Review: The Vale: Shadow of the Crown – Xbox Series S/X
Hello again, dear readers and friends.
Today, I will not be reviewing a video game or an audiobook, but I will tell you about a fantastic audio game. As you may already know if you follow my posts here, on Facebook or on theaudiobookblog.com, you may remember that I am legally blind.
Although I write a lot of video game reviews, for those I am relying on feedback from my wife, Alina, and my colleague, Alex, for things like graphics and gameplay. Of course, music, story, and general knowledge about the franchise I can easily draw upon from my 30 years of experience playing video games while still sighted.
Luckily, in recent years the video games industry has become more inclusive and household studios are doing their best to release games with all sorts of accessibility options for the visually impaired, for the blind or for other disabled gamers. I cannot write about accessibility in video games without mentioning the masterpiece called The Last of Us part II from the fantastic folks at Naughty Dog, but last week I was absolutely blown away by a superb audio game published by an indie studio.
The Vale: Shadow of the Crown is an action-adventure audio game created by talented people at Falling Squirrel and Creative Bytes studios. The game is available now for PC and Xbox. I played it on my Xbox Series S using the new Xbox wireless headset and I can tell you that I was endlessly impressed by the quality of this game, by the love and passion put into it by the dev teams, by the fantastic voice acting and the superb music.
Driven by a compelling, well-written story and filled with endearing characters, The Vale: Shadow of the Crown can be enjoyed by totally blind players and fully sighted ones as well. The Vale is an audio-based action-adventure game that places you in the worn leather boots of a blind adventurer, a young and brave princess looking to make her way home. But, without sight, 500 miles away from the castle and in times of war, she will have to surpass difficult obstacles in her journey.
I have spent about 7 hours with our blind princess and her companions during my first playthrough and Alina also dove right into it at my recommendation. We both love the game!
The gameplay mechanics are based exclusively on sound and timing. The player has to pay close attention to the soundscape surrounding them, from effects, to other characters talking and also to audio cues. Add to that RPG elements like the leveling up of abilities, the purchasing of weapons, armor and shields, and you’ve got yourself an authentic experience.
The player has the choice to pick up whatever weapon they prefer, from short swords, two axes and even bows, combining close quarters combat with bow hunting, and adding in even some fantasy elements, The Vale: Shadow of the Crown keeps things interesting and fresh all the time. The game expertly combines quieter moments of dialog and character development with fighting sequences of intense action.
A very pleasant voice will guide us through menus, upgrades, purchases and character interactions. As I said above, the voice acting is fantastic, the music creates a high level of immersion and accentuates the most important moments of our journey. Add to that well-written and meaningful dialogues and you will be pulled into this epic adventure immediately.
Thanks to dedicated professionals, a long time in development, advice and extensive testing from blind accessibility specialists like Brandon Cole, Steve Sailor and many others, plus the support from the Canadian Institute for the Blind, The Vale: Shadow of the Crown delivers an almost flawless narrative experience, accessible and completely free of frustration.
The Vale: Shadow of the Crown is, in my humble opinion, a unique concept that should be tried out by blind and sighted gamers alike! I wish with all my heart that a lot of people will give it a chance and hopefully we will receive more and more such experiences in the upcoming years!
A captivating story, characters that will make you care for them, excellent gameplay, great sound design, and a superb audio presentation are just a few of the reasons why you should definitely try out this amazing game! Boot it up, put on your headphones, close your eyes and you will be transported into a magical world filled with mysteries and secrets, where only your imagination is the limit!
I really hope to see The Vale: Shadow of the Crown on PlayStation 5, I can only imagine what these extremely talented professionals could do with the truly revolutionary next-gen technology available in the DualSense controller and Tempest 3D audio.
Buy from Steam Buy from Epic Store Buy from Xbox Store
Review copy provided by Falling Squirrel.
Victor Dima
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