Valdis Story: Abyssal City - Action Platforming at it's Best

This is a must have for fans of the Action-Platformer genre, as well as anyone who has any interest at all in games that requires a level of skill, finesse, and quick thinking.

A Quick Overview

In short, Valdis Story: Abyssal City is a Side Scrolling Action Platformer with an intense focus on intricate combat gameplay, playstyle customization, and exploration. 

You will play as the standoffish character Wyatt who fell into the depths of an ancient and vast city that is now plagued with creatures called Ferals, who are neither angel nor demon. Capable of fighting with a sword, spells, and his own fists, Wyatt is recognized as unique and [hopefully] trustworthy by the people who live in this giant underground civilization, and they will help you find your friends who fell down with you as long as you remain on their good side and keep the Ferals, and the newly arrived Angels and Demons, at bay. 

The rest of the story, as well as events that occurred before Wyatt and his crew fell into the ruins, will unravel as you make progress and unlock new sections of the city, by means of killing incredible bosses and generally exploring the world.

Bosses and Abilities

The highlight of this game, for me, is the seamless joint between spell-slinging and sword-swinging. It's a melee styled platformer with some spells artfully placed in. It feels balanced, intuitive, and goodness is it fun as hell to be a battlemage who offhandedly shoots fireblasts like it's no big deal.


Another comment about the combat in this game; the development of sword and spell abilities over time allows more players to customize their preferred playstyle, from the newbie who wants to sit back and heal themselves while hurling icicles at the enemy from afar, or the adrenaline junkie who wants to make each fight an intimate race to see who can kill who the quickest.
In this way, the game is designed to accommodate every player's needs while still maintaining a level of difficulty and genuine arcade-style fun.

One of the most magical feats of this game is actually, pun intended, the magic system. Each form of magic has its uses to traverse the world in a metroid-vania style of gameplay, as well as some more unique effects that can be discovered while fighting bosses, such as the ice-pillar blocking the streams of floor-level fire during your encounter with Jahzracht the Purifier. It complicates both battle and player-movement in intriguing and fun ways that end up filling the player with a sense of accomplishment and a rewarding sense of 'I found a cool way to play the game all by myself'.

Map Designed Like True Pros

People enjoy sprawling maps and explorable areas, but they don't enjoy back-tracking through rooms they have already been through. The answer to this is to design the world with unlockable shortcuts that allow quick transitions from one point to another. 

image courtesy of http://endlessfluff.com/forum/index.php?topic=186.0

A simple series of doors that can only be unlocked by certain keys in the game will serve this purpose perfectly, as now that you have a key from an advanced area of the game, you can jump a vast distance through earlier parts instead of having to trek through a series of rooms and fight a handful of underleveled and unchallenging monsters.
This, accompanied with a railway system that will take you from one region of the map to another makes the expansive world of the Abyssal City a pleasure to explore, as you don't have the nagging thought of 'I have to go all the way back after this' in your head.


All in all, Valdis Story: Abyssal City is the most fun I've had in the Platformer genre in a long time.