Grimvalor was previously released on the mobile market and did quite well. A port to the Nintendo Switch might open up a whole new market for Finnish-based developer Direlight.
Dark Fantasy
Grimvalor is set in a dark fantasy inspired world. With a distorted world to conquer to bring peace to the realm, you’ll have enough to do along the way. Visiting parallel realms filled to the brim with monsters might not feel like a walk in the park for anyone but our hero. As the protagonist, you’re quite badass to handle most of the low fodder grunts in the first stages. Nothing seems to phase you until you get a bit deeper into the depths. Tougher enemies won’t be slain as easy anymore and the way you use your skills will start to matter.
Jump, dash ‘n’ slash
Just spamming the slash button on your controller won’t cut it in this 2D Metroidvania style game. Combining your attacks with jumps, double jumps, dashes, and even charged attacks will all be necessary skills to conquer the game. Making your movements flow will hopefully give you enough advantage to finally beat a certain boss and his goon squad. As you progress, you’ll learn newer moves. These moves will help you during battles but also might help you open up a previously closed path. These special moves can’t be used constantly which makes them extremely valuable in your success.
Souls-like
The Metroidvania feel should be pretty apparent after reading the previous paragraph. The influences are used to augment the game (as opposed to only selling it) which is something I’ve seen certain developers struggle with. In addition to the Metroidvania influences, Dark Souls is also present in the way the game looks and plays. The dark medieval themed levels seem to be a 2D iteration of the Dark Souls levels. The well-designed enemies also have a big Dark Souls feel to them.
When you destroy enemies they all drop shards which can be collected and used to level up your character. If you happen to die you get a familiar “you died” message on your screen and are returned to a previous safe place. Setting you back at the beginning of a hard level shouts out the Souls-like mantra “Get good before you can advance”. Next to collecting shards, you can also discover treasures scattered throughout the levels. These can later be exchanged for better gear which will hopefully give you the much-needed edge to conquer that one hard level.
Grinding
The flow of Grimvalor feels really good. The jumping and dashing aspect of the game made me look like a badass from the start. Different paths lead to different enemies, some of which are not yet suitable for your current level. These levels can be revisited once you’ve become stronger. This meant some grinding is needed if you’re up for the challenge. With regenerated monsters to use as your bread and butter to level up, you’ll have plenty to do.
Grim
Ultimately I had a lot of fun with the battles. When you finally think you’re badass enough to conquer a level, I became hunted. When hunted, tougher enemies enter the area and the edges are sealed until you destroy all enemies in sight. This is no walk in the park but the rewards after destroying your hunter are huge. Despite great feeling combat and a nice leveling system, the game has some flaws. The story was OK but felt a bit bland after a while. The game looks great but after a while, you grow tired of yet another dark looking dungeon. A bit more originality could’ve helped the game reach greater heights.
Conclusion
Grimvalor got many accolades on the mobile market and will surely conquer some hearts on the console market too. With about 15 hours of gameplay, you won’t feel disappointed at all.
