Gearbox and Counterplay Games have steadily offered fans of the upcoming looter-slasher Godfall more and more previews of its world, its gameplay, and its playable characters, the Valorian Knights. With only a few months left before the game finally launches, the two have shared a new sneak peak at the Hinterclaw Valorplate.
As a refresher, Valorplates are the superpowered suits of armor the Valorian Knights wear and essentially function as the game’s class system, with each offering a range of unique abilities on top of Godfall’s weapon-based combat system. Throughout the summer, Gearbox has teased the different roles Valorplates like the Silvermane will fill, and this week it did the same for the Hinterclaw.
Like the previous teasers, this one focuses less on hinting at how the Hinterclaw will work in-game and more on selling the vibe of its place in Godfall’s high-fantasy world. “From where does discipline spring?” asks the teaser’s narrator. “The steel resolved to endure. That hunger for perfection. Power taken is power deserved. Ascend to worthiness with Hinterclaw.”
That might not be all that satisfying for those hungry for tangible details, but luckily Counterplay provided some of those last month when it detailed how the Hinterclaw will play in Godfall. This Valorplate will likely appeal most to players who prefer to hit hard and fast, as it will boast fast movement speed, be able to summon AI allies, and utilize a set of abilities designed to increase its critical strikes by up to 200%. In the right hands, it sounds like it could be one of the game’s most formidable Valorplates.
And if nothing else, the new teaser serves to highlight not just the sleekness of the Hinterclaw’s wolf-like armor, but the rest of Godfall’s armor design. The stylish aesthetics of the game’s characters and settings have been one of its major selling points so far, on top of things like its varied combat and support for three-player co-op. It also helps that Godfall won’t have microtransactions gating off any of the game’s early or endgame content.
These are a few of the reasons Godfall seems to be learning from the failures of other looters, most notably Anthem. In a time when live-service is gradually becoming the standard model for games like this, and microtransactions are more and more a common feature, it’s nice to see Godfall forego this and offer plenty of content for just the game’s base price. Hopefully this will result in a worthwhile addition to the pantheon of loot-based games.
Godfall launches this holiday season for PC and PS5.