Do yourself a favor,,,quit reading reviews and just buy this game
User Rating: 9.2 | Valhalla Knights PSP
I was ready to drop the $40 and reserve this title the day I saw the display box...the graphics were beautiful with gameplay similar to Tales of Symphonia...but then it happened. I opened the in-store copy of Game Informer and to my dismay they had already reviewed it before it came out. A 4.5 out of 10!?!? I held on to my cash that day and started to search the web for more reviews. EGM - 4.3; Gamespot - 5.6....I was devistated. I wanted so bad for the reviews to be wrong, yet I couldn't bring myself to shell out the money for it to find out. Then the day came that I walked into a local EB Games, and there on the shelf was a used copy! $5 cheaper, plus the extra 10% discount for having the membership card, and 7 days to give it a try incase it was as bad as everyone was saying. I got home and nervously slid the UMD into my PSP and fired it up. What I was treated to next was the best 30 minutes of gaming I had played on my PSP since purchasing the system almost 2 years ago. Why only 30 minutes you ask? I unfortunately do not have the luxury of playing games as much as I used to...but I assure you, it was very difficult to put this one down. The camera controls are nowhere near as bad as everyone makes it sound. In fact, I had no trouble with my brief sampling of the game. I could tell right away that the character customization was very deep and the battle system was what I had been craving from a handheld game. Sure, there are plenty of RPGs out now but this is what I've been wanting to see. A hybrid of Final Fantasy and Tales of Symphonia. A character you build throughout the game with changeable job classes and tons of upgradeable stats and a real-time battle system. And I don't mean the semi-real time like Final Fantasy XII that lets you move around while waiting your turn...I mean full-on action game hack and slash with items and spells at your fingertips. The dialogue is great without the broken "Engrish" of Legend Of Heroes, the graphics are far better than any other RPG on the system, and from what I've played, you don't have the load time problem that plagued Y's. Another major plus is that I didn't have to go through a long, drawn out intro to get to the action. I spent the majority of my 30 minute demo hacking my way through the first dungeon instead of being bogged down with plot development. This is a game that I will have to savour and enjoy every last minute. To Exseed Games, I say BRAVO!
