Originality and innovation that succeeds on so many levels. An underrated gem, one of the best on the Playstation.
Valkyrie Profile shines- by virtue of originality. There are so many aspects of gameplay that are fresh, new, and thrust upon us in spades that it can be quite overwelming. So much so that I've broken down the game's features into categories.
(The story/Who you are/What you are sent to do) : You play Valkyrie, the goddess of war. She is sent down to earth in order to collect the souls of people who have recently died. People who have the potential to be great warriors, mages, archers, et al. Before acquiring each party member (of which there are 25 in all, less depending on which mode you're playing on) she will view a short summary of the event before their death. These awfully short vignettes are surprisingly good. The setting is in the middle ages- a time of famine, poverty, slave trade, war, zealots, and most striking- creatures like vampires, succubus, and vengeful ghosts that come to prey on the weaknesses of mere humans. This setting leaves alot of room for variety- and variety there is- the characters you collect vary from race, gender, background, ethics, and back story that are each sadly short but often very touching and surprisingly worthwhile. Each are tragic (it is death, after all.) but capture the fleeting moments of beauty that life has to offer with extremely good writing. Much of this was further enhanced by the mood of the music and stunning character designs that I'll get to later. Overall I give the storyline high marks for trying something brand new and leaving a mostly very good impression.
(The passage of time/Flow of gameplay) : The game goes by in a series of periods. Everytime you enter a dungeon or town, a certain number of periods will be depleted. For instance, lets say you have 24 time periods left. That should cover about 5 dungeons, 3 towns, one period used for healing, and maybe a visit to the ever random Cave Of Trials. Once all of your periods are used up it will be the end of the chapter and your commander Freya will inform you of how well you progressed, and give you some goodies and money to help you along your quest. Then whether you like it or not- you'll be sent to the next chapter to discover more characters and dungeons.
(A unique and exciting battle system) - As per most games, you have four characters. But in Valkyrie Profile each character is assigned to one of the four symbol buttons. Pressing your character's assigned button triggers them to act- whether it be attacking the enemy or blocking an attack. Timing is important- pushing their button at the right time, or pushing several at once to break the enemy's guard and deliver larger damage are your key to success. Also there is a bar that fills up if you take several actions at once- if the bar fills up to 100% you can summon devestating attacks. Strategizing when to pull these off and what characters of your large roster are most effective is a key to success.
(The many dungeons and the puzzles that await) - It's often described as "Castlevania platforming in an RPG". I've never played Castlevania though so I can't leave any input on that (I know, blasphemy. ^^) The dungeons are fantastic. Some of the best I've seen in an rpg so far. They are huge, riddled with fun and unique puzzles that are of a perfect difficulty level.. until you get very far into the game. When you're on hard mode, the later puzzles can be Alundra-difficult. (Read: Test your flexibility and skills immensely.)
(Complex menu systems encourage customization) : In many RPGs you just fight, level up & get money, upgrade- repeat and thus progress. In Valkyrie Profile things are handled quite differently. Money and items are of the essence. The one-click shop has a variety of items and it is easy to spend your hard earned cash on things that won't be of much help. Every item has some data attached to it, and finding compatiblity between those items and your characters is key to getting through some of the toughest areas in the game. One feature I like is how each piece of equipment has a specific effect in battle- helmets keep you from getting knocked out (and losing a turn) by an enemy's blow whilst greaves make your turns come up faster, etc. When a character levels up they are not just given better stats and earn new skills. They also acquire points which can be used up in their skill menu- this offers a good level of customization on the gamer's part, as they can pick and choose what stats they want said character to excel in, as well as what skills they can learn and apply to battles. You can also spend these points on altering your characters' personalities (rising their good traits, lowering bad habits.) This effects how they perform their duties when you send them up to Valhalla. I'll get to that next.
(Being a God, you have expectations to live up to) - Remember how I mentioned that Freya will let you know of your progress at the end of each chapter? Well progressing in this game is not based on just getting from one dungeon to the next- far from that. It's all about doing your job as a goddess of death and meeting the expectations of Valhalla- all of this is deemed by your ranking and DME. These two rise when you send powerful characters you've recruited up to Valhalla- they will leave your party until the final battle. Finding artifacts in dungeons (usually found after defeating a boss and acquiring the much needed experience) and sending them up also makes your reputation rise. Working so hard only to sacrifice a character may seem wasteful, but this is where strategy comes in- you keep some characters as regulars, and take a chosen few to train and send up. Unless of course.. you are aiming for the A ending. You can't get the A ending on your own, you MUST check out a FAQ to get the information. Getting the A ending recquires some tricky moves- but it is all worth it for the fantastic ending and variety of dungeons you'll have available to you- not to mention the tension as you try to make sure you have everything planned correctly. A few missteps could leave you unable to acquire that special ending..
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Graphics : Only good could be said about Valkyrie Profile in the visuals department. Whilst there are other games on the Playstation that beat it technically, I still love VP's most of all- if only for the meticulous detail put into certain areas. First- the character art. During cut-scenes there are giant character designs- expressions changing as the storyline warrants. These character designs are absolutely beautiful. Like great colourful oil paintings, varied and striking, let us just say that when it comes to character designs- I've yet to see any that completely edge out the sheer beauty of those in VP. They are really of the highest order. The only issue are the sprites which sometimes don't seem to match their character art, and just generally lack detail. This is very much made up for in terms of the environments- the backdrops that make up the game. While the dungeons are just "very good" in terms of quality, they are often outstanding in terms of design. You have to look far and wide to find such unique battlefields. While some are ordinary- like the snowfields, a castle, a forest maze- others are not so ordinary. From a ravaged metropolis to the innards of a beast, to a bright oceanic underground maze- even the ones that sound ordinary have a gothic style that sets it apart from just about any other RPG I've ever had the pleasure of playing.
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Sound : I'll admit I know little about music. I could love all kinds of styles, but I only know what sounds good, memorable, and catchy to the ear. Something that one does not tire easily of, nor blend so far into the background until not even the mood can be recalled. There are a select few that manage to be memorable- and an even smaller number that manage to be emotionally compelling and unforgettable. You know what's coming- Valkyrie Profile's soundtrack certainly falls into those high regards of mine. Other OSTs I've loved include FFVII-X, Shadow Hearts, Legend Of Mana, Chrono Cross, Ys VI, and Baten Kaitos. So if you enjoy any of those, chances are you'll quite like the music in VP. The voice-acting on the other hand is hard for me to judge. Judging by my own standards for voice-acting, these don't reach them by a longshot. It's a travesty that some of the very main characters get horrible casting. The acting varied from okay to bad for me. But lets take all the other Playstation RPG voiceacting into account. There are next to none that have even marginally decent voiceacting, so looking at it from that point of view- VP just being mediocre was a great step up for videogame voice-acting. Even today- freaking 10 years later- we get ones that are of insultingly low quality (Baten Kaitos comes to mind.)
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Longevity / Controls / Difficulty : The strategy guide for this game had some pretty good advice for those starting out- I agree with this tip- now this only applies if you've tried playing VP on Hard and had no idea what on earth you were doing. Try playing once through Easy mode to get the B ending, then play again on Hard mode aiming for the A ending. Once-over on easy mode and you should completely familiarize yourself with how the game works. Character advancement, flow of gameplay, all that. It shouldn't take more than 20 hours to complete. Maybe even 10 if you're a speeder. Now hard mode.. you'll have access to ALL the dungeons, characters, and storyline. It took a good 70 hours for me to complete. Hard mode is actually not hard at all in terms of battles. EXP is fairly doled out and you can get by with surprsing ease- the difference is that the dungeons are bigger and could contain some mammoth puzzles. These weren't a problem for me- until the last 1/3 of the game when they reached an almost Alundra level of difficulty (as aforementioned). But those are just little bits along the way, for the most part you should have no problem.. as long as you carefully follow those directions on how to get the A ending. Now the interface and controls- well they suit the game. They are big, initially confusing, and there may be too many of them. I got over this quickly as the game advanced. But the time before you reach complete understanding of all the workings of the game is substantially longer than most other rpgs.
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Now for the BAD!
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Well I spent a good long time gushing and mushing about how much I adore this game- it's time to list some drawbacks! All I said were the sprites could use more detail, there must be more that this game is lacking, right?! Well I do have a few complaints. Chief amongst them is how one could play the game and not even experience 30% of it. I speak mostly of easy mode, which is so stripped down it's heartbreaking to know that somebody out there must have played solely that. Next is how well hidden the A ending is. Getting the A ending is impossible without a guide. It involves a few certain actions to be taken at certain times that you just can't guess on your own unless you're some kind of immensely flexible genius. As I mentioned before, make one wrong move and that A ending is out of your reach. Next is what I mentioned at the beginning of this review- you MUST play in hard mode. First of all- it's not that hard. It's actually very lenient with the exception of a few crazy beasts in Algandar's castle and being pushed into a corner if you've used up all your breakable weapons (hint- unequip them quickly!) To get the most out of this game- to experience at least 90% of it- hard mode is the way to go. You haven't played Valkyrie Profile to it's potential without playing through hard mode.
Anyway that's it. Time for some more gushing and hopes for the future. So in my opinion, what is Valkyrie Profile's biggest triumph? That is simple- it manages to create a sub-genre within a genre. Many times I would play thinking of the vast possibilities the sequel could provide. More souls to collect with deeper mini-stories, many more places to fly through across the large world, more dungeons- that means more unorthodox puzzles, even more intricate customization of characters, the reputation system becoming more refined, rewarding, and adding longevity.. there are alot of possibilties for this creative action rpg. It pushed the envelope, and with Valkyrie Profile : Silmeria- I'm hoping the envelope will be pushed all the more. This series has alot of room to evolve, and it could very well be among the best of the best if it does.
(*Actually, one last note. This game is out-of-print. Has been for what are in-game eons actually. So is it worth the $130 it is going for on eBay and the like? This is a tough one. VP is my favorite game on the console, but I'd have to say it's not worth it. There is still hope that you might get the chance to play this game though, as the PSP re-release MIGHT make it to a release in english. I'll be hoping for everybody.)