Valkyrie no Bōken: Toki no Kagi Densetsu

Valkyrie no Bōken: Toki no Kagi Densetsu (ワルキューレの冒険 時の鍵伝説, lit. The Adventure of Valkyrie: The Legend of the Time Key) is a video game software developed and published by Namco. It was released only in Japan for the Nintendo Famicom on August 1, 1986, and for the Virtual Console on March 20, 2007 for the Wii and on September 4, 2013 for the Nintendo 3DS.

Plot

Once upon a time, in the world of Marvel Land, people and nature lived together in a peaceful and harmonic coexistence. All the animals were docile. Humans, Sandras, Quarkmen, Tattas, and other races mingled with one another and worked to make Marvel Land into an increasingly beautiful place to live. A large clock tower resembling a stone grandfather clock stood watch over the countryside of Marvel Land. Long ago, an ancient evil had been sealed within the clock tower. The people needn't fret, however. For those days had long since passed, or so they had thought.

The key of time that rested in the center of the face of the clock tower had long since been used to seal away the ancient evil that lies within. Until one day, the clock tower mysteriously stopped working. In an effort to rewind the clock, a villager takes it upon himself to do just that. Fumbling with the key, the villager drops the key of time, foolishly. In a frantic manner, the villager picks up the key and tries to reset it back into place before a catastrophe befalls Marvel Land. But then, it was too late for the villager to accomplish the task. The ancient evil of legend. Zouna, the Dark Wizard who manipulates time itself was unleashed upon the world once more. And to prevent anyone else from sealing him away once again, Zouna takes the key of time for himself.

Finally freed after many years, Zouna wastes no time in wreaking havoc and chaos over Marvel Land. Zouna unleashes his manifested darkness over the land, and lays waste to the countryside. Feeling confident in his reign, Zouna constructs his castle in which to preside over Marvel Land from. The peaceful inhabitants of Marvel Land cried out in terror as Zouna's manifested darkness came after them one by one. Zouna's darkness corrupted the hearts of anyone it came across, and possessed them against their wills. Once thriving towns and villages fell into ruination. Family members were parted from their loved ones. Only a few scattered towns remained standing; forming a last bastion in resistance to Zouna's dark invasion. A futile effort. Even Krino Sandra (known as Whirlo in Europe) would come to meet his heroic demise, subdued by Zouna's power. Marvel Land is in dire need of a savior.

The desperate call has been answered by the heavens. Valkyrie, a fledgling shield maiden descends to Marvel Land from heaven. Her first adventure, she wields a simple shield and a mace of light. Vowing to save Marvel Land from the darkness that has consumed it. Then her adventure begins.

Gameplay

Valkyrie no Bōken presents a scrolling overworld like Dragon Warrior, but features a real time combat system similar to The Legend of Zelda. Player controls the Valkyrie in her quest to defeat Zouna and restore peace to Marvel Land. Initially, the Valkyrie starts the game off rather weak, armed with nothing but a short sword. She will appear with brown hair and no helmet. Over time, player will help her fight monsters, collect gold, and find stronger equipment that will raise her offensive and defensive powers. Eventually, when she finds a helmet and cloak, she will appear as you see her on the covers of the game's box and cartridge. With all of the citizens of Marvel Land scared, or under Zouna's control, the Valkyrie will receive no help from anyone in the form of hints or advice. Player and the Valkyrie are completely on their own when it comes to discovering all that Marvel Land has to offer. Player will need to use your wits to devise a plan that will help you defeat Zouna once and for all, and many of the tasks that lay before the Valkyrie are not obvious. Some can only be surmised by exploration and experimentation.

Every time the Valkyrie defeats a monster, she earns experience points towards the next level, and usually a small amount of money. Money is scarce in Marvel Land, but the truth is, player rarely need it to buy any equipment. All of the items in the game can be obtained for free, if the player knows where to look. In addition to equipping various weapons and armor, the Valkyrie gains access to seven different spells. When she learns each one is dependent on her intellect, which increases with each new level of experience. The first and most valuable of these spells is probably the healing spell.

Having no text throughout the entire game, the game is fully playable by non-Japanese speakers; however, in 2001, the translation group SGST released a patch that converts the title screen into English (which provides a very phonetic translation of the word Valkyrie as Valecule) and the player select screen; however, as a result of changing the title, the translation corrupts the ending, which, ironically, is already presented in English. To fix all the issues with the SGST translation, the translation group DvD Translations released a corrected translation in 2009.

Legacy

Sequels

Valkyrie no Bōken was followed up with Valkyrie no Densetsu (ワルキューレの伝説, lit. "The Legend of Valkyrie"), an arcade game released in 1989 which featured two player simultaneous play, with a console conversion released for the PC-Engine. During the same year, a tentative MSX2 game titled Valkyrie no Bōken II (ワルキューレの冒険II 遥かなる時の扉) was announced, and while the demo was collected on DiskStation Compilation No. 4, the production of the game was canceled.

In 1992, Namco released a prequel to Valkyrie no Bōken for the Super NES entitled Xandra no Daibōken: Valkyrie to no Deai featuring the Valkyrie's green amphibian-looking friend, Krino Sandra (Whirlo). The prequel was released in Europe as Whirlo. Valkyrie no Bōken was resurrected for the PlayStation in 1998 on Namco Anthology 2, which featured an upgraded (and more linear) version of the game side by side with an emulated version of the Famicom original.

Walküre no Densetsu Gaiden: Rosa no Bōken (ワルキューレの伝説 外伝 ローザの冒険, "The Legend of Valkyrie Gaiden: The Adventure of Rosa") is a computer digital comic (an adventure game focused on the story, having low interaction) released by Namco for Windows in April 26, 1996. In it, the Great Goddess gives Rosa the task to go after the monster Tōrushin in a floating island in the skies of Marvel Land. Its audio drama version was released on March 25, 1996.

In 2007, Namco released a true upgrade of the original game with enhanced graphics (featuring blond hair on the Valkyrie) for Japanese cell phones that support the i-Apli system, titled The Glory of Walküre.

Related releases

Valkyrie makes numerous appearances in the Tales series of games, as well as other Namco titles:

• She appears in Tales of Phantasia as part of a storyline (although it's not known if she is the same character or just someone who looks like her) and a statue item featuring her can be found in the PSX and GBA versions of the game.
• An item which summons her in battle to attack all enemies can be found in the PSX version of Tales of Destiny.
• She can be confronted in a 1-vs-1 battle with the main hero at the end of Glimmer Spire, an optional dungeon in Tales of Eternia: this dungeon also features her music theme.
• In Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3, the player is at one point told to choose between a fire dungeon and an ice one: choosing the fire dungeon has the player fight Valkyrie at the end of it. By either stealing it from her, finding it from a chest in the ice stage or buying it from the store once the game is cleared, the player can obtain the Gungnir item that can be made into a Valkyrie costume that unlocks her as a playable character: her list of moves is based on her appearance in Tales of Eternia.
• She can be summoned as a support character in Tales of Hearts.
• In Tales of the Abyss, her helmet is available as a visible equip for Anise's Tokunaga doll.
• There is a Valkyrie costume for the character Estelle as downloadable content in the PS3 version of Tales of Vesperia.
• In Marvel Land, Valkyrie shows up momentarily in it.
• The Soulcalibur II character Cassandra Alexandra has a third costume based on Valkyrie (the same possibility applies to the character Lizardman). Additionally, Cassandra receives Valkyrie's sword and shield set (named after its original owner) for her strongest weapon, which also returns in Soulcalibur III (also available for Sword & Shield users) and Soulcalibur IV.
• In Soulcalibur III, parts of Valkyrie's equipment and items (namely the winged helmet, armor and dress) are available for Create-a-Soul where she can be "recreated".
• Valkyrie makes a star appearance in the strategy game, Namco Super Wars for the Wonderswan.
• Valkyrie, her sidekick (Krino Sandra/Whirlo) and one of the NPCs in the original game (Sabine) are playable characters in Namco x Capcom. Zouna and Black Valkyrie are also enemies in the game. In addition another character, Zule, also appears in the game as a shopkeeper before you recruit Sylphie from Forgotten Worlds.
• Valkyrie shows up momentarily in the arcade title Mach Breakers.
• References to her series appeared in Mr. Driller.
• A statue of Valkyrie can be seen in the ending of the Namco Anthology version of Tower of Babel.
• Valkyrie is a playable character in Druaga Online: The Story of Aon. In this appearance she wields a bow and arrows instead of a sword and a shield, likely in order to avoid redundancy since Gilgamesh from The Tower of Druaga already serves as the game's sword and shield user.
• The "Taiko March" song in the Taiko no Tatsujin series features a rock version of the first level of Valkyrie no Densetsu. The recent Taiko no Tatsujin DS's "Namcot Medley" also features part of the overworld theme of Valkyrie no Bōken, and also includes the Valkyrie jumping up and down in her 8-bit form (although she is in one of her alternate outfits), along with other Namco characters, if the player is playing the song well.
• In the Bandai Namco game Keroro RPG, there is a character named Mimikuri who bears a striking resemblance to Valkyrie. She has the same face and hairstyle, and wears a dress with similar patterns to her classic outfit (green clothing at the top, with white skirt and red tip), as well as a red winged hat. She also carries a doll of Krino Sandra, Valkyrie's friend and sidekick. This reference can be easily explained by the fact that the game is produced by the same team responsible for the Tales series. Valkyrie herself also makes an appearance as a support character.
• Her images appears in Ridge Racer 3D as 1 of the Racers in Category 1 along with Sandra and theres a sprite Tag of her available for selection in "Options".
• Valkyrie is a playable character in Namco Chronicle, a Japanese cell-phone game featuring Namco's retro stars.
• She also appears in Project X Zone and its sequel Project X Zone 2, a series of tactical RPGs featuring characters from Namco, Capcom and Sega, as a Solo Unit. One of the extras included in the latter's Japanese Limited Edition is a 3DS port of the Namco Anthology 2 update of Valkyrie no Bōken featuring Xiaomu as a playable character in addition to Valkyrie.
• The Valkyrie character was also referenced in Namco's ShiftyLook website (which was made to reboot its more obscure games), having its own webcomic and also making cameos on the animated web-series of "Mappy: The Beat" and an episode of the animated "Bravoman" cartoon. Valkerie was also a supporting character in Namco High.

References

External links

• Official Virtual Console webpage
• Valkyrie no Bōken: Toki no Kagi Densetsu at MobyGames
• DeviFoxx's Valkyrie series history and resource website
• Valkyrie series at Hardcore Gaming 101