Henry Viola
Time flies! I previewed the Alpha Demo for Valor Mortis almost a year ago, back in October 2025. A lot has changed in this time, one would hope, but there are concerns I had back then that are persistent in this final preview build I went hands-on with. But for the most part, this is looking to be a standout title if the developers can polish out a few rough edges.
As a quick refresher, Valor Mortis is an upcoming first-person Soulslike title developed by the same people behind the popular Ghostrunner series. Set during Napoleon's era, you play as a soldier risen from the dead and given supernatural powers to fight against grotesque monstrosities that have plagued Europe. The first-person POV is definitely the selling point for such an oversaturated genre, but the mad lads at One More Level have actually created something worthy here. You’d think the perspective would be nauseating given the limited field of view, but it works! Off-screen enemies have indicators, and attacks are mostly well telegraphed and fair.
The Soulslike staples are here, so I won’t go into too many details about them. Stamina-based combat, losing currency on death, enemies that hit like a truck, and refillable healing flasks. Flasks are refillable upon rest, and you can increase the potency and number of charges based on upgrade materials. You know the whole shabang.
My main gripe back then was the poor performance and optimization on PC. For reference, I’m running an RTX 3080 with DLSS on Ultra Performance, and graphical presets set to high. Even with Nvidia Reflex Low Latency turned on, I’m getting stutters and frame drops to the low 20s. This was understandable in the Alpha build, but since the game is mere weeks away from public launch, this is quite concerning. On average, I’d say I’m hovering between 40-50 fps, with only 60 fps reached when not much is going on in-game.
The demo from a year ago was only a snippet of what the game offers, lasting about 30 to 45 minutes. The final preview build is vastly larger, allowing you to see a good chunk of the opening hours of the game, with multiple new areas, enemies, and bosses to take on that have never before been seen. I actually beat General Lothaire the Eagle-Bearer in the old demo, but I actually died to him this time. However, instead of respawning, it seemed like I was supposed to lose to him! Genichiro is that you?
New enemy types include shielded enemies that are a pain to get through, along with massive mortar-throwing abominations that look straight out of The Thing. Weirdly enough, they also reminded me of the Mortar Team from Warcraft III, except combined by the hip, flesh and all. Expect item and enemy placements to differ, most noticeably the pistol, which you find a bit later in the game. Don’t worry, it’s not too much later than its placement in the Alpha demo.
One thing that I’m constantly impressed by is the masterful level design in each of the environments you encounter. Not only do your supernatural magic powers and bullets unlock different shortcuts and paths, but there are always little nooks and crannies to explore that distract you just the right amount without losing the main focus. Elevators that initially went up one floor now go up two floors once you shoot the thing blocking it in the first place. New paths open up in areas you’ve already looped around.
I also appreciate the consistent applications of environmental hazards and items such as exploding barrels, flame lamps, and heavy carts that you can use to your advantage to change the tide of battle in your favor. Your ammunition is limited, so having options to deal massive AOE damage is always welcome. You start off with your initial sabre and pistol, but you’ll also get your hands on a blunderbuss and musket for guns and a claymore and rapier for swords.
Aside from the frame drops, the actual hand-to-hand combat is slick and refined, with parries that feel satisfying to pull off, and a variety of execution animations that make you truly feel like a skilled soldier on the battlefield. Even though the game is more biased toward parrying, there is a perfect dodge mechanic for attacks that cannot be parried. You can definitely see the DNA of the Ghostrunner games baked into Valor Mortis, especially during platforming sequences.
Leveling is not like traditional Soulslike RPGs where you spend points on stats like Vigor or Vitality, but instead on specific nodes that then unlock further nodes when enough points are spent. You have your generic ones like increasing max health and stamina, but also more interesting ones like increasing the posture damage from parries or allowing your melee attacks to extract nephtogoblin, which is this game’s version of mana. Without this node activated, the only way for this mana refill to drop is for you to shoot specific nodules on enemies with your gun. As you level up, you can also equip items called ambers that add passive bonuses such as reducing damage taken from explosions.
I did mention the awkward keyboard and mouse bindings before, with Ctrl as parry and Alt as dodge. Thankfully, you can fully rebind them, and now the PC build even offers full controller support for both Xbox and PlayStation button mappings.
It was recently revealed that the full price of Valor Mortis is going to be $39.99, which is in line with the launch price of Ghostrunner 2 as well. This is honestly great news given how jam-packed September and October are for big-name AAA titles.
I have little to no qualms about Valor Mortis other than the technical performance and polish. If the team can get this up to standard before launch, this could be one of my favorite Soulslikes of 2026. I can’t wait to jump into the full build to see how this adventure plays out!
Valor Mortis launches October 13, 2026 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Stay tuned to GamingTrend for more news and updates on Valor Mortis!
