Tester's Corner: Valkyrie Svia Ed. Vol 2

Svia01Today we’re proud to present another tester’s corner for Valkyrie Svia! This one comes from our tester, wavedash!

While it may not be the greatest piece of literature in the world, Valkyrie Svia is one of the best nukige I’ve read, and for some fairly unexpected reasons.

Valkyrie Svia comes from the veteran eroge developer Lilith, so it should come as no surprise that the game has some great sex scenes. The combination of beautiful art and colorful writing is as effective as you’d expect. The game’s pacing is also great; I rarely found myself overwhelmed by a “well, that escalated quickly” moment, nor did I find myself skipping through scenes try get to the “good stuff,” a problem I’ve had with some other nukige.

Pictured above: good stuff

Pictured above: good stuff

I would have to attribute a large portion of my enjoyment of this game to one single person: Svia’s voice actor, Kanematsu Yuka. She is a prolific voice actor in the eroge industry, having worked on games such as Period, Kyonyuu Fantasy, and Dracu-riot!. Her voice as Svia is simply amazing. Kanematsu Yuka projects more variety into her acting than the other two voice actors in this game, and most porn in general. She doesn’t just repeatedly moan for hours. She adds in hurried gasps, subtle sighs, expressive pauses, and much more. I’d even go as far as to say that Kanematsu Yuka got me… sporting a sequoia more than the game’s art or writing. This goes beyond just sex appeal, too. Svia’s inner voice, when vocalized, is unbelievably cute when she’s flustered.

Unfortunately, the voice acting doesn't come out very well in this image.

Unfortunately, the voice acting doesn’t come out very well in this image.

Although the plot itself is fairly simple, it is also surprisingly thought-provoking. The first few chapters of the game are narrated by one of the heroines, Sigurd. The game’s h-scenes are also often narrated from the perspective of the two valkyries; this naturally makes the reader empathize with them. However, due to the game’s story, these two women are simultaneously portrayed as the “enemy,” as they are essentially striving to destroy the world. This is an interesting dynamic that I’ve never seen from a visual novel before; I’ve never played a game where events are (sometimes) told from the heroines’ point of view, while the same heroines are portrayed almost as antagonists. None of the games I’ve played that have a similar “training” motif, such as Slave Witch April or We Love Master!, share this feature.

"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn." -Benjamin Franklin

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” -Benjamin Franklin

Lastly, Valkyrie Svia’s route structure was also quite unexpected. Now, let me get this out of the way: Valkyrie Svia is definitely not a family-friendly game. It’s demeaning to women, and there are some scenes that are certainly not for the faint of heart. 

[spoiler title=”Bad things happen.”]

Bad things happen.

Bad things happen.

[/spoiler]

In spite of all this, the game is laid out in such a way that treating the two valkyries in a slightly more humane way gives you a better ending. The situations in which the two heroines are placed during the bad endings’ routes are fairly extreme. They make the good ending’s h-scenes look like a moege sex scene in comparison. I didn’t expect the best ending of an eroge primarily focused on rape to be obtained by using more “romantic” methods. It’s almost like the game is trying to teach us a lesson: to be kind and considerate in how you treat women important to you.

In the end, Valkyrie Svia is a great game, though it’s not one I’d recommend to just anyone, for obvious reasons. But if you know what you’re getting into, if you’re okay with some “harsher” h-scenes, you’re in for a treat.

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3 Comments

  1. Holy crap I had no idea that was Shamshel’s VA doing Svia’s voice (and kudos to Kanematsu-san for being able to do such different voices). Sure has me glad I got this game. Now if MG could have some talks with Waffle so more of the eroge community can experience one of Kanematsu-san’s best roles…hint hint 😉

  2. That was the most in-depth Tester’s Corner I’ve read so far. Great job! I hope we will hear from you again in the future 🙂

    • I have to agree. But it’s not just the content, that’s also some very well written, stylish english. I think this guy would also be a good translator (if he’d know japanese) or editor.

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