Xenon Valkyrie+ Reviews
Xenon Valkyrie+ is something I easily see myself coming back to whenever I have a free moment and my Vita in hand. It can be a cruel experience for sure and some alterations to the overall design would go a long way, but it's still a fun little game I can play seriously for hours or casually on a lunch break.
Xenon Valkyrie+ is an excellent game with an 8-bit artistic look that works very well. It has a simple gameplay but tremendously addictive. An essential title not without flaws that will delight the increasingly numerous roguelike players.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Indie mix of platformer, roguelike and RPG in a sci-fi theme. A mediocre title like many others on PS Vita, although some of mechanics are quite nicely done.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Xenon Valkyrie+ introduces a very well-presented gameplay to Xbox. Beginning with a simple, but also interesting story. It lets the player quickly get into the battle without wasting time trying to get used to mechanics. Although permadeath can be a huge disappointment for casual players, there are multiple characteristics that made up for the difficulty in levels. The pixilated design puts bright colors on the screen, which looks great at all times. Finally, the soundtrack brings high-quality music to the adventure and is one of my favorite presentation elements in this game.
It’s dated, it’s overly difficult and it lacks that something special to make it more than your typical rogue-like experience.
All in all, I’d probably say that Xenon Valkyrie likely has a somewhat narrower audience than Riddled Corpses as a result — though it’s also worth noting that its excellent pixel art and chiptunes are just as appealing as its spiritual precursor. It really is an absolutely beautiful game to look at and listen to — and if that’s the sort of thing you like in your games, then you might not mind that it puts up one hell of a fight!
Exploring the stages is fun, but all that fun starts to melt away when you realize just how little freedom you have to experiment with different character builds. The level up system is simply is not balanced enough to match the rest of the game's mechanics. It's just too frustrating to play Xenon Valkyrie. While you can probably figure out the exact way to optimize characters in order to beat bosses with ease, I can't really see a reason you'd want to.
Xenon Valkyrie+ is by no means a bad game, just one that needed a little bit more time in development to better polish the gameplay.
Personally, as fun as the gameplay is, as great as the controls are, and as good as the graphics are, this roguelike is a bit hit and miss. All in all, this is an okay game for playing in short bursts
In short, it's not worth the grey hairs.
Xenon Valkyrie+ is a game you're either going to love or hate. If you're a fan of the roguelike genre and favor hardcore platformers, then you'll feel right at home with this game. But if you're new to the genre and don't like replaying the same sections, even if the content is randomized during every new run, then this one isn't going to win you over.
Xenon Valkyrie+ is playable, but there is just so much left to be desired. Feeling more like an alpha version with tremendous potential, the longer you play, the more you realise everything you want the game to be, it sadly is not, and players will be left with a mediocre platformer/rogue title instead. If this was a demo of what was to come, it would be so easy to sing its praises but, as it is, it only serves as a source of aggravation for what it could have been.
Due to the busy art style and slippery controls, it took a little while for Xenon Valkyrie+ to get its hooks in me but as I improved, everything started to open up and I had an extremely enjoyable time battling enemies and searching for its rewarding secrets.
Xenon Valkyrie+’s random generated levels, entertaining soundtrack, and the pixelated design makes the game a good addition to your library, especially if you are using a PlayStation Vita. However the game’s merciless gameplay makes it tough to finish.
Xenon Valkyrie was a game that got swept in my backlog that I didn’t think much of at first, but upon playing through several runs and getting further and further each time, I find myself totally engrossed in this game. As an action platformer, the controls are excellent and the combat is satisfying, and the random elements here work great, shaking things up every time in a good way without making the game frustrating or too dependent on luck.
If you’re really interested in a more minimalist take on roguelikes you may find Xenon Valkyrie+ to your liking. Just understand that it’s very much a no-frills experience that has issues with balance and variety, never really feeling like it nails any particular aspect completely. In general, I’d say you’d be better served finding one of the many better alternatives in the genre on the system.
MEDIOCRE - Xenon Valkyrie+ is a bit of a mixed bag. It has plenty of cute visuals and fun gameplay, but it falls short in more important aspects like its level designs and replayability. If you just want some short fun then this would be worth considering. Everyone else should probably pass.
Xenon Valkyrie+ is a difficult rogue-like game, characterised by difficult gameplay, oversaturated level design and imprecise controls. It's a game for masochists who love dying over and over again without any tangible benefit.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Xenon Valkyrie+, for the most part, succeeds in what it promises. While the story really suffers from its overhyped, pie-in-the-sky tagline, the gameplay itself is challenging (but fair), and that is coming from an inexperienced/sissy roguelike/lite consumer like myself. Some issues exist beyond the overpromised story, but it’s difficult to fault it harshly when you consider the game sits at only $9.99USD retail. It might not satisfy the most hardcore roguelike/lite fan out there, but it has certainly made me consider trying more types of these games in the future. Xenon Valkyrie+ releases on Nintendo Switch on January 1, 2019.