Netmarble releases Phantomgate: The Last Valkyrie today, with a slew of events including an Easter Egg hunt to celebrate the launch. Sounds like fun, but I’m not here to sell you on the game. Rather, I was given an opportunity to play an advance copy and give it a review. This is that review, and it is every bit as casual as I am about gaming!
Let’s get started, shall we?
The opening cinematic of Phantomgate: The Last Valkyrie lets us know immediately that the Nordic Gods in this game are nothing like the good-intended, Marvel-esque versions to which we’ve grown accustomed over the past decade or so.
Meet Odin, the mad king hellbent on destroying the world, and his son, Thor, God of Thunder and daddy’s ‘Yes Man.’ Not to give away spoilers, but the opening scene makes it pretty clear that this version of these fabled characters leans heavily toward the malevolent. Thor pretty much shoves that hammer right where you don’t want it, almost immediately.
That said, this story is fairly engaging, and has the player directly involved in the opening exchange, before segwaying right into the main storyline, and the actual game. Our heroine, Astrid, is suddenly snatched from the quiet life she’s been living by the Watchmaker (Astrid’s mentor, pretty much) to save her from Odin, who is after her for spoilery reasons.
From here, we follow Astrid and her kawaii cat, Mini-Ming, through her journey purifying phantoms and trying to repair the various phantomgates, which were destroyed in Odin’s pursuit. These gates serve as a separation between what is basically the realm of the dead and the living world, though it’s described in much prettier terms in the text of the game. The phantoms are souls waiting to be reincarnated, and when Odin wrecks the gates, it causes them to panic and lash out in confusion.
Astrid must venture through the realms using monoliths and collect fragments to rebuild the gates and purify the released phantoms. I really appreciate the tie-ins between the story and the functions of the game here. I like having a reason to collect things for purposes other than commerce. It’s a small detail to point out, but I like it.
As for gameplay, it’s all very intuitive. The bottom left-hand corner of your mobile device’s screen acts as a gamepad and moving Astrid around in the world is seamless and pretty fun. I especially like the ‘dash’ maneuver that lets you run up on unsuspecting monsters which gives you an attack boost upon entering battle when you do it successfully.
The mechanics of battle are also very straightforward and easy to grasp. Every monolith contains levels with underbosses and then a major boss at the very end. Mini-Ming is your initial party companion and comes equipped with a couple handy healing spells, which are adorably cat-themed. Her voice is less adorable (like kitty-claws on a chalkboard) but it’s easy to ignore after the first few minutes.
Battling contains a bit of strategy, especially as you level up and begin to play around with your companions, which are purified phantoms you collect as allies as you move along. There’s some depth to it, but not so much that a casual gamer would find too involving or complicated. And, I imagine those really into RPGs would find it just as engaging. To me, there’s a good balance there.
Too, as you move through the levels collecting fragments and fighting monsters, you encounter a few puzzles along the way. They're nothing overly complicated and most of them are pretty obvious but it does provide an added layer of fun to the gameplay. Again, nothing that seems too out of line with what one might expect from this type of mobile game, or so I’m led to believe.
Admittedly, this is not the kind of game I normally play on my mobile device, but
Phantomgate: The Last Valkyrie has, at the very least, got me reconsidering my life choices in this regard. From a superficial standpoint too, it’s just a very pretty game. The brights are vivid but not blinding, and the darker shades provide contrast without obscuring any of the elements. Which is important if you’re like me and your vision is kind of sucky or sensitive.
Overall, it’s a fun game. It’s fast-paced, intuitive, and the story is actually entertaining. I’m not going to lie, story weighs very heavily with me when it comes to RPGs, and a lot of that is because most of them are structured fairly similarly. It's other features--messaging, Facebook linking, shop, etc.--are all very easy to access and navigate. Which is another small thing to point out, but its something I appreciate as a lot of mobile games just seem to throw that stuff in random drop down menus. Very few tap-chains involved. That's not a thing, but I'm making it a thing: 'Tap-Chains' (TM).
I digress. If you’re into mythology, if you appreciate the mobile RPG experience, you’re probably going to like this game. Maybe the basic principles aren’t all that original, but it’s well-done here and if you’re into a genre, that’s what sets a lot of games apart. I’m no expert on rating games, but I would give this one a solid 4/5. Mostly, because some of the voice acting, like I said, is a little jarring and I had trouble getting a nickname to work.
I’m not sure if it was my copy, but it didn’t like my Instagram handle, which is just a variation of my name, but it didn’t let me use Pam or Pam N., either. I ended up going with ‘Charles.’
Which.
Whatever. I forgot all about it after the first few minutes of playing anyway. If you found my review helpful or if you think there’s a bit more people should know about
Phatomgate: The Last Valkyrie, let us know in the comments!