Valley is a remarkable game. It’s a title centered on exploration mostly, and some basic combat. The premise is quite simple. You’re an explorer who washes up on the banks of a rocky river. Quickly you find power armor—called a L.E.A.F. suit—which is mostly a fierce exoskeleton that grants exceptional speed and agility along with the phenomenal ability to manipulate the life and death of all living things. You have one purpose: find the life seed which is a botanical object of immense power. The journey takes you through amazing locations that I couldn’t help but stop and stare at them. The area you explore is hidden deep within a remote region of the Rocky Mountains. Giant obelisks tower on open plains and traversing the area with the incredible speed the L.E.A.F. suit offers is thrilling. However, don’t be deceived by the relatively peaceful and calm nature of the game when you start playing it, the title becomes hectic, demanding and somewhat terrifying towards the end. Despite one issue, mostly an annoyance, I absolutely loved it.
The first aspect of the game you notice are the gorgeous visuals. The title is just breathtaking and the use of color and ancient structures is mesmerizing. You’ll stop every few minutes to just look at the beauty of your surroundings and gawk at the towering structures left by the mysterious inhabitants. One moment I will never forget it when you come across the giant blue towers across the open plains—the first proper open area in the game. It’s just majestic. However, it’s not all peaches and cream. The resolution seems to be quite low and the title is very blurry on Xbox One. I wish the resolution was higher and crisper so I could appreciate the visuals more. Even without that, the title is gorgeous but some gamers might have an issue with its clarity. I’ll be honest, it’s somewhat jarring and detracts from the title a bit because you just want everything to be clear. It looks odd but you get over it quickly. It’s not as bad as Ark: Survival Evolved though.
There are two stories that unfold throughout your journey. There’s the obvious one where you have to find the life seed and study it. However, throughout your adventures, you come across writings and other documents left by the previous explorers who came across the valley decades earlier. Unearthing what happened to them and what they discovered seems to be the main plot, even more prominent than your quest. That story is told through voiceovers mostly and can be supplemented by reading notes that appear on your screen as soon as you approach them. I liked this approach but never felt like I was missing anything even though I was performing absolutely incredible feats. The excellent voice overs are a nice touch and I appreciate the fact that the developers recorded the important content so that no one would miss the story.
As mentioned earlier, the main mechanic revolves around your ability to manipulate the life force of everything around you. You shoot energy from your hand and can use that to restore life to the valley. You can also use it to fight off mysterious energy-based creatures. However, there is also a lot of collection involved. For example, you have to collect golden acorns and circular tablets to open certain doors. It’s not a hard game, it just involves a lot of exploration. You want to explore every corner because the title also features upgrades and the better your L.E.A.F. suit is, the easier it’ll be for you to get around.
Valley involves a lot of jumping across vast distances. You’ll mostly be doing that when you play the game. Here’s a tip: if you want to go even faster when sprinting, you want to keep on collecting balls of energy. Doing so speeds you up and you can jump across even greater distances which would feel impossible at first. As you progress you also gain new abilities like the obligatory double jump.
Another amazing aspect of the game has to be the mysterious spirt-like creatures that roam around the world. They’re enigmatic and little surprises like that keep you hooked. You won’t want to stop playing the game. What are these beings? Where did they come from? What’s really going on in this valley? All of these questions race through your mind throughout the experience. While not everything might be answered to your satisfaction, it creates an atmosphere of incredible mystery that draws you in and never lets go.
Lastly, be careful of death. Don’t fall of cliffs unnecessarily. The mysterious nature of the valley preserves your life but there’s a cost. The more you die, the more the valley dies trying to restore you back to life. There’s a way to combat that though, if you see dead trees or animals, bring them back to life. That should restore the valley. Don’t worry about running out of energy, there are always plenty of turquoise energy spheres available.
Summary
I’m sure my review hasn’t touched upon so many elements in this game. You’ll be hooked for hours! I absolutely adore exploration games and titles like The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and Valley appeal to me on a deeper level. I’m also a huge fan of ancient history so the fact that the title incorporated a lost civilization and its secrets, as well as failed expeditions, was brilliant. If you own an Xbox One, you need to experience Valley. Despite the blurry visuals, it’s an unforgettable game which you’ll love.
Lewis is a games journalist, freelance gaming and consumer-tech journalist. They contributed 344 articles to ICXM between 2015–2017, focused on opinion pieces, game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news: has since served as Editor-in-Chief at StealthOptional and Gaming Editor at MSPoweruser, with bylines at Gfinity Esports and FRVR.