Three years ago, I reviewed Valley on PS4 for PlayStation Lifestyle. It was a small indie game, it looked pretty, and I sometimes enjoy exploration games. I figured, why not? Well, I fell in love with it. I trumpeted constantly that it needed to be a GOTY contender, even if that meant it was only in the indie category. I didn’t care; it HAD to be there. It didn’t win with our site, but it was certainly my personal best indie title of the year. When I heard it was going to Switch, I practically danced with joy. I have another place I can play Valley? And this time I can take it on the go? SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!
If you’ve never played the amazing game known as Valley, then step into my office and let me tell you why you should.
The Valley Runs Deep
As I played through Valley a second time on the Switch, I was once again captivated by how deep the story really is. One major problem exploration games suffer from is dancing along the fine line of interesting gameplay and interesting story. Sure, you can argue most games dance upon that line, but the exploration genre has a far bigger struggle than most other genres. For example, Firewatch had really unique exploration gameplay, but the story was fairly lackluster overall. On the other side, Dear Esther had an interesting tale, but the gameplay was literally just walking around. Valley, however, exhibits the finest balance between gameplay and story that I have ever experienced in the exploration genre. It was true in 2016, and I haven’t come across a better exploration game yet today.
The story stars an archaeologist on the hunt for the legendary “Life Seed,” a seed that reportedly has extraordinary power. On her search, she accidentally finds a hidden valley in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. The valley itself is a dichotomy of beautiful, vibrant life and patches of death—dead trees, dead animals, you get the picture. There are also ancient ruins from an unknown civilization, not to mention signs that World War II scientists were there years before, researching the Life Seed as well. Not only did these scientists find it, but they were also using it to create a bomb that would rival the Manhattan Project. As the archaeologist explores the intricate valley, she realizes that they started a horrific chain of events that all leads back to the Life Seed. She knows she can’t leave the valley without rectifying the sins of the past.
UnbeLEAFable Walking Simulator
Early on in the archaeologist’s adventure, she finds a LEAF (Leap Effortlessly through Air Functionality) suit that the WWII scientists created for exploring the terrain. At first, the LEAF suit can only jump high and run quickly, but through suit upgrades found, players will soon be able to jump mid-air, run across water, grapple to crane hooks, and that’s just a small sample. Some upgrades cannot be reached until you find other upgrades further into the valley. Fortunately, you can easily fast travel to any area you’ve already explored at any time.
The LEAF also has a God Hand, which allows the suit to either grant life or take it away. Those dead patches I mentioned earlier? You can bring them back to life. The only catch is that the God Hand is powered by an energy source called Amrita, and the God Hand abilities take a portion of the LEAF’s Amrita energy cells. Replenishing the Amrita is easy enough, as the valley is literally littered with Amrita orbs to collect. The orbs will even respawn after awhile. If you’re really in a bind, though, you can take life away from plants and animals to refill the cells.
However, the more life you take away, the more you risk killing the valley. Even when you die, you take life from trees and animals around you to respawn. It wasn’t long before I revived every tree and animal around me after respawning. I felt too guilty to carry on without giving back to the ecosystem that brought me back.
There is some combat, but I’m not going to explain it because it spoils too much of the story. Just know that it exists.
I loved my romp in the Valley three years ago, and I loved it just as much today. I worried that knowing the full story would dampen my enjoyment the second time around, but instead, it pulled at the heartstrings a little bit more. It all seems more [redacted] when you know what’s really going on under the beautiful facade. If you never ventured into the Valley before, it’s never too late to visit now. It’s already available for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and now finally the Switch.
I also have to add here that the soundtrack is still one of the best video game soundtracks out there. Even after three years, it’s still in my writing music rotation at work.
Received Valley Switch review code from publisher.
Valley
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The Good
- Gorgeous environment
- Exploration as challenging as you want it
- Beautiful soundtrack
- Deep story
- Puns!
The Bad
- Some texture popping
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