Solasta: The Lost Valley is a completely self-contained DLC campaign for Solasta: Crown of the Magister. In it, four characters, designed by the player, get cut off from the outside world in a secluded valley.
Overview and Evaluation
Solasta: Lost Valley doesn’t feature too many new mechanics. However, each class from the original and the previous DLC – Primal Calling – now gets a single subclass. These are well-made and add a lot of replayability. I particularly like the Commander, which revolves around team buffs; the Hoodlum – a bulkier type of rogue; the Swift Blade, which turns dual wielding rangers into hurricanes of destruction; and the Path of the Claw, which gives a dragon flavor to the barbarians, expanding their capabilities in interesting ways.
The main attraction, of course, is the campaign the DLC is named after. It is… okay. My biggest complaint about Crown of the Magister was its weak story and final levels’ design. Lost Valley really, really doesn’t improve on either of these. Dialogue is poor, the plot is transparent; there is nothing to draw you in. In a way, it’s even worse than the original. There, I found myself at least somewhat interested in the plot and where it was going. Not here.
Talking about level design – many fights are just quick encounters with two or three enemies on a mostly level battlefield. These are fine when used sparingly, but not the way it’s done here – especially in the early game. Some stages seem almost identical, like two forts with the same layout and enemies. The random fights are dull (12 thugs!) Compared to the engaging levels of the original, this truly exemplifies a decline in craftsmanship. Still, if you enjoy the battles and core gameplay loop of Solasta – at least here you get more of it.
Finally, Lost Valley adds tools for making Solasta content. That’s cool, but doesn’t benefit most buyers. As such, assessing their value is beyond the scope of this review.
Summary
I can’t recommend Solasta: Lost Valley to everyone. Still, there may be a fair number of Solasta fans who’ll like what it offers. Whether you are replaying the main story or enjoying some custom levels, having access to the additional subclasses will add some interesting variety to the characters. The campaign, however, is mostly for those who’d like more Solasta content, even if it’s not quite as strong as in the original.
