The third game in the Valthirian Arc series, after Valthirian Arc 1 and Valthirian Arc 2, released for consoles and PC in Fall 2018 after a successful Kickstarter campaign (under the name "Valthirian Arc: Red Covenant"
).
Valthiria is a country formed by the alliance of Five Queendoms: Red Valthiria in the Northeast, White in the Northwest, Green in the South, Blue in the East, and Black in the West of the land. Above all of these Queendoms, however, reigns Her Majesty Queen Hilda... who is soon to pass on, and with her sole daughter Isabel nowhere to be found. With the lesser Queens at each other's throats, in addition to an unknown force invading the North, Queen Hilda is able to issue one last decree: for the player, a person of neutral political position, to build up a ruined academy and prepare for the inevitable war of succession. Will you side with one of the queens to rule the land? Will you unite them together to restore peace to Valthiria? The choice is in your hands, even the unthinkable one.
The next game in the series, Valthirian Arc Hero School Story 2, had a March 2022 Early Access release.
Hero School Story contains examples of the following tropes:
- Adults Are Useless: Teacher NPCs accompany the students on several quests, but in most they only follow you around doing nothing.
- The Blacksmith: Kayla, returning from the previous game.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Each of the Queens in the land have a different-colored banner.
- Cool Sword: The Knight and Arc Draconus classes make use of a variety of swords. NPC Paladins also use swords, unlike student Paladins.
- Crew of One: Captain Bestly from the Kawiya Ruins mission chain can run his ship by himself using magic.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Several class mentors will only join the school if beaten in combat first.
- Dragon Knight: The Arc Draconus class is a dragon-themed knight, and one of its possible abilities is to breathe fire like a dragon.
- Dual Wielding: Harlequins fight with a pair of daggers.
- Escort Mission: Various missions require you to escort an extra person around. They'll stick close to your current party leader and are fairly tough, but will cause immediate mission failure if they drop. Some can fight as well.
- Fighter, Mage, Thief: The first-tier classes are Knight, Mage and Scout.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation:
- According to the "Eve's Holiday" quest, healing potions exist in the setting. You will never get to buy them, ever, or see them anywhere outside that particular cutscene.
- Your Arquebusier (gunner) students cannot fire down from plateaus onto the monsters beneath.
- Fallen students are represented by a grave with a rose on it, but they're not dead. Once the mission is concluded (one way or another) they'll be right back to studying.
- Building a cafeteria for your boarding school of potentially 100+ students is not necessary.
- Some mission chains have your party stuck somewhere, but they'll return to the academy afterwards like normal and you can change up the party for subsequent missions in the chain.
- The Gunslinger: The Arquebusier class and several enemy units pack guns.
- Hero Academy: Running one of these is the whole point of the game.
- An Ice Person: Mages can occasionally freeze targets and Scholarsages can call down blizzards and protect themselves with an ice shield.
- Item Crafting: Kayla can forge weapons and accessories once the right recipes and materials are collected. The resulting items have somewhat randomized stats compared to versions that are dropped or purchased.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: The fake guard the students talk to in "Fake Recruitment I" says he didn't see a boy passing by. However, the students never mentioned who they were looking for. Unfortunately, while the students notice, they don't make anything of it.
- Infinity +1 Sword: The Valthir dagger, Crescent Edge sword and Shermanstaff have their own mission chains and you have to fight some of the toughest monsters in the game to acquire them.
- It's Quiet… Too Quiet: Said by one of the students at the beginning of the "Oil for the Guide II" mission. The party gets ambushed later.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Paladins carry a shield alongside whatever weapon they're using.
- Magic Versus Technology: Downplayed. Valthiria emphasizes magic while Ramathyr emphasizes technology, but it's not a hard divide, at least in Valthiria, given the existence of the Arquebusier class and cannons on ships.
- Manual Leader, A.I. Party: You can send your students on quests, and take manual control of one at a time; those not currently being directed are AI-controlled.
- The Medic: The Medica class specializes in healing.
- The Paladin: The aptly-named Paladin class, who are tough tanks that can also heal fellow students.
- Prongs of Poseidon: The Trident of the Depth weapon for the Paladin.
- Purely Aesthetic Gender: Students of either gender can take on any class, with no favoritism towards either.
- A Quest Giver Is You: Once more, you're in charge of which students go on which errands (in which students leave the campus for a few weeks to do a task) and missions (in which you take direct control as they battle/collect/whatever).
- Rebellious Princess: Princess Isabel ran from Valthiria to see the world after being cooped up in the palace for most of her childhood.
- Rewarding Vandalism: Barrels, pots and long grass can be destroyed for a chance at dropping gold or crafting materials.
- Spin Attack: The Arc Draconus' Dragon Dance ability has them spin while jumping into the air, hitting all enemies around them.
- Take Your Time: No matter how urgent a mission is, they can be kept on hold for in-game months or even years without any penalty.
- Throw Down the Bomblet: The Anarchist enemy throws so many bombs around, they carry a backpack full of them.
