A side scrolling action game, featuring a female protagonist and several animated cut scenes in the CD-ROM format. Developed by Telenet and published by NEC in America in 1990. As is the case with other installments in the series, there are marked differences between some versions.
If Bonk is the mascot for the HuCard era TurboGrafx-16, then Yuko of the Valis series may well be the CD equivalent. Developed by Telenet Japan, which would become one of the more prolific developers working on the TurboGrafx-CD via their CD-focused subsidiary LaserSoft, the first Valis game was originally released in 1986 for various Japanese home computers. It took a genre of anime that was known as "magical girl", established largely by mega-popular animes like Sailor Moon, and adapted the format into an action game, presenting the tale of an everyday student named Yuko who is forced to take up the titular magical Sword of Valis and fight supernatural monsters before whisked to a dreamlike world named Vecanti to combat the King commanding the beasts, Rogles (pronounced "rogueless"). Though the game itself was fairly basic (and, well, bad) the focus on scantily-clad heroines fighting monsters with a narrative told via anime-style cutscenes was fairly novel for 1986 and helped endear Valis to a generation of Japanese gamers. Valis was eventually ported to the PC Engine, and its sequels would all find a home on the PC Engine CD-ROM2. Two of them even eventually make their way over to the American TurboGrafx-CD: Valis II and Valis III. I'll be playing the former today.
Valis II is one of the earliest CD-ROM games and, unlike Fighting Street (which was a mediocre port of an already mediocre Arcade game) or No.Ri.Ko (which was barely a video game), is a fully-fledged action game specifically created for the PC Engine CD-ROM2 console. It continues right where the first game ended, dropping Yuko into another conflict on Vecanti brought about due to the power vacuum left after slaying Rogles, instigated by Rogles' older brother Megas. What's odd is that Valis II is actually one of two games with that name: The other was released shortly afterwards on the many Japanese home computers that carried the original. It's hard to say which one is "canonical", as Telenet sourced out both games to separate subsidiaries, but most tend to go with the TurboGrafx-CD version because it came first.
Man, that's one heck of a history lesson. Really, Valis II is a game where you're a schoolgirl in a Wonder Woman outfit hitting giant monsters and weird cybernetic Dragon Ball Z rejects with a sword until they explode. I didn't mean to make it sound any more high-brow than that.
Is the Plural of Valis, Valii? Would That Make Valis' Numerous Heroines "Valii Girls"?
That'll be all from Valis II for today. While of historical note, it's not a particularly riveting gameplay experience, though I suppose there's still a lot more going on here than there was in my No.Ri.Ko playthrough (though it did also include a trip to a bizarre alternate dimension). I hear the two TGCD sequels get a lot better as the series evolved, though it's still mostly the same sort of affair. Not quite Castlevania, or even Ghouls N' Ghosts, but a fairly competent and acceptable horror-themed action game.
Though I recognize "competent and acceptable" doesn't make for good LPs. I'll have to dig deep for something a little more compelling next time. Or just more anime nonsense. Either's fine with me.
I've sometimes wondered if Valis was a Sega or Nintendo instead of a TurboGrafx game if it would have been regarded as a classic because of its lead female heroine which was a real rarity from notable agmes of that era. From what you are saying it doesn't sound like the greatest game, but I'm not sure that would have mattered because of the implied girl power angle.
Instead the fate of the series has been sad, not only forgotten but revived in some erotic visual novels I think that really disrespected and cheapened the property.
Bankruptcy does a heck of a thing to a company I guess.
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