The Valiant, an RTS set in the 13th Century from developer KITE Games and publisher THQ Nordic, will officially arrive on PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X|S next month on July 11th, 2023. The console announcement was accompanied by a cinematic trailer with some glimpses of gameplay.
The Valiant is available now on PC via Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store. You can watch today’s new trailer on the THQ Nordic YouTube channel:
The Valiant has received a lot of mixed reviews, but the one feature that has been consistently praised is the compelling narrative. The characterization and performances are really solid, and it’s clear that the devs have a genuine interest in The Valiant’s particular setting.
So, it was probably a smart move for today’s trailer to stress how cinematic the game is. There are a lot of cinematics, especially for an RTS, as well as a lot of narration via journals. In fact, there’s so much lore to unpack, that it feels like The Valiant may have emphasized this approach at the expense of the RTS mechanics themselves.
There isn’t quite enough freedom and flexibility compared to its competitors, and as a result, The Valiant doesn’t have any big hook other than its premise. RTS is a very complex genre with high expectations, and many fans have been frustrated with The Valiant’s simplicity. Its combat-driven gameplay just hasn’t been considered tactical enough.
However, the art design and graphics are decent, and surprisingly, there’s even a small mode for some brief cooperative gameplay. And now that the game is arriving on next-gen consoles, the multiplayer scene should have a wider audience, which was intended to be a crucial part of the experience.
You can read more about The Valiant, THQ Nordic, and other console ports or strategy games by checking out the rest of our news section.
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