We’ve had some excellent tactical RPGs over the last decade, from Divinity: Original Sin 2 through to Marvel’s Midnight Suns and 2024’s remake of Romancing SaGa 2. Joining their ranks soon will be Valor of Man, a fantastical and decidedly macabre offering from fledgling developer and publisher Legacy Forge, and it’s got an early demo available now.
Valor of Man kicks off with protagonist Alistair being tapped to be the Grim Reaper’s successor. From there, he assembles a party in the RPG to stop the ominously dubbed ‘Perpetual Cycle’. That’s all we know about the upcoming PC game‘s story, but it’s enough to understand what you’re up against is ferocious and the monsters along the way could be quite terrifying.
The fantasy game blends tried-and-tested role-playing ideas with roguelike mechanics. You have 12 subclasses to choose from for Alistair and his allies, with further customization from the weapons and equipment you pick up. Different combinations allow for different combat opportunities, encouraging experimentation.
You’ll need to be cunning to face what’s out there, because besides the dungeons full of beasts, the map itself is procedurally generated, making every run different from the last. Enemies have a reaction system that makes encounters distinct and unpredictable. There’s no one-size-fits-all way to kill a certain troll or demonic being.
The riskier the fight, the higher the reward, and you’ll still get some loot even if you lose, encouraging more and more runs. There are hundreds of abilities, items, and artifacts to unlock and test out, granting all sorts of variables. The story lasts for three central chapters, and the trailer mentions this is an “intentionally compact” angle on RPGs where every session will be distinct from the last.
There’s a sense that Valor of Man leans more toward the pick-up-and-play nature of, say, Dead Cells, as opposed to the longer sessions a game like Baldur’s Gate 3 demands. At a time when there are plenty of longer games to choose from, that seems refreshing, and there’s a playable sliver to see if it’s for you.
Valor of Man has a demo available on Steam right now. The demo covers the entire intro and first chapter, so it offers a considerable chunk of gameplay. You can download it here.
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