What is this game?
Nopeee, you are not the hero in this game. Instead, you are the principal who manages an Academy for heroes in training. Manage the school, nurture and train your students, then send them out to do whatever it is the game asks you to do! Among the unique points of this game is, it blends tactical RPG adventures, deep facility-building simulation and satisfying combat and loot mechanics – Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story brings together a fusion of genres for a whole new experience!
The students you manage can be trained for different classes, the list of classes;
- Knight
Basically a tank class.. - Magi
Basically a mage…duh - Scout
Stealthy and Sneaky class. - Arc Draconus
Dragon Knights. - Arquebusier
Erm… expert marksman… - Scholarsage
An upgraded mage. - Harlequin
Scouts…but also practice dancing and acrobatics. In case this whole hero things didn’t work out, students of this class can still try for an Olympic medal. - Paladin
A “Holier than thou” knight. - Medica
Basically a Medic. They added an (a) at the back of the word to make it sound more magic-ish. Remember Magicka? Just add an (a) behind any random words and they’d magically become well…magic? Knighta, Scouta, Palladina, Harry Potta… okay nevermind.
Gameplay Features!
This is why we think this game is gonna be great.
- Build and manage your school infrastructure
You are the architect and engineer of this academy. With over 20 buildings for you to build and upgrade, you better have a plan for dormitories for your students to sleep at night and classrooms for their afternoon naps.
- School rooms and extensions
Before you complain about “Just dorms and classrooms???” Well, there are also libraries, cafeterias and practice rooms. Upgrading these will make your students stronger. And I have no idea why this point is separated from the one above, but that’s how it came with the Press Release, so yeah… I just rewrite the words and conveniently leave the structuring as I received it so that I can write this unnecessary sentence and laugh at you for reading it HAHAHAHAHA. Ahem, let’s move on.
- Outbuildings and school grounds
The School compound can also house Open-Air Theatres, blacksmiths, Dormitories and training grounds. Apparently, the press release also says that these “will help your students feel at home”. But since this is a compound and not exactly indoor, I guess the only way they would feel at home is if they were all homeless before they enrolled. Jokes aside, these facilities will also allow your students to craft better weapons.
- Quests and missions
Nothing spells sweetness like exploiting underage labours… I mean sending them out to gain experience to get them ready for the world!
- Take control
You can send students on quests unsupervised (because let’s face it, you are an animal that’s why) or take control of them directly, battling and adventuring in real time! Slay monsters for XP and search areas for materials and loot!
- Party strategy
Switch students on the fly, or send them flying if they refuse to comply… (I sometimes take pride in the poet in me). Tell party members to stand their ground (to hold enemies back so that you can run away) or attack (to bait them, so that you can run away) – using the correct strategy in battle will mean the difference between success and failure!
- Graduate the best
Your finest students can’t stay in school forever! The highest achieving students are your prized asset – with powerful mages, priests and warriors earning your school great rewards!
Experienced Developer
Overall this game looked fun and engaging, and this didn’t come as a surprise considering that ‘Hero School Story’ isn’t Agate Studio’s first game of this sort, in fact, this is the third Valthirian Arc game in-line. The first instalment was launched for the Mobile Platform back in 2010, followed by a Mobile and PC launch for the second instalment in 2013. The Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story marks Agate Studio’s first step into the console market and the game premiered for the first time for hands-on experience at the recently held PlayStation Experience South East Asia at Bangkok. Though whether or not their experience in game-making thus far will count towards their success for the console side of the gaming world remains to be seen.
Just one tiny bit of worry.
The game developer Agate Studio and publisher Pqube has announced a September 28 launch date for PS4 Europe, and October 2 for the worldwide launch on other regions and platforms. Switch users probably won’t notice the worry here, but PS4 and PC players who have been marking their calendars counting towards heavyweight title releases like the ones listed below will probably put any interest in Valthirian Arc on hold. I highlighted in blue for games that are close to VA’s release date.
Spiderman – 7 September
Tomb Raider – 14 September
Valkyria Chronicles 4 – 25 September
Life is Strange 2 – 27 September
FIFA 19 – 28 September
Assassins Creed Odyssey – 5 October
CODBO4 – 12 October
Soul Calibur 6 – 19 October
RDR2 – 26 October
Hitman 2 – 13 November
Fallout 76 – 14 November
Darksiders 3 – 23 November
I listed until November just to show what a “Battle Royale” this year end is! All in all, we’d still look forward to playing this game and see what they have in store for us! Despite the busy gaming schedule like the above-listed, we’d still work on a Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story review when the game launches, that is a promise.
Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story is coming to the PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC. The PS4 EU version will launch on September 28, 2018, followed by October 2, 2018, for the worldwide launch for the other PS4 Regions, Switch and PC.
