Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth

"Valkyrie Profile: Try It and Buy It"

I was a bit nervous when I first saw this game. I thought it would be horrible and I would regret spending the $40. I first want to say two things: 1) I don't regret, spending the money 2) Along with a number of people I didn't play the PS1 version. Lucky for us, this game is a port of that version along with a ton of new things added in. So for those of you who loved the PS1 version stop reading this review and go get a copy now. For the rest of you here's my review.

Story: 7/10
At the start I was a bit confused because they just throw you in there without much explanation. After getting further in I realized this is a story based around tragedies of others lives and how Lenneth Valkyrie(the main character) uses that to get warriors for a war going on in Asgard or the realm of the gods. From the start there is not real set way to proceed, the only motive being finding new warriors and training them before the end of the chapter. The story itself moves little throughout the game, only moving towards the end of the game. Mostly you'll be following minor stories involving the warriors you meet.

Sound: 7/10
There isn't much to say here. The sound changes from place to place giving it a decent variety , but i still found myself wanting to hurt someone because of the Pokemon voice actors. Seriously, come on Every time I hear them I think Got to catch them all. Anyway I do like most of the voices and they fit the characters well, but I don't like how the voices don't mold together into one big conversation. Instead you get a sentence, then a pause, an then another sentence. This gets annoying at times.

Graphics: 9/10
I loved the backgrounds. However your 2d characters seem out of place in the stunning background images. Other than that everything was perfect. The little character heads you see when talking to someone, the CG scenes. This game uses the PSP's abilities very well.

Gameplay: 7/10
This game is a bit confusing, again because it just throws you in there. But the combat system is quite simple. You can have up to four people on you team and they all have button corresponding to them. However to use the combat systems best you must press the buttons in a particular order. In the lower left hand corner there's a bar which increases each time you land an attack. Once it reaches 100% you can use special attacks. If you then get the bar back up to 100% you can use another one until all four of your characters have used theirs. However this isn't as perfect as it seems. Each time you use a special attack you gain CP, which stop you from using special attacks and magic until it gets down to 0 again. Luckily it goes down by 1 each turn. However this is not the main point of the game. That is to create warriors suited to fight the war in Asgard. This is achieved by leveling up you characters. Thus you can use capacity points to teach them skills and traits leading to a better hero. You can then transfer them to the war. Don't worry though even when you send them thats not the last time you'll hear about them. After every chapter you'll get an update on them.

Final thoughts: Buy or Rent: 7/10 Great game but not for everyone. If you love RPGs get this one. Its a worthy game. Other than that rent and see if you like it. With 3 different modes that offer different things I'm sure you'll keep coming back to play it again.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/05/06