SorenEmblem
02-14-2008, 10:08 PM
Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth, a 2D RPG for the PSP developed by tri-Ace and published by Square Enix, is a remake of the Playstation game simply called "Valkyrie Profile". And, uh, I dunno what else to put here, so....enjoy! Please note that this is my first review of a game, so constructive criticism is appreciated.
Story - 7/10
Let's start with the story. You play as Lenneth Valkyrie, one of the three Valkyrie sisters, and assist her in her quest to gather the souls of powerful warriors to assist the Aesir armies in their war against the Vanir, and potentially prevent the coming of Ragnarok, otherwise known as the end of the world. The game has 8 Chapters, each with a specific number of "Periods". Harder difficulties gives you more Periods per chapter, due to there being more Einherjar available in the harder difficulties. The downside to this system is that the plot is very linear, but that also means it's easy to follow. What you do is you travel around Midgard, the world of Valkyrie Profile, and collect the soldiers of fallen warriors, known as "Einherjar". You then visit the various dungeons in Midgard, training your Einherjar so that you can then send them to Valhalla to assist the Aesir armies in their fight against the Vanir. As you progress through the game, depending on what you do during the game, you can get multiple endings. There are 3 different endings. The C Ending occurs when your Eval. level drops below a certain amount, the B ending is the regular ending, and the A ending occurs by visiting certain locations and recruiting specific Einherjar in a certain order. The better the ending you get, the further you explore Lenneth's past. That being said, Lenneth is the only character that has any character development at all. Though it is understandable, because Lenneth is the game's focal point. The story is still pretty good nonetheless.
Gameplay - 10/10
Now let's get to the gameplay. First, we'll talk about the Overworld. When you're on the overworld, Lenneth can fly around Midgard and enter the various Towns/Dungeons that dot the world. While on the Overworld, Lenneth can perform a Spiritual Concentration, which uncovers the locations of Einherjar/Dungeons. You can tell what she's going to uncover by the type of music that plays while performing the Spritual Concentration. Next is duneons and towns. Lenneth explores towns and dungeons via a side-scrolling map, hence the name "Valkyrie Profile". Though this may seem linear, it's actually not, because Lenneth can also, travel to different areas via the Up and Down buttons when the game allows it. While in Dungeons, Lenneth can shoot crystals, which are needed to solve certain puzzles, as well as jump and swing her sword. Swinging her sword at the enemy initiates a battle with a 100% chance of a pre-emptive attack against the enemy. If you initiate a battle just by running into an enemy, enemies have a 50% chance of attacking first. Battles are turn based, like most RPG's, but all of your characters act during one turn. Each character has their attack(s) assigned to a different button (Triangle, Square, O or X). This is not the same for enemies, though. During your team, you can also use items, cast spells (sorcerers only), and change your equipment, among other things. Each character can only act once per turn, though, so you need to choose your actions wisely. After you win a battle, you recieve Experience Points and Magic Gems (I'm still quite unsure as to what the Gems do, however). When a character levels up, they recieve Capacity Points to spend on leveling up their skills or increasing/decreasing various personality traits (Note, Lenneth doesn't have any personality traits). At the end of each chapter (after using all available periods in that chapter), a Sacred Phase occurs, where Freya rates your performance throughout the chapter based on what skills your Einherjar that you've transferred possess, and what Artifacts you've offered up to Lord Odin. You're then rewarded with Materialize Points (used to create items), and Artifacts based on your performance. At the end of most chapters, Freya will ask you for Einherjar with certain skills/attributes. Sending Einherjar with these skills/attributes will increase your Evaluation during the next Sacred Phase. Overall, the gameplay is the best part about this game.
Graphics - 8/10
Characters in this game are 2D sprites, blended into a 3D field. This works very well, though some of the sprites lack detail. The 3D backgrounds, however, are very detailed, and the game also has magnificent 3D cinemas throughout the game. Overall, the graphics are good, considering the game is on a handheld system.
Sound - 10/10
This is another area in which the game really shines. The music in this game is magnificent, with great battle themes such as "Fighting the Shadowy Gods" and "Confidence In The Domination". The field and overworld music is also excellent aswell. And unlike most games, the voice acting is actually good. Overall, the sound is excellent, despit the PSP's slightly below average sound capabilities.
Replay Value - 3/10
This is the worst aspect of the game. As far as I know, the game has almost no replay value, except trying to clear the game on a harder difficulty, and shooting for the A ending if you missed it on your previous playthrough. Overall, the replay value is poor at best.
Overall - 9/10
This is a great game, and an excellent addition to any RPG fan's PSP library. I strongly suggest picking this up, despit the poor replay value and slightly below average story.
Story - 7/10
Let's start with the story. You play as Lenneth Valkyrie, one of the three Valkyrie sisters, and assist her in her quest to gather the souls of powerful warriors to assist the Aesir armies in their war against the Vanir, and potentially prevent the coming of Ragnarok, otherwise known as the end of the world. The game has 8 Chapters, each with a specific number of "Periods". Harder difficulties gives you more Periods per chapter, due to there being more Einherjar available in the harder difficulties. The downside to this system is that the plot is very linear, but that also means it's easy to follow. What you do is you travel around Midgard, the world of Valkyrie Profile, and collect the soldiers of fallen warriors, known as "Einherjar". You then visit the various dungeons in Midgard, training your Einherjar so that you can then send them to Valhalla to assist the Aesir armies in their fight against the Vanir. As you progress through the game, depending on what you do during the game, you can get multiple endings. There are 3 different endings. The C Ending occurs when your Eval. level drops below a certain amount, the B ending is the regular ending, and the A ending occurs by visiting certain locations and recruiting specific Einherjar in a certain order. The better the ending you get, the further you explore Lenneth's past. That being said, Lenneth is the only character that has any character development at all. Though it is understandable, because Lenneth is the game's focal point. The story is still pretty good nonetheless.
Gameplay - 10/10
Now let's get to the gameplay. First, we'll talk about the Overworld. When you're on the overworld, Lenneth can fly around Midgard and enter the various Towns/Dungeons that dot the world. While on the Overworld, Lenneth can perform a Spiritual Concentration, which uncovers the locations of Einherjar/Dungeons. You can tell what she's going to uncover by the type of music that plays while performing the Spritual Concentration. Next is duneons and towns. Lenneth explores towns and dungeons via a side-scrolling map, hence the name "Valkyrie Profile". Though this may seem linear, it's actually not, because Lenneth can also, travel to different areas via the Up and Down buttons when the game allows it. While in Dungeons, Lenneth can shoot crystals, which are needed to solve certain puzzles, as well as jump and swing her sword. Swinging her sword at the enemy initiates a battle with a 100% chance of a pre-emptive attack against the enemy. If you initiate a battle just by running into an enemy, enemies have a 50% chance of attacking first. Battles are turn based, like most RPG's, but all of your characters act during one turn. Each character has their attack(s) assigned to a different button (Triangle, Square, O or X). This is not the same for enemies, though. During your team, you can also use items, cast spells (sorcerers only), and change your equipment, among other things. Each character can only act once per turn, though, so you need to choose your actions wisely. After you win a battle, you recieve Experience Points and Magic Gems (I'm still quite unsure as to what the Gems do, however). When a character levels up, they recieve Capacity Points to spend on leveling up their skills or increasing/decreasing various personality traits (Note, Lenneth doesn't have any personality traits). At the end of each chapter (after using all available periods in that chapter), a Sacred Phase occurs, where Freya rates your performance throughout the chapter based on what skills your Einherjar that you've transferred possess, and what Artifacts you've offered up to Lord Odin. You're then rewarded with Materialize Points (used to create items), and Artifacts based on your performance. At the end of most chapters, Freya will ask you for Einherjar with certain skills/attributes. Sending Einherjar with these skills/attributes will increase your Evaluation during the next Sacred Phase. Overall, the gameplay is the best part about this game.
Graphics - 8/10
Characters in this game are 2D sprites, blended into a 3D field. This works very well, though some of the sprites lack detail. The 3D backgrounds, however, are very detailed, and the game also has magnificent 3D cinemas throughout the game. Overall, the graphics are good, considering the game is on a handheld system.
Sound - 10/10
This is another area in which the game really shines. The music in this game is magnificent, with great battle themes such as "Fighting the Shadowy Gods" and "Confidence In The Domination". The field and overworld music is also excellent aswell. And unlike most games, the voice acting is actually good. Overall, the sound is excellent, despit the PSP's slightly below average sound capabilities.
Replay Value - 3/10
This is the worst aspect of the game. As far as I know, the game has almost no replay value, except trying to clear the game on a harder difficulty, and shooting for the A ending if you missed it on your previous playthrough. Overall, the replay value is poor at best.
Overall - 9/10
This is a great game, and an excellent addition to any RPG fan's PSP library. I strongly suggest picking this up, despit the poor replay value and slightly below average story.