I’ve always been a fan of expansive open-world games, but they take forever to play. The many windings paths and side missions eat so much of my time that I can’t experience the real story. Valley gave me the same joy of exploration not only in terms of terrain, but the story itself.
The premise of Valley is sort of a strange one. You decide one day to set off in search of this mythical “Lifeseed” that is said to be extremely powerful, so much so that it can control life and death. Along your journey, you stumble upon a deserted covert military operation in the forest involving something they call L.E.A.F. suits. These suits, which are powered by the same life energy, allow you to do all sorts of complex maneuvers as you progress through the scientists’ lab, picking up upgrades along the way. The power of this suit is definitely reflected in the gameplay – swinging from a grappling hook, racing down a rail line, or even just running down a hill were all exhilarating. The suit also has the ability to manipulate life and death at your will. When you die (by drowning, of course – metal suits are heavy!), in order to respawn, the suit will reset you to a previous time when you were alive, but at the cost of the wildlife around you. Fortunately, there are orbs strewn about that will replenish your life energy without any negative impacts on your performance (although I recently heard someone say “Nothing comes from nothing.” Perhaps this is insightful, or maybe just nonsensical rambling. What do I know?)
This all sounds a little strange, doesn’t it? It’s sort of like being dropped into an already populated world and not knowing anything that’s happened… Well, actually, it’s exactly like that. The entire storyline of the game involves figuring out the mystery of the forest, the Lifeseed, and the military research taking place there. You can choose to rush through for the more intense moments, of which there are quite a few, but I chose to savor every moment. Exploring can net you many benefits in this game. You learn early on that your L.E.A.F. suit can be upgraded by finding military crates scattered around the facilities. Some are more valuable than others, but what that value really is is up to you – I once found a crate that only contained two handwritten letters. That’s something that I really enjoyed about this game. The exploration not only helps you in gameplay, by allowing you to hold more life energy (which seems useless at first, but play your cards right and you’ll be coasting by the endgame), but also by divulging important plot-related information. I was able to mostly figure out the ending just by reading the notes I found scattered about. That being said, the ending was still incredible and I would recommend really paying attention to all the personal audio logs you find. They’re technically unskippable, but you’re allowed to walk around while they’re playing and sometimes I got distracted – try not to, you won’t regret it.
The controls in this game actually intrigued me. You give life to withered trees by pressing A, but I noticed the animation seemed a lot like shooting. Anyone who has played an FPS knows shooting is exclusively reserved for the back right bumper, and sure enough, there it was, a second trigger for the same thing. Especially considering there are a few lost souls you’ll need to shoot life energy at from afar, I found myself changing which button I used based on what situation I was in. The controls overall were very intuitive and I always felt like I was in control, excepting of course the times of chaos where I was intentionally not supposed to be in control, in which cases I felt that, too.
If you’re a fan of exploration and story, you’ll love Valley. The mechanics are fun, sure, but as in any good story-driven game, they exist to complement the story. Playing the game without experiencing the story, and not just the story but the substories lying underneath, is surely a worse experience. I want to know about the head researchers just as much as I want to know about the underlings writing little notes to themselves about how someone is stealing their yogurt from the fridge. Despite being completely devoid of other humans apart from the few audio logs you find along the way, the world feels entirely lived in. This is why your goal is so important. You as a player begin to care about this forest, these creatures, and even the humans who were here before you and have since passed, and you must do what it takes to save not only the healthy, but the wounded as well. Be ready to get attached to this game.
9.5/10
Check Out the Valley Nintendo Switch Trailer:
Valley is available for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam PC.
Nintendo Switch Review
I am an aspiring game designer looking to explore the philosophy behind game creation. Some of my favorite games include Overwatch, Super Smash Bros, Portal, and Beat Saber.
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