Valor Mortis review: even with satisfying parry-focused combat, it's impossible to overlook flaws

There’s little else quite so satisfying in gaming as a really chunky parry sound effect.

When you read your opponent precisely and time a deflection to perfection, hearing that impactful audio cue as a reward is about as good as it gets — especially if you can follow it up with a devastating finishing move.

Valor Mortis nails this.

I never tired of hearing the reverberated twang of blades clashing in my time with the first-person ‘ Souls -like’ from One More Level.

And given how much time is spent duelling with the reanimated corpses of Napoleonic soldiers, body horror monstrosities, and a few unique creatures I won’t spoil, it’s really something the developers had to nail.

So, I’m pleased to say that they have, and it’s one reason why I stuck with Valor Mortis through several of its other less successful aspects.

Review info Platform reviewed: PC Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC Release date: October 13, 2026 The opening, however, is strong.

You awaken on a battlefield, surrounded by corpses, the rousing voice of Vincent Cassel as Napoleon in your ear encouraging you to move forward.

But this conflict has turned into something far worse than just blades and cannon fire.

A plague of sorts has torn through the land, transforming humans into monsters and unlocking mystical powers for you to use in your quest to understand exactly what’s happened while you’ve slumbered.

It’s all a setup that fits the Dark Souls -inspired core of the game, with its dangerous, foreboding, war-torn world to explore.

This time, lanterns serve as the safe spaces to save your progress, level up using the blood from dead enemies, tweak your build with several skill-tweaking gems, and restart from when you inevitably die.

Your power to fight back against the horrors builds slowly and doesn’t ever get massively expansive.

First, a sabre.