Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story 2

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We’re well into the summer at the moment, so chances are you’re either out of school or you haven’t been a student for a while. It’s pretty universal that some time away from studying is considered a good thing…so why not use that time to immerse yourself right back into the world of academics? That’s what Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story 2 is all about, so put on your robe and mortarboard and let’s get to learnin’.

via YouTube

You’ll control the new headmaster of an academy for heroes – it’s a little UA from My Hero Academia, a little Hogwarts, you get the idea. You’ll primarily handle administrative work for the school, from determining where to place new facilities to developing lesson plans for up-and-coming students. Carefully managing your kids’ energy and time is vital to ensuring they’re as productive as possible.

This means keeping the campus fresh with the newest technology, magic and structures. There’s plenty to build and research, so you won’t be churning your way through the tech tree anytime soon. You can work your way up to improved stat gains for your students, new skills, increased AP totals so your party can use more skills in combat and more; it really all comes down to what you value the most.

Schools don’t run on hopes and dreams alone, though. You’ll need cold, hard currency to keep things going, which you’ll earn from quests and student tuition. Questing is a little awkward; Valthirian Arc 2’s combat system is simple but functional, but it’s also clear that your students only become stronger through study, so it tends to feel like you’ll want to drastically overpower content since that’s the best way to ensure safe and efficient cash income. It’s both more productive and more interesting to focus primarily on school administration where possible.

Both sides of Valthirian Arc 2 look and sound pretty nice, at least. The game has a light, fluffy anime style that’s well-suited for the proceedings, while combat is presentable if not particularly impressive. Valthirian Arc 2 also runs pretty well even on mediocre hardware, so it might be worth trying on that fancy ROG Ally you’ve got laying around.

It’s not going to turn school sim/JRPG adventure into a new hybrid genre with dozens of games coming out each week or anything, but Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story 2 is a wholly acceptable fusion of two wholly acceptable genres. It would be nice if a third game expanded a bit more on adventuring to help that side of the game keep up with school administration. Either way, running a school isn’t child’s play, but at least you get to enjoy the free coffee in the faculty lounge.