Game:

Valis III (1990)

Category:

Let's Play

Duration: 1:03:49

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1

And so I finally got a solid-ish run of Valis III. I didn't want to use the built in rewind feature too much this game, but I only used it at one specifically brutal part, and when I did something exceptionally stupid. Which wasn't a lot. So in beating Valis I and II with no rewind, doing the minimal rewinds possible in III, I'd say that's a solid win here.

I mainly stuck with Yuko this run while giving Cham a chance to shine a little bit. And only used Valna at the only point in the game where she is required in the last stage. The fire rod is basically the rod I stuck with since it was the best option for a lot of the time, and was a real help in the final fight. But I digress.

This picks up some time after II, and turns out the gods are again doing another trial akin to what happened eons ago in a war. The woman who seemingly last wielded the Valis sword has a bit of a resemblance to Valia herself, but is potentially her ancestor. It's never really brought up, but it is possible. At any rate, Cham turns on her king after he murders her father, and sets out to try and save her home, Dreamland, and by extension earth. And technically didn't try and get Yuko involved until there wasn't any other option.

It doesn't take too long since after we rescue Valna that we learn Glames really has no interest in saving his kingdom, as much as he wants to go to war with the gods themselves by wielding both swords. Not a good deal. After arriving at Sutherland, the most brutal stage in the game by far and a bit of a brick wall to be blunt, we finally get the Valis sword's full power. And here is where the Japanese version vastly differs from the US dub release of the game.

The stage leading up to Nizetti has you briefly encounter Reiko and Valia, a feature that is present in the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive version, but absent in the Turbo CD dub. Not to mention while rising up on the elevator after the gauntlet, the ride is silent where as here Nizette actually talks. And he talks a lot more in here in the cutscene, even in his closeup shot. In the dub, they had him finish his lines early since they added a "long dramatic pause" for Yuko's answer, making it a "Ohhhh will she do it? Will she say yes?" while here there's none of that. Yuko has grown so much since her first adventure she has become so selfless she doesn't even remotely hesitate.

She says yes and doesn't even stutter or pause in her response, she goes all in. Sure there's no dramatic tension, so called on whether or not she accepts, but there's way more power in her not even wavering for a remote second.

Oh yeah. As you can see, for the bird man at the waterfall, not only does his voice sound better here, he's not a total buffoon like in the dub! WOW that was utter cringe that they did that! Bad bad bad bad bad! I'm glad we have a official translation of the superior Japanese script. Not to mention Glames' dialogue is also vastly superior in here, no "I've had enough of your gloomy talk!" and so on.

But so concludes Yuko's adventure, but I hope to be able to give us a Valis IV run in the near future. Update or DLC folks? Also, if you look carefully in the city skylines in the first stage on earth, you might see someone in the flashing lights. Also the game has different stages in spots. Such as Zarude's stage is completely different in the Sega version, where as there it's mechanical, and here it's a desert complete with flowing sandy slopes and quicksand. And of course, Rolges' return is exclusive here entirely.

Oh yeah! And the utterly bizarre decision to make the recap images totally blank in the dub! It was just odd stills with no context at all. No text, nothing! Here we get the Japanese original text, but most of all, translation that gives us context to WHY these images matter, and well, also why the music kept going when the pictures went away. Makes it feel less of a "Ok can we move on now?" type deal from the dub.

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