Legend of Valkyrie

~ LEGEND OF VALKYRIE ~

Namco

HuCard

1990

As is the case in Fray~Xak Gaiden, here we have a chick who goes on an adventure that plays out sort of like an action-RPG, sort of like a free-roaming shooter, and sort of like a platformer. The biggest knock on Fray is that the cute-but-chunky main character doesn't control particularly well. Valkyrie plays better but still doesn't play all that wonderfully, as platform leaping can feel awkward, and you'll absorb a good share of "questionable" hits.

There isn't much of a "quest" here. Although there are quite a few forks in the road and some secrets to uncover in each area, there isn't any backtracking or town visiting or, really, any thinking at all to do, which may be good news for folks who don't want to contend with a language barrier. You plod around, killing enemies and perhaps picking up some spells and weapons as you go, and beat a boss before venturing to the next area. Very simple.

Occasionally, you'll encounter an NPC who'll ask you a question and provide you with three responses to choose from. These are the only parts where not knowing Japanese can be a bit of a problem, but since there are only three different possible answers, the amount of time spent on trial and error will be minimal. Get a question wrong and you might miss out on a spell or lose a heart or be sent back a ways, but it's never really a big deal.

Even the passwords aren't much of a problem: each is just twelve characters long, a combination of hiragana and letters from our own alphabet. In fact, since the game is so short (a mere seven areas), completing it in a single sitting and not bothering with the passwords at all is a very viable option.

But don't anticipate much eye candy during that single sitting. While the environments look decent enough, they can't compare with Fray's colorful, cartoony boards. And the enemies, while fairly large, are often somewhat fuzzy and ugly.

There are mini-bosses to deal with, but that cast sorely lacks variety: I fought the same dumb "mouth monster who sits in the middle of the screen and spits boulders" more times than I cared to count.

The end-of-stage bosses, on the other hand, are an interesting bunch. Fights with them are sloppy but enjoyable.

Some of the weapons are rather fun to wield, and there's one really cool magic spell that allows you to become BIG Valkyrie and damage everything by stomping on the ground.

But LoV, while an adequate hybrid effort, never really feels very exhilarating, and it gave me nothing that makes me want to revisit it. Fray doesn't play all that well, but it has a very charismatic and adorable main character and lots of funny moments. Valkyrie, on the other hand, contains not a single exceptional element. It's the kind of game that'll do for whittling away an afternoon, but don't expect greatness from it.