Valkyrie Profile Discussion Thread!

[moog]

Im surprised there arent any discussions on this RPG, since it was re-released a little while ago onto the PSP. I guess its time then to get one started up in here.

About Valkyrie Profile:
(taken from Wikipedia)
Valkyrie Profile is a console role-playing game (RPG) developed by tri-Ace and published by Enix (now Square Enix) for the PlayStation console. It was released on December 22, 1999 in Japan and on August 29, 2000 in North America. An enhanced port of the game was later released for the PlayStation Portable under the name Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth on March 2, 2006 in Japan, July 18, 2006 in North America, and April 27, 2007 in Europe. A PlayStation 2 sequel, titled Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, was released on June 22, 2006 in Japan, September 25, 2006 in North America, and September 7, 2007 in Europe.

The game is based on Norse mythology. Players assume the role of a Valkyrie who recruits and prepares the souls of fallen warriors (Einherjar) before sending them to Valhalla for the final apocalyptic battle between the Æsir and Vanir, Ragnarok. Along the way, she uncovers the tragic events of her own hidden past.

Pretty much in the game you are finding characters, training them, sending them to Asgard, and so forth. The game is very non-linear, making for great combinations of characters, 3 endings, and massive amounts of dungeons. It also features a immaculate story line and character development, which most Tri-Ace rpgs lack.

Where the game shines is its battle system. Each character is assigned a button (square, tri, X, O) and they attack using the corresponding pressing said button. For example:

http://pixhost.eu/avaxhome/avaxhome/200 ... /valk2.jpg[/img]

or

http://youtube.com/watch?v=47Wzx5OBZ0k

The soundtrack is also imo Motoi Sakuraba's (Star Ocean, Tales of series) best yet. All of his tracks truly go from symphonic to improvisational and fit the games mood well. He also adds a few of his Star Ocean II tunes in as well throughout the game.

Overall I think the game is a great example of what RPGs can really do. It makes for a great innovative RPG, and if you havent played it either download a ROM or pick up a copy; I highly recommend it, although its designed specifically for hardcore RPG-ers because of its steep learning curve.

But yeah, discusss if you wish, good or bad.

 

[moog]

Such a great game and no one wishes to discuss it?

Whats wrong with you people @_@

 

[Devon Jacobs]

I did not play Lenneth's but the second one. The storyline was'nt special to me, and the spirits you got on your team were repetative of others. I did however love the battle system (especially 2's multiplayer mode) and with all the rave reviews want to get Lenneth's in hopes of it being much better. (Not to mention I loved her on Star Ocean 3). I also love the graphis of the 2 characters far better than the bad 3'd they had in 2.

Hopefully Tri-ace is able to recruite enough members to make a Valkyrie Profile 3 on PS3. *crosses fingers*

On a side note, Star Ocean-End of time and Radiata Stories both had excellent story lines.

 

[Marcus]

Profile was awesome, Silmeria/whatever was not.  I really liked the approach with Profile especially with hard mode being really easy, but getting the GOOD storyline was too difficult if you didn't have a freakin' guide sitting in front of you and the bad ending was literally two sentences after killing the final boss and then credits.

My biggest complaint was the actual lack of character development after the characters died (hoe noes spoiler???).  The game had some general interesting characters but aside from Lazard, that one busty chick, and that swordsman dude none of the characters spoke to each other.  I actually wanted to send back more souls so I could at least hear them chat about their lives but doing so in excess would throw you off the good ending path.

Overall, a lot of good ideas brought to the table but it was still pretty sloppy.  I give it 8 points out of 10.

On a side note, Star Ocean-End of time and Radiata Stories both had excellent story lines.

blech blech blech

Both of these games suffered from the same problem: over-ambition.  They actually started out pretty well; specifically Radiata with Jack who was pretty much the opposite of every jRPG character (all he cared about was killing shit and grabbing loot).  But in both games, once you hit the turning point of the story they went down hill.  Star Ocean wasn't as bad but Radiata completely fell apart.  The human path made me feel horribly dirty and basically ended with "I'm a 14 year old dragonslayer that fucked mankind better start seeing the world beyond the mist/blah blah blah" and the nonhuman ending basically killed you off but you're not really dead and you're holding hands with your girl/blah blah blah.  The relationship with him and Ridley was building up and going somewhere but then it just stopped and nothing was fulfilled and there was no closure... AT ALL.  This is one of the few games that felt both incomplete and complete; it's clear they tried to leave room for a sequel but it's also clear they had no intentions of making a sequel!!

 

[moog]

I agree with Marcus. It was amazingly fun, but the character development could have been more advanced.

Hopefully Tri-ace is able to recruite enough members to make a Valkyrie Profile 3 on PS3. *crosses fingers*

Its coming for the DS, and it sounds.....un-appealing atm. Im not going to bother with it, seeing as how shitty the 2nd one was I doubt this will be an improvement.

On a side note, Star Ocean-End of time and Radiata Stories both had excellent story lines.

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

what are you smoking sir, i would like a taste

 

[zeldrak]

A great game (Lenneth) and no sprite rips of it? :P

 

[Devon Jacobs]

Smoking something only found on the western most coast my friend, and I am speaking compared to most games these days, which so far have turned out to be a numerous batch of 6 hour pieces of crap in that department. (Turok, Blacksite,Heavenly Sword, Enchanted Arms, any robot game made, Mario Sunshine, Valkyrie profile 2, all the Atieler Iris's ). And I mis-spoke by saying they had excellent stories. *prepares for death*

 

[moog]

Smoking something only found on the western most coast my friend, and I am speaking compared to most games these days, which so far have turned out to be a numerous batch of 6 hour pieces of crap in that department. (Turok, Blacksite,Heavenly Sword, Enchanted Arms, any robot game made, Mario Sunshine, Valkyrie profile 2, all the Atieler Iris's ). And I mis-spoke by saying they had excellent stories. *prepares for death*

I liked Mario Sunshine =(

But yeah I wasnt saying those two were necessarily HORRIBLE games at all, but the plots seemed like they were derived from an 8-year old's thought process as he watches Nick Jr.

In fact SO3 gets a really bad rap as being this horrendous rpg and its really not terrible, but I could do without most of it. I thoroughly enjoyed the OST and the bonus stuff at the end, but most of it was a pain-staking process.

Radiata Stories just had a weak battle system imo. The music was also bad and but the story wasnt as bad as SO3s.

But all in all they arent games I would go out to rent or pick up any time soon cause by my standards they were bad.