PlayStation

Valkyrie Profile

Enix is back folks! The company that brought us Actraiser, Illusion of Gaia, Soulblazer, and the Dragon Warrior series has once again established an American division. What does this mean to you and me? Well, historically Enix has provided gamers with engaging adventure and RPG epics and I think that trend will continue. In fact, if Valkyrie Profile is any indication of what to expect in the future, Square will definitely have some competition. I want to preface this review by referring you to the preview I wrote a few weeks ago. I highly suggest reading it before reading this review since some of the information I included in the preview I will not repeat here.

All told, Valkyrie Profile is simply an amazing game, with as little or as much as the player cares to read into it. Beautiful and bold as well, it commands attention within the first few minutes, and I can’t find a single reason not to recommend the game to anyone that can find a copy.

Getting a copy of Valkyrie Profile at the time of this writing is not a simple task. You’ll need to either get a copy of the PSone Books version of the game from Japan, along with a PlayStation that plays NTSC/J games, or search for used copies that may cost more than a new game for a current generation console. However, shelling out the money (and muddling through the Japanese text, if you go the former route) is well worth it. This unique RPG is among the best games available for either incarnation of Sony’s game console and is an excellent addition to any gamer’s collection.

One of the common threads that runs through nearly every religious belief system in history is the idea of a second chance at life, or at least consciousness and experience. It only makes sense, after all, given our fear of losing the one chance we have, that the main reason we'd turn to a belief in the supernatural is to assure ourselves that this isn't it - that we'll have another shot at getting it right, moving on to bigger and better things.

On top of everything else, Valkyrie Profile offers three difficulty levels, each with different available characters and dungeons. With three levels of difficulty, three endings, and some very open ended gameplay, Valkyrie Profile can keep players busy for quite some time. All in all, it's one of the best games of the year.

After choosing to watch the prologue, I was initially dismayed by the voice of the young, silver-haired girl, Platina; too clueless-sounding instead of innocent/naïve, and the 'dramatic pauses' sounded awkward instead of dramatic. I thought that once again, bad voice acting would drag another good video game down - but Platina's voice acting was definitely the exception, not the rule. The rawness in Lucian's voice as he holds Platina's limp body in the midst of the poisonous field of Weeping Lilies drew me in - as did all of the stories of the souls chosen to become Einherjar, Valkyrie's and Asgard's chosen after-life warriors.

Basically, you gotta ease into Valkyrie Profile. If you go in expecting traditional roleplaying, you will be lost, desperate, and ultimately misappropriating the best non-FFVII RPG for PSX.

Unfortunately, this fusion doesn't work perfectly , and it makes for a lot of aimless exploration and leveling up without much of a plot to hold the adventure together. If you stick with it, you'll have the chance to see one of three endings and be treated to more Nordic fantasy than Jeremy on his birthday.

After beating Valkyrie Profile in 25 hours and obtaining the best of the three endings, this underrated game proved not only to be unique, but also surprisingly satisfying. It’s rare that I find myself having a lot of fun while playing an RPG, but the gameplay in this one was undoubtedly excellent. It’s a shame the difficulty level was whack at times, but that’s the only serious fault in this otherwise great game. It will take a lot of effort and money to obtain this rare game, though I doubt many will be disappointed.

When looking at RPGs lately, it seems to be getting harder and harder to tell them apart. You know how it goes—a young hero from a quiet town is thrown into circumstances beyond his control. He sets out to right a wrong and gathers together a band of friends to help him on his quest. After facing insumountable odds and legions of evil dragons/sorcerers/corrupt rulers, etc., our courageous hero emerges victorious to right all wrongs done to innocent townsfolk everywhere. Justice prevails, you win. Throw in some cinematic CG cutscenes, a few well-built female characters, a plot twist involving amnesia and some big monsters to summon, and you've got yourself nearly any RPG from recent years. And then there's Valkyrie Profile.

Valkyrie Profile is a complex, ambitious, and gorgeous title that offers much to like: beautiful aesthetics, an entertaining battle system, engaging characters, and a creatively balanced "dual" scenario.