother. Unless I just suck or am doing something wrong, I wish they toned it down just a little.
Valis IV is a good looking game for the console. It feels like Valis just gets better and better with each game for the graphics. There’s a lot of good looking areas in this game with some really nice use of colors throughout. The sprites are all of the same quality as last time and they get the job done well nicely. The cutscenes also look pretty good with solid uses of colors and some really good shots here and there. I feel like they also got a good look with the shading used, it somehow makes the scenes at times feel more fitting in a way I can’t explain well. Now for the music I’m kind of mixed on it, it’s not bad stuff but I can’t really remember anything from the game even after listening to it multiple times including now as I write. The voice acting is still nice though Idk if I like Amu’s voice but maybe that’s just me. Also they still have that weird noise when you get hit and it feels really odd hearing it when Asfal gets hit. Still regardless of my nitpicks, it’s good stuff and gets a thumbs up from me.
This game is such a hard one for me to rank. I like it a lot but I honestly feel like its negatives hurt the game more than it did in III. Don’t get me wrong, I like the game, it is good but I can’t help but feel it could also be much better. I really wish some of the game got touched up and improved because there’s also some stuff I enjoy here. It tries to do it’s own thing while keeping some things that worked in past games and really shows the passion the developers had for the series. It’s a game I’d still recommend trying if you can but just be warned it’s far from perfect. Valis IV would get a Super Famicom version but I’ll go over that later. Next game in the Valis series will be on the Mega Drive and oh boy get ready for a drop in quality, until next time thanks for reading this if you read all the way through!
Part 1: Valis II for PC Engine CD
Part 2: Valis III for PC Engine CD
Bonus: Valis III for Mega Drive
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
Well it’s that time again for me to review another Valis game. I don’t know how I keep spacing these so apart, I guess time flies by too fast. You may be surprised to hear this but I was going in blind for this one. I really don’t know how it took me this long to get to this game. I was excited to try this one hoping for Valis III but better seeing as I knew at the very least it had multiple characters once again. Here are my thoughts on Valis IV.
Valis IV in a gameplay standpoint is not an evolution of the series compared to 3. It’s still your usual action game with multiple characters being playable during the adventure. Due to Yuko becoming a goddess, Yuko is no longer the star character this time around. Lena is the new protagonist and she is basically Yuko again in terms of gameplay. Though gameplay changes were made in general. The power bar from before is completely gone going back to how it was in Valis II though you’re still stuck with only one type of attack. It can at least be upgraded all the way to level 5 though it goes back to 1 if you die. The high jump is also missing this time around though it’ll make sense later. Magic is also a lot more limiting as you now have a bar that you can upgrade giving 3 different levels of the magic. This means sadly each character only gets one type of magic which is really lame for me personally.
Now let me talk about the characters now. First you have Lena who is basically Yuko for this adventure. She can shoot a short ranged projectile with her sword but she makes up for it with her slide. That’s right it’s now no longer a universal technique like it was in Valis III. Thankfully they did this time mapped it as down + A which I like a lot more. They removed the hitbox for the move but at least you’ll still stay invincible during it so it can be a big help just don’t rely on it 24/7. Her magic involves electricity and is rather situational though the middle power of it can be good on enemies above you. Next there is Amu who is Lena’s sister. Amu uses a bird that can hit enemies though she can only throw one at a time. It is more powerful then Lena’s attack but it has one problem, you can’t use it as a crouch attack because for some reason it angles more up when you try to throw it which sucks. Amu can also double jump but it’s so bad, it not only can’t activate if you already reached the apex of the jump but it barely goes anywhere. Why they didn’t just keep the high jump is a mystery to me as it makes vertical sections annoying since they’ll make platforms slightly too tall to make you try to use the double jump. Her fire magic is pretty good as it can also home in on an enemy and does good damage. Big surprise here is we got our first male playable character named Asfal, he’s the father of the main villain of this game. He is tall meaning he can get hit the easiest, his projectile is the strongest but it goes down and along the ground meaning it’s hard to hit some enemies. He can also crouch and stab which is really good if you can get it to connect. He also can’t get hurt by hazards and isn’t affected by stuff like ice physics. His magic isn’t anything too special as it’s just his normal projectile but goes in different patterns like a circle. You’ll need to master the levels to optimize when using the 3, you can press RUN to immediately change and it’s now instant which is nice. It also helps you get them very early compared to Valis III.
Now the story is something I couldn’t really follow due to my lack of knowing the language. This game never got a US release meaning no dub. Thankfully the Valis wiki did help me learn what is going on. I find the story interesting as I was surprised to see Cham and Valna here. Sadly they are basically here to show they’re useless with Valna being crucified for most of the game. It’s a shame Cham is just here for the game to be like “She’s too weak” like idk if this was to make Lena and Amu look really strong but it kind of depressed me. Speaking of Amu, she sacrifices herself near the end to save Valna from getting killed by Galgear, who is the main villain of the game. That’s the Valis series for ya, they always gotta tug at your heart even if I’m a loser who only reacts with “damn that sucks…” I’m sorry guys I’m just bad at feeling much in stories in most old games. I do find it cool how you actually have a relative of the villain helping you out which gives a completely new dynamic we haven’t seen in the series. I also like how Yuko is now just a goddess and Lena even gets a vision of her past struggles of Yuko which really gives a sense of nostalgia for how far we have come. It’s all good stuff and it’s part of what makes the series so cool, even if I poorly explained the story in the last review (I’m still really sorry about that.)
Now the level design is interesting to me. I thought it would be a lot like Valis III in that regard but I admire what they tried here. You see in Valis III, characters only differentiated in offensive matters meaning their techniques in platforming and speed were identical which meant level design was catered to whoever benefitted the most at fighting off enemies. In Valis IV, they now use it to design levels based on a character's strengths like Asfal being able to walk past hazards like spikes or having platforming designed with Amu’s double jump even if the way they implement some of it feels like it was just to excuse the absence of a high jump. This is probably why Lena only has the slide now to give her something to do. I really admire that they were still trying to make different ideas for how to construct levels even by the 4th game, they could have just copy pasted ideas from the III game for how you tackle everything but they didn’t. That said it’s not all perfect. The enemy placement is even worse then before and this game has a fetish for enemies that can shield your attacks in the 2nd half and it’s obnoxious. You will despise the last level for just how many awfully placed shield throwers there are, it’s insane how obnoxious it gets. It’s a shame because I do like some of the stuff here like they made a level where you have to get through it as Lena quickly and collect hourglasses to prevent a time over which is something unique and is perfect for a character with a fast movement option. It just really needed some changes in the 2nd half and it would be very good.
The bosses feel kind of nothing in this game especially if you bring Asfal to most of them. They kind of just aren’t memorable to me and I can’t really say much about them besides that some can be tougher than others. Well there was the fight with Yuko that was pretty cool but I beat one of the two by just mindlessly attacking which I’m never a fan of being a way to win even if I could just easily not do it. The final boss however is brutal, it’s easily the hardest boss I’ve done so far. He not only has two forms but the 2nd form takes forever and it’s so easy to screw up if you’re not careful. You can at least get healing items from the hands if you beat them but the head takes so many hits that you’ll have to be very careful or else you respawn at the 2nd form with no upgrades meaning you might as well not bother. Unless I just suck or am doing something wrong, I wish they toned it down just a little.
Valis IV is a good looking game for the console. It feels like Valis just gets better and better with each game for the graphics. There’s a lot of good looking areas in this game with some really nice use of colors throughout. The sprites are all of the same quality as last time and they get the job done well nicely. The cutscenes also look pretty good with solid uses of colors and some really good shots here and there. I feel like they also got a good look with the shading used, it somehow makes the scenes at times feel more fitting in a way I can’t explain well. Now for the music I’m kind of mixed on it, it’s not bad stuff but I can’t really remember anything from the game even after listening to it multiple times including now as I write. The voice acting is still nice though Idk if I like Amu’s voice but maybe that’s just me. Also they still have that weird noise when you get hit and it feels really odd hearing it when Asfal gets hit. Still regardless of my nitpicks, it’s good stuff and gets a thumbs up from me.
This game is such a hard one for me to rank. I like it a lot but I honestly feel like its negatives hurt the game more than it did in III. Don’t get me wrong, I like the game, it is good but I can’t help but feel it could also be much better. I really wish some of the game got touched up and improved because there’s also some stuff I enjoy here. It tries to do it’s own thing while keeping some things that worked in past games and really shows the passion the developers had for the series. It’s a game I’d still recommend trying if you can but just be warned it’s far from perfect. Valis IV would get a Super Famicom version but I’ll go over that later. Next game in the Valis series will be on the Mega Drive and oh boy get ready for a drop in quality, until next time thanks for reading this if you read all the way through!