October 2019 saw the launch of action-platformer Valfaris, and now the sequel has a date. Side-scrolling shoot ’em up Valfaris: Mecha Therion is coming to PC on November 21, 2023, with consoles to follow later. 

Developer Steel Mantis is doing the best thing you can do to a protagonist with this one: Give them a massive robot. The story of Valfaris: Mecha Therion is pretty much covered in the subtitle. Therion continues his hunt for the evil Lord Vroll, only this time he takes the opportunity to bust out the secret weapon known as Mecha Therion. Thus, the follow-up is ready to fire away with a move from hectic, Contra-esque running and gunning to pure shooting action. 

You can see how they changed things as Therion suits up in the release date trailer:

If the mighty sword he wields wasn’t enough of a hint, there are still melee moves to master. Mecha Therion has Melee, Ballistic, and Destroyer class weapons, and your loadout can be configured with a variety of weapon combinations. Further add-ons and weapon upgrades are acquired by earning Blood Metal. 

If the actual lore of Valfaris is something you can’t resist, publisher Big Sugar Games promises a “deeper dive” in the days leading up to this month’s launch. After its arrival on PC, Valfaris: Mecha Therion will make its way to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch sometime in 2024.  

Joseph Luster

Joseph has been writing about games, anime, and movies for over 20 years and loves thinking about instruction manuals, discovering obscure platformers, and dreaming up a world where he actually has space (and time) for a retro game collection.

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