{"id":259,"date":"2026-08-03T16:56:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T16:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/?p=259"},"modified":"2026-08-03T17:02:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T17:02:56","slug":"valkyrie-saga-publisher-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/2026\/08\/03\/valkyrie-saga-publisher-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Valkyrie Saga&#8217;s publisher review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hi. I&#8217;m Pablo, and I&#8217;m old, 40 years old, from 1986.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I grew up playing arcade and Super Nintendo games mostly, pretty 16-bit. I played N64 games and some PSX games too after that, and I have continued playing all console generations, but for some reason the nostalgia hits me harder with 16-bit 2D games, art and tunes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But for kids born in the early 199x, that feeling comes with the aesthetics from the early 3D graphics. Consoles that had very hard times trying to put some polygons at the screen trying to convince the players that this is Bubsy&#8217;s world in 3D:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-260\" style=\"width:624px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To me is like comparing Atari 2600 graphics to SNES visuals: the former required a lot of imagination. Well&#8230; Okay, maybe I&#8217;m exaggerating it quite a bit and I probably chose the worst example, but 3D graphics back then were very raw and primitive, in comparison with the current interactive films we see almost everyday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anyway, to the point: For some reason, nostalgia doesn&#8217;t hit me that hard with that kind of aesthetics and, at a first moment, <strong>I didn&#8217;t understand why Valkyrie Saga was so appealing to many players<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Valkyrie Saga \u2014 Coming to Nintendo Switch\u2122 2 on 30th July\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/o7w3yhwztpo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Valkyrie Saga is a retro 3D adventure platformer, inspired by many PSX classics, with a lot of movements, combos and such. And with a nice lore and story.<\/strong> It&#8217;s creator, Bosco Bartilomo, from Public Void, made it with Godot, and, because we worked previously on porting Inhabit to Nintendo Switch, he got in touch to consider releasing Valkyrie Saga on Nintendo Switch. I accepted it at the very instant, as working with him in the past was really nice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At that moment, <strong>I did not understand why Valkyrie Saga had so much love and praise<\/strong>, but we started optimizing and porting it. It took a bit of investigation, but <strong>we got the game running from 12fps to 60fps!<\/strong> We even did the QA (playing the game from start to every ending a few times, using cheats) and recently released it, and I still didn&#8217;t understand what it was so fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But&#8230; <strong>my opinion changed at the time I found some free time to actually play it<\/strong> without a button that extremely buffed me (QA cheats).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You start the game, and you&#8217;re completely lost in a huge world in which you can only do a small double jump and glide with your wings. A huge world in which you don&#8217;t know where to get started, seeing a lot of unreachable platforms flying everywhere and a pretty limited moveset.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s1-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-265\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s1-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s1-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You start <strong>speaking with every NPC<\/strong>, which <strong>introduce you to the world&#8217;s story<\/strong> with their conversations, <strong>sometimes giving you a small quest and rewarding you after taking care of it<\/strong>. But, <strong>you&#8217;re still far away from getting up to any of the flying platforms<\/strong>, and that huge tower in the center looks like it goes up to the infinite!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s12-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-268\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s12-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s12-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s12-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s12-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s12.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You <strong>start wandering and checking every zone, getting lost oftenly<\/strong>, and trying to reach the platforms above with your current skills. And, <strong>after a while, you find some way up to a nice upgrade!<\/strong> Maybe a spell, more glide speed, a crystal, etc&#8230; Now you can go back and try again some of the places you had to skip because you couldn&#8217;t reach, and, after that, you keep progressing further and further. And, sometimes, you might find a way to get up to some places and reach upgrades probably earlier than what Bosco designed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s5-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-270\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s5-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s5-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s5-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s5-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s5.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>That loop is so satisfying.<\/strong> <strong>It really got me. I went from not understanding it to really enjoying the moveset and the concept of expressive platforming<\/strong>. It&#8217;s so rewarding finding a way up to every place, especially when it&#8217;s pretty easy to just fall down and have to start over again after spending 10 minutes getting up there. And, at the same time, you will probably never fall down to the bottom if you don&#8217;t reach the next platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s8-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-269\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s8-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s8-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s8-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s8-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/s8.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And&#8230; well. I could continue telling you why I really liked Valkyrie Saga so much, but at the same time I don&#8217;t want to spoil how it will make you feel. \ud83d\ude43<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The best way to understand why Valkyrie Saga is so special is to give it a chance and play it.<\/strong> It&#8217;s far from perfect, as it&#8217;s an small indie game, but I would definitely recommend you to <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/2663150\/Valkyrie_Saga\">give a peek at its demo in Steam<\/a> if you want to find out if this game is for you, or you can directly grab it on <a href=\"https:\/\/rwr.es\/n\/valkyrie\">Nintendo eShop for Nintendo Switch 2<\/a>. But, please do it without any rush and enjoy the exploration, as getting started requires a bit of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This game has no scores in <s>Elitecritic<\/s> Metacritic, but I can assure it&#8217;s a lot more fun than many of the games that do!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thank you for taking your time reading this!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">See you in the next post.<br>Pablo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hi. I&#8217;m Pablo, and I&#8217;m old, 40 years old, from 1986. I grew up playing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":261,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rawrview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":271,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259\/revisions\/271"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawrlab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}