Valley – Nintendo switch review

Valley is a first-person action adventure game with a few twists to the normal mechanics that you would expect, the game was first released back in 2016 on all the usual formats but has just now been released on the Switch. The game has been Developed by the guys at Blue isle studios and the setting has been inspired by the Rocky Mountains.

As you start the game you learn a bit about a myth about the Life seed and the power it contains and the fact that many have gone searching for it. You learn that you are an archaeologist that is going to go in search of the life seed despite your friend leaving you a answer machine message trying to convince you otherwise. As you emerge from the water into a remote area of the Rocky Mountains you will start to notice the amount of details that has been built into the game, from the sound effects of the waterfalls to the light and shadowing on the walls.

I found the graphics really stood out for me in Valley right from the start, it reminds me of when I first played breath of the wild where you are amazed that a handheld console can provide such a detailed and scenic game. As you progress you have a working tutorial as you play which will go through the controls for you and teach you the simple buttons needed to run and jump etc, shortly into the start of the game you acquire the L.E.A.F suit. Your L.E.A.F (Leap Effortlessly through Air Functionality) suit is a remnant of the experiments being conducted in the Valley by a group known as Pendulum, the idea behind the suits is to give the user superhuman abilities that will be required to move and survive in the Valley.

But like all superhuman powers they all have their downsides, the suits are all linked to the Valley and they use the power from the valley to use their abilities which range from giving or taking life energy to being able to double jump and even cheat death. Yes, if you die your suit will resurrect you through Quantum immortality but the more you die the more you will drain life from the valley itself. You won’t get all the powers and upgrade right from the start, but you will unlock them as you progress through the game.

As you move through the Valley you will learn about Pendulum as you go in search of the life seed, you will why they were in the valley and what they were planning to do. The game has a very interesting and gripping storyline running through it beyond that of the want of the main character to find the life seed, but I am not going to go to deeply into it as I don’t want to spoil anything.

Moving through the valley you will find golden acorns which might be in chests, dropped from the trees you bring back to life or from some of the mystical enemies that will try to kill you, these are needed to open up certain areas and doors which are worth doing so as they normally give you upgrades or medallions which you learn you need a certain amount of to open up a pyramid somewhere in the Valley (I missed 2 of these, prob behind the acorn door I didn’t open) so I will be going back to find them trust me! The game’s movement is very fluid and it is well designed where you will need to start to use more and more of the movement mechanics you get via upgrade to progress through the Valley, don’t worry none of them are over the top or overly complicated the game is just very fluid and you can take your time to explore or speed run if you so wished.

The only real down side I found to the game is the length of it, I completed it under 5 hours I think (I am taking a rough guess there) but I did find my self totally engrossed with the game and just couldn’t put it down, also I want to know what’s in the pyramid so I will be playing it through again to ensure I get all the medallions next time. Even though the game is not as long as I would of liked it is a really good price at the moment at around £11 when I last looked due to it being on sale but even its full price is only £15.59 so for the price the game play and the replay factor is definitely worth it.

Overall, I give it a 7/10