Yuko Ahso was once an ordinary high school girl. Or least her life used to be ordinary. Her friend Reiko went out on a date with a Dark King named Rogles, and has vanished. Immediately, monsters attacked her. She thought she would die for sure, but a mystic sword named Valis appeared before her. Using the sword, Yuko defended herself against the monsters, and was whisked to a strange land, where she was told that she was the chosen Valis Warrior and must defeat Rogles, or the human world and the dream world would both be plunged into chaos. Valis: The Fantasm Soldier is a side-scrolling platformer. Yuko can jump and attack enemies with her Valis sword, which can be upgraded and used as a ranged weapon by collecting power-ups found in the stages. She can also find and use items that grant her powerful all-screen attacks or temporary invincibility. Each stage culminates with a boss battle, after which Yuko's hit points and attributes increase.
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A shoddy action platformer. Being able to upgrade your sword is a cool idea, but not well implemented. You end up just spamming your way through every (sometimes ugly) level.
(Sharp X1)
Bro in terms of videogames this is one of the worst things I've ever seen in my entire life
Bro in terms of videogames this is one of the worst things I've ever seen in my entire life
I enjoyed this game.
After playing through the remake of the game, I decided to go back to the original version of Valis 1, and it was actually not that bad. Yeah, it isn’t gonna be the version I go back to if I decide to replay this game, but if you were stuck with this version only, it’s not the worst thing you could play.
Game #333
Game #333
Cleared on July 18th, 2023 (SEGA Genesis Challenge: 33/160)
Valis: The Fantasm Soldier is the first of a series of 2D Action Adventure games that, I'm not sure how popular it was back in the day or if it's still popular at all, but it did sell pretty well and it ended up getting a port to the Nintendo Switch although in terms of visuals, music, and content and even dialogue, the version is much different, using the PC Engine version. I do intend to play the PC Engine version at a later date, but until then, I'll have to settle with the Sega Genesis version. But how is it?
I thought it was great. Now my only real gripe is that the dialogue in cutscenes is garbage, straight up. I looked at the dialogue in the PC Engine version to find it's not even that bad. At worst, it's kinda "Ehh...", but it never once made me cringe. I would say it's on the simple side and doesn't elaborate on details as well as you'd want it to, but it's not bad. The Sega Genesis version is a different breed of awful, and I'm not someone who has the best standards when it comes to writing. As someone who writes as a hobby and rarely shares their work (because that totally went well the last time I did), I know how difficult it can be to write good stories and sometimes good dialogue, so I generally tend to be forgiving towards stories that people deem as "mediocre" or sometimes even bad. So naturally it takes a lot for me to think a story is really bad and when even I think it's awful, there is something very wrong. Like did anyone adapting the dialogue in the Sega Genesis version think for one moment "I don't know, this doesn't feel right"?.
Let me give you an example. When Yuko is summoned to Dreamland by Varia, Varia tells her that she is the chosen warrior to defeat the forces of darkness and its king, Rogles. In the PC Engine version, Yuko claimed this was too much to ask for her and that makes sense. Yuko is merely just an ordinary high school girl with no prior fighting skills and to put the fate of the world in her hands would be scary to anyone. In the Genesis version? Yuko calls Varia selfish for asking for her help... wut? At that moment, I knew something wasn't right. There was no way this was the original dialogue and whaddya know, I was right. Also, in the Genesis version it's not called Dreamland; it's called "Fantasy World". Nice name. On top of that, in the Genesis version, the dialogue and cutscenes move so slow that one of the last cutscenes in the game before the final level lasted, I'm not even joking, 9 minutes. The same cutscene in the PC Engine version? 5 minutes. Also, some scenes got left out in the Genesis version from the PC Engine version. It includes Yuko's daily routine before the literal storm, an introduction of the villain himself, and some pre-text dialogue before each boss fight as well as cutscenes upon defeating them. If the Sega Genesis version is the "quality" I'm to expect for Valis III when I eventually get around to that game then spirits have mercy on me for what's coming.
But other than that, everything else about the game was pretty good. The game is one of the easier Genesis games that I've played although there are some parts that can be quite difficult like the last three bosses of the game, but the rest of the game is actually on the easy side. It's a 2D Action game where you swing a sword at enemies. It starts with really poor range, but once you pick up your first upgrade, it gets a projectile and from there on, the game just becomes a cakewalk at least up until the bosses. You also get a powerslide and some magic which can be activated by holding Up + Attack. This could be awkward at times, though, since you might mean to use Up + Jump for a high jump and then follow up with an attack, so if you're not careful, you'll accidentally use up some magic. And really, another problem with the game and this is another aspect of the game that keeps it from getting a higher score for the Sega Genesis version, it's that the controls doesn't seem to respond sometimes. Like you might mean to powerslide, but there is a delay when you've already performed an action and that may include ducking, I think. The thing is, you actually don't need to duck to use it. Just press the A Button and that's it, but my mind seems to think that's what you need to do sometimes and it kinda creates a delay instead of being instant. Perhaps the issue might be corrected in the PC Engine version, but we'll see about that.
The presentation is also really good too. While the animation and expressions during the cutscenes feel static on the Genesis, it does have to adhere to the limitations of the system, so I'll let it slide. The in-game art is quite good for the system and so is the music of the game, it's really good and enhances the experience of the game.
It's just a blast to play, and I'm excited to revisit this game on the PC Engine version and maybe then I'll give a second review of the game. It might just be a 4.5 stars or even a 5.
Valis: The Fantasm Soldier is the first of a series of 2D Action Adventure games that, I'm not sure how popular it was back in the day or if it's still popular at all, but it did sell pretty well and it ended up getting a port to the Nintendo Switch although in terms of visuals, music, and content and even dialogue, the version is much different, using the PC Engine version. I do intend to play the PC Engine version at a later date, but until then, I'll have to settle with the Sega Genesis version. But how is it?
I thought it was great. Now my only real gripe is that the dialogue in cutscenes is garbage, straight up. I looked at the dialogue in the PC Engine version to find it's not even that bad. At worst, it's kinda "Ehh...", but it never once made me cringe. I would say it's on the simple side and doesn't elaborate on details as well as you'd want it to, but it's not bad. The Sega Genesis version is a different breed of awful, and I'm not someone who has the best standards when it comes to writing. As someone who writes as a hobby and rarely shares their work (because that totally went well the last time I did), I know how difficult it can be to write good stories and sometimes good dialogue, so I generally tend to be forgiving towards stories that people deem as "mediocre" or sometimes even bad. So naturally it takes a lot for me to think a story is really bad and when even I think it's awful, there is something very wrong. Like did anyone adapting the dialogue in the Sega Genesis version think for one moment "I don't know, this doesn't feel right"?.
Let me give you an example. When Yuko is summoned to Dreamland by Varia, Varia tells her that she is the chosen warrior to defeat the forces of darkness and its king, Rogles. In the PC Engine version, Yuko claimed this was too much to ask for her and that makes sense. Yuko is merely just an ordinary high school girl with no prior fighting skills and to put the fate of the world in her hands would be scary to anyone. In the Genesis version? Yuko calls Varia selfish for asking for her help... wut? At that moment, I knew something wasn't right. There was no way this was the original dialogue and whaddya know, I was right. Also, in the Genesis version it's not called Dreamland; it's called "Fantasy World". Nice name. On top of that, in the Genesis version, the dialogue and cutscenes move so slow that one of the last cutscenes in the game before the final level lasted, I'm not even joking, 9 minutes. The same cutscene in the PC Engine version? 5 minutes. Also, some scenes got left out in the Genesis version from the PC Engine version. It includes Yuko's daily routine before the literal storm, an introduction of the villain himself, and some pre-text dialogue before each boss fight as well as cutscenes upon defeating them. If the Sega Genesis version is the "quality" I'm to expect for Valis III when I eventually get around to that game then spirits have mercy on me for what's coming.
But other than that, everything else about the game was pretty good. The game is one of the easier Genesis games that I've played although there are some parts that can be quite difficult like the last three bosses of the game, but the rest of the game is actually on the easy side. It's a 2D Action game where you swing a sword at enemies. It starts with really poor range, but once you pick up your first upgrade, it gets a projectile and from there on, the game just becomes a cakewalk at least up until the bosses. You also get a powerslide and some magic which can be activated by holding Up + Attack. This could be awkward at times, though, since you might mean to use Up + Jump for a high jump and then follow up with an attack, so if you're not careful, you'll accidentally use up some magic. And really, another problem with the game and this is another aspect of the game that keeps it from getting a higher score for the Sega Genesis version, it's that the controls doesn't seem to respond sometimes. Like you might mean to powerslide, but there is a delay when you've already performed an action and that may include ducking, I think. The thing is, you actually don't need to duck to use it. Just press the A Button and that's it, but my mind seems to think that's what you need to do sometimes and it kinda creates a delay instead of being instant. Perhaps the issue might be corrected in the PC Engine version, but we'll see about that.
The presentation is also really good too. While the animation and expressions during the cutscenes feel static on the Genesis, it does have to adhere to the limitations of the system, so I'll let it slide. The in-game art is quite good for the system and so is the music of the game, it's really good and enhances the experience of the game.
It's just a blast to play, and I'm excited to revisit this game on the PC Engine version and maybe then I'll give a second review of the game. It might just be a 4.5 stars or even a 5.
It's been a while since I've played Valis, long enough that my ailing brain has forgotten much about it, including how it actually plays. If you've been following me and have been wondering where my bucket list reviews have gone, it's been a hot minute because I really didn't want to refamiliarize myself with god damn Valis. I have better things I could be doing, like breaking fluorescent lamps on my back porch, or dashing the sharp edge of a sheet of paper across my body many times to figure out where a paper cut hurts the most (the answer may surprise you!) Alas, I have a job to do, and the work must be done, so I finally got around to replaying Valis just so I could tell everyone what they already know: it sucks and I hate it.
Valis: The Fantasm Soldier was originally released for the MSX by Telenet Japan, and was developed by Wolf Team, who you might know for their "hit" action-platformer Earnest Evans and a bunch of other garbage that's not worth your time. I happened to play the 1991 Genesis version, and I had to look up the date to confirm it really was '91 because this feels more like a 1988 release, suffering from many of the same issues as the Genesis' launch lineup. It sounds clangy, the controls are clunky, and the graphics lack depth and vibrancy. Even then, it feels a bit unkind to compare it to launch games when Shinobi plays more smoothly and Space Harrier looks more impressive. No, this is just a very budget update to a game that looked about as good as Jetpac when it originally released.
You may be able to forgive the pace of the opening level. Yuko is fleeing from school during a monster attack, she's armed but has yet to attain the power and armor of a true Valis warrior, which she is destined to become. If the game was trying to communicate that Yuko were in some sort of depowered state, then her slow movement, rigid controls, and pathetic attack would perhaps make sense, but once you do power up and get the Valis armor she... still moves like that. Her jump feels both floaty in how easy it is to gain vertical distance yet rigid in how little she's able to move horizontally, which becomes a real problem in the third level when you have to traverse a cave that greatly limits your vertical space. If in that opening level you think "god, the hurt boxes on enemies feels way off" then I'm afraid I've got some bad news, because they don't ever improve, and some enemies (notably the floating skulls in the second level) just flicker around like they're teleporting. This is where I'd usually say "to be fair, I am emulating this," but Genesis emulation is pretty well figured out, I think it's just Valis. It's just like this.
The priority, it would seem, was the story. Cutscenes are done Ninja Gaiden style, and they look really sharp. Dialog is lengthy, and you can tell Wolf Team cared a lot about the lore of Valis, to the point that they would have perhaps been better off making a visual novel instead. Now that would be interesting. A Valis visual novel would be pretty cool and I bet totally normal and not made for perverts. The novelty of these cutscenes is unfortunately Valis' one notable quality, and not only is it not worth playing beyond them, I think if you stripped them away nobody would even talk about this game.
Wonkiness aside, Valis is as dry as an action-platformer can be. Uninspired levels that sometimes are so simplistic as to be a single diagonal line, boring enemy designs, unimaginative visuals... The core pieces are just so bland, and the fact that everything plays like crap is the icing on the cake. It is surprising to me that there's even enough of a conversation around Valis for several people I know to have played it, but my heart is at least warmed knowing we all agree that it stinks. If for some reason you're not one of the Valis initiated, then I ask that you exert some self-control and say no to its powerful 80s anime wiles. Just watch an OVA. Literally any. It doesn't matter. None of this matters.
Valis: The Fantasm Soldier was originally released for the MSX by Telenet Japan, and was developed by Wolf Team, who you might know for their "hit" action-platformer Earnest Evans and a bunch of other garbage that's not worth your time. I happened to play the 1991 Genesis version, and I had to look up the date to confirm it really was '91 because this feels more like a 1988 release, suffering from many of the same issues as the Genesis' launch lineup. It sounds clangy, the controls are clunky, and the graphics lack depth and vibrancy. Even then, it feels a bit unkind to compare it to launch games when Shinobi plays more smoothly and Space Harrier looks more impressive. No, this is just a very budget update to a game that looked about as good as Jetpac when it originally released.
You may be able to forgive the pace of the opening level. Yuko is fleeing from school during a monster attack, she's armed but has yet to attain the power and armor of a true Valis warrior, which she is destined to become. If the game was trying to communicate that Yuko were in some sort of depowered state, then her slow movement, rigid controls, and pathetic attack would perhaps make sense, but once you do power up and get the Valis armor she... still moves like that. Her jump feels both floaty in how easy it is to gain vertical distance yet rigid in how little she's able to move horizontally, which becomes a real problem in the third level when you have to traverse a cave that greatly limits your vertical space. If in that opening level you think "god, the hurt boxes on enemies feels way off" then I'm afraid I've got some bad news, because they don't ever improve, and some enemies (notably the floating skulls in the second level) just flicker around like they're teleporting. This is where I'd usually say "to be fair, I am emulating this," but Genesis emulation is pretty well figured out, I think it's just Valis. It's just like this.
The priority, it would seem, was the story. Cutscenes are done Ninja Gaiden style, and they look really sharp. Dialog is lengthy, and you can tell Wolf Team cared a lot about the lore of Valis, to the point that they would have perhaps been better off making a visual novel instead. Now that would be interesting. A Valis visual novel would be pretty cool and I bet totally normal and not made for perverts. The novelty of these cutscenes is unfortunately Valis' one notable quality, and not only is it not worth playing beyond them, I think if you stripped them away nobody would even talk about this game.
Wonkiness aside, Valis is as dry as an action-platformer can be. Uninspired levels that sometimes are so simplistic as to be a single diagonal line, boring enemy designs, unimaginative visuals... The core pieces are just so bland, and the fact that everything plays like crap is the icing on the cake. It is surprising to me that there's even enough of a conversation around Valis for several people I know to have played it, but my heart is at least warmed knowing we all agree that it stinks. If for some reason you're not one of the Valis initiated, then I ask that you exert some self-control and say no to its powerful 80s anime wiles. Just watch an OVA. Literally any. It doesn't matter. None of this matters.