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Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria
From Square Enix

Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria tells the story of another valkyrie sister that takes place hundreds of years before Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth. In this latest installment of the legendary RPG series, divine insurrection besieges the heavens. Invoking his power as king of the gods, Odin hastily reincarnates the spirit of rebel valkyrie Silmeria into Alicia, Princess of Dipan. However, unbeknownst to Odin, the spirit of the battle maiden awakens within Alicia, still seeking vengeance. Believing his daughter to be possessed, King Barbarossa of Dipan declares Alicia dead and exiles her to a faraway castle. Odin learns of Silmeria's awakening and dispatches the imperious Hrist Valkyrie to summon her spirit to Valhalla. Alicia runs in fear -- and Silmeria in defiance -- as they embark on a journey where nothing is what it seems and all hide behind a mask.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3836 in Video Games
• Brand: Square Enix
• Model: 90610
• Released on: 2006-09-26
• ESRB Rating: Teen
• Platform: PlayStation2
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .50" h x 5.50" w x 7.50" l, .35 pounds

Solid, but contains the pitfalls of most tri-ace games...
My experience with developer tri-ace's games dates back to the original Playstation era with Star Ocean:The 2nd Story. Like most gamers on this side of the world, this was probably the one of the first tri-ace titles that had and created enough of a buzz to form a niche of fans. The other game, which is credited with a simular yet even bigger buzz, was the original Valkyrie Profile.

Unfortunately, the yield from the initial pressing run of that game was so low (so tri-ace wouldn't lose to much if the game didn't sell or catch on) by the time I had heard the hype surrounding VP and wanted to give the game a try it was much too late... copies of the game were selling at astronomical prices on e-bay much like how sealed copies of Final Fantasy VII are selling now. Because of this I was ecstatic when a sequel - which in this case is actually a prequel - was announced so I could finally experience what I had missed out on the first time in one form or another. Granted, VP2 is not a complete carbon copy of the original, but the majority of the gameplay elements cross the game/generation gap, so in essence this game should probably give you an idea of what the original itself was like.

So, would I say that I was blown away or impressed by what I missed out with missing the original VP? Not really.

To start with, the game is simply beautiful. There are some dazzling effects, from leaves and grass waving in the breeze to various types of weather pounding some of the locals. This is what one should expect from a last generation PS2 title. Sure, every once in a while the battle camera might clip some polygons so it looks like your characters are standing on air, but that is so minor it doesn't matter. The only gripe I have is I wish the characters weapons changed depending on what they currently have equipped. However, since the character designs are so dependant on the default look of the weaponry, the above simply wouldn't work very well.

Combat is Valkyrie's claim to fame, much like it is in other tri-ace games like Star Ocean. This is a good thing, considering the amount of time you'll spend in battle mode leveling up the game's massive number of characters (of which only a handful are actually involved in the story, the others just seem to be there). At a quick glance, the battle system seems to be a button mashers dream, but like a good 3D fighting series (Soul Caliber or Tekken) those who know what their doing will always get further or have less difficulty as things can be difficult enough. Other combat related issues also sprout up: reviving an ally requires you to be near the ally's body and status effects are so not your friend - especially when the whole party is inflicted at once (especially with poison) *shutter* .

As fun as combat is, there are quite a few hitches to be aware of, such as wasting AP on a dash and getting nowhere because your party is caught on the edge of "something" in the environment or when party members become separated for the same reason, limiting your attack options until you take the time and go back and get them. This becomes especially aggravating when you're trying to finish battles as quickly and efficiently as possible to receive experience and crystal bonuses. The change from a 2D fighting environment in VP to a 3D one in VP2 works, but the above issues make you yearn for 2D battles of the original which would probably be devoid of these problems.

The game's skill system is another area that initially seems interesting and clever but quickly becomes quite cumbersome. You'll form rune words with your equipment and accessories to unlock new "potential" skills. Note the word "potential" in the previous sentence. Unlocking a new skill doesn't grant the character the skill automatically - only though battle can the skill be used and permanently learned. At first glance this is a good thing since it prevents abuse (think FFIX skill system here), but the player then quickly finds out it "may" (well, usually) take a long to learn said skill. Instead of being awarded a set amount of points towards your skills after an enemy defeat like in most normal RPGs, a percentage earned towards potential skills based on the average level of your current party and that of the enemy(s). Because of this you'll constantly be seeking out stronger and stronger enemies and you'll hardly ever find an "undeniable great place" to level up. You'll also be contending with the never ending equipping and unequipping of equipment while doing this and often means your party is usually far from wearing the strongest available equipment at all times - something that is usually a given in most RPGs.

Traversing dungeons is probably the most noteworthy aspect of VP2 after the battle system. The first few are a complete cakewalk and teach you the ropes, the later ones can really test you sanity and your brainpower. Correct sealstone usage and photon know-how go a long way towards completely clearing them of all their contents. Kudos to tri-ace for the awesome auto map feature - features like this need to become an industry/genre standard!

In the sound department, Motoi Sakuraba makes a rather subdued yet solid entrance, seeming to ditch his rather unique yet unorthodox style of composing. It's not until much later until you hear a piece and you know "yeah, that's Sakuraba, no doubt". The voice-overs are good, but at the same time just a few tiers above decent.

Valkyrie Profile 2 also falls victim to problems that are prevalent in other tri-ace games. Some moments of unbalanced gameplay creep up on the player as the difficulty goes up a few notches without much warning. The story is once again slow to start (is this even a surprise anymore with tri-ace games?), and some of the story twists you can see coming a mile away (the one revelation at the end of Chapter 3 was so freaking obvious!).

All this said is Valkyrie Profile 2 worth playing if you've never experienced VP? Yes. However, now having experienced it, I honestly think I could have had waited for a price drop instead of buying it on day it came out. Despite this, I still look forward to playing the re-release of the original on the PSP.

A Good Follow Up to a Fantastic Game
Valkyrie Profile is a cult classic. No matter how you look at it. It was one of those games you either loved or hated. Obviously enough people loved it enough for Square-Enix to re-release the original on the PSP and make a second one on the Playstation 2. The end result is a great game that should satisfy fans of the original.

Despite what it looks like, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria is not a sequel to Valkyrie Profile but a prequel. This means if you've never played the first one, fear not, you aren't missing anything.

The story centers on Silmeria. She's a Valkyrie trapped in the body of Princess Alicia. Because of this it seems like Alicia has a split personality, and that she's got to be crazy or something. As a result, Alice doesn't have very many friends... if any at all. Silmeria, has been exiled by Odin, the leader of the Gods. She now wants revenge for what he has done to her, and since Alice has no friends, she agrees to help. It's an interesting story, but much like the first one, gets off to a really slow start and takes a while to pick up.

The game's story is told through beautiful cinematics Not quite the best looking game on the PS2, but beautiful enough. The backgrounds, characters and monsters are all detailed. Especially in some of the games cutscenes. The voice acting is also suitable enough for the game. The game also sounds really good.

The good news about Valkyrie Profile 2 is that there is no time limit. Fans of the first will remember that there was a time limit before the battle at the end of the game. Valkyrie Profile 2 does away with that and thank goodness it does. This gives you far more time to explore and do everything the game has to offer, and the dungeons are quite interesting.

Most Dungeons are pretty simple. It sort of plays out in an action/adventure style. You have photons you can fire at your enemies and certain objects. Your photon also reflects off some objects, and it's actually vital to use this in some dungeons. So the photon isn't just there, it's essential. Even more interesting in Valkyrie Profile is the battle system.

Battles are contact based. In battle you've got your characters on one side and your enemies on the other. At first it seems like battles take place in real time, but in reality, the enemy only moves when you move. This gives you more than enough time to plan out a strategy. Each enemy has an attack zone. If you're in it, you'll be attacked. In most RPGs getting attacked is no big deal. In Valkyrie Profile 2 it's much more than just a big deal. The difficulty of this game escalates really fast. You'll quickly find yourself overwhelmed by some of your enemies. Luckily there is a solution. Most battles have a leader. If you defeat the leader you win automatically without having to worry about defeating the others. It helps if you want to end the battle quickly, and especially helps when your party is being decimated. Still, the battle system calls for complete strategy on your part.

They say it takes about 40 hours to complete Valkyrie Profile 2. However, you'll find yourself spending most of these hours leveling up to take on new challenges. As I mentioned, the difficulty level rises fast. Meaning you'll probably do a lot of battling in a dungeon before moving on to the next. Even worse, you'll have to backtrack out of a dungeon once you complete it. Even worse than that, enemies respawn when you reenter a room. The good thing about this at least, is that the dungeons aren't overly long. Again, however, you'll spend quite some time leveling up.

In addition to inside battle, outside battle is just as interesting in dungeons. You'll often come across sealstones. When you pick them up they grant enhancements to your party. They can be either positive or negative. For example your strength could go up by grabbing one... and go down by grabbing another. Carrying it puts the effect on your party. However, you can also put the effect on your enemies by setting the stone on a dais. Needless to say, you'll want to put the negative effects on your enemies... unless you're looking for a harder challenge than the game already is.

Outside of dungeons and battles you can learn plenty of skills throughout the game. When you buy equipment, you can link it together to give your characters special skills. This is a lot of fun to play around with. Although, it should be said, it gets tedious to set it up after a while. The game shows you which skills you've created through your equipment, but there's no way for it to auto-equip with the stuff that gives you that skill. At first this is no problem, but then as your characters start to build up and your list gets longer, it becomes a pain to set up all these skills again. It comes down to way too much time in the menu when there shouldn't have to be.

Valkyrie Profile 2 is overall a pretty satisfying game. If you can get past the sluggish story (which really does turn out to be really good in the end) then you'll find yourself in love with this game. It's different from the first one, but not so much that old fans will find themselves disappointed. Actually it's quite the opposite. If you liked the first game, then by all means, pick up this one.

The Good

+An interesting story
+Beautiful graphics
+Excellent music score
+Good voice acting
+Large cast of playable characters
+Interesting skill system
+Just all out fun to play

The Bad

-The story is slow
-Really steep difficulty level, a lot of the game will no doubt come from you spending time leveling up in dungeons before moving on
-The skill system is interesting, but not being able to have your equipment auto-equip is really annoying when you've got a lot of characters and a lot of items in your inventory--equipping your characters shouldn't be a tedious chore

Pleasant surprise!
I bought this game on nothing but pleasant rumors about Valkyrie Profile Lenneth and the fact that the box looked pretty, it was a Square Enix production and it was on sale. Yeah, on one hand, its a dumb way to buy video games. On the other, I booted up the game with absolutely no expectations and absolutely no information about the first game. That said, I was utterly blown away by this awesome game.

More than an RPG, this game has a heavy puzzle aspect that breaths new life into every battle. Every dungeon has its own quirks and every battle is different, so its very hard to be bored by it. The side-scrolling took me by surprise, but I got used to it, then later admired the way it got implemented into the puzzles. Yeah, there's that crappy lip-synch thing, but I quickly stopped caring because I was having so much fun. I think I enjoyed this game more than Final Fantasy 12 (blasphemy, I know, but FF12 is very awesome too).

I understand, however, this isn't a 100% Square Enix thing, but rather a Tri-ace production. If so, I look forward to their next RPG, because as far as I'm concerned, this game is up there with the best the PS2 has to offer. The only thing stopping me from picking up the first game is my lack of PSP. (There's just no way I'm gonna buy that thing... but if they re-released VP1 for the PS2, I'm so there!) 5/5!