Community Spotlight: ValeriaAsteria
Written by MasterMeowzer
Published on August 17th, 2024
Tell me about yourself! Who are you and what kinds of gaming do you enjoy?
I'm Valeria, my friends often call me Vale or Asteria! And I'm just a gaming artist going around finding people to hang out with. I play a lot of, but not limited to platformers, RPGs, puzzle games, and rhythm games.
How did you get into gaming?
One of my earliest memories is watching my mom play Tetris, and I think I was 4 when I started playing Sonic 2 on my own; I was basically doomed from the start.
How did you get into speedrunning? What was the first game you attempted to speedrun?
I had followed big events like GDQ's for a while, but it wasn't until I spent some time with Huds601's community when I started to really consider turning the Sonic games I knew into speed games. I then chose Sonic 1 Forever to learn the ways, since I wasn't the most familiar with it but it was on the simple side.
What game(s) are you currently playing?
I've been playing through all of the Klonoa series on stream, I just started Lunatea Viel for the first time! I've also been dabbling in some things like Zenless Zone Zero and Mecha Break, but otherwise focusing on my Sonic 3 AIR speedrun.
What is your favourite game strategy?
Go fast! And explore everything. These don't go hand in hand.
What are the gaming achievements you are most proud of?
I'm pretty happy with having routed an effective route for Tails Adventure 100%. but more generally I was quite proud of passing my first 12 in Stepmania!
What are the most challenging aspects of gaming for you?
I think in this era of PC gaming I struggle a lot with finding good controller schemes I can play with. With speedrunning specifically, it's consistency.
Do you have any gaming goals you are working on/would like to work on?
My ongoing speedrun goal has been to learn Expert mode in Shadow the Hedgehog, but it keeps getting pushed back by other runs! More generally I have a few series I want to finally tackle, for example I might dedicate September to trying Souls games.
What is the most underrated game you have played?
I'd say Kovox Pitch, a rhythm game that might be the one game I've never had anyone recognize when I bring it up. It's difficult but I really enjoy it, and it's free!
What is your favourite gaming memory?
The way I felt after experiencing Deltarune Chapter 2 really sticks with me. Somehow despite being technically a demo, it was one of the best gaming experiences I ever had. Hearing from others while they experienced it at the same time probably helped that.
Any tips for staying positive while gaming?
Laugh at your mistakes and don't be afraid to die, and if the mechanics and controls are genuinely frustrating you, you don't need to keep playing. Also save frequently.
What is the most memorable interaction you have had with someone in gaming?
There was one FFXIV rp hangout I attended that got interrupted by a mass server disconnect, and everyone else except me and one other person got disconnected first. So it was just my elezen and this lalafell sitting there together bracing for when we would be kicked off.
I saw that you are an artist and host art streams (in addition to speedrunning)! Tell me more about how you got into art and what kind of art you enjoy!
You could argue I've been an artist my whole life, taking after my mom who actually went to college for art. I focused in on pencil drawings for the longest time but never really found a stride until last year when I got a tablet to start doing digital drawings. I also use to dabble in sprite art, which I've gotten back into a bit lately!
How did you first become involved with Lady Arcaders?
This is a community I really fell into in a lot of ways, having initially joined the public server just for updates and not realizing I actually did the invite request until I was added to the private server suddenly! Then I got in on an open call for commentators for one of Rena's Unhinged Rants, went "oh I'd like to do more of this," and my involvement just escalated from there.
What are your gaming handles and socials, if you would like to share them?
I try to maintain myself as ValeriaAsteria wherever I am, which is just Twitch, Youtube, Soundcloud, Steam, and Bluesky which I barely use.
Follow ValeriaAsteria online!
Twitch: https://twitch.tv/ValeriaAsteria
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/valeriaasteria.bsky.social
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@valeriaasteria