Hilda and the Forgotten Valley

Hilda and the Forgotten Valley (ヒルダの冒険 〜太陽の女神の神社〜 Hiruda no Bōken Taiyō no Megami no Jinja, "Hilda's Adventure: Shrine of the Sun Goddess") is a platformer action-adventure game based on Luke Pearson's Hilda series of graphic novels as well as primarily the Netflix TV series. It was released on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, macOS and Google Stadia on March 27, 2020. It was developed by Item Studios (a subsidiary of Smileworks) and published by Smileworks. Ports for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S were released on February 12, 2021.

Gameplay
The game is a 3D platformer akin to games such as Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie. However, the difference for this game is that it focuses on traveling from point A to point B. Levels will also have hidden collectables that unlock extras such as clips from the show, concept art and bonus costumes for Hilda.

The main playable character is Hilda, and the player will mostly play as her for the majority of the game. She can attack by spinning around with Flora assisting her spin. In some parts of the game, other characters such as Twig and Alfur are playable, albeit in brief sections. In the DLC packs, David and Frida can also be played as well via local co-op.

Certain levels will also have the player control the Raven in his thunderbird form. When played, the level will switch to gameplay similar to the NiGHTS series. You'll also play as flora in some levels and in a boss fight. When played, the game will switch to gameplay similar to the Star Fox series. Also in the levels, you can interact with the characters, you can talk with them and also they will give you secondary missions to play and have some fun with them, After you complete a secondary mission your reward will be some of the collectables you find in the levels. The player can play as Johanna too, she's playable in 5 levels, and it's like Hilda's gameplay, but with some changes.

Main Story
Hilda, her mum, Twig and Alfur are enjoying a picnic out from Trolberg. At one point, Hilda hears a mysterious voice. The voice was revealed to be a fairy named Flora. She tells Hilda that the fairies reside in a forest that the citizens of Trolberg has not yet visited. Meanwhile, a businessman is overlooking a construction for a new shopping center for Trolberg. Unbeknownst to him is that deep within the construction site is a prison that holds off an evil serpent named Orochi. During construction, Orochi is released from his prison and is bent on destroying all of Trolberg and make the citizens his slaves to build a new city solely for him. Orochi also summons his army of minions to assist in his tyrannical conquest.

Seeing this, Flora enlists the help of Hilda to collect a set of artifacts known as the Three Sacred Relics, which consist of a jewel, a mirror, and a sword, to awake Amaterasu, a goddess that sealed Orochi in the past, in order to put him back into his prison. Flora tells Hilda that Amaterasu's shrine is in a place north of Trolberg known as the "Forgotten Valley", a place once occupied by people in the past but was abandoned after some time. Accepting Flora's wish, Hilda goes on a quest to retrieve the Three Relics, then go to the Forgotten Valley so she can awake Amaterasu from her slumber and save Trolberg before Orochi destroys it once more.

Hilda and the Mysterious Island
Hilda, David and Frida are stranded in an island far from Trolberg when a storm broke out, while they were trying to complete a Sparrow Scout badge. The trio, with the help of Twig, Alfur and Flora, must escape the island and make it back to Trolberg while avoiding dangers that inhabit the island.

Hilda and the Stone of Light
After discovering the existence of the stone of light, the Marra, who once tormented david in his nightmares, thought of a very evil plan that would cause eternal harm to the people. Along with the rest of her kind, Kelly and the others would somehow manage to destroy the stone and scatter the pieces throughout various parts of Trolberg and the forest, causing the people of Trolberg to slowly fall into a deep and eternal sleep that would leave them having nightmares forever. One of the unlucky ones were Hilda and her two friends Frida and David. Luckily, Flora managed to resist the eternal sleep and managed to wake up her three friends who helped them to seal Orochi previously, and now they would embark on an adventure to restore the stone of light and stop the Marra.

Chapters
Chapters serve as acts to the game. Each chapter consist of eight levels, with all of them ending in a boss fight.

Chapter 1: The Fairy

 * Story: Hilda, her mum, Twig and Alfur are enjoying a picnic near the forest. Hilda starts to look around, when she meets Flora, a fairy. After introducing themselves, Hilda and Flora travel to Shining Forest, a place where Flora was from and where modern Trolberg has not found, due to the fairies having trust issues with humans.
 * Boss: The Tree Monster - To show Hilda what the fairies can do, they used some magic. However, one fairy accidentally brought a tree to life, and went on a rampage. To stop the monster and gain the trust of the fairies, Hilda would promise that she would tame the tree monster.

Chapter 2: The Serpent's Liberation

 * Story: After defeating the tree monster, Hilda gained trust from the fairies. The fairies decide to send Flora on a task to study the life in Trolberg. Hilda would return to her mum and the others back to the city. Back at Trolberg, Hilda shows Flora around the city, along with Hilda introducing Flora to Frida and David.
 * Boss: Arms of Darkness - Hilda, Flora, and her friends notice a construction site for Trolberg's first ever shopping center. After getting a look from the construction, Hilda and the others resumed walking around Trolberg. During construction, one of the workers finds a strange-looking tablet. Assuming it was trash, they throw it away. The tablet however started to shake and emit a smoke of darkness. Out of the tablet came two hands with red eyes. The construction workers soon run away, getting the attention of Hilda and the others. The Trolberg Safety Patrol would arrive but to no avail. Hilda and Flora would confront the arms, as the Trolberg Safety Patrol were forced to retreat.

Chapter 3: The Deep Ocean

 * Story: After defeating the arms, a serpent named Orochi was released from the tablet, which was turned out to be his prison. Orochi revealed that the arms were created by him, and thus he threatened the citizens of Trolberg that within three days, he would use all of his powers to destroy Trolberg. Flora then tells Hilda that Amaterasu, a sun goddess, can seal Orochi back into his prison. But in order to awake her, Hilda would need the Three Sacred Relics. Flora tells that the first of the relics, a jewel is located in a temple near the harbor of Trolberg.
 * Boss: King Salt Lion - After traversing through the ruins, Hilda and Flora would find the jewel of the Three Sacred Relics. They notice that there was a Salt Lion nearby. Flora notices that it was their leader, King Salt Lion. As soon as they tried to get the jewel, the King Salt Lion attacked them. Flora then noticed that it was corrupted by Orochi's dark magic, due to it having red eyes and having dark aura surrounding it. To get the jewel and to return the King Salt Lion back to normal, Hilda and Flora would have to fight it.

Chapter 4: The Snowy Cavern

 * Story: After getting the jewel of the Three Sacred Relics and returning the King Salt Lion back to normal, Hilda and Flora now need two more of the Three Sacred Relics to awaken Amaterasu. They travel to the cave that is filled with ice and snow, located near a mountain. They hope to find the mirror of the Three Sacred Relics.
 * Boss: Grim Cold - As Hilda and Flora reach near the mirror, the two are ambushed by the Grim Cold, one of the creations of Orochi. The Grim Cold manages to get a hold of Flora, but was she freed herself with her magic. The Grim Cold then creates icicle spears around the mirror, preventing the two from getting it until they defeat her.

Chapter 5: The Steampunk Lands

 * Story: By defeating the Grim Cold, Hilda and Flora have acquired the mirror of the Three Sacred Relics, with the sword being the last relic remaining to be found. The two travel to a factory complex, filled with many steam engines. The two stop here to rest, as they have been exhausted from battling the Orochi's minions.
 * Boss: Mechanical Lord - While exploring the complex, Hilda and Flora take a look at a giant robot. All of a sudden, the robot glowed red eyes and began attacking. Flora then realized that the robot, dubbed the Mehanical Lord was under the influence of Orochi. After the Mechanical Lord has sustained enough damage, the metallic menace tries to eat the two. Flora enters the robot through its mouth to clear its influence by Orochi.

Chapter 6: The City ( This is not Trolberg. It's just an normal city)

 * Story: Hilda and Flora managed to escape the explosion caused by the Mechanical Lord's destruction. The two decided that they really needed to go. With that, they go to a city in hopes of finding the sword of the Three Sacred Relics.
 * Boss: Robo-Hilda - The heroines run into a group of gangsters who don't tolerate children in the streets of the city. The gangsters then put up a gas that makes Hilda and Flora unconscious. After they wake up, Flora has been captured by the same gangsters and Hilda is trapped in a large square-shaped room. No one is in the same room where Hilda is, except for a robotic version of her. The gangsters reveal that while she was asleep, they analyzed her body for the robot version of Hilda, dubbed Robo-Hilda. The gangters then force Hilda to fight Robo-Hilda, as they will let her and Flora go if she wins.

Chapter 7: The Magma Complex

 * Story: After defeating Robo-Hilda, the gangsters free Hilda and Flora, on the condition that they never enter the city again. Hilda asks about if they know about the sword of the Three Sacred Relics. They then reveal that the sword is located in a volcanic cave. Hilda and Flora leave the city, with their pursuit for the sword underway. Along the way, they encounter Frida.
 * Boss: Dark Matter Metallic Squid - After a traveling through the volcano, the heroines managed to find the sword, but surrounded by a pool of lava. The heroines try to walk across the pool, only to be ambushed by a giant squid in the lava. Frida tries to fight it, but only to be stopped by Hilda as it is too dangerous. Hilda and Flora would confront it, while Frida and David agree to seek safety while watching the two fight the massive squid.

Chapter 8: The Dark Town

 * Story: The squid has been defeated, with now the sword of the Three Sacred Relics now available for Hilda and Flora. The two, along with Frida, escape the volcanic cavern, with all of the Three Sacred Relics collected. The heroine's last step is to now go to the Amaterasu's shrine in the Forgotten Valley. To get there however, they needed to get through a dark village, as there is no alternate pathway for the heroines to take.
 * Boss: Count Silhouette - The heroines are confronted by a man known as Count Silhouette. He demands that the heroes hand over the Three Sacred Relics, but they refuse to give the relics to Silhouette. Angered, Silhouette traps the girls by raising some walls from the ground. The heroes are trapped unless they can defeat Silhouette, of which Hilda volunteers to battle.

Chapter 9: The Forgotten Valley

 * Story: With Count Silhouette defeated, Hilda, Flora and Frida were free and the walls came back below the ground. Before he disappeared, Silhouette warns to the girls that defeating the Orochi won't be an easy task. After listening to Silhouette's last words, the girls were now in the Forgotten Valley after traveling there by leaving the dark village. With all of the Three Sacred Relics, Hilda and Flora were ready to awake Amaterasu.
 * Boss: Hilda and the others traveled through the village, with their last stop Amaterasu's shrine itself. As soon as they walked towards it however, Flaris, Flora's younger sister appeared, but she had been corrupted by the Orochi. The group split up into two: Hilda, Frida and David would awake Amaterasu while Flora would try to free Flaris from the Orochi's influence.

Development
The game's story as well as characters were written and designed by Luke Pearson himself. The writers of the show also helped in handling the game's story, and the voice cast of the show reprise their roles for this game. The composers of the show handled the music for the game.

Originally, the game was planned to be a collect-a-thon but due to time constraints, it was changed to just reaching the goal.

Four months after the game's release, it was announced that two DLC level packs were in development. The first DLC pack, Hilda and the Mysterious Island, was released in September while the second DLC pack, Hilda and the Stone of Light was released in Feburary 2021, in conjunction with the ports for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Release
Prior to the release of the game, a special event in Smileworks's mobile game Item Land Dash that gave Hilda, David, and Frida as playable characters to promote this game for a limited time.

A special edition of the game was released, which included the game, a code for a 2-month Netflix free trial, a copy of Hilda and the Midnight Giant and a plush toy of Hilda manufactured by Gund. Included in the Japanese version is character guide book, which lists the characters from the novels, the show as well as from this game.

Ports for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S were released in Feburary 2021, along with the second DLC pack. Owners of the PS4 and Xbox One versions can upgrade their copy of the game to the PS5 or Xbox Series X/S respectively at no extra cost.

English

 * Bella Ramsey as Hilda
 * Daisy Haggard as Mum
 * Ameerah Falzon-Ojo as Frida
 * Oliver Nelson as David
 * Rasmus Hardiker as Alfur
 * Maria Darling as Flora
 * Nick Boulton as Orochi

Japanese

 * Kokoro Kikuchi as Hilda
 * Yoko Kato as Mum
 * Kanako Miyamito as Frida
 * Konomi Kohara as David
 * Takuma Sasaki as Alfur
 * Mika Kanai as Flora
 * Takehito Koyasu as Orochi

Reception
The game was met with positive to mixed reviews, with players and fans both praising the game's faithfulness to novels and show, while issues such as a lack of co-op were criticized.