Valkyrie Elysium (2022)

Valkyrie Elysium could have been something great, with its excellent narrative backdrop built on the basis of Norse mythology. As per usual with Square Enix titles, the art direction and soundtrack are outstanding and leave me wanting more. The fast, fluid, and satisfying combat system is what carries an otherwise mediocre title bogged down by washed out visuals and uninspired level design.

There's little doubt that Square Enix will put more effort into developing the stories and characters in the future. Having all the elements necessary to become a classic, VALKYRIE ELYSIUM is a bit inconsistent experience despite having a great gameplay mechanism. At the same time, its uninspired story and level design could have been better.

I was excited going into Valkyrie Elysium because of what I had heard about the series. While after my time with it that excitement certainly has dulled, not because of the combat but just because everything around it just kind of felt ‘meh’. If the world was more populated or at the very least more interesting there would be much more here to really sink one’s teeth into, as it stands once players are done doing Odin’s bidding they will find little reason to return in my opinion.

Valkyrie Elysium Only presented an enjoyable fighting style, it did not improve anything else otherwise, and with its weak story, linear design of its stages, many technical problems, and repetition in its various fields makes it an incomplete game.

Odd design choices lead to a not so stellar action game with an unfortunately generic, asset-y world design. [i]Valkyrie Elysium[i/] has great moments but is stuck in a mediocre shell that is missing the unique draws of the previous entries in the series. Once the story gets moving it's a good Valkyrie story, but a lack of polish leaves this game floundering instead of standing tall.