Starting with the visuals, from the moment you begin the game, to the moment you complete it, Valley immerses you into a beautiful landscape made up of both untouched natural formations, and the overgrown ruins of man-made structures long since forgotten.

The unique game mechanics are a refreshing take on FPS style gaming, as you can choose to give or take life, however you must be aware that death, even your own, comes at the cost of the life of the Valley. The mechanics for movement are surprisingly exhilarating for a game that isn’t VR. At times, I found myself literally breathless over the speed, distance, and heights that could be reached (and fallen from) in the L.E.A.F. suit.

The story is excellent, and without saying too much so as to not spoil anything, it is presented in a way that adds to the feeling that you’re exploring a strange land and unraveling the mysteries of that land without the entire story being spoon-fed to you. Some of the story is given to you automatically by location prompts, and then there are extra bits that you can find scattered about the land.
The game does a terrific job of building out the atmosphere based on visuals and story alone, but the fantastic and timely soundtrack really pulls everything together, giving it a sense of wonder and, at times, a sense of terror. Each piece of music fits in perfectly with every situation the player may find themselves in.

My one single complaint is that there do not appear to be any manual save points. Saves are automatic, and while it does not seem that the game tells you when this is happening, it does seem that the saves happen during the load screens that appear when you move on to the next “section” of the Valley/the story. This may be annoying to some, but in my experience, it was merely a minor inconvenience.

All in all, Valley is an outstanding game that I would recommend to anyone who is looking to get sucked into an excellent story with beautiful visuals and unique and breathtaking game mechanics.