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Category: Games
Sub-Category: RPG
Platform: Nintendo Famicon
License: Proprietary
Interface: GUI
Wikipedia: Valkyrie no Bōken
First release: 1986
Valkyrie no Bōken (“Valkyrie’s Adventure: Legend of the Key of Time” (Valkyrie’s Adventure: Legend of the Key of Time)) – an action role-playing game released for the Family Computer by Namco (later Bandai Namco Entertainment) on August 1, 1986. It is the 17th game in the “Namcot Family Computer Game Series”.
Namco, the predecessor of Bandai Namco Entertainment, was founded in 1955 by the late Nakamura Masaya as Nakamura Manufacturing. In 1977 the company changed its name to Namco, and its unique name was taken from the English spelling of Nakamura Manufacturing Company.
The versions were ported to other platforms in the same year as Nintendo VS. System compatible arcade games. Sequels were later released, and an adapted version was included in the PlayStation software “Namco Anthology 2” released in 1998.
The original version and the “Namco Anthology 2” arranged version are written separately below, as they are completely different in structure. The character settings of the original version are based on the description in “Keibunsha Valkyrie’s Adventure (Keibunsha Encyclopedia Special Edition Game Winning Method Series 24)”.
It is a top-down action game in which the player controls the main character, Valkyrie, to defeat the resurrected evil avatar Zouna and rescue Marvel Land. Although the game usually progresses as an action game, it also includes role-playing elements such as “gaining experience points by defeating enemies and leveling up by staying at inns” and “not being able to proceed further unless you collect items in the field or dungeons”. The game is difficult because there are few strategy hints overall, it is difficult to understand how to obtain items and which items are needed, and the item limit is low.
At the start of the game, the player enters their zodiac sign and blood type, which determines their initial status and growth rate (details will be described later). There is also a concept of day and night, and at night the difficulty level and game development change, such as “enemies become stronger” and “certain events occur”.
When Valkyrie’s stamina reaches 0, the game is over, and Valkyrie falls, is buried in a grave, and rises to the sky. After that, the game can be resumed by returning to the start screen and selecting the continue option. It is also possible to pause the game using a password, and when you stay at an inn, a keyword will be displayed. By selecting the continue option at the start and entering the password, you can resume the game from the point where you obtained the keyword. However, in both cases, when you resume the game, all items other than important ones will be lost.
