The lands of Eldar have long been known as the origin of chaos, a place where monsters and demons wreak havoc, indiscriminate in their madness. Legend tells of how the Spirit King, whose coming was heralded in by a meteor shower, gained control of the creatures and waged an unrelenting war upon civilization. Order and life were brought to the brink of destruction, but an alliance of the four races was able to drive them back and seal the evil. Centuries more have passed and once again the lands are slowly being overrun by the reemerging monsters. Without a known cause or even a united front to repel them, it would seem that this time, Eldar will fall. It is up to the main character to take up the forgotten mantle of the hero, reunite the races, and confront the hordes of monsters. The third in the Valhalla Knights series created by the development team K2 (Tenchu series) and Marvelous Entertainment Inc., Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga marks the series jump to home console as it debuts on Wii. Boasting a revamped graphics engine with real-time battles playing out on the field map, the Valhalla Knights experience is refined and improved while keeping the customization and exploration options that the series is known for intact. The series expands further as two players can now play and explore the world of Eldar together online via an internet connection.

When you first start Valhalla Knights your character is slow and weak. Every time you level up you have to go to the status screen (by pressing down on the D-pad) and distribute your status points. This will make your character stronger and faster. The character you pick at the beginning effects the game more then it seems. If you pick to be a fighter then you will be stronger with swords (it's one of your skills), but if you pick to be a Mage then you won't do much damage with your sword so you need to use magic to do anything significant (the magic is sometimes very helpful against guys with strong physical defense but with a weak Magical defense). One complaint is that at the beginning you have to rely on your mercenary a lot (Cassius).

A lot of people complain about the graphics. In my opinion, the graphics are quite good compared to other games. They complain about how the fog and heavy rain makes it hard to see, but isn't that the point of fog?

Overall I think this game requires patients, if you play the game for a while then it will start to become fun and addictive.

As a die-hard RPGer from the days of AD&D, I ordered this game with great anticipation. "How hard could it be to have one stand-alone platform sword n' spell game for the Wii?" I thought. I thought this could be the one, but alas it is not.

Everything about this game is odd and unsatisfying, starting with the fact that my thief starts life with an outfit that looks like a cross between Daisy Duke and an a TGIF waitress. The interface is the most awkward I've ever played. You can't seem to change equipment out in the field, only in the very few towns.

I tried to give this game a chance for several nights, but it always resulted in a frustrating and unsatisfying experience.

Please someone write an Ultima, Baldur's Gate or Wizardry for the Wii!

The negative press on this game is overwhelming and it has probably kept some people from buying this game. I am going to address some of the "problems" frequently discussed regarding Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga and set the record straight.

1. "The graphics are horrible and too dark! I can't see anything!" (one critic even went so far as to say he could barely see the outline of his character while playing the game)

Don't believe this rubbish. Sure, the graphics aren't as good as Super Mario Galaxy, but they aren't horrible either. Just check some screen shots and you will quickly discover that your character is very easy to see. There are some rather dark colors used for the scenery, but they don't interfere with the game. Some enemies do camoflage in the grass and dark colors, but that's not a problem. It's just part of the game and it gives you incentive to pay attention to your surroundings (just like in real life). The only time the screen gets overly dark is when it becomes nighttime, it rains heavily, or both. Doesn't that make sense, though? If you walk outside in heavy rain or in the dark your visibility is limited. Valhalla Knights just tries to be realistic in this regard. I have no need to increase the brightness of my TV to accomodate Valhalla Knights (as another critic claimed was necessary), so I can only assume that critics are playing on 30 year old tvs or they are blind. It's one thing to say that you prefer bright colors to the darker shades of Valhalla Knights, but to say that you can't see anything and that you run into walls on accident as a result is just ridiculous.

2. "The controls are slow and clunky! Fighting is a chore because of the poor fighting mechanic!"

At the beginning of the game this is true to a certain extent. You miss your enemy as much as you land a hit because you attack very slowly and your accuracy is in the dumps. Combos are executed very slowly, and enemies can land several hits before you even get one. However, as you level up your stats (you get skill points to allocate each time you level up) this "problem" is solved. Increasing Dexterity raises accuracy and increasing Speed raises attack speed. It won't be long before you land a hit almost every time and attack at an improved rate. Furthermore, equipping longer weapons gives you better range and different attack styles (thrusting swords use fencing moves, knives use short swings, etc.) and shields give you a good chance of guarding against your enemies. Patience will lead you to being a formidable opponent for virtually any monster.

3. "Boring quests keep the game from being interesting! Killing rabbits and fungi is a joke!"

I've heard multiple people complain about these two quests. Well, guess what. Those are the first two quests in the entire game and are used to make sure you are ready for the bigger quests that open afterwards. One has you meeting up with a mercenary--one of several that you can later hire to accompany you in your adventures (one mercenary at a time, of course)--and getting to the top of one of the mountainous areas in the game (no small challenge considering how weak this guy is when you first meet him). Another sends you looking for a troll that killed the father of a young boy. Trust me, there's plenty of variety and more than enough interesting monsters to fight--Ogres, Dragons, Zombies, Fairies, etc.

4. "The sound effects are annoying (specifically the sound of your footsteps) and make it difficult to enjoy the game!"

I didn't think anything was wrong with the way my footsteps sounded when I started playing. In fact, after reading these complaints I figured I would go back and listen to see what I was missing. Naturally the footsteps weren't annoying to me at all. And if they are annoying to you then just turn down the sound effects volume in the options menu.

In my humble opinion, I really think the people that are bashing this game didn't even try to give it a chance. The longer you play the better the game gets, and I loved it from the very start. The only real problems I have come from the incomplete instruction manual. Several semi-important features don't seem to be explained and required lots of experimentation on my part to figure out. For example, in order to access more than one item from your belt (items that can be used by pressing the "1" button rather than by going through the inventory screen, which doesn't pause the game BTW) you have to HOLD DOWN the "1" button which lets you see all items in your pockets, then you let it go and hit the "2" button to switch which item is available to be used with the "1" button (normally "2" is used to change the camera view). Also, to switch to your secondary weapons you have to hold down "B" (normally to attack) and hit the "-" button. There are also some items I am unable to equip and I don't know why. I'm still trying to discover this issue.

Otherwise I love this game to death. You can choose classes, learn skills, customize stats, customize appearance, master physical and magical combat, use bows (haven't tried this yet), and fight cool monsters. The story may not be anything spectacular, but it doesn't need to be. Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga is a great game without it.

EDIT: I now know why I couldn't equip certain items. Armor is devided between females (Red triangle) and males (Blue triangle), so that's not a problem. Now that I have beaten the game I can also say that the experience is truly wonderful. There's a classical feel about Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga, and it kept me hooked. Hopefully more RPGs like this one will come to the Wii in the future.

Without a doubt, this is the worst Wii game I have played thus far, and definitely a huge disappointment. I can't, in good conscience, recommend this game to anyone for any reason.

I'm not a graphics snob, but the graphics of this game make it painful to experience, and almost unplayable at times. The game looks murky and blurry at its best, to the point at which I thought (at first) there was something wrong with my tv or my contacts. However, I soon realized this was the way the game was "supposed" to look. But it gets worse, unfortunately. The game includes weather effects, so it will begin to rain (which makes the blurriness worse) and then it will get foggy (at least I think that's what happens) to the point at which you can't see anything at all. To make things worse, there is no "pop" from the background, meaning that it can be hard to tell where enemies are (if it weren't for the lock-on feature, the game would be completely impossible to play), as well as where edges are for terraced terrain (which is a big pain, since you have to press a button to climb up or down over every ledge).

Even if you could overlook the headache-inducing graphics, then you are left with the pathetic gameplay. Combat consists of button mashing in its purest form: hit one button for a "regular" attack or another for a "powerful" attack. That's it. Defeating enemies fills a gauge that gives you a "special" attack, but I found that the timing was so poor from the time you shook the remote to start your special attack to the point in which your character on screen responded to it that most enemies were already dead by the time he spun around, making it practically worthless. Worse, enemies constantly respawn and are very cheap. The combat isn't fun enough to make it worth it, in my opinion.

Before you go criticizing me for complaining about the "simple" combat, let me clarify. Zelda: Twilight Princess had what I would call a simple combat system in the sense that you only had a couple of buttons or gestures you needed to do to execute your moves. However, unlike this game, Link learns new techniques throughout to keep things interesting. Oh, and you CANNOT change your weapons or other equipment in the field AT ALL. Why they did this, I have no idea.

One thing this game does have is health regeneration (which you need, badly). Unfortunately, even if you upgrade this skill, it takes FOREVER (30 mins or more), and if you DON'T wait around to regen your health, you will die. This doesn't help the game at all.

Making things worse is the fact that when you DO die, you loose most of your items in your inventory, even items you bought, as well as most of your money. Other games have done things like this before, but even Demon's Souls isn't so brutal as to take away all your inventory in ADDITION to your money. Plus, this is made worse by the fact that 1) your weapons degrade VERY quickly, and you can only repair them in a town (for cash, of course), or if you have a special potion - that you will lose if you die; and 2) to use the quick travel ports you must PAY each time. Considering how tedious it is to travel around (and how easy it is to get lost due to the terrible mini map and lack of any sort of larger map to get your bearings), this just makes the game even worse.

It's really a shame, because the story does have some potential, and the game does have a lot of depth in the areas of item creation and character classes/skills. However, this is definitely a game whose flaws far, far outweigh any good it has. It really feels like a game that was rushed out, without being fully finished and polished.

If you have any inclination to try this game, then I definitely would advise you to rent it first. I know I sold my copy almost immediately.

Where to begin? I wanted to like this game. I really did. I bought it new. I played it for 3 hours. Hey, that should be enough, right? But it totally stunk on so many levels. Finally, I had to just give it up.

Here are the problems with this game:

1. Play Control - This is the worst. Your character attacks so SLOW, that it can be described as clunky at best. You can target an enemy, which helps. But then the enemy just runs away! And there's no way to target him while running. Very frustrating. You can apparently do combos, but the enemy will hit you about 10 times while you are in the middle of it, so what's the point?

2. Character Appearance - I absolutely hated how the characters looked. Your hero especially. There isn't much to choose from, and this apparently follows the Japanese aesthetic for what looks "cool". Namely, your male hero is very feminine-looking. You can choose from "slightly female-looking" to "very female-looking". This is a big turn-off for me. Please, just make my guy look like a guy. And if I want to play a female character, I will.

3. Menu Controls - Terrible! WAY too overly complicated. You have to have a freakin' diploma to figure these out. And good luck accessing your belt items in the field. Nine times out of ten, you'll use up the single rare items you wanted to save, rather than the cheap healing potion. And the instructions don't tell you how to choose from your belt items, either. It all looks and plays like a would-be computer game, badly ported.

Don't get me wrong. I like micromanaging stuff in an RPG. But this is freakin' ridiculous! I expect at least a certain level of basic functionality and user-friendliness, which this game sorely lacks.

4. Sound Effects - It took me a while to realize what the loud "clap-clap-clap" sound was. Then I figured it out. It's you - running! What the heck? This is the worst sound effect ever. Super-annoying. Who sounds like that when running? It is distracting, and completely kills the mood.

5. Ugly Color Palette - Others have mentioned this, and it cannot be overstated. This game is UGLY. It all ranges from Gray to Grayer, with a little bit of Brown thrown in for good measure. And there's really no excuse for this at all. Your enemies are all... gray. Against a background of gray trees. And a sky that is... you guessed it, gray. Ugh.

6. Magic System - I never saw any reason to be a mage, since after 3 hours of playing it still never used any magic. It looks cool on the box, but whatever.

7. Stupid Quests - "Pay money to go get killed by some evil rabbits." Or Fungus. Or something.

8. Stupid enemies - Get ready, you are about to be menaced by giant gray rabbit with horns. That's right, you start out by hunting Jackelopes! But be not dismayed, you will quickly move on from that to fight something much more imposing: Mushrooms. Or Killer Fungus. Or something. And all gray-colored, of course.


One thing I will say that this games shines on and that is the music. It sounds really great. Nice and epic. But then your character actually starts walking around (clop-clop-clop), and so much for the good sound...

On a side note, this game features a 2-player online multiplayer mode. I originally bought a copy for my friend as well, so we could try it. But we never did, thankfully. After experiencing this stinker, I decided that I wouldn't be a friend if I inflicted this on another human being.

In conclusion, this game is an insult to gamers everywhere. It's a disgrace. A travesty. A... well, you get the point. A royal stinkeroo, for sure. That's really too bad, because a good RPG is sorely needed for the Wii.

You can think of it this way. I played this game so you wouldn't have to. So do yourself a favor and don't buy this! Or buy a moldy sack of potatoes instead, which would be much more valuable.

Thanks for reading. I've got to see my therapist now. Hopefully this game hasn't traumatized me for life.