Valis: the Fantasm Soldier

[Melf]

For almost two decades, the Valis franchise has been turning heads, be it for its solid action, incredible cut scenes, or even its recent foray into the world of hentai. All of this controversy had to begin somewhere, and Sega-16 takes a look at the game that started the famous storyline, Valis: the Fantasm Soldier. It may not stack up to its Turbo Grafx-16 CD-ROM counterpart, but Genesis gamers didn't get off all that bad. Read the full review (http://www.sega-16.com/2007/02/valis-the-fantasm-soldier/) and see if this is one to add to your library.

[ary incorparated]

i hate the game but digg the music its so up to the core of the genesis its power.this game was frustrating slow idd.

[Benjamin]

The slowness is what kills the Valis franchise for me. Castlevania is a similarly slow game, but there is always much more action and enemy encounters to keep the game interesting. I always felt like it was such a journey to go from one enemy to the next, especially for an action game. Valis III is far superior and the only playable Genesis Valis in my opinion, though I don't remember much of Syd of Valis.

[108 Stars]

I agree, it´s far too slow to be fun.
I´ve said it before and I´ll say it again: Valis X must be the best in the franchise.
I´m waiting for a Genesis-port.:mrgreen:

[kevinski]

It's a shame that none of the Valis games were really all that great. I own all three for Genesis, and Valis III is the one that I came closest to liking. Unfortunately, it shares many of the flaws that the original Valis for Genesis had, albeit with more playable characters and better controls.

My main gripes with this series are as follows:

01) Yuko (and the other playable characters, in the case of Valis III) never moves at a comfortable pace. She's either too slow (Valis and Valis III) or too fast (Syd of Valis).

02) The jumping mechanics are horrible. Here, we have women who can jump approximately 20 feet into the air, yet only cover 3-4 feet in terms of horizontal distance. This makes certain pits unpassable by jumping. And that brings me to another aspect of the game that I absolutely cannot stand...

03) To get past the majority of pits in these games, you don't jump; you slide. The very idea of sliding over a pit is just ridiculous.

04) Horrible collision detection. And the characters react in perhaps the least realistic way possible when hit, and it usually results in you flying right down a pit.

05) Non-existent enemy A.I. Seriously, the enemies just walk straight toward you or follow very predictable patterns. Terrible.

Still, despite these flaws, I can't help but love the series. I really wish that a competent developer (Konami, anyone?) would acquire the rights to this series and bring it back into the limelight. The story is very good, and it would really benefit from the newer technologies available today. It makes me sick to think that people consider Aeris' death in FFVII such a tragedy when the storyline in the Valis series is so much more tragic.

If redone with a more cinematic approach taken, I guarantee you that this game could be a real tear-jerker.

EDIT: Had to correct some BB code.

[Rodger]

yeah, i was impressed with the cinema scenes in the genesis version, but goodness the text was slower then the main character haha.

It's a shame (well some would disagree heh) that the series took a nose dive to hentai, but wouldn't it be great for Valis to come back better then ever?

[kevinski]

Hahahaha...I was playing Valis III yesterday, and my new roommate (since December) walked into the livingroom. When he saw what I was playing, he exclaimed something along the lines of, "Oh my God! I've played this before!" As he watched me play, he kept on remarking about how "sweet" the game is. Hahahaha...my Sega Genesis collection gets all sorts of wows out of people, apparently.

[David J.]

I only liked ONE Valis game, and it was Valis of Syd, and it was OK at best. I only bought it because I saw it for a decent price, cart only at the pawn shop.

I have no problem with it being a Hentai game nowadays, as I posted a rant on why it is OK. Long story short... if a traditional Valis game was released, weither it was 2D or 3D, everyone would bitch, and a lackluster game wouldn't translate well to 3D, and it would get shit reviews/shit sales and all of the people who get hyped wouldn't actually buy it and denounce it, and the same shit is happening to our beloved Sega. Oh yeah, no one really remembers or cares about this series anymore, so people new to gaming would be totally confused.

PS: The whole Shoujo-genre of anime and games is pretty stagnant right now, and what shows up is pretty ho-hum. Hentai games, despite the fact most all of them are the same, sell.

[Rusty Venture]

Despite owning Japanese versions of both "Valis" and "SD Valis" and the American version of Valis 3, I don't think I've ever really got all that into this series.

Valis has some nice music, but the gameplay is rather sluggish and the artwork makes the game look better than it really is.

[kevinski]

dark & long, you make an excellent point. The artwork in this series is absolutely incredible. Hell, even the hentai games look amazing. Of course, this, to me, is a problem. It's such a waste of wonderful artwork, no matter how you look at it. The true Valis games can't hold up from a gameplay standpoint, and the hentai games just go against everything that the Valis series is supposed to be about.

[ary incorparated]

the music of this slow game is freaking awesome.

[Rusty Venture]

and the hentai games just go against everything that the Valis series is supposed to be about.


Maybe she needs the threat of being raped by numerous penis shaped tentacles to get her ass moving a little more quickly. :mrgreen:

[ary incorparated]

Maybe she needs the threat of being raped by numerous penis shaped tentacles to get her ass moving a little more quickly. :mrgreen:

LOL!!!!!!!

[nat]

Valis I on the Genesis was horrible. Probably the worst Valis entry on *any* platform. Slow gameplay and drab visuals.... The first time I played it I couldn't even bring myself to finish the first level.

I was playing Valis III today (TurboGrafx version) and getting frustrated with the crappy controls. The game itself is fairly decent, as a fan of platformers in general. I'm not sure how the Genesis version of same stacks up, never played it. I imagine it's pretty much the same minus the voice acting.

I've heard Valis IV is by far the best, though.

[Joe Redifer]

Valis 1 on Genesis = Slow, boring, but great music in parts.
Valis 1 on TurboGrafx = Much better control, faster, music could be more robust.

Valis 2 on Genesis = Syd of Valis. Lame.
Valis 2 on TurboGrafx = Better, but extremely drab with some good music.

Valis 3 on Genesis = Slow but pretty good. Stiff controls.
Valis 3 on TurboGrafx = Slightly smoother controls, weaker music and the game itself somehow manages to be less enjoyable overall than the Genesis version.

Valis 4 on SNES = Super Valis. No real opinion of this one. Played it once 20 years ago.
Valis 4 on TurboGrafx = Played it tonight. Game sucks. Controls like TG Valis 3 and has the same lack-of-enjoyment problems. I HATE bouncing back when I get hit.

[Melf]

I HATE bouncing back when I get hit.
Ah yes, the dreaded Mega Man Syndrome (also known as "Belmont's Disease"). It should have been eradicated along with random battles in RPGs ages ago.

[nat]

Ah yes, the dreaded Mega Man Syndrome (also known as "Belmont's Disease"). It should have been eradicated along with random battles in RPGs ages ago.


Except in Valis it's far worse than Mega Man.

But, still, neither one holds a candle to the horrible collision effect in Altered Beast.

[ary incorparated]

Ah yes, the dreaded Mega Man Syndrome (also known as "Belmont's Disease"). It should have been eradicated along with random battles in RPGs ages ago.

same with revenge of shinobi the bouncing back while you get hit by a ninjutsu star ,Joe isnt the man i tought he was ,a bit of a man rams the ninja star in his chest and continues with a satisfieng yell of pain.