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 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... 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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Aug 4, 2014 22:00
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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 |
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Aug 4, 2014 22:00
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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.
Combat Lobster fucked around with this message at 21:46 on Nov 3, 2014 |
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Aug 4, 2014 22:01
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It feels like there's a lot of exploration in the world, but some of it is just window dressing it seems.
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Aug 4, 2014 22:21
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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.
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Aug 5, 2014 01:23
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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 |
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Aug 5, 2014 02:34
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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.
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Aug 5, 2014 03:38
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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.
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Aug 5, 2014 05:19
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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!
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Aug 5, 2014 08:21
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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 |
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Aug 5, 2014 08:42
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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 |
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Aug 5, 2014 08:52
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That plant was heavily inspired by that Super Mario World enemy.
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Aug 5, 2014 16:33
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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.
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Aug 5, 2014 17:15
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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 |
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Aug 5, 2014 17:28
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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: 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.
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Aug 5, 2014 22:42
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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. 
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Aug 5, 2014 22:52
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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.
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Aug 5, 2014 22:57
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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.
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Aug 6, 2014 01:24
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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.
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Aug 6, 2014 05:56
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That tips and tricks screen is just the most 90's thing ever.
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Aug 6, 2014 07:47
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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!
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Aug 7, 2014 15:53
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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.
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Aug 7, 2014 16:22
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I didn't even get halfway through the first level. I'm interested in seeing the rest of the game.
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Aug 7, 2014 16:23
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This game seems really difficult if you lose your steel shield, with all the projectiles arcing around. And that's just the first level!
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Aug 12, 2014 18:53
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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.
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Aug 12, 2014 23:06
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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.
Combat Lobster fucked around with this message at 21:47 on Nov 3, 2014 |
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Aug 14, 2014 03:54
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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: 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."
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Aug 14, 2014 04:11
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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?
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Aug 14, 2014 06:40
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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.
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Aug 14, 2014 07:12
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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 |
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Aug 14, 2014 07:14
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Scrooge McViking is now his new name.
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Aug 14, 2014 14:22
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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.
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Aug 14, 2014 18:25
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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.
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Aug 14, 2014 18:45
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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.
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Aug 14, 2014 18:47
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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.
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Aug 14, 2014 19:18
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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? 
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Aug 14, 2014 21:06
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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.
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Aug 14, 2014 22:49
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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? It happens once the boat lowers its sail, so basically if you don't get back on the boat the death trap triggers.
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Aug 15, 2014 00:14
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The slimed are clearly a reference to Zelda 2, what with the pillars and everything.
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Aug 15, 2014 01:53
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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.   http://www.gog.com/game/volgarr_the_viking
Combat Lobster fucked around with this message at 22:08 on Aug 15, 2014 |
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Aug 15, 2014 19:22
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