A good RPG for the PSP, but still has a lot of the same issues the original title had.
Amazing visuals; engrossing main story; fun combat.
The Bad:
Time system gets in the way of the fun; item and character management is a chore; poor voice acting; little replay value.
Valkyrie Profile was first released on the PS1 in 1997. However, many gamers over looked it at the time because two of the best RPG's in history came out that same year: Final Fantasy 7, and Fallout. Now the game has been re-released on the PSP, and it's a gem, but not without it's share of flaws.
You play the role of Lenneth, a Valkyrie that is tasked with collecting the souls of fallen warriors to aid Odin in the world ending war, Ragnarok. The story is engrossing, but many of the subplots and characters you recruit are not very interesting. In fact, some of the characters you recruit aren't even warriors. Let alone those that died in battle.
GAMEPLAY - 8
The game is presented in 8 chapters. In each chapter you are given a set number of time periods before the chapter is over. Every time you enter a town, dungeon, or rest, time periods are used up. At the end of each chapter is the Sacred Phase. Before this phase, you need to send one of your party members to serve Odin in Ragnarok. You're given certain requirements on what kind of warrior Odin needs. Exceed these requirements for better rewards.
This creates a problem because you're constantly fighting against time. Should you devote your time to leveling up your party members more? Or should you focus on exploring and recruiting new members? It's a delicate balance, and the first time through most players will probably only stick to what's required. Which is a shame because that takes a good chunk of the fun out of the game, and makes you feel rushed.
The combat of VPL is actually pretty fun. Dungeons and towns are presented in a 2D side-scrolling platform manner. This is a departure from many RPG's at the time, which were top-down. Combat also has a nice twist. It's a traditional turn-based system. But your entire party can acts at the same time. Your four party members attack by pressing the corresponding button. Certain weapons and items allow for multiple attacks from a single party member. The idea is to string together combos. String together a long enough combo, and you can have one of your party members unleash a huge combo attack on an enemy. It's a fun, and flashy system.
However, the downside to this system is it unbalances the difficulty of the game. It's very easy to unleash huge combos, and kill an enemy before they can even attack. Enemies only attack one at a time so you don't face the same combos. It can be tedious to use items and change weapons in battle. You must press the Select button to access the battle menu system to issue these commands. Your spell casters can only memorize one spell at a time before going into battle. So you need to know what type of enemy your facing to have the right spell equipped.
GRAPHICS – 9
Visually, VPL is outstanding even by today's standards. The detailed anime style graphics translate well onto the PSP, and look great even after 10 years. The characters are expressive, and the backgrounds beautiful.
Square Enix has also re-created some of the cut-scenes into beautiful pre-rendered versions. These look especially good, but are rare. The only problem to the visuals is the increased load times on the original PSP. However, if you have a PSP Lite, the load times are almost non-existent thanks to the increased RAM. But you will still run into the occasional frame-rate drop even on the PSP Lite. But thankfully these instances are rare, and usually isolated to battles with lots of effects going on.
SOUND – 7
Sound-wise, VPL isn't bad, but it's nothing to write home about either. The music is by far the best part with some very memorable scores, but the voice acting didn't far so well. The original PS1 game came out when voice acting in games was still rare. Therefore the acting is very over the top for all characters. There are some parts of the game that will awkwardly transition from full voice to just text in the same dialog session.
The sound effects aren't bad, but they're nothing stellar either. You'll frequently hear the same battle sounds uses over and over again. The annoying voice acting also repeats during battle a lot. Especially when a character uses their finishing combos.
VALUE – 7
VPL will take the average gamer about 20-30 hours to finish their first time through. There are 3 different endings, but most players are only going to see the "B" or average ending as opposed to the "A" or best ending.
This is because the requirements to meet this ending are secret, and can't be found easily without using a strategy guide. This also applies to the requirements for your Einherjar. You're told at the beginning of a chapter what Odin requires for your soldiers. However, you are never reminded of this, and have no way of looking this up with out using a guide. This again creates the need to rely on an outside source to really enjoy VPL.
This, combined with the very strict time requirements, makes the game feel more like a job than a game. You're given a goal to meet, are only told once what's required of you, and have to complete your assignment within a given time frame. Plus the best reward is certain to elude you unless you get help. That sounds too much like a real job to be much fun.
Not that this is a bad game, but the pacing and requirements just aren't that fun. The story is somewhat convoluted as well. You don't get to choose your Einherjar. Instead, they're selected for you by only being available at certain times. The definition of an Einherjar is a warrior that died in battle. Yet most of the Einherjar you recruit will not die in battle. Some commit suicide while others give their lives in place of the person you actually came to recruit. Many of them are just fodder too. With so many characters, there's bound to be skill over-lapping. This means that many of the characters you recruit will simply be leveled up, only to be sent to Odin in the same chapter. On top of that, some characters cannot be sent at all.
What this really boils down to is a fun game, which has pacing issues. You're following a very linear path, and can't deviate from it. The combat is fun, but once you've leveled up a half dozen Einherjar, it gets very repetitive. It should also be noted that VPL doesn't adapt well to on-the-go gaming. Save points are few and far between, so you'll find yourself searching for that save point before shutting off the PSP. Valkyrie Profile Lenneth is a fun game in it's own way, but there's a reason why it didn't stand up to the likes of Final Fantasy 7 and Fallout. If you're like me, and missed it the first time around, it's worth picking up used, or renting. But the repetitive gameplay, and slow pacing means that it's a game you'll only want to play through once. Regardless if you got the best ending or not.