Valfaris Review Summary

Fun, engaging combat, varied weapons, and cool bosses shine, but clunky delayed controls, relentless respawns, and a lack of difficulty options frustrate.

Fun and engaging gameplay: Many reviews highlight the game as fun, enjoyable, and well-designed, with challenging yet rewarding action. The overall sentiment is overwhelmingly positive about the core gameplay experience.

Large weapon variety: Players frequently praise the extensive selection of weapons, including diverse types such as pistols, shotguns, swords, and unlockable firearms. This variety is often noted as a key strength.

Cool boss fights: Bosses are often highlighted as cool, fun, and well-designed, with some particularly memorable encounters.

Weapon upgrade system: The ability to upgrade weapons multiple times using resources like Blood Metal is well-received, adding depth and progression. Reviews mention 19 weapons across three categories with three-tier upgrades.

Praise for pixel art: The pixel art style is consistently described as solid, attractive, and beautiful, contributing positively to the game's visual appeal.

High difficulty, no settings: Many players note the game is extremely difficult with no option to adjust difficulty. This lack of accessibility frustrates those seeking a more manageable experience.

Clunky controls and input delay: Controls feel clunky and unresponsive, even with a gamepad, with noticeable input delay. This leads to repeated deaths in difficult moments.

Endless enemy respawns: Enemies respawn infinitely in many areas, often on a semi-randomized timer. This creates a constant stream of foes that many find overwhelming.

Final boss: three phases, no checkpoint: The final boss has three consecutive phases with no checkpoint in between, making it extremely punishing. Players must restart from the beginning if they die in any phase.

Bosses kill after defeat: Some bosses explode or attack after being defeated, killing the player and forcing a retry. This is widely considered unfair and frustrating.

Retro 2D action platformer: The game is widely described as a retro-style 2D action platformer with run-and-gun, Contra-inspired gameplay and pixelated pre-rendered graphics. It focuses on stage-clearing, fast-paced side-scrolling action reminiscent of 80s and 90s classics.

Weapon variety and upgrades: The game offers a wide variety of weapons, including multiple gun types, melee weapons, and swords, each with different projectile patterns and secondary effects. Weapons can be upgraded using metallic tokens to increase range and power.

Numerous challenging boss fights: The game features many boss fights, including mini-bosses and boss rush sequences, each with unique attack patterns, mechanics, and gimmicks. The final boss is particularly difficult, often requiring multiple phases.

Endless enemy respawns frustrate: Many players complain that enemies spawn endlessly, respawn infinitely on semi-randomized timers, and appear out of thin air, including during boss fights. This often leads to unavoidable damage and a sense of unfair difficulty.

Energy shield parry mechanic: An energy shield allows players to block enemy projectiles and reflect them back, often stunning or damaging enemies. This parry mechanic is a key defensive and offensive tool.

Painful high-frequency audio: Multiple reports describe piercing high-frequency cymbals and weapon sounds that become painful after an hour or two of play, including the pause button sound. Cutting frequencies above 10kHz reportedly makes the game more playable, and in-game volume controls are insufficient to fix the poor balance. Clusters 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 all point to the same unresolved audio problem.

Mixed PC performance reports: Feedback on optimization is inconsistent: some players call it poor, others average, while some report it runs excellently on Steam Deck and even on weak PCs. Given the 2D sprite-based graphics with non-intensive effects, the game should run comfortably on budget systems, so the poor-optimization reports likely reflect specific hardware or settings issues rather than a universal problem.

Recommended for platformer fans: A significant number of players recommend the game specifically to fans of platformers, especially action-focused or difficult side-scrolling ones. This niche appeal is a common theme.

Better to buy on sale: A common recommendation is to purchase the game during a discount or sale event. Some suggest waiting for a price drop before buying.

Highly recommended by players: Many reviewers express strong overall recommendations for the game. The positive sentiment is consistent across multiple clusters.

Worth the price: Reviewers frequently state the game is worth its cost, whether at full price or on sale. The value proposition is a recurring positive point.

Appeals to retro shooter fans: Reviewers frequently recommend the game to fans of classic shooters like Contra and Castlevania. The retro action style is a key selling point.

Community fair range: $10.00 - $24.99.

Game completion: 7.5h.

Story completion: 7.5h.

Endgame: 2.0h.

Valfaris tends to start weak for some players but becomes enjoyable once its pace picks up and progression rewards patience. Others still find it repetitive, tedious, or limited by controls and difficulty.

Friction: Weak opening; Repetitive gameplay and tedious sections; Control limitations that make boss fights feel like a chore; Disappointing pacing and game design; High difficulty with a punishing checkpoint/life system.

Unlock drivers: The pace picks up after the weak opening; Commitment, patience, and adaptability are rewarded with progression and competence; Linear level design is tuned for challenge and pacing; Removal of the tedious Slain overworld speeds up the action; Metal riffs and fast-paced Contra-style chaos create an immediate hook.

Hardcore Run-and-Gun Veteran: Aggressive platform shooting, pattern memorization, checkpoint route optimization, NG+ and Full Metal Mode runs. Motivation: To master a demanding retro run-and-gun and keep improving through repeated, faster, harder runs. Stance: buy.

Frustrated Difficulty-Skeptic: Cautious ranged play and attempted memorization, but often stops or disengages when repetition feels like a grind. Motivation: To enjoy a brutal metal action-platformer, but the punishing checkpoints and unfair deaths repeatedly drain the fun. Stance: no buy.

Heavy Metal Aesthetic Arcade Fan: Frenetic run-and-gun combat with sword, shield, and secondary weapons while soaking in the music and visual style. Motivation: To feel the adrenaline of a gory, heavy-metal arcade action game with a strong retro aesthetic. Stance: buy.

Steam Deck: The filtered reviews show a seamless Steam Deck experience. Two users explicitly state the game works great and is great to play on Steam Deck. No technical barriers are reported, such as external launchers, anti-cheat errors, small text, battery drain, crashes, or mandatory Proton Experimental tweaks. One German review notes occasional control imprecision, but it is not Deck-specific.

Frequent Contra Comparisons: Multiple reviews compare this game to the Contra series, particularly the SNES and NES entries. Some also mention similar titles like Midnight Resistance and Doom Troopers.

Short Playthrough Length: Many reviewers mention the game is relatively short, with playthrough times ranging from 3 to 9 hours. Some describe it as beatable in a couple of evenings.

Developed by Steel Mantis: The game is developed by the indie studio Steel Mantis, known for their previous title Slain: Back from Hell. Some reviews also note it is published by Silver Lining Interactive.

Improvement Over Slain: Reviewers frequently compare this game to Slain: Back from Hell, noting it as a significant improvement in all areas. Many find it more enjoyable and easier to play.

Soundtrack by Curt Victor Bryant: The soundtrack is composed by Curt Victor Bryant, a former guitarist of the band Celtic Frost. This detail is frequently praised in reviews.