Sometimes, getting weird is what you need to feel anew. Life can get you down, and bright, goofy, light-hearted gaming can do wonders for your mood.
Valley Peaks fits that sentiment quite well. But it’s not silly and out there just for the heck of it. It delivers some surprisingly deep and engaging gameplay that is much tougher than its outer layers will have you believe!
Going into Valley Peaks without knowing a lot, I figured I’d be in store for a game I could wrap my head around easily and be in and out of in a few short hours. Boy, was I wrong! Valley Peaks offers far more than a quick jaunt on your PC or Switch. It also holds a challenge that crept up on me and surprised me in all the right ways.
Traversing Valley Peaks
In Valley Peaks, you are a cliff-climbing frog. Or, as developers Tub Club put it, you’ll be playing a “ribbiting first-person climbing sim.” But that’s just the beginning, as each area you encounter is filled with traversal and puzzle challenges that will keep you on your (webbed) toes.
The game begins promptly with a brief tutorial and a story setup. The tutorial is short because it can be. The controls and main premise of the game are simple: climb mountains! The story gives you a reason to climb, connecting your present situation in Valley Peaks with an apparent rich history of your father in the area.
Most everything you do in Valley Peaks is easy to understand and difficult to master. It strikes an excellent balance of challenge and goofy fun. The central drive of the gameplay consists of climbing a series of massive mountains to install radio towers. But that is just the start!
Each one is completely different from the one before, with layouts ranging from snowy peaks, crumbling rocks, moving platforms, thorns, and even magical yellow spheres that allow you to double-jump! Combine all this with three separate routes you can choose to conquer, and you could spend hours trying to overcome some of the more challenging peaks.
To do this, you’ll use the triggers on your respective controller to grab with your left and right arms. Similar to Jusant, a game we thoroughly enjoyed here at Console Creatures. It works well here, and it always feels intuitive.
Valley Peaks also plays well on the Steam Deck, where I played for about 90 percent of the time.
Gear Up!
Climbing each mountain isn’t just for the sake of challenge, though. If you complete a full three-set route, you’ll be awarded a card you can turn in at a climbing hut that will grant you passive or active abilities like a glider or slow motion. Each of these can be upgraded and eventually will come in handy later in the game when climbing some mountains becomes very tough.
Combining these with your gangly frog arms makes for some great fun! I did have some trouble occasionally, as some of the more difficult traversals spin you around in many directions. I was turned around too quickly, causing a frustrating next jump or grab. At the same time, that’s all part of the challenge and fun. Planning as you go and adapting!
Cartoony Mastery
In the opening moments, the art style for Valley Peaks was a turnoff, but I quickly got over that. The minimalistic and colourful approach to this world is a huge plus. Pastel colours, wacky characters and scenarios, and a massive map come together nicely.
The area itself is filled with things to discover that will be the context for the story, provide some small side quests, or collectables that can contribute to your gear or cosmetic items like your watch. For better or for worse, the game doesn’t explicitly tell you what to do with the bright orange mushrooms or screws you find around the valley. I just figured it out. For a while, I just smacked and picked up anything I came across, but later, I realized it was all a currency-like system with many benefits!
So my advice is to hit everything, climb everything, talk to everyone, and explore!
Verdict
Valley Peaks is a game that can sneak up on you and make your day’s hours disappear!
I had an absolute blast trying to conquer each mountain and solve the puzzle-like nature of each one. Top that off with a beautiful art style and sense of humour, and you have a charming first-person platformer.
[The publisher provided a copy of the game for review purposes.]
Reviewed on: PC
