The Space Rangers series was my introduction to this type of game genre. For those who don’t know what this type of game is, I’ll try to explain it to the best of my ability.
Star Valor is a game set in a 2D perspective. In it, there are a lot of options on what kind of playstyle you prefer to be: a trader, miner, explorer, and fighter. I love trading in games like this, so this is the main path that I’ll be on.
The game opens with a fantastic tutorial, it’s a very hands-on approach to everything you need to know. Very cool because of the extremely satisfying gameplay that goes on here.
So how does the gameplay work? How does it feel?
The gameplay in Star Valor is spot on, everything feels good, from holding shift down to boost, double tapping in a direction to roll, and mining asteroids. It all clicks. It’s one of those rare instances when a game gets it.
Implemented is an RPG system, complete with a pretty big skill tree. I’m a straight sucker for skill trees in any game and it was a pleasure to see it in Star Valor, there are just so many options to choose from. The story flows pretty well, it feels realistic and it has pretty good writing. The game’s sole developer, Rafael Burgos, achieved an incredible feat with this game.
I’m going to touch upon some more RPGness of Star Valor. Everything you do gives you experience points, whether it be quests, mining asteroids, killing enemies, it all ties into XP.
Like I said at the beginning of the article, one of my favorite things to do in a game like this is trade. Trading consists of buying items at a space station and then traveling around trying to sell them at a higher cost. It’s extremely satisfying. Mining is also pretty fun, you fly to fields of asteroids and you never know when valuable items come out of them, that almost gambling-like feeling comes into play here. Will an ultra-valuable item come out so you can afford that new ship?
Speaking about ships, this game has a plethora of them! At least 95 of them are available, and they fit your playstyle as well. If you’re mining or/and trading you can buy a ship with a large amount of storage, fighting? Then a faster high HP ship is for you.
Closing out my impressions I’d just like to say, if you are on the fence with Star Valor just hop over it, don’t look, just leap, it has a lot going for it. This game is very well made and I love supporting small developers like this. The game was made by just one person and patches are constantly being released for it. You can even hop on Discord and talk to him yourself, gotta love technology these days. I look forward to writing more about this game.
Thanks for reading.