Valhalla Knights plies the 3D role-playing trade with adequate visuals and conventional adventure game basics such as quests, character classes, level raising, and party members. The character creation system allows four primary classes - fighter, mage, priest, and thief. From these four foundation archetypes, other classes may be created such as archmage and samurai when a character levels up and attains skills and attributes. At the outset of the game, players may only select a male or female human as the protagonist but elves, dwarves, and hobbits are available for new characters that are created in the guild.

Jan Code: 4988110022364

View the back cover and screenshots on the main NCSX website.

» On the title screen, a magnificent city with slow rotating clouds in the background serves as the backdrop to the Valhalla Knights logo. An old fashioned air ship of some sort flies across the screen from time to time.

» At the outset of the game, the camera pans in from above on a roaring dragon. The camera then scopes out the beast from the front and shows two heroes facing the dragon known as the King of Monsters who wreaked havoc on the land. Soon afterwards, a party of six warriors are running around and beating up on the dragon who soon succumbs to the rain of blows. It's possible to switch between the various characters by pressing the SELECT button but once control is handed over to the particular character, no attacks may be effected. Jam on the face buttons all you want but your selected hero will just stand there and raise his arms to the side as if trying to emulate a cross. The other characters do attack however and are more than enough to drop the dragon and destroy it. This sequence shows the battle between Rastil and cohorts against the dragon to set up the background story.

» After the introductory battle which recounts an old conflict, it's time to create a new character. Players may choose a male or female. The male character wears two pairs of bracers on each arm and bracers on his ankles. He also wears a shirt with only the right strap connected to his shoulder so that the left side of his chest is bared. The female character is a blonde Brunhilde-type who also wears the same amount of bracers as the male lead and wears a blue outfit. Her hair is braided at the top with a red bow. The appearance of the main character cannot be altered and it's either male or a female described above.

» In the name entry screen, press the R-TRIGGER to scroll between katakana, kanji, and English character entry. We named our male hero "HOBBIT" because he sort of looks like Frodo.

» After creating and naming the lead character, choose a class from four possible options: Fighter, Magician, Priest, and Thief - these are listed here in the order that they are presented in the game for the convenience of our non-Japanese readers. From these four classes, the other classes such as Ninja, Samurai, and Knight may be evolved to as a character levels up in skill. Next, three attribute points may be allocated to seven qualities, some of which affect HP and MP.

» The game begins with a view of the beams on the ceiling as the hero or heroine apparently wakes up from bed. The hero is inside a inn with multiple beds in the same room and a fireplace at the front. Sunlight streams in through the windows and for a while, hero stands there in a state of introspection and holds a internal dialogue with himself as he recalls recent history.

CONTROLS
L-ANALOG..........Movement
TRIANGLE..........View character stats, manage inventory, etc
SQUARE............Crouch. May be used in conjunction with analog nub
X-BUTTON.........Interact with NPCs, open doors
L-TRIGGER........Focus in on object
R-TRIGGER........Center camera

To crouch and move stealthily, press and hold the SQUARE button and move around with the analog nub.

» Once control is handed over to the player, walk to the chest in the back of the room and realize that it can't be opened. Next, go through the door and speak to the innkeeper behind the counter who looks awfully like Toruneco... a gruff and demanding interpretation of Toruneco.

» Upon leaving the inn, a stranger points out the guild across the street which has two banners above the door and the weapons shop which has a shield with weapons in front of it. The player starts off with 500G and the best investment is to enter the guild and create a character. Each new character may be male or female and be a hobbit, elf, dwarf, or machine. We created a hobbit priest for the benefit of free healing. The first character creation costs 500G so it's going to be a party of two at the outset.

» During battles, the priest will automatically cast a healing spell whenever either character is hurt. The first destination is the town prison which contains 8 jail cells and a chamber. Inside the cells are assorted slimes which may be destroyed for experience and simple treasures. The entrance to the prison also has a chest which yields 300G but other than that, gold is fairly difficult to obtain. A great addition to the game would have been a casino since a 100G stake can be spun into 99999G in short order. When it's time to create a third character, the cost is hiked to 1000G and we recommend adding a mage if one is not already in your party. The mage casts powerful offensive spells which take care of the tougher enemies later in the game.

» The prison contains a number of slime which make squishy noises when they move around. When a battle starts, a flash of light appears and the battle screen loads up where hero and comrade run around and attack by pressing the X button. Attacks only knock off small amounts of HP but the slime also only cause 2 to 3 HP worth of damage. After each slime is destroyed, it'll give up a treasure chest of items. With a priest on hand, players may explore the prison freely and get healed without having to go back to the town inn to sleep off any damage. Each time a slime is killed, it only garners a measly 20EXP and the next level for either character is attained by reaching 555 EXP which means a lot of hacking and slashing to earn some points. Luckily, the slime auto-regenerate and you can hang out in the prison waiting for them to appear.

» A helpful feature in the game is the ability to set the disposition or goals of a character. For example, a priest can be set to attack and heal with the priority on attack. When this is set, the priest will join the hero when monsters are encountered and only heal when the occasion calls. If the emphasis is switched to heal only, the priest will hang back to preserve his own HP and cast healing spells on damaged cohorts. All dispositions may be set for all characters for full user control.

» To lock onto a creature during battle, press the L-trigger.

» The computer AI that controls partners in the game is relatively good. It will make a character attack and then step back before attacking again which helps it avoid some counter attacks from monsters.

» Character MP automatically regenerates as time passes. MP is the fuel that allows priests and mages to cast spells.

» In the town square, the player can run through a group of four birds that are pecking on the ground and send them scattering away.

» A map automatically appears on the upper right corner of the screen whenever the protagonist moves. Stand still and it disappears after 4 seconds. After entering a new area, the map is blank but it will be carved out gradually as the hero explores and fleshes it out.

» The merchants in the game are a motley lot including a buck-toothed older woman in the guild, a lackadaisical dullard with a buzz cut in the tavern, a buck-toothed hook-handed bald guy with a nervous tic at the weapons shop, and the aforementioned Toruneco clone who plays an innkeeper.

» The cathedral features a glassine floor which reflects everything inside including the stained glass windows for a nifty effect. White hot sunlight streams through all of the windows.

» In the character management window, the Play Time is counted down in the upper left corner of the screen.

» Jobs may be accepted at the guild which consist simple tasks such as courier runs or dangerous jobs where the hero has to descend into a dungeon and recover a valuable treasure or item. The pay scale increases with more difficult missions.

» A party may consist of 6 characters.

» A total of 48,000 weapons and items may be equipped and used in the game.

» Over 150 types of monsters roam the world with slimes providing the first wave of adversity followed by more exotic creatures such as golem, minotaur, vampires, and enemy samurai

» As a hero levels up, he may change job classes based on his starting class.

» Up to 2 players may join in a cooperative game through ad hoc mode.

This document is ©NCSX 2006. All rights reserved. No reproduction in whole or in part of this document may be made without express written consent of National Console Support, Inc.