Valdis Story: Abyssal City

 PC
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 90 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 62 out of 90
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 90
  3. Negative: 11 out of 90

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  1. Uhrmacher
    Nov 15, 2013
    6
    If you are looking for something to scratch that Metroidvania itch, this is your solution. It's a bit rough around the edges, but it will satisfy.
    The combat in this game is a blast. It is very fluid. At first, it felt pretty awkward. After I got a little bit of practice with the different abilities, I was hooked. The combat and the boss fights hit that balance between challenging and    If you are looking for something to scratch that Metroidvania itch, this is your solution. It's a bit rough around the edges, but it will satisfy.
    The combat in this game is a blast. It is very fluid. At first, it felt pretty awkward. After I got a little bit of practice with the different abilities, I was hooked. The combat and the boss fights hit that balance between challenging and fun. If combat was the only aspect of this game, it would be an easy 10/10.
    Unfortunately, combat is not the only aspect of this game. It is chock-full of platforming sequences that are simply not fun. A lot of them have timers that are horridly strict and punish you for even a slight mis-step. The controls are also just not built for platforming. Lastly, the enemies themselves also frustrate matters since one hit in the air causes you to recoil until you hit the ground...sometimes setting you back 2-5 minutes only to have it happen again and again.
    I know that this game is not meant to hold your hand, but I'm guessing that it is meant to be fun. The platforming sequences are just not fun. They are tedious.
    The music is awesome. The combat is awesome. The controls are kind of spotty but good most of the time (and not built for platforming). The platforming sequences are not awesome, and hold this game back something fierce. The highest I can give this game is a 6/10, and I count myself as a metroidvania fan.
    A bit of advice: Get a controller for this game and you will enjoy it much more.    … Expand
  2. xnnx
    Jan 10, 2014
    6
    Great graphics and music. Lots to like about the game but the controls are inconsistent and counter intuitive. Gameplay design is baffling in that it seems designed to punish rather than reward the player. I uninstalled the game after maxing out my character and putting in countless hours when I realized falling from one ledge in a late stage required several minutes of backtracking.Great graphics and music. Lots to like about the game but the controls are inconsistent and counter intuitive. Gameplay design is baffling in that it seems designed to punish rather than reward the player. I uninstalled the game after maxing out my character and putting in countless hours when I realized falling from one ledge in a late stage required several minutes of backtracking. Honestly I can't respect a game that doesn't respect my time. Very close to greatness but controls and design are heavily flawed.… Expand
  3. VidyaBum
    Mar 29, 2014
    6
    First off, the game's art style is fine, but doesn't really seem to know what it wants all that much. The colourfulness and anime-ish drawing style is really nice, but it doesn't seem to connect with the more gritty/dark tone the game tries to convey.

    The music is fine. Nothing about it ever sounds too repetitive or boring, and I'm always super-critical of music in vidya, so this is    First off, the game's art style is fine, but doesn't really seem to know what it wants all that much. The colourfulness and anime-ish drawing style is really nice, but it doesn't seem to connect with the more gritty/dark tone the game tries to convey.

    The music is fine. Nothing about it ever sounds too repetitive or boring, and I'm always super-critical of music in vidya, so this is really a compliment. It's not Nobuo Uematsu but there is nothing about it that makes me want to silence the game. Sound effects are nice too, albeit again are a bit cartoony and don't necessarily fit the "Abyssal City" side the game tries to push in.

    Story is delivered in a let's say somewhat successful way. You're not showered with over the top characters or ridiculous lines. It's gritty as it should be, Wyatt(who I'm playing with) does have a few witty lines and I didn't have a single character that made me roll my eyes or laugh at him.

    With that said, that's pretty much all the story has been able to do thus far. Considering that I'm several hours in, it's quite disappointing and it reminds me of modern Final Fantasy type of stories where the mystery is kept for over 30 hours before being uncovered, only to reveal itself to be a predictable and absolutely uninteresting secret. I can't say that I'm sure of this since I didn't finish the game, but if it ends up being that the Abyssal City has some sort of magical stone or super-machine that can end the war between Angels and Demons, I will not be one bit surprised and the whole "let's ellipse our way through the game" storytelling is really going to come off as lame.

    In a simple line, it does atmosphere quite decently IMO, but it stops at that. Storytelling seems to be nothing fantastic, even a bit meh sometimes, and nothing has piqued my interest yet.

    Characters are also usually defined with a few lines like FF NPCs, and that just sucks. I can barely remember Wyatt's personality, the fact that the rest of the people around usually don't really bring much more really make you feel like you're going through a land of pixels with cardboard cutouts in it.

    Best and worst part of this game is probably the gameplay.

    As several people have said, the combat is fast, energetic and erratic as hell, reflex-heavy and made in full 80s spirit: you will have to die, and die, and die, before learning the bosses' patterns and how to beat them. It's very fun and the RPG system's complexity and freedom of use allows for a ton of personalisation and upgrading. Every enemy and boss has a pattern to learn and beat, whose complexity gives the game's fighting system its really huge potential. I won't lie, it's terribly frustrating and infuriating sometimes. The worst during your first playthrough is that you are "paid" with experience depending on how well you've beaten the boss. Meaning that you will go through 1 full hour of pattern-learning before beating a boss that takes 5 minutes, only to be given a measly 20XP that any grunt can give you!

    That system does encourage excellence but it's a terrible pain for newcomers.

    The other and worst part of the gameplay is the platforming, as everyone's said already.
    The controls are way too imprecise to do decent platforming. Jumping on the keyboard is binded to up, which is just plain stupid, but can be changed. Sometimes you will have to do extremely tight jumps on small platforms with controls that are obviously not meant for it.

    Walljumping is too automatic, sometimes you'll go left, jumping from ledge to higher ledge on your left, and for some reason Wyatt will jump right and fall all the way down. This happens a lot and the opposite does too, you'll climb up ledges when you want to walljump because your inputs aren't mint precise. In a fast-paced game as this, having to slowly input everything under fear of hyperreactive controls is a really huge bother. But when this platforming is required for bosses like Treu, Magus, or Shu Gohth, you will scream in rage at the mad controls that are getting you killed!

    The numerous speed platforming puzzles are just an incredible pain as they require extremely tight movement that the control doesn't help you with one tiny bit. I often thought of Sonic the Hedgehog, the original one, and how Sonic always has acceleration and slowing down to help him do precise jumps. Valdis Story does not offer that kind of precision at all and whether it's platform jumping, avoiding hazards above or aside of you or doing several jumps to avoid enemy projectiles trying to knockback you down to hell, you will suffer tons with this.

    Along with all that, the lack of a world map makes finding your way very tedious as you will have to try every way out of an area to see the next area's map...and the area maps don't even tell you what the exits lead to.

    As a whole, the game is very much worth trying at least, but only if you can get into a try-and-die spirit and are ready to face the horribly poor and frustrating platforming.    … Expand
  4. chewy6982
    Jun 24, 2015
    3
    This is a metroidvania type game that frankly does not deserve to be called that term. Metroid and castlvania were much more fun to play and way better designed. Those are fighting, RPG, and exploring games. This is a timed jump and running platform game more than a fighting game. So unless you like doing that teenage mutant ninja turtles electric death water scene over and over a billionThis is a metroidvania type game that frankly does not deserve to be called that term. Metroid and castlvania were much more fun to play and way better designed. Those are fighting, RPG, and exploring games. This is a timed jump and running platform game more than a fighting game. So unless you like doing that teenage mutant ninja turtles electric death water scene over and over a billion times over then this game is not for you, becuase thats what doing those stupid jump timed puzzles felt like. Everything in this game is pretty great (including the fighting and rpg leveling) except for one thing that totally brings it down: the platforming. You can't ignore the platforming unfortunately, its required and even focused on. The controls for it feel so terrible, wall jumping and double jumping isn't made easy at all, and it is not satisfying like in metroid or castlevania, instead you just pray for luck and feel stress and frustration relief when its completed instead of satisfaction. Everything you do will require timed jumps, you have to do puzzles that are literally timed and jump all around avoiding the slightest hit or you have to do it all over again. 1 battle? next scene is timed jump platform that may take an hour to complete, just jumping. boss scene? another jump puzzle. Getting a special item? more jump timed puzzles. Backtracking? more jumped timed puzzles. Going to the village? more jump and running timed puzzles. You will spend 10 times more of your time just running and doing frustrating timed jumps than fighting, and fighting is the fun part of the game, platforming is boring, repetitive, and frustrating. Making it much worse is the fact that you can't avoid it, it makes it 10x more aggravating to backtrack since you do need to backtrack to find new items and discover new areas, and you won't know if you are failing because of your skill, the fact the controls suck, or that you don't have an item that will give you that one second of extra quickness to complete the timed jumping and running puzzle. I absolutely hated that portion of the game, and i realized 90% of the game is trying to hit a button, run and jump without getting hit by any enemies or obstacles, and reaching the end location before the time limit is up with an absurdly low tolerance of delay. That is most of the game and it kind of sucks because it could easily have been a masterpiece if that part of the game was just eliminated and added just more game features to it, creatures and items. Metroid and castlevania did it much better, and focused on the items that gave clear abilities to clearly reach unaccessible areas before. Flying bat/cloud, double space jump, small sticky space ball.. so much more simple yet it totally worked and all cool, instead Valdis used timed jump puzzles and total crap spell upgrades to make these items accessible, so much more frustrating and less satisfying. When will you game designers learn timed quests and tasks never add to the fun?… Expand
  5. FelixDraconis
    Mar 20, 2016
    7
    I'm giving this an 7 because there's a lot to do in the game, lots of options, and so on.

    The problem is that it is sloppy, which makes it extremely hard. There's also a huge learning curve to play the game well. Way higher than most any Castlevania game. You can't play this casually and expect to get through. But, as other people point out, it relies so heavily on endless boring    I'm giving this an 7 because there's a lot to do in the game, lots of options, and so on.

    The problem is that it is sloppy, which makes it extremely hard. There's also a huge learning curve to play the game well. Way higher than most any Castlevania game. You can't play this casually and expect to get through.

    But, as other people point out, it relies so heavily on endless boring timed puzzles that are unforgiving. At least those are for optional items.

    You have no warning for bosses, and are then stuck in an endless loop of grinding to beat the boss. I'm not sure, but I think if you don't do awesome at bosses you don't get stat upgrades. So... how is that fair?

    Jumping puzzles abound. HATE jumping puzzles. This trope was thrown out years ago for most games. But there are single-block cubes you have to land on. Enemies attack you, but if you attack them your character moves automatically and falls off. Oh, and performance issues make the game stutter at random moments, sometimes when I'm in the middle of a jump, and I mistime the jump. Ugh.

    Having so many items and options is also a bit of a problem, too. It's very unclear which items to use at any given time and the spells are clunky to change. I stopped using spells altogether because of that, but this is the same problem one of the Castlevania games had.

    Controllers almost invariably don't work. None of my Logitech gamepads are recognized. Apparently the Xbox 360 usb controller works well, but of course that's the one kind I don't have.

    Still, there's a lot of high quality art, animations, and it's more or less a reasonably solid fighting engine. It's fun for a few hours, so I'm rating on the amount of enjoyment I got out of it. A good solid afternoon of fun. After that, I suggest giving up before the fiery Temple (or at the wizard with a sword) and moving on unless you seriously like grinding on jumping puzzles and unforgiving bosses. There's more pain then reward at this point unless you're really committed.    … Expand
  6. Unmoored
    Sep 13, 2013
    6
    At first i loved this game. A metroidvania dream. Until i got further. Symphony of the night had a couple of tough acrobatic puzzles. This game consists from it. It's not just hard. It requires you to be absolutely perfect. One mistake and you either dead or running out of time. I like some challenge. But when the challenge is to overcome counterintuitive controls and make 10 perfectAt first i loved this game. A metroidvania dream. Until i got further. Symphony of the night had a couple of tough acrobatic puzzles. This game consists from it. It's not just hard. It requires you to be absolutely perfect. One mistake and you either dead or running out of time. I like some challenge. But when the challenge is to overcome counterintuitive controls and make 10 perfect moves in 10 seconds it's not fun at all. You just have to repeat over and over, until you master it. It may take 30-100 tries to solve 1 trick or to learn a boss. This is what this game is all about. So don't even think about getting it, unless you prepared sustain some extreme fffffrustration.… Expand
  7. Ezkimo42o
    Nov 5, 2013
    10
    First thing is first, the other reviews I have read on this giving this game a 1 is utter and total ****

    Let me start by saying I am a metroidvania enthusiast, I live for these games and they are my favorite genre in the fastness of video games. I grew up with super metroid and to this day is my favorite game of all time, the "what the do I do next thing" sold the whole franchise to    First thing is first, the other reviews I have read on this giving this game a 1 is utter and total ****

    Let me start by saying I am a metroidvania enthusiast, I live for these games and they are my favorite genre in the fastness of video games. I grew up with super metroid and to this day is my favorite game of all time, the "what the do I do next thing" sold the whole franchise to me. SoTN just nailed it in every way possible. In other words: I've been waiting for Valdis Story: Abyssal City for years.

    On the surface the game is tight, as in the controls and the overall JRPG is there, but its a action RPG. It feels sometimes like a action fighting game, kind of like devil may cry, where the combos are so different depending on what you hit (jump included). The combat focuses on melee, and uses magic as a means of navigation, kind of like metroids' ability's.

    I will admit the crafting interface could be a little easier to do, like maybe check a item you want to farm for, so you can see your progress. The only way i could do that is wright down the mats needed for it, then go off fighting the mobs who drop it.

    The artwork is outstanding, it brings me back to when I was first learning how truly powerful games could really be. All this 1080 HD next gen couldn't make me thing this game looks anything but beautiful. This is hand drawn, and it looks great.

    Overall, I can not recommend this game enough, If you liked SoTN, buy this game.

    I am using a xbox 360 controller and the controls are very good and tight,    … Expand
  8. Zero_Tactics
    Sep 14, 2013
    9
    If you've cut your gaming teeth on Mega Man, Castlevania or Metroid, you will feel right at home playing this game. It won't cuddle you like modern games that are built to make you feel good by holding your hand while giving you the illusion of challenge and danger. It's a great experience with beautiful art, awesome music, lovely animations and great gameplay. There are 4 playableIf you've cut your gaming teeth on Mega Man, Castlevania or Metroid, you will feel right at home playing this game. It won't cuddle you like modern games that are built to make you feel good by holding your hand while giving you the illusion of challenge and danger. It's a great experience with beautiful art, awesome music, lovely animations and great gameplay. There are 4 playable characters (2 unlocked from the start) that have different powers and combat style giving good replayability to this title. The game punishes foolishness or sloppy gaming, but is very rewarding for being smart in analyzing challenges and using your skills correctly. In a way, it reminds me of Dark Souls for giving a difficult but exciting experience. I'd easily recommend this to anyone that loved the old Mega Man or the Castlevania titles on Nintendo DS… Expand
  9. blue14
    Nov 10, 2013
    3
    Man I was so hyped for this game at first. The MUSIC, art style, setting it has everything going for it. You can tell the creators really put a lot into this game over the years. The lack of voice over in the dialog was something I could easily overlook as the game presents very well. Everything was smooth sailing except for a few hard timed puzzles. Even up through the first two orMan I was so hyped for this game at first. The MUSIC, art style, setting it has everything going for it. You can tell the creators really put a lot into this game over the years. The lack of voice over in the dialog was something I could easily overlook as the game presents very well. Everything was smooth sailing except for a few hard timed puzzles. Even up through the first two or three bosses I was fine despite some rather annoying fight-extending mechanics like random teleporting around the screen. That was until I cam across Magus. Needless to say this game does not hold your hand past the first boss. Be prepared to try each boss 20-40 times and this is on normal. This is clearly not a casual game.

    By this time the controls beginning to show their true colors as the all-important dodge mechanic is used by pressing down+left/right. This wasn't a problem if you only need to time one of these maneuvers however stringing them together especially in different directions was an effort in futility. Sometimes it works and sometimes your character will sit there and take the full brunt of an enemy attack despite you "dodging". Oh, and sometimes you will randomly "dodge" straight down while trying to platform left or right resulting in having to redo your previous five minutes of platforming. This could have been a result of the controller I was using having a joystick however a keyboard didn't seem to do much better. Magic is also tied to a similar system. RT+down/left/right/up will cast a variety of customization spells after a couple of attempt of course.

    Sticky controls coupled with the fact that anything a boss attack, a trash mob, a spawned flying sword (or four as Magus is fond of) will knock you back and off platforms makes parts of the game keyboard-breakingly frustrating. Ledge grabbing, long a staple of platforming games, seems random. Sometimes you will grab a ledge (only to be knocked off by a sword/mob/dodge) and sometimes your character will just face hump the wall for several jumps. Nothing I have played recently has made my blood boil like having to pray to the platforming gods that I will grab a ledge in a boss battle, have my wish be granted, only to be chain knocked off by a boss attack, a sword, a lightning attack, and have to start all over again with half health.

    Do you like timed puzzles? Great! This game has them in spades. And I'm not talking about the kind with a second or two of leeway for you to complete. I'm talking the kind that have 9 frame perfect jumps complete with dodging for extra speed and unreliable magic abilities. And I'm not even talking about the end of the game. This was happening from the second boss onward. Want that upgraded armor? You had better be prepared to do the same jumping puzzle 10, 20, 50 times until you can input the correct set of commands in frame perfect timing.

    My hat is off to the artist and composer for this game. Hell even the overall design is pretty interesting and reminds me a lot of Dust. That being said, some sticky controls, frustrating mechanics, and some huge difficulty spikes drag this game down hard. I'm all for challenging games however challenging games need to have airtight controls and, in the case of a plat former, perfect jump physics to be successful. This game has neither. It's a shame too the game had so much promise.    … Expand
  10. cwilder06
    Feb 4, 2014
    10
    Not nearly enough press coverage on this game - unfairly got overlooked. As otherwise noted, it's derivative of Symphony of the Night and other great Metroidvania games. Personally, I feel it stands head and shoulders above other recent entries like Dust: An Elysian Tale and Guacamelee Relative to both, the story is more interesting, there is materially more life breathed into theNot nearly enough press coverage on this game - unfairly got overlooked. As otherwise noted, it's derivative of Symphony of the Night and other great Metroidvania games. Personally, I feel it stands head and shoulders above other recent entries like Dust: An Elysian Tale and Guacamelee Relative to both, the story is more interesting, there is materially more life breathed into the characters. Similarly, combat is much, much deeper (in exponential terms) and crisper in this game. The game is about three or four times longer than Guacamelee and Dust, and has more replay value due to better difficulty scaling and multiple characters. Further, the RPG elements, in terms of leveling, a host of items to find and upgrade, decisions in the game with substantial consequences, etc. are all present. I haven't enjoyed a Metroidvania this much since SoTN. If you don't like the genre then invariably it's not for you, otherwise strongly recommended. It's an injustice that IGN/Gamespot etc. have not given this more coverage.

    One small negative, upon rare occasions the game froze on my computer and proceeded to crash. This happened about 5 times in roughly 20 hours of play so definitely not game breaking, but was annoying nonetheless.    … Expand
  11. Mr_Steam
    Jan 4, 2014
    10
    Valdis Story takes a Metroidvania framework and adds technical combat, move-cancelling, timed block/parry and likeable characters that don't trap you in endless conversations loops.

    This is an action game and it shows. I found every single boss fight challenging (unlike Castlevania SotN where you can just SoulSteal past every boss), and the timed platforming challenges had me    Valdis Story takes a Metroidvania framework and adds technical combat, move-cancelling, timed block/parry and likeable characters that don't trap you in endless conversations loops.

    This is an action game and it shows.

    I found every single boss fight challenging (unlike Castlevania SotN where you can just SoulSteal past every boss), and the timed platforming challenges had me swearing at the screen every time I made a mistake, but were oh so satisfying once completed, and my skills were that much better as a result (not to mention the extra loot).

    The game has a unique potion system whereby potions are never lost when used, but refilled at a save point. They effectively act as continues, rezzing you automatically at the spot you died in the midst of the battle. It's really satisfying to find an extra potion as they are quite rare!

    The move-cancellation system is a real treat! At any time you can press down to cancel whatever you are doing. This can be to cancel out of a longer attack animation, or to recover after being hit. This also has the effect of hammering you towards the ground post haste, so can even be used to move around the levels quickly.
    Also once you hit the ground (or if you were already on the ground), you can immediately press left/right to dash in said direction! This is often used to get behind enemies that block from the front, or that are telegraphing overpowered attacks.

    Even when running from A to B, a quick 'down, forward' on the D-pad will give you a burst of speed to make the slight hesitation of pressing down worthwhile!

    The cancellation is on a 2 second timer so can't be abused after every single attack animation, but you can find/craft more charges, and learn skills that reset the charges.

    As you play the game you begin to transfer the cancel/dash and other moves to your muscle memory (the timed platforming sections are great for this, as while they start off easy enough, they soon become really challenging and require as many dashes and wall jumps as humanly possible).

    Once you are performing these technical moves on the battlefield, you feel like such a badass, dashing, dodging, countering, wall jumping, building combos and triggering assists from your 'party' (think of any recent fighting game that allows you to tag in a backup character for a second), or going all out in focus mode!

    There is no dodge rating or block percentage in this game; all skills must be performed by the player and timed perfectly for maximum results. Grinding can help to soften the edges of boss battles, but it's still on you to play well, especially once the timed platforming sections go from optional to compulsory, later in the game!

    All in all, Valdis Story is a great action platformer in the style of Metroidvania, and is the most fun I've had with a game since I replayed Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on PS1 (earlier this morning).    … Expand
  12. sh4dow
    Jan 3, 2015
    7
    It's a decent enough game and I didn't really mind the platforming puzzles but I find it disappointing that the game was released unfinished and over a year later, there still has been no update on the other content that was supposed to be there.
    Also, if I remember correctly, the difficulty is a bit all over the place, with a lot of fights being manageable while others are just insane.    It's a decent enough game and I didn't really mind the platforming puzzles but I find it disappointing that the game was released unfinished and over a year later, there still has been no update on the other content that was supposed to be there.
    Also, if I remember correctly, the difficulty is a bit all over the place, with a lot of fights being manageable while others are just insane. This has kept me from finishing the game a second time with the second character and on the highest difficulty. I got to the first boss just fine but then I was like "You got to be kidding!"
    That said - it DOES take a while to get through the game even just once, so depending on what price you pay for it, it is still absolutely worth it. I just find it unfortunate that it possibly will never be finished and I'm also not a huge fan of the art style. It looks more like what you would see from a hobbyist on deviantart rather than a professional game artist (even if it's indie games - just check out Bastion, Braid, This War Of Mine, etc.).    … Expand
  13. Andresitooo
    Jan 4, 2014
    9
    so first of the people that gave the game a 1 is basically because they thought its to hard (it's difficult at times but try castlevania lords of shadow or dark souls). As far as game flaws, i played and beat this game in jan. 2014 and didn't notice very many (i'm sure it's been patched a few times).

    With that said: game combat is great. Some boss battles are very challenging and time    so first of the people that gave the game a 1 is basically because they thought its to hard (it's difficult at times but try castlevania lords of shadow or dark souls). As far as game flaws, i played and beat this game in jan. 2014 and didn't notice very many (i'm sure it's been patched a few times).

    With that said:
    game combat is great. Some boss battles are very challenging and time puzzles are VERY challenging at times but rewarding. Platforms are well done even if frustrating from time to time. This isn't just a button masher you have to learn to time and set off dodges (called skill cancels). Character build I had was really fun (i had a all warrior with enough guardian to get the reset cancel skill on successful cancel with wanderer rainment, dagger/bow wep (which you get 3/4 game wish was sooner) bloodletter crest and Faolan assistant with mostly agility decent luck and some strength and assassin skill that makes you invisible). Basically made me an assassin/ vampire. The music was great. Loved the art style. Everything was rather fluid. Overall a very good game just not a 10.

    Dislikes: broken baddy that floats and looks like Mew from pokemon with ice magic that freezes you with every attack and can't skill cancel once frozen so when hit with certain moves drained half my life because of the combo. also there is no 'world' map (just area map) which was frustrating at times. The lore was cool but the actual in game story was a little bland. These are my only complaints.

    Verdict: buy a copy it does have replay-ability worth it even at full price (15, but i got it on steam on sale though for like 5 bux i think) game is awesome. Don't buy a copy if your a that can't handle tough challenges here and there(nuff said!)    … Expand
  14. TSB
    Dec 15, 2013
    8
    One of the best games I ever played after a big disappointing year from some big titles in 2013 this game came from no where and gave me a great experience I love the combat system the boss's fight and the difficulty so much. the level design secrets challenges is nice with a pretty art style though the game needs a sharp details in higher res and a better menu but I can't complainOne of the best games I ever played after a big disappointing year from some big titles in 2013 this game came from no where and gave me a great experience I love the combat system the boss's fight and the difficulty so much. the level design secrets challenges is nice with a pretty art style though the game needs a sharp details in higher res and a better menu but I can't complain much after all it is an indie game made by 2 people only Impressive job and I wish to see other great indie games … Expand
  15. Lezard82
    Dec 22, 2013
    10
    It's a metroidvania in pure state. If you like this kind of games, this little piece of art is magic. It's like I've become a child again. And the game is hard and very fun. 100% recommended and enjoyable.
  16. HELLruler
    Dec 1, 2013
    9
    I usually don't play the same game more than once, but this one is really really cool
    First of all, I'd like to warn you: this game is hard. It's like Castlevania, the 2D game with hard bosses
    Even though challenging, if you dedicate yourself, you learn how to play and get better. The story did not call my attention, just like most games, but that's not what makes you play again and    I usually don't play the same game more than once, but this one is really really cool
    First of all, I'd like to warn you: this game is hard. It's like Castlevania, the 2D game with hard bosses

    Even though challenging, if you dedicate yourself, you learn how to play and get better. The story did not call my attention, just like most games, but that's not what makes you play again and again

    You can build your character in some different manners. Going for hard hitting attacks, or incredibly strong criticals, maybe a magic user you won't be left unrewarded
    The game flows well in combat, and skill cancel is your most important tool

    There are only 2 playable characters now, they'll add the other 2 later. But don't miss this adventure    … Expand
  17. Growly
    Nov 24, 2013
    8
    This is one of the best metroidvania games I've ever played. The combat system is almost perfect and the story is interesting enough. The only thing I don't like is the jump puzzles which may be too difficult. Well, there are some technical issues, but not critical.
  18. kavinh
    Nov 9, 2013
    7
    pretty good game the combat is fun the bosses are well made and there's even a rank system that grants you bonus stats depending on how well you did against the boss. The game however has 2 massive problems first off some of the puzzles later on are just plain ridiculous and need absolute precision to get through, second the game lacks a complete map all you have are maps of the areapretty good game the combat is fun the bosses are well made and there's even a rank system that grants you bonus stats depending on how well you did against the boss. The game however has 2 massive problems first off some of the puzzles later on are just plain ridiculous and need absolute precision to get through, second the game lacks a complete map all you have are maps of the area you're in which makes it annoying to find out where to go if you need to go somewhere aside from a town which each have transportation connected to each other.
    As of this review i've played about 6 hours of the game and there's a certain boss that teleports randomly and if he goes into a certain location the fight becomes impossible to complete because not only does it force you to preform the platforming puzzle to climb back up it's impossible to do so when said boss enters a certain phase and begins shooting lasers through the room which knock u off the platform.    … Expand
  19. Christos_
    Jan 6, 2014
    8
    Very good and enjoyable game.
    The only negative thing is that it confuses you with the map about the places you must go. They should give more details...
    But overall is great.
  20. DeKappAz
    Nov 10, 2013
    9
    The best side scrolling ARPG I ever played. Challenging boss, addictive gameplay, satisfying progression, lots of collective. It's like combination of DMC(combo), Rockman(map&boss), Maplestory(skill progession) and DotA(stat proggession), worked out PERFECTLY. Unfortunately, the plot is not that thick and there's no dialogue voice, but those are not the main concern after all. Gamepad isThe best side scrolling ARPG I ever played. Challenging boss, addictive gameplay, satisfying progression, lots of collective. It's like combination of DMC(combo), Rockman(map&boss), Maplestory(skill progession) and DotA(stat proggession), worked out PERFECTLY. Unfortunately, the plot is not that thick and there's no dialogue voice, but those are not the main concern after all. Gamepad is HEAVILY recommended.
    P.S The game might be too hard for some casual gamer.    … Expand
  21. Dirigible
    Nov 10, 2013
    9
    This is a metroidvania game which throws you in without explaining much and expects you to figure stuff out for yourself. If you can get past the initial shock, however, it's a fantastic game.
    THE PROS:
    The are multiple characters, each has a surprising amount of customization options, and which one you pick affects the story of the game. The combat is deep, the platforming can be very    This is a metroidvania game which throws you in without explaining much and expects you to figure stuff out for yourself. If you can get past the initial shock, however, it's a fantastic game.
    THE PROS:
    The are multiple characters, each has a surprising amount of customization options, and which one you pick affects the story of the game. The combat is deep, the platforming can be very challenging, and there are loads of secrets for you to find. Easily entertaining for more than one playthrough.
    THE CONS:
    The game has some design faults which make it a bit frustrating. The player is told where to go, but the lack of overworld map and quest markers make it hard to actually get there. Movement powers and magic occupy the same slots, forcing you to swap spells whenever you need to platform. Some of the boss and puzzle designs are downright cruel.
    VERDICT:
    If you're already a fan of the genre it's worth buying. If you've never played a metroidvania before, the complicated systems and lack of guidance might be too much for you.    … Expand
  22. idososa
    Nov 2, 2013
    8
    Someone said that old-school games like Megaman and Metroid have the perfect amount of fun and difficulty, making them a FARD game. This said, Valdis Story is brutally hard and exceptionally fun, making it one of the most enjoyable experience I had so far this year.
  23. IM_MT_
    Jan 13, 2015
    10
    I will try to keep this short, but if you are a big fan of Castlevania SOTN and Super Metroid this is a must have.

    The game has tons of areas to explore, loads of weapons/armor items to find, a whole lot of customization, and everything about it is basically top notch at a budget price. The combat never gets boring, even if it takes a little getting used to. This game borrows quite    I will try to keep this short, but if you are a big fan of Castlevania SOTN and Super Metroid this is a must have.

    The game has tons of areas to explore, loads of weapons/armor items to find, a whole lot of customization, and everything about it is basically top notch at a budget price.

    The combat never gets boring, even if it takes a little getting used to. This game borrows quite a bit from SOTN but puts its own spin on things with a lot of platforming challenges (puzzles maybe) and unique spells and abilities for both of the playable characters. leveling up gives you points to distribute to your stats and they all make a big difference. There are tons of different abilities and skills to learn.

    The game really nails the exploration aspect of Super Metroid. I constantly found myself running around looking for new areas and items to acquire. There is a real feeling of mystery and adventure as you're adventuring around, even if you have specific goals most of the time (find a character here, make your way to a certain town to the east, etc.)

    I am not just giving this game a 10 because I like it a lot, I think it deserves it. It's hands down the best metroid-vania style game to come out in a LONG time. It's criminally underrated and it's really a shame it's so under the radar. A game with this much going for it should be on year end "best-of" lists.

    My only complaints would be that the jumping arc of your character is a little weird. Sometimes it makes the platforming kind of wonky, but you get used to it. If you think about it, the jump arc on Super Metroid was pretty weird, too. :P

    Also, the story wasn't bad and I'm glad that it didn't bog down the gameplay (it never spits endless long winded dialogue at you) but it wasn't exactly memorable for me. Maybe I wasn't paying a lot of attention because I wanted to get onto one of the awesome memorable boss battles.

    Only other complaint is that some of the enemies get palette swapped and reused throughout the game. There's a decent diversity but I would have liked to see some more enemy types. I will give it a reprieve since it's an independent (and amazing) budget title.

    I've played other so called "great" metroid-vania style games (the underwhelming Dust: Elysian Tale and the extremely disappointing Xeodrifter), and I am a harsh critic. But i can without a doubt recommend to this anybody looking for a great, challenging, and rewarding action-rpg-metroidvania type game. I've put 30 hours into it and I'm still coming back to playing it after beating it once already. Even the music is top notch, creating the mood perfectly and adding its own flair on the whole thing. Really high quality stuff.

    I'm serious. JUst get this game. It's worth every penny. It's a freaking steal. I hate most modern games and the direction gaming is going, and this is true to the classics in every way. Like I said, it borrows a lot from the best in the genre but changes it up with a unique and fun combat system and lots of customization with quite a bit of challenge thrown in. It all comes together being one of my favorite gaming experiences I've had in a really long time.    … Expand
  24. auditionko
    Nov 2, 2013
    10
    i understand why some people don't like this game.the game's challenges are quite hard .it's save system is old and unforgiving but, that's exactly what i love about old school games.The combat is great.The art style is brilliant .it has a good character customization and a lot of replay value.just buy it it's worth more than 15 bucks.
  25. allenxz
    Jan 26, 2014
    10
    es un gran juego muy entretenido ademas que invita mucho a la exploración
    este juego me recuerda el mítico castlevania y metroid.
    aun que tiene su propia esencia espero esto les invite a jugarlo es genial
  26. ikillomega
    Nov 1, 2013
    1
    This is a dreadful example of a Metroidvania wannabe. The game is flooded with terrible design, choppy, iffy and twitchy controls, dreadful, ugly graphics and is all around a weak experience. The game pretends to give you a degree of freedom by throwing you in what appears to be an open, Metroidvania-esque world, but it blocks you from backtracking with cheap tricks like overly-powerfulThis is a dreadful example of a Metroidvania wannabe. The game is flooded with terrible design, choppy, iffy and twitchy controls, dreadful, ugly graphics and is all around a weak experience. The game pretends to give you a degree of freedom by throwing you in what appears to be an open, Metroidvania-esque world, but it blocks you from backtracking with cheap tricks like overly-powerful bosses, one-way doors and requirements for abilities you do not get until later. It is almost entirely linear, disguised as open. There is little to explore, the platforming is loose and floaty, the combat is fast and fluid, but this is negated by the fact that enemies attack you through combos and skills, and endless attacks that are either unblockable, or require you to use a dodge that cancels your combo.

    The game has typical design for a cheap modern attempt at this genre, but feels claustrophobic and repetitive. Unlike Symphony of the Night, which has well-thought-out, varied environments very close together, Valdis Story's art is a seemingly-endless repetition of the same sprites. The bad gameplay makes this even worse at times when there are platforms that look accessible, but aren't, or they simply lead to an alcove at the top of the screen, because attempts in vein to access these ledges often send you falling back down to an arduous vertical room.

    The upgrade system is rudimentary and uninspired, the gear system is pointlessly demanding, requiring you to pick up or even buy an item, only to be forced to use it and other resources to upgrade it at a shop, occasionally forcing you to buy gear twice! The addition of spells is hindered by a terrible casting control scheme, that, like the cancel/dodge ability are necessary for beating the game, but are broken as they do not work properly at times, leaving you spamming a button before a spell or ability will finally decide to work.

    Super Metroid is my favorite video game of all time, and many games in this genre are in my wheelhouse, and I have NOT played a game like this that is more frustrating and less fun than Valdis Story. I feel like half the travel and map navigation is nothing more than busy work and the RPG elements that require a level of grinding are locked because each room only has a few enemies, who are not worth near enough experience points to level you, forcing you to move through rooms to reset the spawns to power up. This is a very poorly-designed game, obviously made by either schizophrenic Otakus or retarded monkeys, I'm not sure which. If you like this game, fine, but I found it to be the single most joyless experience I've had all year with a game that SHOULD and COULD have been good. Valdis Story is WORSE THAN SIM CITY! Because with all of Sim City's faults, it is technically playable, and you can, to an extent, play it the way you want. Valdis Story's attempt at variety is a forced, one-way street of repeating combos, uninspired enemies, cheap and annoying boss fights and terrible artwork.

    Period.    … Expand
  27. Lustner
    Jul 1, 2014
    8
    Though building heavily upon Castlevania, this game has quite a different philosophy behind it. I'd say Castlevania excelled in and emphasised exploring, whereas Valdis Story aims to grip the player with its often cruel platforms and bosses - a moment's distraction usually means death. So we have:

    Pros: - Well-crafted game mechanics - Challenging and not too repetitive bosses -    Though building heavily upon Castlevania, this game has quite a different philosophy behind it. I'd say Castlevania excelled in and emphasised exploring, whereas Valdis Story aims to grip the player with its often cruel platforms and bosses - a moment's distraction usually means death. So we have:

    Pros:
    - Well-crafted game mechanics
    - Challenging and not too repetitive bosses
    - Beautiful and fluid visuals
    - Nice soundtrack
    - Good replay value

    Cons:
    - Poor map traversal (one often has to fight a long way to get to their objective, even though there is fast travel)
    - Dash (Skill Cancel) is sometimes difficult to get right because it uses the same button as magic. I did not quite understand why it was not set to another button
    - Some events permanently affect your game, making it impossible to obtain gear and such
    - Underdeveloped/underused item and shop systems

    Overall, it is that game which brings satisfaction after some suffering from trying to defeat a boss or get to a platform without having to backtrack once again. Recommended mainly for hardcore gamers.    … Expand
  28. cornfingers
    Dec 3, 2014
    0
    Valdis Story: Abyssal City: A game that only got a high rating because nobody actually finished it and definitely a true gem in examples of why people actually have to use Game Maker Studio... because through all the poor design choices and clunky menus... it's obvious that this game only made it because of the artwork.

    The kickstarter promised great fighting mechanics and combos, but    Valdis Story: Abyssal City: A game that only got a high rating because nobody actually finished it and definitely a true gem in examples of why people actually have to use Game Maker Studio... because through all the poor design choices and clunky menus... it's obvious that this game only made it because of the artwork.

    The kickstarter promised great fighting mechanics and combos, but all everybody really got was the same three moves repeated over and over along with poorly placed, unrebindable controls and the worlds most annoying cancel... which is really JUST a glorified dash, that other games let you bind to the proper keys. But hey! The enemies can infi-combo you, so maybe the kickstarter was talking about how good the combos would be for them! Oh and the spikes... apparently those can infi-combo better than the player character as well. In the end though I guess you can't really talk about how responsive controls are when a game even has slow down issues on an i-7 processor... I guess it should just be expected at that point.

    The controls are definitely not stellar, no matter how many die-hard fans accost you with "git gud" memes and an obvious attempt at feeling superior for once in theirs lives. No, the controls are bad and unresponsive... yes, you can make them work, but that doesn't mean it's an excuse to have them and the difficulty shouldn't be in fighting them to do what you want. The real truth is it's a platforming game, with bad platforming and a wall jump mechanic that seriously needs a revision.

    The bosses start off fun and challenging, but soon spiral down into mass projectile and minion spamming nonsense, and by the end of the game you're fighting a screen of bright colors and no discernible hitbox while you're being infi-comboed because you missed one dash because the game felt like being unresponsive that one time. I guess it's hard to invent a new boss pattern after you've used up all the ones you know on the first two...

    The story is terrible and the writing makes you wonder if they've even written anything before, as it's littered with bad habits and constant references to things that have never been previously explained... similar to a fan-fiction, but imagine the subject the fan-fiction was about simply didn't even exist... The ending was anti-climatic and left the feeling of "So? Big whoop? Was that supposed to be surprising?" It's not a twist if it isn't even relevant to the story and came off as nothing more than a corny way to end the game. Overall, unenjoyable story and definitely worth mashing your buttons through.

    The artwork is great, and definitely the best, if not only (read as only) aspect worth playing the game to experience.... although, just like the combo system... the artwork is repetitive and doesn't have a lot of variety. The townsfolk all consist of the same 3 character designs and the portraits next to the speech dialogs always show the same emotion; lending absolutely nothing more than getting in the way of reading the situation properly. In fact, the whole game comes off as a concept or prototype that you'd pitch to a publisher... and not a final game.

    To summarize, if you want to play a good game, just go play SOTN or co. and if you want to play something obviously made in game maker... don't... or better yet, just hire their artist and make something yourself, because it'd be hard pressed not to be a hundred fold better.    … Expand
  29. kagekirazuul
    Oct 22, 2019
    9
    great game. action and controls are responsive. environment rewards exploration and trying to get to areas you're not supposed to be at with a low level.

    menus and equipment is a little wonky. However, the character progression and story shine on the solid foundation of the gameplay action.
  30. Fuini
    Jun 23, 2015
    9
    Very good game.
    An old school metroidvania with greatly improved combat mechanisms. I just can not stop playing it :
    _four characters with very different gameplays but all of them fun as hell in their own way and a slightly different story _fairly long if you're not a sort of gamepad god _pretty deep character customization (nothing is as simple as it appears at first) _very    Very good game.
    An old school metroidvania with greatly improved combat mechanisms. I just can not stop playing it :
    _four characters with very different gameplays but all of them fun as hell in their own way and a slightly different story
    _fairly long if you're not a sort of gamepad god
    _pretty deep character customization (nothing is as simple as it appears at first)
    _very challenging .... but always fair !
    _one hardcore mode (sort of)
    _craft is a bit hard to understand but is interesting ; possibility to use weapons from earlier finished game.
    _beautiful
    _dynamic story (yes 3 events that could change what happen several hours after is dynamic xD)

    As cons I should mention the fact that the manual is very lacking and the game is in a serious need of an in-game map

    I read from some negative / mixed review a bunch of issues that some people had. The vast majority of these issues has been fixed. So :
    _you can now rebind the skill cancel button
    _the slow downs on some very good PC has been "fixed" - say, greatly lessen. I was one of them before the last patch. Now it's well playable event if it's still not as smooth as on a PC without the issue (I have both)
    _the control reactivity has been fixed    … Expand
  31. kasparius
    Jul 17, 2017
    8
    As a big fan of Metroidvanias, I had heard good things about Valdis Story, so I got it during a steam sale.
    I wasn't sold at first, it seemed a little silly and unrefined, but as I kept playing I discovered that the combat was far better and customizable than I thought. Kind of like a platinum game combat, with combos, super powers, etc... Far deeper than you would expect from a indie    As a big fan of Metroidvanias, I had heard good things about Valdis Story, so I got it during a steam sale.
    I wasn't sold at first, it seemed a little silly and unrefined, but as I kept playing I discovered that the combat was far better and customizable than I thought. Kind of like a platinum game combat, with combos, super powers, etc... Far deeper than you would expect from a indie platform game like this. I played on normal mode and it was still a fair challenge. The bosses are really good in this game. As for the rest, it offers a nice selection of areas with various timed puzzles that are quite fun to do.

    The only main issue is that it is hard to remember where you've been and where you need to go, or where a place is. There is a map when you are in an area, but you can't access a bigger map with the names of the place, etc... There is also a tram that brings you to 3 different towns, but sometimes a fast travel would be nice when you've been wandering about for a while.

    The game offers new characters to play with, once you finished the game and even items that can port over to a new game, and I can definitely see myself playing this game again in the future with a different character build.    … Expand
  32. iraswrath
    Apr 21, 2018
    6
    I loved the challenge offered by this game and its creative combat. Don't get me wrong I love punching my self in the d-i-c-k ike any other guy when I play games like Dark Souls or Meat boy to learn patterns for hours in order to master the game. However, I was not expecting this kind of difficulty from Valdis when I saw it was advertised as a Metroidvania game. I was actually taking aI loved the challenge offered by this game and its creative combat. Don't get me wrong I love punching my self in the d-i-c-k ike any other guy when I play games like Dark Souls or Meat boy to learn patterns for hours in order to master the game. However, I was not expecting this kind of difficulty from Valdis when I saw it was advertised as a Metroidvania game. I was actually taking a break and wanted to relax with a fun Metroidvania game, but seeing as I don't back down from a challenge this game ended up taking most of my time to finish it all through S rank( Only on Veteran mode).It is the sole reason it barely got any attention besides a very very small handful of hardcore gamers. Heck, I don't even think 95% of the reviewers played past the first boss. I think if it was advertised as a challenging game on its own merits(similar to Cuphead) this game would have had a HUGE following. It is barely a Metroidvania game, as the maps are super small, and there is hardly any exploration early, besides a few tiny rooms here and there that are obviously marked on the map for after you get the acquired optional skeleton and divine keys.
    Anyway, that is my 2 cents on it. The only thing that bothered me about this game was its menu design and constant odd spell swapping. It looked like it was designed by an intern who just took his first day of game development class in college. Though besides the awful menu, and terrible advertising, I quite enjoyed the game. ** Wouldn't recommend it to a single friend who loves Metroid style games, but I would recommend it to everyone who is big fans of dark souls, super meat boy, cuphead, etc. **    … Expand
  33. ghost_raven
    Sep 25, 2022
    10
    This game is perfect in terms of gameplay. Story, bosses, level design, different abilities, characters - all of them are fantastic. I wish it was a little bit longer, but better to be too short than too long. Only thing I am not crazy about, and this is purely my issue and not the designers, is the art direction isn't my favorite.

Awards & Rankings

37
#37 Best PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. Games.cz
    Mar 25, 2014
    80
    A great and hardcore platformer with RPG elements that's been created by just two people. But actually, this information does not matter while playing. The important thing is that Valdis Story is excellent fun for plenty of hours.
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  2. MMORPG.com
    Mar 17, 2014
    75
    If you’re a fan of Metroidvania games, or indie games in general, you should definitely check out Valdis Story. With multiple playable characters, an interesting world to explore, and engaging gameplay, there are few reasons not to give this gem a chance. It may not do everything perfectly and it doesn’t tread much new ground, but it delivers a great experience wrapped up inside of a beautiful package for a cheap price. Bust out your PC game pad and take Wyatt on his adventure in the Abyssal City.
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  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 23, 2014
    80
    One can’t really complain about the lack of platformers these days, but when you pick up Valdis, you can be sure of getting the highest quality available. [Issue#238]
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