This uniquely woven tale is not exactly a must-play, but it will be a damn shame to miss it. Again.
A Valkyrie's existence is important- to gather heroic souls in their dying moments from the Human world, and to then prepare the deemed useful to fight along the Gods for the imminent battle known as the Ragnarok. As Lenneth, that is the basic premise players will be ushered to do. Through a ritual known as the Spiritual Concentration, Lenneth is able answer to the cries of the dying ones, each with his/her telling stories. It would then be in the players' discretion whether these collected souls, otherwise known as the Einherjars, would be sent to the Gods.
Lenneth's empty facade as a mere tool for the Gods makes her a character difficult to relate to, and therein lies the greatest pity with Valkyrie Profile. The game offers 3 endings, the best of which, and the only one of which that provides a cohesive back story for the lead character can be attained only by unlocking and doing specific stuffs that is simply impossible to 'just stumble across'. For something that is so well-crafted and thought-out, the barricades Tri-Ace places in the way is just incomprehensible.
The urgency of the Valkyrie's duties is well articulated by the time progression system. No matter the process, curtains are drawn strictly in 8 Chapters, each chunked into 24 Time Periods which would be slowly chipped away at anything Lenneth does, such as in battling or rescuing the Einherjars. This clever blend of freedom and inhibition is a key characteristic of Valkyrie Profile- while players have the discretion to do whatever they want, but with the clock ticking, decisions have to be made on how best to utilise the time. It is thus ironic how time then rears its ugly head. In later chapters, things may become increasingly formulaic and tedious, losing the lustre of that initial shine.
In its battle system developer Tri-Ace attempts another quirk. Turn-based at its most basic, each character (4 in total) on the battle field is mapped to each of the 4 face buttons on the PSP, and the pressing of which would issue an attack command for that particular character. By issuing these commands in the right order, a combo-meter can be built up to make way for powerful special attacks, a necessity for tearing down the toughest defences. The action-oriented and menu-less interface is extremely intuitive, and with more than 20 characters acquirable, each which his/her personal fighting techniques, plenty of time would be spent in experimenting the best fighting styIe the player desires.
The excellent presentation harmonises all these different elements into a cohesive package. The beautiful 2D graphics is worthy enough of this epic tale, while character portraits are sufficiently detailed as make-believes. The Platforming elements (Lenneth would need to jump and fire crystals to navigate across the dungeons) blend surprisingly well in a role playing game, although controls can be a little clunky for the PSP interface at times. Like many of Square-Enix titles, music selection is impeccable, shining most brightly in the many sorrowful moments the Valkyrie inevitably experiences. Of the impressive voice acting, Lenneth's deserves applause, capturing the cold hard demeanour her thankless job requires in the best possible fashion.
Valkyrie Profile's commercial and critical success is well justified, and is definitely a title deserving to be seen as one of Tri-Ace/Square-Enix's finest. While the serious premise and the unusual game play may not exactly be what fans of the genre would expect, Valkyrie Profile nonetheless delivers a satisfying story unlike others, albeit one that can be attained only (probably) with the use of a strategy guide.