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  1. From the minds behind Slain: Back from Hell comes another heavy-metal-inspired action game, this time mixing swords and guns in a space setting—though still with plenty of blood, skulls, and brutal combat. Some unique ideas help distinguish Valfaris from similar games, but the intense difficulty may reserve this adventure only for the hardest of the hardcore. The fortress of Valfaris mysteriously disappeared from galactic charts and then just as mysteriously reappeared orbiting a dead star, prompting our protagonist, Therion, to explore the fortress and find his father. The game has such a habit of introducing characters or story concepts so casually that I worried there was some lore-filled cutscene that I had somehow missed, but the reality is the story in Valfaris is merely window dressing to the action. It's nice to have some context as to why you're shooting this latest giant monster in the face, but you don't really need to know, and the short introduction to bosses and locations adds little to the experience. Like Slain before it, Valfaris draws inspiration from classic side-scrolling action games, including their punishing sense of difficulty. With both guns and a sword you'll fight your way through hordes of monsters and bosses, and thanks to a fairly small pool of health (and no way to heal yourself outside of hoping for random health drops from enemies), any little mistake on your part will be punished harshly. Enemy attacks and hazards are completely unforgiving, and often you'll have to die and retry before you even understand what you're supposed to do to progress. Since there is no dodge or dash ability it's frustratingly easy to simply get caught repeatedly in enemy attacks, especially particularly large melee swings. The brutal sense of difficulty can be exhausting, though hardcore fans might appreciate the no-nonsense challenge. However, Valfaris does feature frequent checkpoints that alleviate some of the frustration, though there's a unique twist here. In order to activate checkpoints you'll need to use a resurrection idol, which you'll find while playing at a pretty regular rate—typically one idol per checkpoint. The catch is that the more resurrection idols you're holding, the higher your max health and energy are, so there's a bit of a risk/reward in how you use your idols. Do you want to have a handy checkpoint in case you die up ahead? Or do you want to risk going back all the way to the last checkpoint, but with a bit more health to work with? Without knowing what lies ahead—but knowing that death comes easily in Valfaris—it can be a tricky bit of strategy and calculated risks to use your idols effectively. Therion comes equipped with guns, swords, and special heavy guns (which require energy to use), but there's a unique connection between his weapons beyond merely using guns for distance and swords for melee. Killing enemies with a sword strike generates energy which can then be used to fuel heavy guns or your shield, so to make the most of your weapons you have to be able to seamlessly transition between all of them, spending and regenerating energy efficiently. It's a little tricky at first but it's certainly satisfying to find a rhythm of using your different weapons without leaving yourself open to enemy attacks. Valfaris isn't a Metroidvania—it's entirely linear, more like classic Castlevania—but there are still quite a few secrets to uncover. A hidden area might reward you with an idol or you might find a new weapon entirely, or blood metal which is required to upgrade weapons. Even with frequent deaths and retries Valfaris is not a particularly long game, maybe six or seven hours, so trying out different weapons helps add some replay value. Heavy metal is once again the key artistic inspiration for the game. The art style feels ripped straight from a metal album cover, in good and bad ways. There's no denying there's a certain appeal to the crumbling, alien scenery dripping with blood and viscera, though it can also feel a bit overdone at times with too many busy elements competing for your eye when you just need to dodge enemy attacks. The headbanging soundtrack fuels your adventure through these hellish environments, and if nothing else will get your blood pumping for another attempt against the game's fiendish challenges and bosses. Valfaris shows some marked improvements over Slain by mixing up the gameplay with a satisfying blend of weapon styles that play off of one another. The lack of a dodge ability makes the already punishing difficulty even harder to stomach, but fans of extra-difficult action games may enjoy mastering the ins and outs of Valfaris's combat system. Rating: 6 out of 10
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