

At this point in video game history, we’ve been treated to so many open-world action-RPGs that have really strived to push the genre forward that I can’t help but feel like Valkyrie Elysium’s really missed the mark here.Your IP address has been temporarily blocked due to a large number of HTTP requests. Valkyrie Elysium is an interesting game in that it feels like it got stuck somewhere in the early 2010s. Enemy designs haven’t been particularly inspiring, there’s little in the way of backstory for the Einherjar for me to feel even remotely attached to them, and it remains to be seen whether average gameplay alone is enough to carry the rest of the experience. That said, the combat just isn’t quite enough to distract from the rest of the game’s shortcomings so far.

Chaining everything together and making use of the elemental synergies between your Einherjar feels satisfying, and the combat is easily the best part of Valkyrie Elysium. You also have a few magic abilities at your disposal, including the ability to strike thunder down on your foes to knock them down. In the demo build, I had a swordfighter and an ice archer, and those two alone helped me clear most of the battles with little trouble. Aside from spamming the face buttons to plough your way through the game like a typical hack-and-slash title, you can also summon Einherjar in the middle of combat to help turn things in your favor.Įinherjar are essentially NPC summons that will pop out of thin air to assist you. While basic and occasionally clunky at times, it’s always fun to pull off long combo strings to finish off common enemies. Speaking of combat, Valkyrie Elysium does manage to save itself a little bit here. Even so, Valkyrie Elysium is the kind of game that likes trapping players in with invisible walls whenever you enter a new area, where you’re forced to defeat all the enemies that spawn there before you can move on, early 2000s Devil May Cry-style, except without cool Dante and the fun combat.
Drakengard 3 trophy guide zip#
Moving from area to area was a drag, though that’s alleviated by the fact that you can use your Valkyrie powers to zip to various grappling points quickly. It also didn’t help that the environments felt unnecessarily large with very little to do aside from fighting spawning enemies. The only difference is that NieR and Drakengard 3 had so much else going for it –the outstanding soundtrack, story, and complex characters– while Valkyrie Elysium seems to be lacking in those departments. Both games suffered from looking like someone turned the contrast down to zero, then put a greyscale filter over everything. Everything was just grey as far as the eye could see –apart from Valhalla, which has specks of gold– and while there are some games that deliberately opt for more muted color palettes, it didn’t feel like Valkyrie Elysium was doing this on purpose.Īesthetically, I couldn’t help but compare this to the original NieR and Drakengard 3. Initially drawn in by the beautiful art style, I was immediately disappointed to see that the environments looked so washed out. Right off the bat, what really struck me was just how awful the game itself looked. Along the way, you’ll recruit Einherjar to fight alongside you in battle, and zap your enemies with fierce magic.Īnd unlike the earlier entries in the series, Valkyrie Elysium is an action-RPG that has you going through various levels in a semi open-world to loot chests, beat up enemies, and fight bosses.
Drakengard 3 trophy guide series#
The series as a whole is heavily inspired by Norse mythology, and you play as a Valkyrie who sets out to accomplish a task given to you by the All-Father. Valkyrie Elysium is the latest entry in Square Enix’s oft-overlooked Valkyrie RPG series, and it follows some similar beats to previous games. Valkyrie Elysium feels like it was plucked out of that era, and that’s not a great first impression to have. We saw the height of angsty punk rock and teen pop in those years, yes, but we also suffered through the growing pains of evolving graphical fidelity in video games.

Not in the good, Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream, Taylor Swift’s Speak Now, Paramore’s Brand New Eyes kind of way. Playing a hands-on demo build of Valkyrie Elysium made me feel like I was transported back to 2010.
