Valor Mortis PS5 release brings Napoleonic soulslike on Oct 13

Valor Mortis came out on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. It was first planned for September 24, but the developers pushed it back a few weeks in June to avoid a crowded September that included Control Resonant and Onimusha: Way of the Sword.

The game is developed by One More Level, the studio behind Ghostrunner, and published by Lyrical Games. It is rated Mature 17+ by the ESRB for intense violence, blood and gore, and strong language.

The pricing is simple:

• Standard Edition: $39.99 on every platform, digital or disc
• Deluxe Edition: $59.99, adding a Grande Armée weapon skin pack at launch, three more skin packs later and a major story expansion planned for 2027

The publisher said it priced the game this way so it could compete in a crowded season, while still believing it stands up to full-price releases.

There are two ways to play without paying full price:

• PlayStation Plus: members get a 90-minute timed trial on PS5, and progress carries over to the full game.
• Xbox Game Pass: subscribers get the complete game included from day one on Xbox and PC.

Digital pre-orders were never offered, so there were no pre-order bonuses or early access to miss. Physical copies could be ordered in advance, and on Xbox the disc version unlocks a digital license that also works on PC through Play Anywhere.

One More Level said it wanted the finished game to make its own case. Instead of asking for money months early, it let people buy only once launch reviews and player impressions were out, and it promised no content would be locked behind a pre-purchase.

The road to launch was not entirely smooth. Valor Mortis had several public demos this year, including one for Steam Next Fest, but the developers pulled the Steam demo in early September after players reported performance problems. The PS Plus trial is the official way to sample it now, and it is a timed slice of the full game rather than a separate demo, so anything you unlock is kept.

It is a soulslike, meaning a tough action game in the style of Dark Souls: careful enemy placement, punishing fights, and checkpoints where resting refills your healing but brings enemies back. Here those checkpoints are lanterns. Die, and you have to return to the spot to recover your lost catalysts, the material used to level up. Die again first, and they are gone.

The twist is the first-person view and the setting. You play William Dowsett, a British soldier in Napoleon’s Grande Armée who rises from the dead in an alternate 1817. A disease called the Crimson Plague has swept the Eastern Front, turning soldiers into monsters while giving William strange powers. Napoleon even speaks into his head with telepathic orders.

William fights with a melee weapon in one hand and powers or pistols in the other, such as a stream of flame. Enemies include zombie lancers, grenadiers and musketeers, soldiers fused with hounds and corpses melted into cannons. Parrying is central, and the main story runs about 20 hours, with a grappling hook and Metroidvania-style backtracking to unlock new areas.

Early reviews were largely positive, with a few reservations. One review called it the most refreshing soulslike in years, praising combat that lets you mix swords, guns, magic and parries, and level design that rewards exploring. That reviewer even preferred mouse and keyboard to a controller, a rare thing for the genre.

Another early impression found it brutal but surprisingly calm, with a melancholy, empty world of abandoned villages, misty graveyards and snowy passes. Critics also noted that the first-person view makes parry timing easier to read once you get used to it.

The main complaint is variety. There are fewer weapons and powers to collect than in many rivals, so players who love complex character builds may find it narrow, and at least one major review felt it tried to do too much.

If you own a PS5 and have PS Plus, the free trial is the easy first step. Ninety minutes is enough to see whether first-person parrying clicks for you, and nothing is lost if you buy later.

If you have Game Pass, it costs nothing extra, so there is little reason not to try it. Everyone else gets a full soulslike for $39.99, which is a fair price for a 20-hour game. Newcomers should know it is hard and violent, and not a good pick for younger players.