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Combat Lobster
Feb 18, 2013



Völgarr the Viking is a 'arcade-hard' styled platforming game made by Crazy Viking Studios, through the support of Kickstarter. It offers a 16-bit arcade-esque look and feel with tight controls and carefully thought-out levels for an authentic old-school package. (Quoted saying, "We're here to put the meat back in the cheeseburger!") The game is available on Steam, GoG, and at the studio's website.

The Story

Most of the story isn't told in the game itself, but rather told in the game's manual. Level lore will be included with each update.

quote:

A Long Time Ago...

There lived a greedy, murderous dwarf named Fáfnir, whose greed eventually transformed him into a deadly poisonous dragon. Though a few sought to slay him, generally out of a desire to obtain his treasure, most learned to just avoid him, for he seemed content to stay hidden away with his ill-gotten treasure hoard.

One day Odin received word that Fáfnir was showing an unusual amount of activity, sowing chaos throughout Midgard, and eventually even somehow constructing an imposing tower fortress, complete with a magical barrier that even the Æsir could not directly penetrate. Odin feared that Fáfnir's rising power and influence may eventually threaten realms beyond Midgard, but unfortunately he and the rest of the Æsir were occupied by more immediate threats.

It was then that Odin witnessed the death of the fearless Völgarr the Viking, who fell to overwhelming numbers defending his homeland, but only after slaying hundreds of his adversaries. Odin realized he had found a solution to the Fáfnir problem. He restored Völgarr's mortal life on Midgard and tasked him with breaking Fáfnir seal and slaying the beast before he could cause any more trouble.

Völgarr must travel to many strange and perilous regions in order to defeat each of Fáfnir's Seal Guardians - entities whose life force is tied to the magic protecting Fáfnir's tower, but who also gain strength and power from this bond. Once all are defeated Völgarr can face Fáfnir himself and complete his quest.

The LP

This will be an informative LP with each update coming in two parts. The first being the normal Crystal Path run and the second being the alternate Path of the Valkyrie run. Check out the second post for more information about these two paths as well as other information about items and stuff.

Video Table of Contents









Lore

World 1
World 2
World 3
World 4
World 5
World 6 & 7

Combat Lobster fucked around with this message at 02:21 on Dec 29, 2014

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Combat Lobster
Feb 18, 2013

Most of this is lifted directly out of the game's manual, so if you'd rather read all of this there here's a link to the manual.


Alternate Paths

There are two modes of play in Völgarr the Viking, the path of the Crystal and the path of the Valkyrie. Death and resurrection are handled slightly different depending on the path you are on. The game always starts on the path of the Crystal, and only the most skilled players will be able to reach the path of the Valkyrie.

Path of the Crystal

Odin's power is strong. He has imbued the power of life in crystals from Asgard and has distributed them all over Midgard. Despite Odin's might, his power does not reach everywhere. If Völgarr dies within the reach of a Life Crystal, he is born anew at the foot of the last Life Crystal reached.

Path of the Valkyrie

On maps without a Life Crystal, Odin's power is weaker. Because of this, he has sent the Valkyrie to assist Völgarr. If Völgarr dies on a map where a Valkyrie is present, the Valkyrie will bring him back to life... provided he has in possession a special item (Warrior Spirit) that allow her to do so.


GEAR



Vidr Skjoldr (Wood Sheild)

Völgarr starts every new life with a Vidr Skjodr. This shield only blocks 1 hit - on the next hit it shatters, leaving Völgarr exposed to a lethal blow. Shields block most enemy attacks, but only if in a raised position (such as while not attacking), and not if Völgarr bumps directly into an enemy or hazard.



Hamarr Skjoldr (Hammer Shield)

Hamarr Skjoldr can block attacks indefinitely as long as Völgarr doesn't lose it by bumping into enemies or hazards. It also gives you a powered spear throw, just hold Up to store energy first! There are some attacks that cannot be blocked, pay attention to which ones they are via experimentation.



Baldr's Skjaldborg (Baldur's Protection)

This helmet absorbs a single strike from an enemy, if Völgarr has a shield and takes a hit, he loses the helmet instead. Additionally, the helmet increases Völgarr's attack speed.



Tyr's Villieldr (Tyr's Flame)

The fire sword is a purely offensive weapon. It deals double the damage of the sword and extends its attack range. Beware! If Völgarr takes a single hit he will lose this weapon, no matter what other gear he has with it.



Mjölnir's Power

This special power cannot be found in chests, it is hidden in each area. Be sure to search thoroughly; it may even be buried inside a wall! Obtaining this power allows Völgarr to take a hit without losing any gear at all and unleashes a powerful counter-attack, although it only works once before it must be obtained again.

Combat Lobster fucked around with this message at 02:24 on Dec 29, 2014

Combat Lobster
Feb 18, 2013

Update #1

There isn't a Valkyire level in World 1 so instead I decided to do a achievement bonus video to fill in that slot.

Lore

quote:

This jungle is home to the Lizardmen - violent, agile, and numerous. Fortunately, they are also stupid and spend most of their time fighting each other. However, recently they became strangely organized and have begun raiding nearby lands.

This is due to Fáfnir's interference. Selecting a Lizardman pretty much at random, he granted this "Gyrgok" great size and strength as one of his Seal Guardians. The tribes quickly unified under this massive creature's rule, transforming the Lizardmen into a dangerous threat to everyone.

Combat Lobster fucked around with this message at 21:46 on Nov 3, 2014

Zain
Dec 6, 2009

It's only forever, not long at all
It feels like there's a lot of exploration in the world, but some of it is just window dressing it seems.

Pelican Dunderhead
Jun 16, 2010

Ah! Hello Ershin!
Pillbug
Glad to see an LP of this game, I've been interested in it for a while but never picked it up.

Since the equipment pickups are just extra hits and buffing yourself out more, would you say that all throughout the game the mechanics stay strong and don't become annoying or frustrating to play against? I imagine that since there aren't any variances in weapons afaik the game becomes more of a take no damage 'I'm so good' trip.

Shifty gimbal
Dec 28, 2008

Hey you... I got something to tell ya
Biscuit Hider
You're right in saying that there isn't much variance in weapons, but finishing a level feels more like solving a puzzle than not taking a hit in megaman. The game focuses a lot on mastering what moves that you have at your disposal. Most of the execution is simple enough, it's a question of figuring out how to best approach a situation. Chances are that if you're dying a lot in a particular spot, you haven't figured out the optimal trick.

You can pretty much spot all enemies before they even start moving, and there are very few surprises that will catch you off-guard if you pay attention. You just gotta figure out what cool things that you can do with the moves that the game gives you, and you're very rarely rushed to do so.


Be warned: Watching a full LP of this game without having played it will be far more damaging to your future enjoyment of the game than watching one of, say, Mario or a Sonic game. It's akin more to watching an LP of a puzzle game where there are absolute solutions, like Pushmo or The Incredible Machine, where knowing the solution is 90% of the way there. If you haven't played the game, go and play it because it's awesome.

Shifty gimbal fucked around with this message at 02:43 on Aug 5, 2014

Combat Lobster
Feb 18, 2013

Pelican Dunderhead posted:

Since the equipment pickups are just extra hits and buffing yourself out more, would you say that all throughout the game the mechanics stay strong and don't become annoying or frustrating to play against? I imagine that since there aren't any variances in weapons afaik the game becomes more of a take no damage 'I'm so good' trip.

Pretty much what Gimbal said.

Gimbal lock posted:

Be warned: Watching a full LP of this game without having played it will be far more damaging to your future enjoyment of the game than watching one of, say, Mario or a Sonic game. It's akin more to watching an LP of a puzzle game where there are absolute solutions, like Pushmo or The Incredible Machine, where knowing the solution is 90% of the way there. If you haven't played the game, go and play it because it's awesome.

I'm gonna echo this; as much as I want everyone to watch my stupid internet videos I can never emulate the feeling of beating a level on your own.

Spudd
Nov 27, 2007

Protect children from "Safe Schools" social engineering. Shame!

I'm really glad someone is LPing this, I picked it up from watching Supergreatfriend's demo of it and it is a lot of fun but I am terrible at it. While you are fantastic at it!

Looking forward to more.

Highwang
Nov 7, 2013

No Pineapple?
No Thank You!
Man, I have a lot of fond and angry memories of this game. Still haven't beaten it on Valkyrie since I was never a SG&G fan, but you picked a fine game to LP regardless.

Also you forgot the most important gameplay tip: Turn of the pixel filter. Its atrocious!

Ledgem
Oct 20, 2010
drat! I procrastinated too long on recording commentary on my videos! D= Aw well.

You seem to know a lot more about it than even I do though! I never even noticed the sword hilt thing! And way more neat effects than I'd have done either, and amazing bonus content. A much better job than I would have done!

Ledgem fucked around with this message at 08:49 on Aug 5, 2014

PaletteSwappedNinja
Jun 3, 2008

One Nation, Under God.
Fantastic game, absolutely scratches that no-bullshit arcade platforming itch. If you enjoyed Shovel Knight but thought the relics nullified the challenge, give this game a shot.

Gimbal lock posted:

Be warned: Watching a full LP of this game without having played it will be far more damaging to your future enjoyment of the game than watching one of, say, Mario or a Sonic game. It's akin more to watching an LP of a puzzle game where there are absolute solutions, like Pushmo or The Incredible Machine, where knowing the solution is 90% of the way there. If you haven't played the game, go and play it because it's awesome.

I wouldn't go quite that far - there's a lot of memorisation involved, certainly, but I do think it provides for a little more reaction/improvisation than some of the games it's inspired by.

I do think dying for hours at a time (or at least watching someone else die for hours at a time) is a big part of the experience, however.

PaletteSwappedNinja fucked around with this message at 08:58 on Aug 5, 2014

lllllllllllllllllll
Feb 28, 2010

Now the scene's lighting is perfect!
That plant was heavily inspired by that Super Mario World enemy.

Angry Lobster
May 16, 2011

Served with honor
and some clarified butter.
This is one game that it really caught my eye when it was released, but stayed away from it because playing this type of games makes me see red. Fellow lobster goon, are you using a controller or the keyboard?

Keep up the good work.

TKMobile
Apr 30, 2009
Early on in the first level, there's an image of a skeleton with a sword and green loincloth that's an homage to Rastan:

Which was basically a Not-Conan platformer of the late 80s. I feel like Volgarr is more directly influenced by this than Ghost and Goblins, only it differs from both franchises by having a melee AND ranged weapon at all times, which I like. Hell, the underground section you find his corpse in is lifted directly from the first Rastan stage.

TKMobile fucked around with this message at 17:37 on Aug 5, 2014

Combat Lobster
Feb 18, 2013

Angry Lobster posted:

Fellow lobster goon, are you using a controller or the keyboard?

I'm using one of those USB controllers made to look like a SNES controller.

TKMobile posted:

Early on in the first level, there's an image of a skeleton with a sword and green loincloth that's an homage to Rastan:

Which was basically a Not-Conan platformer of the late 80s. I feel like Volgarr is more directly influenced by this than Ghost and Goblins, only it differs from both franchises by having a melee AND ranged weapon at all times, which I like. Hell, the underground section you find his corpse in is lifted directly from the first Rastan stage.

That's a pretty cool piece of trivia. I've never played many Genesis games back in the day, so that reference completely went over my head.

RBA Starblade
Apr 28, 2008

Going Home.

Games Idiot Court Jester

I bought this and got a little disappointed in myself that I wasn't good enough to get past the first level. I got to the boss but he just smacked me down and I never got back to him. :v:

TapamN
Jan 10, 2008
I think more people remember Rastan on the Master System than the Genesis (which had the inferior Rastan II). There are more references to Rastan than just that one guy; many of Volgarr's animations are similar to Rastan's.

J.theYellow
May 7, 2003
Slippery Tilde

TKMobile posted:

Early on in the first level, there's an image of a skeleton with a sword and green loincloth that's an homage to Rastan:

Thank you for bringing up Rastan. I played the poo poo out of it in arcades.

TKMobile
Apr 30, 2009

J.theYellow posted:

Thank you for bringing up Rastan. I played the poo poo out of it in arcades.

'Ole Granpa TK here never actually played the Master System version; I remember playing the arcade box a couple times and even though I wasn't particularly good, I loved the poo poo out of it because it had swords and action and barbarians.

There was some free gaming system deal that offered Rastan and Streets of Rage and other arcade greats, a few years before steam took off and for awhile I had the arcade port. It was still hard as balls but I got to stage TWO.

Manatee Cannon
Aug 26, 2010



That tips and tricks screen is just the most 90's thing ever.

Bible Ian Black
Jul 16, 2009

I'M THE GUY
WHO SUCKS

PLUS I GOT
DEPRESSION
Now I can experience the game I'm afraid to spend money on because I'm sure I'll get stuck on the first level! Good on you, Combat Lobster, for tearing that first level a new one!

frozentreasure
Nov 13, 2012

~
One of the things that annoyed me about this game's marketing is that it was basically entirely "Remember when games were hard?!"

As if no game has been challenging in the last twenty years. It's such a cool throwback to older games, the mechanics are solid, the level design is nice and elegant and it looks really good, but they sidelined all of that in favour of being elitist about older games being designed around milking you for all of your parents' money at the arcade.

In any case, this is off to a good start; looking forward to seeing the valkyrie runs. And more custom title cards.

Inco
Apr 3, 2009

I have been working out! My modem is broken and my phone eats half the posts I try to make, including all the posts I've tried to make here. I'll try this one more time.
I didn't even get halfway through the first level. I'm interested in seeing the rest of the game.

Glazius
Jul 22, 2007

Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.

Clapping Larry
This game seems really difficult if you lose your steel shield, with all the projectiles arcing around. And that's just the first level!

Neruz
Jul 23, 2012

A paragon of manliness

Glazius posted:

This game seems really difficult

Fixed that for you, Volgarr doesn't gently caress around. This game is here to kill you and kill you hard.

Combat Lobster
Feb 18, 2013

Update #2

Volgarr goes for a swim(?) in the City of Akron.

Lore

quote:

Long ago there existed a city of enlightened people who combined magic and technology, becoming far more advanced than the barbarity surrounding them, and used their power to isolate themseleves and their entire city deep beneath the sea.

Over the years they evolved into a fish-like race and eventually forgot their true origins. Recently, rebellious youth among them have begun to believe that they were cast out from the land above and denied their rightful place as rulers of the land-dwellers. Lead by a brash young prince who struck a bargain with Fáfnir to unlock the secrets of the advanced technologies of his ancient ancestors and usurp the throne, the Myrmor of the City of Akron are now preparing for invasion...

Combat Lobster fucked around with this message at 21:47 on Nov 3, 2014

Allmightybob
Jun 22, 2004

I'm not saying that I'm Batman. I'm just saying that... Oh, wait, yes I am. Yes, I'm Batman.

TKMobile posted:

Early on in the first level, there's an image of a skeleton with a sword and green loincloth that's an homage to Rastan:

Which was basically a Not-Conan platformer of the late 80s. I feel like Volgarr is more directly influenced by this than Ghost and Goblins, only it differs from both franchises by having a melee AND ranged weapon at all times, which I like. Hell, the underground section you find his corpse in is lifted directly from the first Rastan stage.

Just with the setup of the first level; lizardmen coming at you with clubs, you do a downward stab to break a block and fall into a cavern, and there's flying enemies clustered around a weapon, first thing I said to myself is, "Oh hey, they're channeling Rastan here. The level setup is almost identical." Then you see the skeleton and say "Yup, all we need now are swinging vines and a sword that spits fireballs."

Highwang
Nov 7, 2013

No Pineapple?
No Thank You!
I'm kinda curious about your camera logic Lobster. When I played this, I just kept the game zoomed out and never bothered for the closeup view. Is there any reason you zoom into areas aside from tutorial explanations?

Dirk the Average
Feb 7, 2012

"This may have been a mistake."

Highwang posted:

I'm kinda curious about your camera logic Lobster. When I played this, I just kept the game zoomed out and never bothered for the closeup view. Is there any reason you zoom into areas aside from tutorial explanations?

He does it when the little sword hilt is on the ground to point out that a power up is nearby.

Combat Lobster
Feb 18, 2013

Highwang posted:

I'm kinda curious about your camera logic Lobster. When I played this, I just kept the game zoomed out and never bothered for the closeup view. Is there any reason you zoom into areas aside from tutorial explanations?

I mostly zoom in to draw attention to something like a sword hilt, or to set up bits that require zooming out like the crab battler's entrance. Other than that, I'm just used to having the camera zoomed in most of the time for platforming reasons. (At least for the first two worlds.)

Combat Lobster fucked around with this message at 07:29 on Aug 14, 2014

WirelessPillow
Jan 12, 2012

Look Ma, no wires!
Scrooge McViking is now his new name.

SpruceZeus
Aug 13, 2011

As much as I love this game, I'm so drat bad at it I never managed to make it past Akron. Looking forward to seeing what I missed out on.

slowbeef
Mar 15, 2005

Will Harvey hates you, and everything you stand for.
Pillbug

SpruceZeus posted:

As much as I love this game, I'm so drat bad at it I never managed to make it past Akron. Looking forward to seeing what I missed out on.

I made it past Akron, but could not pass first Crab Battler in Valkyrie. Definitely looking forward to Stage 3.

anilEhilated
Feb 17, 2014

But I say fuck the rain.

Grimey Drawer
That deep humming part in the music track combined with the graphical design of this place reminds me of Aquaria. As someone who never made it past the rather unimpressively styled first level, that's a pleasant surprise.

frozenfoxy
Oct 28, 2011

Aim for the moon, hope for nothing, and be surprised with what you get.
Slowbeef just clued me in to this going on, and I must say this is superbly done. Thanks for doing this, Combat Lobster. I've had a lot of trouble with the game myself, so it's quite enjoyable to see it played professionally with all this wonderful information I never picked up on. Bravo.

Aithon
Jan 3, 2014

Every puzzle has an answer.
Did something happen to make the slimes rain from the sky in the bit at the end of Stage 2 video, or were slimestorms just in the weather report? :psyduck:

IGgy IGsen
Apr 11, 2013

"If I lose I will set myself on fire."
Tried this game and enjoyed it. But then got distracted by other things. Only ever made it to the second level, though. Maybe now's my time to try again. But then again, there's this LP here going on so I might as well watch that instead.

Combat Lobster
Feb 18, 2013

Aithon posted:

Did something happen to make the slimes rain from the sky in the bit at the end of Stage 2 video, or were slimestorms just in the weather report? :psyduck:

It happens once the boat lowers its sail, so basically if you don't get back on the boat the death trap triggers.

100 HOGS AGREE
Oct 13, 2007
Grimey Drawer
The slimed are clearly a reference to Zelda 2, what with the pillars and everything.

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Combat Lobster
Feb 18, 2013

Volgarr is on sale on GOG for 3.99! If you're holding out for a sale now would be the time to grab it and play along with the LP.

:getin:

:siren: http://www.gog.com/game/volgarr_the_viking :siren:

Combat Lobster fucked around with this message at 22:08 on Aug 15, 2014

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