Man, I Just Love Valkyrie Profile
2022-12-28 18:08:26 UTC
With the re-release of Valkyrie Profile Lenneth on the PS5 last week, I am reminded of just how brilliant this game is.
Valkyrie Profile Lenneth was a 2006 PSP port of the 2000 PSX original. This game was developed by the venerable tri-Ace, a development studio with a track record of creating incredibly innovative RPGs.
Valkyrie Profile sees you in the role of Lenneth, a valkyrie charged by Odin to prepare for Ragnarok by finding human souls to aid in the Æsir's war against the Vanir. Lenneth does this by scouring the world for humans about to die and then offering them an opportunity to become an einheri and a chance to fight to protect Asgard.
This is an absolutely gorgeous game with stunning visuals. The sprites are big and highly animated. The backgrounds are full of detail. tri-Ace took a page out of Squaresoft's book by applying ornate animation to the backgrounds by way of integrating full motion video in to the otherwise static backgrounds.
The battle mechanics are an immediately identifiable unique aspect of the game. In battle, you may have up to four party members. Each is assigned one of the four PSX face buttons. You choose an enemy to attack by hitting a button corresponding to a party member. The idea is to understand both your attack animations as well as the enemy to string together combos that will fill a Hit Gauge. If the Hit Gauge becomes full, any party member who participated in the combo is afforded an opportunity to perform a devastating special move. What's more, if that special move refills the Hit Gauge then another party member may perform their special attack. This may continue until all party members in the combo have perfomed their special attacks.
Magic attacks and special attacks build up Charge Time for a character. While a character has Charge Time remaining, they cannot perform another magic or special attack.
Dungeons take place as 2D platforming affairs with lots of exploration, puzzles, and enemies. Enemies can be avoided, frozen, or struck to ensure your party attacks first.
After the intro of the game, you're dropped in to the overworld with total freedom as to how you wish to approach the game. Your goal is clear: spend Midgard's remaining days before Ragnarok to build einherjar to aid in the fight against the Vanir. How you do that is completely up to you. Visit towns and dungeons in any order. Rest up for a big fight. Do as you wish...but the clock is ticking. Visiting towns, dungeons, and resting all cost "periods" of time. Another thing Lenneth can do while on the overworld is perform a Spiritual Concentration to find new dungeons, towns, and potential einherjar. This, too, costs periods of time. After enough periods have passed, you are called back to Valhalla to get a report on how the war is going. The game is divided in to chapters which are simply cycles of spending periods doing as you wish.
So, you have this beautiful game with a wide-open world, unique battle mechanics, and a unique twist on dungeon exploration. The magic of Valkyrie Profile doesn't stop there. Each chapter, while Lenneth is charged with finding einherjar to send to Valhalla, she doesn't have to. When Lenneth defeats dungeon bosses, she'll often find incredibly powerful artifacts which are the property of Odin. She may return them to him but she doesn't have to. When choosing einherjar to send to Valhalla, Odin and Freya are looking for souls with particular traits and values each chapter. Lenneth may send einherjar that match those requests but she doesn't have to. You are in charge of Lenneth. You are playing her role.
Characters level up while in-party but you also earn a pool of shared expierence points while exploring dungeons. Those points can be doled out to whomever you wish in whatever amounts you wish. There are no shops in towns. There are only weapons that you may materialized from Asgard to Midgard by way of Materialize Points (this game's currency). There are many powerful weapons but most have a chance of breaking.
Who you send to Valhalla will ascend with their skills, traits, and equipment intact. At the end of each chapter, you will receive an itemized list of their exploits in the war. Your standing with Odin can also change depending on your actions. Of course, there are also multiple endings.
There are many more details and nuances to the game that I can't possibly get in to with just a summary. Valkyrie Profile is a game that gives the player so much choice and agency. It's a true role-playing game. It's given a number of interesting and innovative mechanics. It's wrapped in a gorgeous presentation. The story is minimal yet impactful. You will see the often tragic fates of your potential einherjar at the moments of their death. You will create your own stories of how clever you were to figure out a dungeon puzzle or how you racked up a 30-hit combo against a tough enemy. The music is absolutely lovely.
Valkyrie Profile was an incredibly ambitious title that pulled off everything it was trying to achieve in spades. If you're an RPG fan, you owe it to yourself to experience this masterpiece.