A Valley Without Wind

The ActAraiser vibe is so awesome, and the feel of the game is incredibly exciting, but it just doesn't come together in refinement.
This another neutral vote really.. and I wish the followup didn't over correct so much.

A very odd curiosity but I don't feel like there's a "good game" in here. Constantly picking up crafting materials but the "town building" element only seems to be through instantly-built structures you earn from missions. Bizarre world generation that expects you to carry hundreds of expendable crates and platforms. Gamepad support but only really playable on M+KB. Loads of unscaleable (??) text, hard to read at 1920x1080. One of the ugliest aesthetics I've ever seen... good music though.

A Valley Without a Clue

What I Liked

It was a memorable experience, as I still remember playing it years later.

What I Did Not Like

I tried to force myself to like it, but, it's just not a good game. It's a weird game that makes no sense. Nothing makes sense. I mean, they developers gave people who purchased the first game the second game, for free.

Why I Stopped Playing

It just wasn't fun.

Disclaimer

I have been a gamer for over 30 years. I tend to play mostly PC games. I also bounce around between games A LOT. I may purchase a $60 game and play it for 2 hours or spend $10 on a game and spend 50 hours on it. Even if I played a game a short time, it does not mean it is bad. It just means another game caught my attention. I also complain about flaws in games a lot, even about the littlest of things. Keep that in mind when reading my reviews. If I do not have a complaint, then the game must be special!

I've had a lot of fun with this game, but I get why it has such mixed reception. The pre-rendered sprites and backdrop graphics can make it hard to identify objects you can interact with, and there's a LOT of mechanics to learn, even if the tutorial prompts are spaced out enough to only tell you about things when they become relevant. The mapping system also has some problems, mainly how the minimap for the current room can't be made transparent or smoothly adjusted in size. Particularly with very large rooms, it seems like you can only swap the minimap between "too small to see clearly" and "too big to see behind".

That being said, exploring the various types of biomes is pretty fun, especially the sort of "dungeon within a dungeon within a dungeon" aspect of how many layers you can delve into any given square on the overworld map. I also enjoyed the soundtrack. It does a great job of conveying the game's subtle but pervasive sense of melancholy, reminding you that this jumbled-together landscape you're traversing is all that remains from a cataclysm that smashed together all of space and time.

All in all, not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I'd say it's worth at least a glance.

This is a strange game; an endless metroid-style game where you explore a desolate world while you build structures on the overworld map to help you do so. The graphics are bizarre, mixing realistic buildings and backgrounds with PSX era particle effects and low animation sprites. The music is NES-style chiptunes mixed with high fidelity instruments. Like I said, strange.

Much has already been said of this game's strengths and weaknesses already. I enjoyed my time with it, but I will always remember it for a different reason, one which I will detail below.

It has been years since I played this game, but this story is one I must tell before I become too old to remember the details.

When you start the game, you can only choose a person from the Ice Age. Despite being from the time of the cavemen, said characters were wearing futuristic looking armor. I chose a character who looked like Syndrome from The Incredibles.
This character amused me for this reason, and the fact that he posed like Michael Jackson every time he cast a spell. My favorite was the giant rock.

When you choose a character, the game makes it clear that you shouldn't get attached to them, as when you die, they're gone for good and must choose another character, the reason being characters from different eras having different stats and playstyles. I made my peace with this, and played the game, awaiting my first death.

The thing was, I didn't die. I came close, many times. Once was when I was in a cave section with 5 wasp bosses in it. I cowered in a corner, thinking, this was it. But I survived. I got better at the game, and stronger. I could kill most enemies with one or two of my trusty giant rocks. Hee hee! SHAMONE.

That is, until The Gazebos showed up.

The Gazebos aren't really even an enemy. They are a background object, literally a gazebo, a small roof outside held up my pillars, like you see in someones garden. Background objects are only destroyable by a few select short range spells, like the flamethrower. This is somewhat unfair, as they shoot a ball of thorns at you, which breaks apart into 8 more, smaller thorn balls when it hits something. Just one of even these smaller balls hurts a LOT, and the Gazebos can shoot at you from anywhere, even if they're not on screen.

I began to fear these entities, as they were the only thing I couldn't kill quickly with my rocks, and they almost killed me every time they shot me. Luckily, Gazebos only appear in certain environments, so I started avoiding these environments when I could. I played and survived, killing lieutenants until only the Overlord remained. Unfortunately, the environments bleed into each other the further you go into the game...

As I made my way to the Overlords stronghold, I thought about my long journey with my first and only character. There exists an item in the game that can retire a character instead of them dying. You then can see them wandering around the towns you have, I vowed to do this after I killed the Overlord, and continue the game as someone new.

It happened two, maybe three screens on the way to the Overlord, not even in his castle. I went right, the screen faded, and I instantly died on the next screen, before it even faded in.

A Gazebo right next to the screen entrance had shot me with a thorn ball, and all 8 of its sub-shots had hit me at once, killing me instantly.

"Don't worry about it," said the message tutorial for my first death, "This happens all the time!"

I later beat the Overlord and continued to another continent, but as the game is endless, I moved on to greener pastures eventually.

Years have passed since then.

But even now, when traveling with friends or family, sometimes I will spot a gazebo in someones yard or in a park.

And my eyes glaze over, fixed with a thousand-yard stare.

"What's wrong?" they ask.

"Oh," I say, "Nothing", not wanting to regale them with this very tale.

But even if I forget this game's premise and its strange world and its actually pretty bangin' music, I'll never forget...

..that a goddamned gazebo killed me.

Just didnt like it, stay boring to grind elements, create itens, kill liutenants to reduce boss strenght, then kill boss, unluck new continent, repeat.... endless, the game just doesnt hooked me, gameplay not that good either, not for me that one!

Feels like a high school game design project where someone tried to make an ultimate game with everything but just didn't have the experience or skill to do so. Everything here is mediocre...except the music - that's pretty good. Get the soundtrack and skip the game.

I'm... actually really enjoying this. I got this with I think Humble Bundle 1? It looks incredibly jank but it plays well.

This has terraria like elements and some base building (no digging like terraria, maps are generated). The world is huge as well.

The goal is to get a bunch of powerful spell abilities and then go beat a big boss. You can fight him immediately but you should kill his lieutenants first as that weakens him. There's also a bunch of map stuff you can do as well.

I'm playing this on a lark because of achievements but found I enjoy it a lot. It also runs on a potato, I've got a beater Lenovo X220 and it sings.

DISCLAIMER: This is a first impressions review, and NOT a full review

A Valley Without Wind is a game developed and published by Arcen Games, LLC

The game offers some pleasant graphics and graphical style, although some ugly glitches here and there, it is pleasant all the same

However, the story is a little generic, but better than nothing, as well as the gameplay is a platformer type of game but also a bit generic, as well as quests are more or less generic. The game has some really sub-par voice acting, nothing stellar. This game is almost all generic...

A Valley Without Wind is a generic game but fun nonetheless

RECOMMENDED :)

REVIEW SOURCES:
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Good action-platformer, just really don't try and 100% it, not the achievments, that's doable, but don't try and explore everywhere, it'll take too long and it's pretty tedious, but not required for progress.

It's really weird, it's not for everyone, and it has it's flaws.

But if this is the sort of game that you like, then you're going to _really_ like it.

A great argument against procedural generation. Very repetitive, and poor interface doesn't help.
A pity, it has(had?) potential and I really wanted to like this game.

You could easily rename this as "We Had Lots of Ideas: The Game" because that's honestly the best way to describe it. A mashup of numerous ideas, art styles, and gameplay mechanics.

Let's start with the first and most easily noticed one, the look of the game. It's fairly inconsistant. This is compounded by the gameplay, too. At times it's trying to be Terraria where you're gathering resources like wood to make platforms, at others it's trying to be Diablo with a Mana Pool for spells and skills and exploring buildings you come across. There's blocky, almost placebo-esque objects, but they're mixed in with lumpy, mishapen boulders.. slender trees.. and even animated portals.

You start off with four randomly generated and barely customizable characters, and there's a very limited number of character designs to boot. This means when Sykdemo Thargbiscuit dies, there's a very good chance that Archibald Roundabout will take their place and look exactly the same. Except their stats may be slighty different, and depending on how far you were before you died, a lot worse. This also means you may have to go from playing a ranged mage to a melee meathead with little say in the matter.

Unlike, say, Rogue Legacy which does this with a charming upgrade system and consistant, yet progressive stats, A Valley Without Wind just kinda.. well, tosses the player into the wind. Oh, and you'll die a lot, to be sure. If not from actual mobs (which is very likely as you have no clue what you're doing, and the User Interface is clunky and unhelpful), then you're sure to die of boredom as you repeat the same handful of tasks over and over again.

I got the game ages ago as part of a bundle because I thought it'd be a fun Metroidvania sort of title, and at first glance it definitely seemed like it might be. Unfortunately, the other thing AVWW reeks of is the feeling that it's unfinished. It's pretty clear the developers got partway through progress of making the game, given it's bizarre title screen which features "asking for your key", a blurb about the aforementioned progress which hasn't updated in forever, and a scrolling storyline summary which is about as much as I ever got for plot.

Even free it didn't feel worth it. I just hope the bundle came with other games I actually enjoyed, but it was so long ago I have no idea anymore. I can definitely tell you that unless the sequel is made out of orgasms and maybe chocolate, it probably isn't worth the $15 it's currently sitting at, either.

As an aside, I've read that there is eventually city building. Sadly, the game just couldn't keep my interest long enough to actually make it that far. From what I understand from a friend who has played it, and a few other reviews.. you don't get the sense of progression you ought to in a game like this. Once you "complete" an island with rebuilding, bosses, and so forth, you just go off and repeat it and this happens ad nauseum. Given how the general gameplay was so unpolished, I can't imagine the rebuilding stage of it to be any better.

If you can get it on the cheap, a great buy. Challenging, fun and satisfying (if you turn the difficulty up one notch) and manages to capture the bleak setting fairly well.

Graphics and story are nothing special, but a great time sink.

I really want to like this game. It has some fun elements, things I usually enjoy in games, such as random loot, directed character development, and procedurally generated levels. Problem is, it's wrapped in a package that obscures it all, and a control scheme that's clunky at best, maddeningly frusrating at worst. I never felt as though I had complete control over my actions due to this. The art style isn't my taste, and seems a bit hodge-podge. Sounds are nice and satisfying for the most part. You might find some entertainment here if you can get past the control scheme and visuals, but I'd recommend spending your money elsewhere.

A Valley Without Wind is a unique game. The combination of randomly-generated levels and metroidvania-style platforming gives it a great deal of replayability. Something that I find interesting, however, is the game's emotional impact. While the game's story isn't particularily impressive, the combination of easily-learned gameplay, beautiful graphics, and incredibly memoriable music give a profound sense of solitude and loneliness. As a Glyphbearer, you are one of the only people in the now-shattered world who can survive outside the scant few villages spread across the continents, and the loneliness and sense of hopelessness that accompany sich a role are palpable. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, though. Personally, the mood of the game feels very quiet and reserved. Unlike many other games, A Valley Without Wind truly gives the feeling of being a wanderer, passing through dead towns and snowy forests with nowhere to truly call home. If you're familiar with the concept of Catharsis, then this game is a brilliant example of it in action. The game provides a memoriable experience that I have never found in any other game, and I would heartily reccomend it.

Greetings, comrades! I really, REALLY wanted to like this game. I mean, who wouldn't? A randomly generated "Metroid-vania" style game with RPG-heavy gameplay, what more could you want? Well, the answer lies below, if you dare to enter the rabbit hole.

Pros:

As I already stated, the concept is amazing, and the RPG elements are simple yet complete. Unlike most RPGs, this one gives you a very strong weapon right off the bat. Not the best, but good enough to be a constant companion throughout the game.

I found the graphics to be a refreshing change from the standard "drab-&-dull" that older Indie games are known for (not all Indie games, calm down fan-people). The world is bright and sharp, with clean angles and stunning detail.

The custom difficulty is nice, allowing you to set your own pace.

The controls, while a bit quirky, are responsive and imaginative.

Cons:

While the RPG elements are all there, there really isn't a temptation to level up. I mean, my character could "tank" all of the early bosses with ease, the only challenge being when a boss is resistant to a certain elemental-type weapon, and you have to use another element to kill it. Even then, the challenge rests not in the boss itself, but rather in finding the new element required to kill it.

While I like quick weapon progression, as it allows you to do other stuff instead of trying to get a new weapon, this game suffers from a lack of other stuff to do. The quests are the same, the enemies are the same, the graphics are the same, and the gameplay style is the same. All the same. All the same. Did I ever tell you the definition of insanity? (Heh, see what I did there? Ha ha! No? Ah, forget it.)

As I said, the world is very realistic, but the characters are not. It's almost like playing one of those old CD drive games in which the people look like cut-outs pasted onto a background. This is actually a fatal flaw, as it throws off jumping in an odd way. It makes you unsure of what is in the background, or what you can jump on. I really can't describe it, but if you play it, you should see what I mean.


I really hate to say it, but this game's lack of creativity and excess of imagination bring this game down from the heights it could have achieved. It's almost like they were so focused on the imaginative idea of the game that they forgot to flesh it out into something workable. Plenty of people like the game, and I can see why, however I just couldn't bring myself to do the same.

Thanks for reading and have an awesome day!

Very funny game.

It doesn't have a great graphics, but who cares.

Random game for hours of gameplay, craft, fights, explore and a lot of action.

I like it more than Terraria, I think it has more action.

Very addictive ... check your clock from time to time!

Don't believe the press. This one is as addictive as they get!

Granted the thrill of discovery wears off after freeing the second or third continent, but until then there are few games better at scratching your itch for platforming exploration and a unique setting than this one.

Recommended!

The premise is excellent and unique, but is very poorly executed.

Gameplay is shallow and repetitive. The game's marketing cites a level of depth and challenge that is absent. Enemies have simple patterns that are easily exploited. I killed half the bosses while they were offscreen. Player customization is nice but isn't anything new or unique. Platforming is made completely trivial by the ability to place platforms anywhere.

Visually the game is unclear, muddy, and unattractive. Characters are stiltedly animated. Enemies, pickups, background objects, and projectiles all look similar and the only way to differentiate them is by what color they are on the minimap.

The game's music is decent, with a nice main menu theme. The sound effects are inoffensive.

The whole time there is this feeling that "it gets better later". Maybe it does. But it starts terribly and doesn't get any better after 4 hours.