ValeGuard
- August 23, 2018
- Lost Tower Games
- 24h median play time
Get on Steam"Valeguard is a single-player Role Playing game that takes about 24 hours to beat. It is a Tower Defense and Town-Management hybrid, where you construct defenses, train troops, and prepare for battle during the day, and defend with towers, troops, and heroes at night. Each town you save unlocks unique assets and heroes for future battles, with the option to gather resources, craft weapons, and train troops to help with defense."
Reviews
- ValeGuard offers a unique blend of tower defense, RTS, and city-building mechanics that many players find engaging and enjoyable.
- The art design and soundtrack are well-received, contributing to a charming atmosphere that enhances the gameplay experience.
- The game features a variety of heroes and unlockable units, providing replayability and different strategies for players to explore.
- Many players report frustrating bugs, including issues with saving progress, unresponsive controls, and game crashes that hinder the overall experience.
- The game is criticized for its lack of depth and polish, with some mechanics feeling shallow or poorly explained, leading to confusion during gameplay.
- Difficulty balancing is a common complaint, with some players finding the normal mode too easy and the hard mode excessively punishing, making it hard to enjoy the game consistently.
- story35 mentions
- 9 % positive mentions
- 83 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The game's story is described as somewhat limited and lacking depth, with a short campaign that offers few choices and missions. Players appreciate the engaging elements between battles, such as decision-making that impacts future outcomes, but many express a desire for more content and longer missions. While the narrative has its enjoyable moments, technical issues and a lack of substantial progression detract from the overall experience.
“I love all those little story elements between battles which allow you to make decisions that could either help or hinder you later on - at times I wished I was a bit wiser (letting a mumbling madman tamper with the village well was not a good idea!)”
“After finishing the story mode of this game on normal difficulty, I can say I am happy with my purchase.”
“As well, you are able to pick between 2-3 missions as you progress, and these unlock your technology and provide you with further heroes for the next missions.”
“A full path to the last mission only has a few choices, which is a shame as it makes for a rather short campaign.”
“The storyline is a bit lackluster.”
“Unfortunately, reloading the save keeps the same broken quest outcome, making the graveyard useless.”
- gameplay21 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The gameplay is a mixed bag, featuring enjoyable city-building and tower defense mechanics, but marred by frustrating combat and unintuitive controls. While some players appreciate the unique blend of genres and replayability, others criticize the lack of depth, poor tutorialization, and reliance on random chance for resource acquisition. Overall, it offers a fun experience for fans of the genre, but may not satisfy those seeking a more polished RPG or strategic gameplay.
“Bought it on sale, and was surprised by the fun city building mechanics and the need to quickly build up your city to establish a defense.”
“Its fun and deep gameplay tends to pull you in and keep you hooked as you go from town to town building and defending until you are sure the hordes have passed.”
“8.5/10....I'd definitely recommend if you're into this type of gameplay, it's loads of fun.”
“It's also not a great RPG and has very frustrating combat mechanics.”
“The town building mechanics are pretty arcane by today's standards.”
“Gameplay is slow and unintuitive.”
- graphics12 mentions
- 42 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their charming cartoon art style, distinct character designs, and appealing color balance that enhances both day and night settings. However, some users have reported glitches related to unit graphics and building placement issues, which detracts from the overall experience. Despite these minor flaws, the visuals are considered fun and approachable, reminiscent of classic titles like Warcraft 3.
“The characters are all done really well, both in graphics and design.”
“This game has a pleasant cartoon art style with a good balance of colors that make both night and day aesthetically appealing.”
“And the graphics, already, are charming.”
“What I found is the graphics of units glitching out if you set a building to be built on a square they stand on, and not being able to delete a building you can't connect a road to since it won't function without it.”
“I love the graphic design and the concept, however at this time I have to give it a no.”
“It is very reminiscent of Warcraft 3 tower defense aesthetically and thematically.”
- replayability10 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The game offers strong replayability, particularly for players who enjoy challenging themselves and exploring different strategies, thanks to unlockable characters, varied town advantages, and random events. While the campaign can be completed relatively quickly, the ability to choose different towns and unlock new content encourages extended play, despite some repetitiveness in maps. Overall, players find the replay value to be significant, though not on par with the highest benchmarks in the genre.
“It does, however, offer some great replayability if you're the type of person who likes to challenge themselves to do better.”
“Finishing the campaign doesn't take long, but it definitely has some replayability because you are allowed to choose which town you wish to protect, and different towns offer different advantages, be it extremely long-range ballista turrets or medium-range archer turrets, or units like spearmen and knights.”
“The price for the available content and limited story and stifled/restricted campaign (even with the replayability thanks to unlockable characters and random events with multiple different ways to complete them) is a touch on the rich side in my opinion.”
“As for replayability, each game you complete unlocks more to play with (heroes, units, buildings, and so on), so you could spend hours defending towns and still find new stuff to play with, even though the maps can get a little repetitive.”
“Finished in about 8 hours and there is decent replayability (not FTL level though).”
- music8 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- 13 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for its quality and ability to enhance the overall atmosphere, with many reviewers highlighting the catchy soundtrack and its suitability for both gameplay and relaxation. Players recommend purchasing the soundtrack alongside the game, as it complements the experience well, particularly during boss encounters. Overall, the music is considered a strong point, contributing positively to the game's appeal.
“The music is good and the balance feels fair to the player on normal difficulty.”
“Also, some great music that really sets a mood that goes well with this type of game. If you like good and relaxing video game music, I recommend getting the soundtrack.”
“It's very catchy, and great for background music.”
“I love the art design and soundtrack, but the game loop here was pretty rough and unsatisfying for me.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be slow, boring, and repetitive, lacking depth and engagement. While some ideas seem promising, the execution leads to a tedious experience, particularly due to limitations like the inability to select multiple units for movement.
“Some decent ideas, but it is slow, boring, tedious, repetitive, etc. and just not enough meat on the bone.”
“Sounds good on paper, but since you are not experiencing the game the same way the videos promise, it's just tedious, random, and monotonous.”
“Can't select more than one unit (hopefully gets added soon?), so it can be tedious to move units around.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's stability is generally solid, with most players experiencing only minor glitches that are often unnoticeable unless specific actions are taken. However, some users report more significant issues, such as enemies phasing through objects and certain characters becoming unresponsive, indicating that while stability is mostly reliable, there are notable exceptions that can disrupt gameplay.
“That said, the game does have more than a few annoying glitches. Enemies tend to phase through gatehouses, the summoner falls into a spasm (leaving her unable to attack or move) when you try to summon with her, and units glitch out into the landscape and buildings.”
“I found I encountered only one or two minor glitches that you barely notice, but even then, unless you make some pretty specific decisions or mistakes, I found them to be nearly nonexistent.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players find that the uncertainty surrounding potential losses due to in-game ads enhances the overall enjoyment of the game, adding an element of excitement to the monetization strategy.
“The uncertainty of what you will lose to the night only adds to the frustration.”
“The monetization strategy feels overly aggressive and detracts from the overall experience.”
“It's disappointing to see that progress is often locked behind paywalls.”
