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Valkyrie Elysium’s story focuses on Odin creating a utopia to house his last Valkyrie in the wake of Ragnarok. He wants to save as much of the planet as possible, so he sends her on missions. That’s about as deep as the plot gets but the bigger question is this. Was this decade-long wait for a new entry in this franchise worth it?
8 Best: Simple But Satisfying Action
Valkyrie Elysium is not going to win any rewards for being the most original action RPG in 2022. However, it is fun for what it is and presents players with many skills. They can hack and slash away at enemies mindlessly.
They can use a varying degree of spells and take advantage of enemy weaknesses. They can also summon other characters to the battlefield to aid them. There’s a lot to unlock, including new weapons, which keeps things feeling fresh to a degree.
7 Worst: The Story
The story might hold players back from truly getting into Valkyrie Elysium. The setup of Odin giving Valkyrie missions can only go so far. The intrigue, for what little there is, is not going to have players on the edge of their seats.
Like the world, Valkyrie and the other characters inhabit, the narrative feels a bit lifeless. The voice acting can make players feel like they are hearing a dress rehearsal performance at best. It’s not the best story in an RPG, especially from Square Enix.
6 Best: Replayable Missions
One of the best things about the game is the ample amount of save slots, twenty times to be exact. A good portion of save slots can allow players to save spots around their favorite moments in RPGs. To Valkyrie Elysium’s credit, it also allows players to replay missions.
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Every mission will reward players with a grade that they can then go back and raise if they so choose. Rewards will not be as plentiful the second time around but this option being present is still lovely to see in an RPG.
5 Worst: No Multiplayer
Valkyrie Elysium is seemingly designed around the idea of multiplayer or an online system of some kind. There is the aforementioned grading system that could be put up for leaderboards. The story is almost like a second thought as if multiplayer was planned and scrapped.
The mission structure would just work so much better with at least one other person onboard. Players could take on the role of Eygon, Cypher, or any other Einherjar that normally appears in the game as an AI summon.
4 Best: The Grapple
There is one other element of the combat system that needs to get highlighted on its own. Valkyrie gets a grapple-like ability that allows her to get around environments for some basic platforming. Players can also use this grapple ability in battle to hook onto foes and zoom towards them.
If players get acquainted with the controls, they can flip across the battlefield with the grapple, fire spells, slash enemies, and be on the other side within seconds. It’s not as flexible as an action game akin to Bayonetta but with practice, players can certainly create a nice flow with the help of the grapple ability.
3 Worst: Not Quite Cel-Shaded Enough
One of the best art styles developers can put into their games is the cel-shading effect. This should guarantee that a game will stand the test of time longer because of how artistic the design is. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is a fine example of something that looks great on GameCube or Wii U with the remaster.
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Valkyrie Elysium has a cel-shaded pallet as well but it is a bit half-cocked. Everything still looks a bit drab and characters don’t pop which could confuse players on whether or not they are looking at a cel-shaded game.
2 Best: The Training Ground
Two helpful mechanics will allow players to practice their RPG combat skills. The Training Ground is at HQ and can be used to summon one or a dozen creatures to fight at once. The activity and damage numbers can be switched around too, even on the Easy difficulty mode.
Alternatively, whenever players unlock a new move for a weapon, a prompt window will open up asking if players wish to practice it. Both of these things combined go leagues beyond other action RPGs out there.
1 Worst: Boring Enemies And Environments
This comment goes along with the poor cel-shading attempt as the environments are drab and lifeless. Not even the best-looking shaders out there could make them pop. What’s even worse is that players are going to fight the same enemies on repeat for a good majority of the game.
Other hack and slash games like Dynasty Warriors can get away with drab enemy designs because they have overwhelming numbers to aid the gameplay. While the action in Valkyrie Elysium is fun, it would have been even cooler with more interesting enemies in more diverse environments.
Valkyrie Elysium was released on September 29, 2022, and is available on PC, PS4, and PS5.
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