Valor Mortis Hands-On Preview: Welcome to the Grande Armée

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At Gamescom 2025, developer One More Level unveiled their newest creation, Valor Mortis. This project left quite an impression, even amidst some potential burnout in the Soulslike genre. Its distinctly French aesthetic adds intrigue, aligning with the current popularity of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but it also bears resemblance to the 2024 Soulslike game Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, notably in its portrayal of a flintlock fantasy.

Game Rant recently experienced the initial prologue of Valor Mortis, and the Flintlock fantasy immediately captured their interest. However, they found the gameplay challenging (though this might not be typical for Soulslike games). While Valor Mortis may share some similarities with Soulslike games, it’s not entirely clear if it belongs in that category. Nevertheless, it’s undeniably an engaging action game.

For Napoleon

In a different world, the character William fought and possibly perished for Napoleon. However, upon his resurrection, this world is not the one he once knew, as it was during the Napoleonic Wars. The opening of the game is quite minimalistic, placing you directly on a battlefield from that era. Confused, just like William, we follow along with Napoleon’s words reverberating in William’s mind, serving as our compass. It appears that these are not actual conversations between William and Napoleon but rather reflections of lessons imparted by Napoleon. I personally find the “ghost inside my head” trope to be somewhat overused in video games, and I hope my intuition proves correct – that it’s just a reminder of Napoleon’s teachings rather than an actual spirit guiding William. Nonetheless, this could merely be a matter of personal preference.

In the heat of battle, we come across ex-members of Napoleon’s Everlasting Guard who have been horribly transformed into grotesque creatures due to a mysterious substance called Nephtogloblin. This substance also bestows new abilities upon William, with his initial encounter resulting in him wielding a flamethrower. As I held a saber in my right hand, I could alternate between a pistol and the flamethrower gripped in my left. Our journey across the battlegrounds was largely solitary, save for one friendly NPC we encountered along the way. Light sources similar to Bonfires in Dark Souls, known as lanterns, dotted the landscape. At these locations, we could use Catalyst points to level up, but upon death, those points would be lost unless recovered or another demise occurred.

In this game, you’ll find the standard blend of light and heavy attacks, evasive maneuvers like dodges, and defensive moves such as parries. When you dodge an attack that can’t be blocked at the right moment, time seems to slow down. Parrying an enemy leaves them vulnerable to a powerful counterattack (in most cases). During the preview, there were no difficulty settings available, leaving me unsure if these will be included in the final version of the game. My initial impression was that I was too overpowered for it to qualify as a Soulslike game. If it had been marketed as an action game instead, its difficulty wouldn’t have surprised me. However, since I anticipated a challenging experience, I ended up feeling perplexed.

Here’s one way to rephrase the text for easier reading:

The game quickly revealed that parrying was incredibly potent, perhaps even overpowered. With just one well-timed parry against an opponent, they could be instantly defeated with a special follow-up attack. And as for the boss, two parries combined with a few attacks would shatter his defenses, making him an effortless target. To clarify: the timing windows for parrying are quite generous. I missed a few here and there, but overall, hitting that parry window was far from challenging.

At the close of the battlefield, I encountered the initial adversary, an oddly grotesque version of a soldier who appeared severely bloated and armed with multiple guns on additional limbs. I swiftly defeated his first phase due to skillfully parrying attacks and targeting the vulnerable spots of the Nephtogloblin. Surprisingly, his second form ensued without delay. In Soulslike games, there’s usually that exciting yet daunting moment when you find it challenging to beat a boss, only to discover that it transforms into another form. However, this situation was quite different. Instead, I required the second form of this boss for any substantial difficulty. Although it hastened its movements, summoned allies, and lasted longer than its initial stage, I overcame it just as swiftly. I can’t recollect, to my best knowledge, having ever triumphed so effortlessly against a genuine Soulslike boss.

Absolutely clear, let me clarify: I had a great time playing it. The fighting is enjoyable, albeit not extremely difficult. The setting is intriguing, though not quite as enigmatic as I anticipated, and the portrayal of a Napoleonic battlefield definitely grabbed my attention. The dark fantasy aspects are captivating to me. If One More Level had labeled it an action game, I wouldn’t have given it a second thought, but marketing it as a Soulslike left me a bit puzzled.

I’m Not Convinced that Valor Mortis is a Soulslike Game

The Soulslike genre offers a lot of opportunities for new approaches, as demonstrated by the inclusion of Soulsvania-style games, the open world in Elden Ring, and even Valor Mortis being played from a first-person perspective. However, every genre has certain essential elements by definition. I believe that Lies of P is one of the top Soulslike games currently available – this isn’t because it’s one of the hardest non-FromSoftware games in the genre, but simply because it excels at capturing the essence of the Soulslike experience.

On the other hand, I don’t consider Black Myth: Wukong to be a true Soulslike game; instead, I see it as a challenging hack-and-slash game. In a similar vein, my initial impressions of Valor Mortis suggest that it leans more towards being a fantasy action game rather than a Soulslike – in fact, discussing Soulslike games in relation to Valor Mortis would be an odd comparison if not for the fact that One More Level has deliberately positioned it as such.

To me, a Soulslike game has three requirements:

  • It does not need to be difficult necessarily, but players should feel weak and face insurmountable odds, with this weakness (and the triumph later) being baked into the gameplay feel. In a lot of games, players are powerful to fulfill a certain power fantasy; Soulslike games are inherently the inverse of that power fantasy. Combat must also be deliberate with some emphasis on build variety/build depth.
  • The world can take many forms and designs, and some Soulslike games can have a more direct story. However, the world and story should allow for a high degree of environmental storytelling and interaction because the world is intentionally bigger and more grandiose than the player.
  • Death must be a vital part of the experience, which is often done in conjunction with difficulty. Death should feel punishing, but also not like it’s the end. Death runs are a result and not the intent of making death a vital part of the game, especially as the game progresses and players conquer death (make it feel less threatening).

It’s clear that games like “Lies of P” and “Elden Ring” meet these demands effectively. Among them, “Elden Ring” stands out as a more approachable FromSoftware Souls game due to its open-world structure. However, no matter where players venture, they will consistently find themselves at a disadvantage against the formidable enemies and deities they encounter (unless in specific zones during early New Game Plus modes). The combat in “Elden Ring” is highly tailorable, allowing players to customize their equipment and strategies for engaging or respecing to tackle enemies and bosses.

On the other hand, “Elden Ring” relies on sparse lore descriptions to unfold its world and story. Of course, death in this game can be particularly unforgiving, especially in certain regions.

It’s unclear how the game Valor Mortis aligns with these specifications, if it does at all. Initially, it seems that the game might follow a more conventional action game progression pattern, where difficulty increases over time. However, I found the prologue of the game to be relatively easy, not challenging in any way. Instead, I felt powerful, smart, and almost invincible within this world, particularly with the parrying mechanic. The combat system, although offering some choices, didn’t seem to promote strategic or deliberate combat beyond the basic mechanics of parry/dodge.

As for the setting and story, my understanding is limited as I could only gather that the environment resembled a battlefield and that red substances were harmful. There was no need for deeper analysis or shared information. And regarding death, it appeared that it was optional; one had to deliberately choose to die in order to discover if there was a ‘death run’ feature in Valor Mortis.

Once more, let me emphasize that the game “Valor Mortis” was incredibly enjoyable, and its unstoppable power fantasy is among the most memorable in video games. What particularly piques my interest is observing how the world develops and if/how combat intensifies as the game progresses, especially wondering if it’s possible to defeat Napoleon by the end of it. However, I must admit that the prologue I experienced was unlike any Soulslike game I’ve previously encountered-to such an extent that I doubt the label accurately describes it.

Game Rant received a Steam code for the purposes of this preview.

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2025-08-29 20:27