If you've been following me for any amount of time, you should know that I enjoy reviewing
games as I play them.
Unfortunately I'm not able to review every game I play since it takes a lot of time writing,
recording, and editing a full blown review.
Sometimes I just don't have the drive to review a game despite wanting to review them all.
With that said, this video is going to consist of a small sized review for a game I played
in 2016 that I didn't get the opportunity to review.
Let's do this then!
In my experience in the 30 years of gaming I've been involved with, it's easy to miss
a game's release.
Everyone once and awhile I'll stumble across an older game and be dismayed that I hadn't
known about it.
This is the case with Valkyrie Profile.
A few years ago I spotted some in-game screenshots, and instantly knew I needed to play this game.
Then I found out it's damned expensive.
It took some time, but I finally got my copy of the game at the start of 2016.
Valkyrie Profile was developed by Tri-Ace, also renowned for the Star Ocean series.
This ambitious game was originally released in for the Playstation in August of 2000,
and later received a PSP port titled Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth in July of 2006.
The game opens within a small village.
A young girl Platina who lives with her cruel parents discovered they intend to sell her
into slavery.
Along with her friend Lucian, they run off during the night and find themselves in a
field of poisonous flowers.
Overcome by the poison, Platina dies in Lucian's arms.
We're then introduced to Lenneth Valkryie in the halls of Valhalla, who's been tasked
with recruiting soldiers to aid in the looming cataclysm Ragnarok.
Valkyrie Profile is one of the most unique RPG's I have ever played.
I assumed going into it was going to be the standard affair, but I couldn't have been
more wrong.
The first thing that caught my attention was the incredible sprite work the game embraced.
At the time as far as I know, Valkyrie Profile had some of the most well detailed and animated
sprites I had seen, and even still to this day there's not many games that rival it.
Where this game really excels it of course it's game-play.
Instead of a straightforward linear story, Valkyrie Profile presents it's events in a
series of days leading up to the looming Armageddon.
We have so many "actions" we can perform in the over-world before the day ends and we
report in to our superior, Freya.
Clearing all new objectives might not use all all turns during each day, so making use
of this spare time is crucial to leveling characters.
Each day we'll be able to visit newly revealed dungeons or towns after using Lenneth's "Spiritual
Conentration".
This ability is used to identify the Einherjer who'll we'll seek out to recruit.
In most cases these are people who've been victims of tragic events, and their last chance
at redemption, forgiveness, or ascension is proving their worth.
This is one of the parts of the game I truly enjoyed.
Along with the story, with the end of the world just days away, these individual stories
and the people we met as I said, are often steeped in tragedy.
There's not a lot of hope in sight, and this is a very morose and melancholic tale.
For those familiar with anime, there is a series that really stood out with having parallels
with the feeling game.
Mushishi.
Much like Valkyrie Profile, it has a sadness to it, though depressing at times, focuses
on the redemption as well.
Lenneth will explore the over-world in third-person, and when visiting towns or dungeons is another
one it's unique aspects.
In these places, the game switches to a 2D side-scrolling style, and we'll make use of
platforming to navigate, as well as Lenneth's ice ability to freeze enemies in place so
we can avoid them, or create crystals that can be used as footing to overcome certain
obstacles.
The platforming for the most part works just fine, but there were a few instances of rage
inducing clunkiness I experienced in my play-through.
The battle system is pretty unique as well.
Enemies appear in the environments instead of being random battles.
Each character we use has limited abilities, with the fighter based characters mostly having
melee attacks, and casters having some spells to make use of.
Characters have a gauge that allows them to sometimes perform multiple attacks which can
be combo-ed together with other characters to output maximum damage, juggling enemies
and sometimes stunning them as well.
This can be tricky though, for instance one character that might knock an enemy down or
up into the air, could possible cause another character to miss because they attack straight
on.
There is where strategy comes into play and we'll have to be conscious of how these characters
attack with the weapons they are using.
Eventually they'll get powerful special attacks known as "Purify Weird Soul" for that extra
oomph in battle.
One thing I have to mention is how challenging this game is.
There are multiple endings, and the best ending requiring the game to be played on the highest
difficulty setting, and at this level it really makes the combat incredibly brutal at times.
It's a good thing I usually have multiple save files for each play-through, as there
were a couple times when I had to go back quite a way in my saves because my characters
weren't properly prepared for some of the sharp spikes in difficulty that happens at
a few key points in the play-through.
Also, unless you don't mind getting the "worst" ending, this is a game that requires a guide
to be used.
Not only to determine what characters have to be send off to fight with Odin's forces,
but to figure out what skills need to be leveled to meet the requirements needed.
Besides it's unique game-play, Valkyrie Profile has some pretty unique music as well.
Many of you have probably heard compositions from Motoi Sakuraba.
He's most well known for the Star Ocean and Tales of series, but also the Dark Souls games
as well.
He's definitely one of the more prolific video game composers, and Valkyrie is no exception.
It's a fantastic soundtrack, even if I don't necessarily love it myself, but I did enjoy
it quite a bit.
So final thoughts on Valkyrie Profile.
If you're not a fan of JRPG's, don't like punishing games, need clear and concise information
about mechanics, or don't like a medium level of grinding, this game is not for you.
For those who want a incredibly unique RPG, challenging game-play, and don't mind using
a strategy guide, this is definitely a game worth checking out.