Square-Enix seems to enjoy alienating their fans in regards to how they handle their IP’s, with games like Valkyrie Elysium and the 3rd Birthday both managing to upset long term fans of both series, it’s no surprise that Musashi Samurai Legend, the sequel to Brave Fencer Musashi would also upset a lot of people for the same reason. Now I feel that I need to address this first because I spent a lot of time criticizing Valkyrie Elysium for being a bad Valkyrie Profile game and for this reason, I can truly relate to fans of Brave Fencer Musashi who hated this entry. However I want to point out that there is a huge difference between Musashi Samurai Legend and Valkyrie Elysium and that is the fact that Square-Enix developed Musashi Samurai Legend in house and the game was made by the same guy who made Brave Fencer Musashi, Yoichi Yoshimoto. Valkyrie Elysium on the other hand was outsourced to a company named Soleil despite all of the previous entries of the franchise being developed by tri-Ace. With a completely different company working on a game, it’s expected that the experience will be completely different as each developer has their own approach to game design. With the same guy working on Musashi 2 however, it’s strange to see such a drastic redesign of a concept that people already loved.
On the surface, Musashi Samurai Legend appears to be a clone of Kingdom Hearts but that’s mainly due to its aesthetic style as opposed to the actual gameplay mechanics besides the ability to pick up green orbs to restore health which just happened to make a reappearance here. While the gameplay may appear comparable at first with them both revolving around real time action with a leveling system slapped onto it, they aren’t really all that similar in terms of mechanics. Musashi 2’s gameplay is peculiar to say the least. The controls for this game are truly puzzling as your main attack button, square performs a fixed combo while triangle just swings whatever secondary weapon you have equipped in a slow vertical swipe that is completely useless in battle but is mainly used to open up these circular prison things. You would think that they would utilize the triangle button for something more important like additional moves to mix up your combo or some sort of defensive mechanism but no, the triangle button is completely wasted on some arbitrary move. Thankfully, the game does utilize both L2 and triangle for special moves, giving it some purpose but why do we have to press both buttons to use them? These attacks in particular are connected to your secondary weapon and are used to gain access to certain locations or operate contraptions located in the world, though they can still be used in battle, to varying results. These attacks also consume MP so you won’t be using them too often, which means that you’ll spend most of your time pressing square.
Musashi’s katana can cut through metal
That’s not to say that Musashi Samurai Legend doesn’t have any technicalities of its own as contrary to what one may think, Musashi Samurai Legend does have some mechanical nuance thrown in to keep its combat interesting. The downside however is that the game doesn’t execute them in a way that brings about any real challenge and the awkward controls bring about messy inputs. For example, players can cancel the downtime of their basic 5 hit combo into other attacks such as a stab or a spin attack, unlike Dynasty Warriors however, you don’t cancel into moves with triangle, instead you have to input a command via the game’s analog stick. What this means is that to perform a spin attack you have to spin the analog stick around which can be tricky to pull off when in a pinch. This sort of input complexity could have easily been avoided had the developers allowed the use of triangle for cancel moves but sadly this isn’t the case. There is also a timed counter mechanic similar to Onimusha’s criticals that allows you to counter attacks when pressing the attack button just as you are about to be hit. Unlike Onimusha however, the timing for these attacks is extremely generous, making them so easy to pull off that it’s barely a challenge. These attacks are also not instant death moves either so you won’t get that same satisfaction that you would get in Onimusha but since the timing isn’t half as difficult, it makes sense that you won’t deal as much damage.
On top of this the game also features the ability steal system that first appeared in Brave Fencer Musashi but Musashi Samurai Legend does things a little differently as it functions closer to that of Castlevania Curse Of Darkness’ steal system or Swords Of Destiny’s sword time in the sense that you must lock on to an enemy, bait them into attacking you, then press the button at the right time to bring results. The same is true for the counter system as well but enemies that have moves will have a blue light inside the lock on cursor to indicate that there is something to be learned from them. It should also be noted that to do any of this you must fill up a focus gauge. I cannot understand the necessity for such a gauge but it exists and you need to be mindful of it should you wish to perform any of these maneuvers. Regardless the mechanic is at least interesting and is kind of what sets this game apart from other beat em ups out there. The issue with the combat system is simply the fact that it just does not work as well as you would expect as I spent most of my time cancelling the first combo strike into itself because if your attack is delayed for a second, you are able to strike again with minimal animation frame use which allows for more consistency in terms of damage dealing as the first hit of the combo is noticeably quicker than the last. With that in mind, most of the combat pretty much comes down to just pressing square with a few cancels via complex inputs. This is hardly ideal for a beat em up but the flexibility brought by the ability system does add some more utilities to make the combat a bit more interesting outside of just performing square combos. In a way though, the combat feels more comparable to the combat found in action platformers or action puzzle games along the lines of Legacy Of Kain and Zelda than it does a beat em up, which begs the question of is Musashi Samurai Legend really a beat em up?
You cannot steal moves or counter until the exclamation mark appears.
At its core, it pretty much is a beat em up as you’re mostly going to spend your time slashing enemies with your sword but there are a few puzzles and platforming bits here and there, though the same could be said for the Devil May Cry games, except those games generally have a more technical combat system than Musashi Samurai Legend. Some of Musashi’s abilities do play a part in puzzle solving and getting around the levels which does give them that additional utility but the game clearly doesn’t revolve around this aspect, which to me is a good thing because I’m not a huge fan of puzzles in videogames but this, combined with the lackluster combat mechanics makes the overall gameplay feel rather shallow. One might assume that the game has metroidvania elements with the addition of items and weapons that allow you to access new areas but I found those areas to be few and far between. Musashi 2’s levels are rather linear and tight with the odd side path to find treasure which is ideal for someone like me but isn’t what many people look for in a metroidvania. So the result of this is a beat em up with a messy combat system. Like I said before, Musashi 2 has a leveling system as well as the ability to buy items and equipment but so does Onimusha Dawn Of Dreams and if I was to compare the two, I’d say that Onimusha Dawn Of Dreams is the better game, granted Musashi does let you choose which stats to focus on when leveling up to allow for a bit more freedom but this does very little to make up for the game’s failings in the combat department.
Musashi Samurai Legend strikes me as a game that doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be and feels like a mishmash of different genres despite leaning closest to that of being a beat em up. To make matters worse, the lock on, which doubles as the focus ability is very short in range and does not focus the camera. To focus the camera you have to press R3 which as I’ve mentioned before, isn’t ideal. I found myself rarely using the evasive moves for this reason as to use it, you need to be locked on but some enemies have long ranged attacks which you cannot evade from a distance. So much like in Chaos Legion, I spent most of my time jumping to avoid attacks as opposed to actually evading, almost as if I was playing a Napishtim engine YS game. The bosses of Musashi feel like they were ripped straight out of Zelda and function in the same way. They have patterns and a weakpoint to locate. Once you find that weak point, it’s just a case of rinse and repeat till you win. The latter section of the game does mitigate this a little as you fight mostly humanoid enemies but for the majority of the game, this is how many of the boss fights go down. I’m not a fan of this style of boss fight as it feels less about understanding the combat mechanics and more about trying to figure out how to actually deal damage. This once again begs the question of whether or not Musashi 2 is in fact a beat em up because it doesn’t feel like one at all. If anything, Musashi 2 is best described as being a Zelda game but with greater emphasis on combat than puzzle solving. At some point though, you have to draw the line as to what is and what isn’t a beat em up and Musashi 2 goes beyond that line I’d argue. Hopefully this paints a clear picture on the type of game Musashi 2 is.
Musashi 2’s story In a nutshell
The storyline is whimsical and silly throughout. There’s nothing really all that special about it but its quirkiness kept me mildly amused throughout so it did its job well enough. The plot is pretty much the same as The Bouncer, minus the bar and fist fighting of course. An evil corporation deploys ninjas to kill everyone and they steal the tits, you know the usual shit. So like every hero you gotta go and get em back. You’ve seen it all before, but you gotta love how tongue in cheek the game is about it all. Comfort food never tasted sweeter. You have the secret meetings where everybody sits atop a seemingly bottomless pit on an elevated chair to discuss evil matters, you know, like every videogame. On top of this you have a huge whale that just happens to embody a shopping mall that apparently every sane being in the universe lives in with giant robots, ninjas on motorcycles and jet powered surf boards you know, all the stuff every adolescent dreams about. On top of all this you have what is without a doubt the most dangerously based gameplay mechanic known to man, the ability to pick up women and use them as melee weapons. I kid you not this is a thing and you’ll be doing it a lot because apparently the women in this game are insufferably accident prone, either that or they’re just looking for an excuse to be carried by their samurai gigalo, which is arguably more likely given the fact that one of them just happens to be a powerful sword fighter, seriously Musashi even considers charging for this at one point, he be opening up an escort service one of these days I swear.
Musashi 2 brings the best out of Tetsuya Nomura’s art style by opting for cel-shaded character models as opposed to the more realistic looking characters that most of the games he works on tend to have. I think this is the best decision they could have possibly made because the characters look more-or-less the same as their artwork and this allows them to blend in perfectly with the vibrant, colourful levels you explore throughout. I think that Kingdom Hearts would have looked so much better had it opted for this art style choice. The death animations for enemies is also rather neat as they will split into pieces when you hit them with a killing blow and your choice of attack for the killing blow will alter how the enemies are split when defeated, which is a nice touch. The soundtrack has a good mix of intense and relaxing tracks. While not all of the tracks are great, the ones that are more than make up for the ones that aren’t. I’d say that the soundtrack is equally as impressive as the visuals with all things considered, it’s definitely one of the things that gives the game its appeal.
So as you can see, Musashi Samurai Legend doesn’t really have all that much going for on paper in the gameplay department and while it may seem like I’m trashing the game, I actually enjoyed playing through this game a lot. The thing is though, Musashi 2 is such a mess of a game that has a lot of potential to be good. Sadly though the game falls flat on its ass and this frustrates me to no end because I really want to express my adoration for this game but I just can’t, there’s no way I can defend a combat system that is this badly executed regardless of how interesting the mechanical nuances are as I’d just be lying to you. Musashi 2 is a mediocre game that shows promise but fails to deliver the goods, there’s just no getting around that fact. In a way though, the result of this leads it to feel like one of the most definitive 2000’s games out there. The 2000’s was a time of discovery and experimentation. Musashi Samurai Legend finds itself in the midst of all this and this is likely what lead to the game’s negative reception as it really did not stand out at the time but going back to it in the year 2023 has been a trip down memory lane.
Musashi Samurai Legend took me back to a time where I was innocent, a time where games brought excitement to my 12 year old mind, a time where the vast majority of games strived to be edgy and cool to cash in on the counter culture that was prevalent at the time. At the same time, Musashi Samurai Legend presents you with the familiar concept of dumping players into vibrant and colorful worlds to do stuff in, that are considerably more tighter in level design as opposed to the games you see today. Once again, the first Kingdom Hearts comes to mind here. The whole game feels like that raw nostalgic 2000’s experience in its purest form but with absolutely nothing else going for it. Whether you should play it or not ultimately depends on whether or not you enjoyed playing games in the 2000’s, I mean who didn’t? Let’s be honest, it was the best time to be a gamer, the golden age of gaming. How can you not love the 2000’s? There are better games out there but Musashi 2 does have some cool ideas and concepts that makes it worth trying at the very least, if you’re looking for some comfort food. For everyone else, you’re probably not going to care about this game much at all.
Ok so I’ve just about had enough with this bullshit. Star Ocean The Divine Force releases in 8 days, 8 fucking days and Square-Enix still hasn’t listed the system requirements on the Steam Store page, on top of this, the game has denuvo DRM and apparently there will be in game purchases according to the ESRB which I only noticed on the Playstation Store page for the game which I decided to check because I wanted to see what Sony were charging for it because it’s common knowledge by now that the Playstation Store is a rip off and I’m going to get into that first because before I went to look up the price for the game on the Playstation Store, I was expecting it to be £54.99, which was still higher than the price on Steam but I knew Sony would inflate the price like the scum they are so I went in expecting it to be higher. Turns out that Sony exceeded my expectations as the price of a digital standard copy of Star Ocean The Divine Force on the Playstation Store is… *drum roll* £59.99!
I know, it caught me by surprise too, I never realized that Sony would stoop so low as to charge more than the physical copies on their store, which are only £54.99. Sure with postage in consideration it’s the same price but this is still daylight robbery and we all know that Sony has a monopoly, they’ve already been accused of it, it’s out there, go look it up Sony have a monopoly over their console’s digital market, I’ve known this for years and it’s the main reason why I refuse to buy from the Playstation Store. Thing is though, it is still an avenue of purchase to consider and for that reason, I had to bring it up. Hopefully this alone will tell you why this isn’t a viable option of purchase. Next up we have physical PS4 copies and I don’t even know where to begin with this. On Gamefaqs, people have mentioned that Amazon have delayed the game till November, only to bring it back to October 27th. Like I get it, there’s a lot of complications with postage right now, the Royal Mail are on strike, I get it. Thing is, this is just confusing to me, if I order a physical copy of the game (which cost the same as a digital Playstation Store copy when you include postage) then I will not have access to the game on release and this will greatly hinder the progress of my review of the game. Unlike most of these mass media outlets and popular content creators, I do not have the luxury of being able to apply for a review code. This is for two reasons, firstly I am a small content creator, secondly this is Cynical Gaming Blog, essentially making me the enemy of all videogame publishers, why would they send me a free review code when I trash these companies time and time again? So this means my only option is to get the game day 1… which is easier said than done.
Now obviously the best case scenario would be to get the game on Steam so that I can play it on PC, since it would be so much more convenient for me to do so as it means that not only is it easier for me to record footage it’s also easier for me to screencap too. On top of this, I’d be supporting more PC releases of Japanese games by buying from steam and showing Square-Enix that there is an audience for those games on PC. On top of this, it would mean that there would be 1 more physical copy available for physical game collectors who play on consoles as I would be buying digitally, which has limitless availability. In addition, the price for Star Ocean The Divine Force on PC is £49.99. I never thought that I’d be happy to see that price tag show up for a game since it used to be £39.99 for a brand new release, remember those days?
Sadly inflation is a thing now and well, they’ve coerced us into paying more… as per usual. I wish It was that simple for me to do that, I mean given the fact that I am a self-employed retailer (this blog doesn’t make me any money, let alone a living just thought I’d put that out there), I understand better than anyone how hard it is to inflate prices simply due to the fact that while inflation goes up, the disposable income of others does not and I always try my best to make prices fair and affordable, going as far as to avoid buying inflated stock to maintain a fixed price. Of course big corporations aren’t going to do this since they don’t give a shit about their customers, particularly game Publishers. They’re only good at one thing: taking and I’m getting fed up with it. None of this would be an issue if the games themselves were improving like they were back in the day but videogames have been going downhill since 2010 and continue to get worse and worse by the day (which is evident by my review of Valkyrie Elysium, a game I paid £54.99 for, more expensive than my copies of Valkyrie Profile 1 & 2 combined only to find out that it was inferior to both of those games), save for a few, yet they charge us more!? What the absolute fuck is wrong with this industry? Why do we eat up this bullshit time and time again? I swear there’s more to it than inflation, the Playstation Store prices greatly suggest this.
Regardless I will accept £49.99 for now as a reasonable price for the sake of this article, assuming that it’s merely inflation but it’s impossible to know that for certain. All I do know is that the way Square-Enix have handled the PC version of Star Ocean The Divine Force is absolutely abysmal. Not only do we have to deal with Denuvo DRM yet again but the system requirements for the game, which should be announced prior to release are still unconfirmed even though the game is releasing in 8 days, what the fuck Square-Enix!? Despite this however, they are more than happy to relieve us of our hard earned money in exchange for a game that we don’t even know will work on our hardware. Not everyone has the best, most up to date PC and because of this, it is important to list system requirements so that people know in advance whether or not they are able to run the game so that they can make necessary modifications to their system in advance prior to release or they purchase the game on console if they happen to have one. With the way things are right now, it is impossible to know whether or not the game will run and while some have speculated that the recommended requirements will be around the same recommended requirements that the PC’s being given away in a Japanese contest by Intel, it’s difficult to know what is in the thing unless you understand Japanese and even then, what are the minimum requirements? We don’t fucking know!!!
So as you can see, I am in a bit of a situation here. I don’t usually try to get reviews out early but I have noticed that doing so yields better results as people are more likely to read reviews of games if the games are new and relevant and considering the fact that two of my favorite franchises had releases back to back this year, I’ve wanted to cover both of them, despite the stressful situation I’ve been going through in real life. Thing is that Square-Enix are making this needlessly difficult for me. I want to support more Star Ocean games and with tri-Ace’s terrible financial situation under consideration, it is urgent that I purchase the game so that I can at least show to Square-Enix the value that tri-Ace brings to the table as well as getting them out of this mess. I don’t give two flying fucks about giving Square-Enix my money if it wasn’t for tri-Ace I’d just wait for a cheap review code to show up on G2A just to spite them for being greedy bastards. Thing is, this isn’t a matter of boycotting, it’s quite the opposite. Buying this game digitally on steam means that I am supporting Square-Enix’s bullshit but that is a necesarry evil to keep tri-Ace afloat and it is so unbelievably conflicting. Thing is though in this situation, I feel that I have to let Square-Enix win because tri-Ace is one of the last hopes this industry has to bring us quality games. While Valkyrie Elysium, was one of those “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situations in regards to buying it, Star Ocean The Divine Force is very similar in the sense that you either watch tri-Ace disappear from the industry or prevent it at the cost of allowing Square-Enix get away with their bullshit. I am so sick of the distain that this company has for its PC market, they didn’t even give PC users access to a Demo, it’s ridiculous. Is there any hope for this industry at all or are we all fucked?
With the success of Valkyrie Anatomia, one would think that this would be the perfect opportunity to bring back the Valkyrie Profile series. While many of us expected a tri-Ace developed Valkyrie Profile game, Square-Enix decided against the idea and instead handed the series over to a different developer. Soleil, a company known for making beat em up games was chosen to take over the development of the series in place of tri-Ace and as someone who considers themselves a fan of the Valkyrie Profile games, I found this decision to be completely asinine, given the fact that tri-Ace were the people who made the series so great to begin with, I knew going into this game that it was going to be a disaster. Now one might argue that tri-Ace was too busy working on Star Ocean The Divine Force to work on a new Valkyrie Profile but at the same time, Star Ocean The Divine Force is a Square-Enix game, much like Valkyrie Profile, so they could have worked on Valkyrie Profile 3 instead but Square-Enix being the blithering idiots they are, decided to release yet another Star Ocean game instead. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Star Ocean but the Valkyrie Profile series has always been the pinnacle of tri-Ace’s capabilities, so to see them not working on the latest entry is bitterly disappointing.
So with all that in mind, it’s important to expect something completely different with Valkyrie Elysium as it is a completely different game entirely from Valkyrie Profile. Valkyrie Elysium is not a JRPG like many would be led to believe, it is one of the most unapologetic 3D Beat Em Ups I’ve played in recent years, given the fact that the skill tree in this game is designed specifically to restrict the player’s growth, something that even Devil May Cry doesn’t do. The issue with the skill system ultimately comes down to the fact that to learn new skills, you not only need to learn previous skills but you also need a specific color of gem and those gems can only be acquired upon reaching certain points in the game’s story, therefore they are a barrier for players looking for growth.
The biggest let down with this is that one of the few things carried over from Valkyrie Profile is the crystals that rain from enemies when they are attacked. In the first game and Covenant Of The Plume, these crystals would be converted into bonus experience points as a reward for playing well. In Valkyrie Profile 2, these crystals would not only reward bonus experience but they were also a currency used to purchase sealstones which were very valuable items that players could use to turn battles in their favor. In Valkyrie Elysium however, the gems dropped from enemies can be found just about anywhere and are used as currency to learn new skills, as well as weapon upgrades. The issue is that when you acquire all the upgrades up to a certain point, many of these crystals become obsolete, requiring a different color of crystal and with limited upgrades to spend them on, as well as skills, they just kind of sit in your inventory collecting dust which is such a waste given the fact that the game clearly encourages you to play well to collect them, it completely eliminates any incentive to do so beyond a certain point. Sure, many other games have similar issues but given the fact that Valkyrie Elysium’s skills don’t take many crystals to learn, they’re easy enough to acquire to the point that there’s no reason to farm them, since you’ll have reached the cap… or at least near the cap by the end of the level regardless of how well you performed in battle. Restrictive skill systems is the most anti-tri-Ace thing you can do and this sickens me.
It’s obvious that the developers wanted to focus on the game’s combat above all else being a beat em up and all. The thing is though that while the combat looks visually appealing, I find it to be pretty mindless in execution. Now don’t get me wrong, there is value to be had in watching Valkyrie perform crazy attack strings and there’s quite a bit of flexibility to be had in regards to movesets. For one, you have the cancel combo system seen in the Dynasty Warriors games where you mash square and cancel into triangle for a finisher. Now you would think that you would use this a lot but I found myself using it very little late on in the game upon learning new skills. Once new skills become available, Valkyrie’s moveset becomes a lot bigger and with that you will unlock moves that are heavily abusable, one such move is the soul steal which guarantees that enemies will drop souls upon being hit by it. The lower the enemy’s health gauge, the more souls you will get. This allows players to abuse the einherjar system to rack up insane hit counts and restore the arts gauge faster.
It’s easy to rack up 999 hits with the help of your einherjar.
Speaking of einherjar, it appears that upon summoning them, you have absolutely no further control over them. Despite this however, you are able to learn new abilities for them, though the game never tells you how to actually use them. It turns out that upon summoning them, they will use whatever einherjar attack is set to them, then they follow up with their normal attack for the rest of the fight. I honestly find this to be a wasted mechanic as all you’re doing is summoning them, you’re not inputting commands like you can do in games like Chaos Legion, Castlevania Curse Of Darkness or Nights Of Azure. It would have been interesting to have the option to have them trigger their einherjar skills freely at the cost of soul gauge, similar to Chaos Legion’s assist moves but there’s nothing like that here. It just feels like a waste of an idea that accomplishes nothing besides making the game a hell of a lot easier. At first, prior to getting your second einherjar, the game can be rather tough and bosses will be quite challenging but all that disappears once you have a full roster of Einherjar with the soul steal skill, you’ll be watching your einherjar do all the work while you occasionally dive in and slash at them for souls to keep summoning einherjar to the field. It seems to me that the einherjar could have been removed entirely and the game would be more better off as a result, it’s tedious having to constantly summon them into battle, even though you can adjust the time they are out, you’ll still have to resummon them constantly in long fights, they might as well just remove the summoning mechanic entirely and have them all out on the battlefield by default like the original Valkyrie Profile games did.
Now the einherjar system might not seem like a huge issue at first as you could choose not to use them but the biggest problem with einherjar summoning is that it takes up one of the game’s vital buttons, R1. The problem with this is that R1 is the button commonly used to lock on to enemies in most beat em ups but in this game, players have to use R3 to lock on to enemies as well as reset the camera and this makes combat an absolute nightmare when you’re surrounded by multiple enemies. To make matters worse, there’s no minimap so you will often encounter stragglers somewhere off screen which you have to look for because the camera isn’t facing them. Of course this leads to you getting attacked from behind quite often as well. The problem with R3 is that in order to press it, you need to use your thumb, with R1 you can use your index finger, allowing you to change the camera angle without letting go of the face buttons. Anyone who has played a lot of beat em ups, particularly at a high skill level knows how crucial this is as having to constantly move the camera with the right analog stick just isn’t practical. Fortunately any frustrations brought about this issue tend to occur early on in the game as by the time you start accumulating einherjar, you become so powerful that you can heal yourself constantly by replenishing the arts gauge with einherjar attacks, though I imagine on higher difficulties that this would not be the case so it is still a problem throughout the entire game. Despite all this, the game heavily encourages you to use your einherjar as doing so leads to stat boosts after every mission, so even on higher difficulties, you’ll still want to abuse this mechanic as there really is no downside to doing so besides a brief downtime when summoning them into battle.
On top of Einherjar, you have divine arts which are essentially spells you can use at the expense of your arts gauge. Aside from the aformentioned heal spell, there are several other spells which each have different elemental properties, some of which are AOE spells, others are single target spells. The primary purpose of divine artes is to fill up a stagger gauge a significant amount, letting you freely combo enemies without them being able to move, though you can also increase the gauge slightly by having an einherjar summoned who has the same element as the spell that the enemy is weak to. Later on in the game, some of the spells can fill the screen and this can become somewhat of a visual impairment in the middle of a fight, especially when combined with the einherjar attacks, it can be hard to see what’s going on at times but fortunately all you need to worry about is soul steal spamming and so long as you keep soul chaining, you should be more-or-less fine on lower difficulties but on higher difficulties, this could be a real pain to deal with, as if the game’s lock on controls weren’t problematic enough.
In regards to defensive play, you have a guard and a evade button. Guarding allows you to parry enemy attacks and counter them, while evading gives you I frames during an enemy attack, very generous I frames I might add. Honestly I found little opportunity to make use of the guard or counter moves since so many fights have you fighting enemies that bombard you from all sides, with AOE attacks you have to avoid, it just feels easier to use the dodge since it gives you plenty of I frames and the pay off for guarding doesn’t seem to be worth the effort, at least on normal difficulty. Perhaps people will be able to find some use for it in the higher difficulties but it would be very tricky to pull off, especially when you consider how chaotic the fights are, props to anyone who can manage it though. Some skills allow you to automatically summon einherjar for free with no soul gauge cost by performing these maneuvers but why bother when soul steal makes souls so easy to come by? I suppose it removes the temporary downtime from summoning einherjar into battle but it didn’t really feel as if it was necessary for me to utilize any of the techniques required to automatically summon the einherjar. The one thing that does bother me though is the lack of an aerial dodge. While you do get a double dodge as an upgrade early on (which should be obtained immediately), the lack of an air dodge can make fighting in the air somewhat risky because it could mean landing into en enemy attack. Some enemies also like to grab you which can be really annoying as sometimes the game requires you to spin the left analog stick to escape.
Love at first fight…
There are numerous weapons to acquire throughout the game and each enemy has a weakness to a particular weapon, encouraging you to swap between them. I found myself using the Baleygr the most since it seemed to have great crowd control potential, particularly with its triangle move which was also great at harvesting gems. Each weapon has a proficiency rating which is tied to skill unlocks, you will have to use all of the weapons should you wish to unlock all the skills associated with them. Sadly though you cannot switch weapons mid combo which is a shame because that could have made combat a lot more interesting. You will also find potions from treasure chests to heal yourself but there is an inventory limit and using them decreases your score at the end of a stage, like in Devil May Cry. I found the heal spell to be good enough for the job personally but if you’re having a tough time, they can help. Ultimately if you’re looking for a fun challenge, Valkyrie Elysium will probably disappoint you greatly but if you don’t mind a mindless beat em up, the combat will deliver a moderately enjoyable experience.
Visually speaking, the landscapes look nice and all but I personally consider Valkyrie Elysium’s character design to be a huge downgrade from the character design in the Valkyrie Profile games. That being said however, I do think that the character designs are serviceable and aren’t terrible, I just think that they could be better and being a Valkyrie game, I’ve come to expect the visuals to be top of the line, so I can’t help but be disappointed in that regard, then again it’s all subjective really, some people may actually like the new character designs but they’re just not for me personally.
No shortage of trees and ruins in this game.
The music on the other hand doesn’t disappoint, if there’s one thing that this game does right, it’s the soundtrack, though I wouldn’t expect any less from Motoi Sakuraba at this point. While not his best work in my opinion, I do think that he does a fantastic job nonetheless. Interestingly enough, Valkyrie Elysium handles the battle music the same way that Nier Automata does, in the sense that the area music transitions into a combat variant of the same song and I think that this compliments the nature of the game’s more seamless combat well. I’d like to see more beat em up games do this in the future. It’s very different from the soundtracks that Motoi Sakuraba has done in the past but it does have a few similarities to his past work if you listen closely enough. Funnily enough, the game’s soundtrack probably the only thing that makes you feel like you’re playing a Valkyrie Profile game.
The story is without a doubt the worst part of this game as the characters are as bland as you can get. While it goes without saying that Valkyrie has the personality of a potato, the einherjar aren’t really all that better. I had a really hard time even remotely caring about any of the einherjar in this game, to me they were just sentient elemental attributes to attach to Valkyrie’s attacks. To be fair though, the game does have interactions between the einherjar and Valkyrie over the course of the journey but many of these conversations come across as awkward due to Valkyrie’s lack of personality. By the end, all the einherjar are pretty much singing from the same hymn sheet. The plot is pretty boring too, I mean all you’re told to do is purify souls and find these 4 gifts, that’s pretty much it, the plot doesn’t go anywhere else besides the obvious plot twist that harkens back to the first game which is executed in the most generic way possible. Just about everything in this game’s story feels generic and soulless to the point that there isn’t even a single soul to be engraved upon. Pretty much every location is a barren empty ruin with very few people residing in them and the few that are just happen to be in 1 place. The world feels so empty and mostly lifeless that I really don’t give a shit about saving it. Even Valkyrie Profile 2 had towns filled with plenty of NPC’s, this game has barely any of that. Also where are the rest of the Aesir? You’re not telling me that Odin and Valkyrie are the only gods on Valhalla surely. Where’s Freya? Where’s Thor? Where the fuck is Loki? None of these characters are here and this only serves to make the game feel even more lifeless.
Ok roll call, who the hell are you people again?
There are numerous side missions but pretty much all of them are forgettable and many amount to the same thing such as the einherjar quests which are more-or-less the same for each one. much like the story, they are criminally monotonous and only serve to extend what would otherwise be an extremely short game. Despite being a serviceable beat em up, Valkyrie Elysium is a half assed attempt to bring back the Valkyrie Profile series. Soleil were clearly given a mission that they weren’t prepared for and the only people to blame are Square-Enix for getting them to do it instead of tri-Ace. Square-Enix have essentially betrayed the entire Valkyrie Profile fanbase with this game and they should be ashamed of themselves for making this game a thing. As a Valkyrie game, Valkyrie Elysium is an abomination, as a standalone game however, would I recommend it? Well if you like mindless 3D beat em ups then it may be worth picking up for around twenty pounds but if you don’t care about mindless 3D beat em ups, give this game a pass.
Story/Plot: Bad
Visuals: Satisfactory
Gameplay: Satisfactory
Music: Great
Lifespan: Very Short
Difficulty: Easy – Medium (Medium at the start, Easy by the end)
Would You Replay? No
Overall: Satisfactory
My Message To Square-Enix after finishing Valkyrie Elysium:
I remember playing a bit of the original Seiken Densetsu 3 and it was a colossal improvement from its predecessor, Secret Of Mana. The game still shows signs of age however and while it definitely aged better than Secret Of Mana, it would certainly benefit from a remake. Fortunately such a thing now exists and it is known as Trials Of Mana. For the record, I will only be covering the remake of this game, not the original so if you want to play the original game, don’t expect the same experience as the one from the remake as they play very differently.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Seiken Densetsu 3, it is a somewhat unique JRPG for its time as it allows you to choose your own path through the story by selecting a protagonist of your choosing from 6 different characters. Because of this, Trials Of Mana’s story feels rather shallow a lot of the time due to the fact that it has so many possible character combinations that telling a complex narrative would be difficult. Instead you are given an introduction to your character of choice and are sent on a mission to hunt down a bunch of plot devices to, I don’t know… save the world? Put simply, you’ve seen it all before, in a way you could argue that Trials Of Mana is the Dragon Quest XI of the Action RPG side of things in the sense that it is a modern adaptation of a classic style RPG so if you’re looking for something fresh in the narrative department, Trials Of Mana may disappoint you.
Yeah it’s the same shit you’ve seen before, only prettier looking
While it may not be as polished as the modern YS games, Trials Of Mana’s combat feels strikingly similar to modern YS but with a little bit of Star Ocean Integrity And Faithlessness sprinkled in there. If you’re familiar with any of those games then you will feel right at home with this combat system. Each character comes with both strong and fast attacks that can be used together to form a combo, much like in the Dynasty Warriors games. Unfortunately however, the combos can only be unlocked via class change and initially you are stuck with only a single combo attack which can make the combat feel a little too simplistic at first but if you managed to stomach the original game’s combat then this shouldn’t be too much of an issue for you. On top of all this you can do pretty much everything you can do in YS VIII aside from the flash maneuvers and the extra skill. What this means is that you can jump, dodge and perform special attacks by holding down a button and pressing the corresponding face button, these attacks consume the CS gauge which can only be filled up by collecting crystals left by the enemy upon being hit or defeated so in a way it’s similar to the way SP acquisition works in YS VIII. There is also a charged attack that you can perform which is useful for breaking the enemy’s guard as some enemies are shielded, decreasing damage dealt to them by fast attacks. Put simply, the combat isn’t particularly groundbreaking but it’s definitely a lot of fun if you are into simplistic action.
While it’s difficult to find many faults in the combat, there’s one thing in particular that I believe could be improved upon and that would be the game’s AI. Now don’t get me wrong, the AI aren’t the worst out there as they do seem to dodge attacks every now and again but there have been many times where AI controlled characters end up walking into enemy attacks or just stand in them. While this does make sense considering the fact that healing magic is involved in the game, it still feels like you’re babysitting the AI at times, throwing heals at them constantly each time they screw up. Now of course Trials Of Mana isn’t the only action RPG that suffers from this issue, it’s been an issue with the genre entirely but since YS SEVEN managed to circumvent this issue, I don’t see why other games can’t follow in its footsteps. There were many times playing Trails Of Mana where I thought I was playing YS VIII and I was shocked by how often my AI companions were receiving tons of damage and dying. Perhaps I’ve just been spoiled by the modern YS games I don’t know but I still think that this should become a standard that all action RPG’s need to follow as babysitting idiotic AI companions is never fun.
What I did find fun however is the game’s character management which completely blows YS out of the water by comparison. I found that the biggest appeal of this game lies in the class system, though I’d argue the class system is a double edged sword mainly due to the way the game handles the class change system. What I can say however is that most of the classes feel really well balanced and they each come with unique skills which can be handy for fine tuning each of the character’s traits to suit the player’s play style. Each character has a light and dark path which dictates which classes they get at class 4. Once on either the light or dark path, players lose access to classes on the opposite path so the first class change is really important. Fortunately changing your class for the first time is a simple task as you merely have to be level 18 and interact with a mana stone to change your class. The issues with the class system become more apparrent when you are going for the more advanced classes later on as you will have to acquire unique items to learn each class. Now while there are treasure chests that do give you these items, by the time you have gotten all of them, you’ll have just about reached the end game, therefore if you want to experience those classes early you will have to grind… a lot and pray to the RNG gods that you get an item which gives you the class you want because the class items are all randomly generated by a seed. If you receive a class item from a seed for a class you don’t want then too bad, you have to find another. While farming these seeds may be easy enough later on in the game, farming them early can be a real pain in the ass, especially if you didn’t pick Hawkeye for his drop chance bonus skill since the drop chance for these items isn’t particularly high. This is without a doubt the most agonizing part of the class system and honestly I wish they made the class system more straightforward. I get not wanting players to gain access to powerful classes too early but relying on RNG to delay the player’s class progression is not the best approach if you ask me, especially when it’s the game’s most distinguishable feature.
On top of the class system, with each level up you acquire training points which can be used to learn new abilities and increase stats. Each ability and stat increase is separated between attributes, though these are not the attributes tied directly to the character’s base stats so if you’re playing as a melee fighter, don’t think that stats like intelligence are useless as it may come with some handy abilities. I found this system to be executed a lot better than the game’s class system as it is not only well balanced but it makes leveling up feel a lot more rewarding. In a way it kind of gives me Star Ocean vibes and that’s never a bad thing. I’d argue that out of all the features, this is the one that stands out to me the most and while it might not be as involving as Star Ocean’s systems, it still has the same appeal that made those systems so engaging to begin with. The only downside to this is that each attribute is capped by the character’s class level and the ability slots required to equip the skills are also capped depending on the class. So the class system governs all of the character growth and this means that there will be times where you may have to stockpile skill points until you reach a new class just so you can develop a character’s stats further if you don’t want to learn certain abilities. On the plus side however, upon reaching max level, you will have enough training points to max out all attributes but depending on your class will depend on what abilities will be available to you in each attribute, so you won’t be able to learn everything in one playthrough.
This brings me to the replayability of the game and quite frankly, it’s a huge selling point. Since you can only pick 3 of the 6 characters to play as you will inevitably want to start a second playthrough in order to experience the game to its fullest so that you can experiment with new characters and new classes. The good news is that the game comes with a rather generous new game + feature which carries over all your levels and items from a previous playthrough which is pretty sweet. The only thing that isn’t carried over is the character’s class but in a way that kind of makes sense as you are encouraged to try a new class the second time round. There are also new difficulty levels that can be unlocked upon completion if you are looking for an extra challenge, though if you just want to get through the game, a second playthrough on normal with maxed out characters will be a breeze. In a way I’m kind of bummed out that the game doesn’t allow for co-op multiplayer like the original did because that was also one of the game’s biggest selling points, it would be great to be able to replay the game co-op with a friend and let them use the beefed up character while I level up a new one or vice versa. It’s a shame that this feature wasn’t included because that’s what the mana series was all about back in the day, you didn’t play these games alone… well you could but it wasn’t the same as playing with a friend. Having local co-op would have been excellent and would have nullified the whole AI issue as I’d have a friend controlling another character so they wouldn’t run into the enemy attacks as often.
Lack of co-op aside however, Trials Of Mana stays faithful to the original Seiken Densetsu 3 in the audio department, many of the the new songs don’t sound too different from their Super Famicom counterpart so if you missed out on the original game, you don’t have to worry about the music being overly remixed in this version and for those that are such as nuclear fusion which received a metal remix, you can toggle between the remake and the original OST if you prefer the original version of the song. The soundtrack itself isn’t exactly the most noteworthy, even for its time there were games with better soundtracks out there if you ask me but it has some catchy tunes nonetheless and I can’t say that I was disappointed in the audio department, it did its job well enough but I can’t say that I’ll be looking up its OST any time soon, except maybe for nuclear fusion, that song is amazing. I do think that the soundtrack is a considerable improvement over Secret Of Mana though so if you liked that soundtrack, you’ll probably enjoy this one even more, it just doesn’t tickle my tastebuds as much as other soundtracks personally.
One thing that has garnered a lot of controversy is the voice acting. A lot of people can not stand the voice acting of Trials Of Mana and while I do see where they’re coming from with Charlotte’s voice, I don’t think it’s an issue with the voice itself rather the direction and the dialogue. I personally had no issue with the voices except for Charlotte but even then, it’s the script that’s the problem. For god knows what reason, Charlotte doesn’t use the letter L in her dialogue and instead replaces all L’s with W’s, possibly to sound more childlike but it is really annoying to hear her voice actress actually speak those lines because they are so unbelievably dumb. Other than that, they’re absolutely fine to me, I think Hawkeye’s voice is good, Kevin’s voice might sound a little odd but it fits his character, Duran has a decent enough voice, Reisz’s voice sounds like she is reading off a script sometimes but for the most part, it’s tolerable, Angela’s voice sounds like a rebellios teenager which kind of fits her character so it’s fine. There are games that have far worse voice acting out there like Star Ocean 4 for example, I don’t know about you but I’d take Charlotte over Lymle any day of the week.
The art style feels very reminiscent of Dragon Quest XI and Star Ocean 5 in the sense that it is very colorful with some nicely detailed locations. You can tell that they didn’t scrimp on the visual department this time around like they did with the Secret Of Mana remake. This game is up there with the big boys now. It’s hard to believe that it’s a remake of a Super Famicom game at times, heck it amazes me how they managed to keep the same layout for many of the game’s locations despite them looking so modern. It really is a faithful remake in that regard and quite frankly, that can only be a good thing if you ask me. Now if you’re expecting groundbreaking next gen graphics, you won’t find them here but they meet the standards set by current gen games and for a remake of a Super Famicom game, it’s pretty impressive how the game has a fully controllable camera for once, especially when you consider the fact that most remakes of these older games tend to stick to having a fixed top down camera angle throughout, there’s also a lock on to help out in battle too if the camera proves troublesome to control.
Ultimately whether or not you should get Trials Of Mana depends on what type of experience you want out of an action RPG, if you want a modern style game with an engrossing story then I definitely wouldn’t recommend this game but if you are looking for a modern take on an old school action RPG, Trials Of Mana will certainly deliver in that regard. While it may not be the best at what it does, Trials Of Mana is still an enjoyable experience nonetheless and I think that it is one of the better Square-Enix developed titles out there. If you enjoyed Seiken Densetsu 3, getting this game is a no brainer really. Just be aware that it’s not for everyone, I have seen a lot of people complain about this game and I think that they missed the point. Trials Of Mana is a comfort food game for people who want to play something they are familiar with that doesn’t try to break the mold. If you expect anything else, you’re going to be disappointed.
Story/plot: Mediocre
Visuals: Good
Gameplay: Good
Music: Good
Lifespan: Decent Length
Difficulty: Easy
Would You replay? Yes
Overall: Good
Value: £40.00
Gameplay Video:
I should note that on the PC version of Trials Of Mana I have had my controller disconnect numerous times while playing, usually after getting hit or after a cutscene so I have to reconnect my controller each time, it’s kinda annoying. This is the only game I’ve experienced this issue with so far and it happens somewhat frequently so I just thought I should mention it.
I hate making blog posts like this, I really do. I like to assume that my readers are smart and know a lot about videogames, therefore I don’t like to waste their time on articles like this because I find it to be an insult to their intelligence. However I have reached the point where I feel the need to speak out about this because the ignorance of some people out there frustrates me to no end and the only way to solve this issue is to educate people on what should be common sense because I am sick and tired of people who are so unbelievably gullible that buy a game in a series day 1, complain about it post-launch, then proceed to buy the next game in the series day 1 expecting it to be better. Isn’t that the definition of insanity? It is and that’s why something has to change, right now, hence the reason why I wrote this article.
Anyways it is time we discussed the Final Fantasy series, a series I barely ever talk about surprisingly enough. Back in my youth I was a huge fan of the series to the point that I believed that the series could do no wrong. Back in the 90’s and early 2000’s, having the name “Final Fantasy” on the box was like a seal of quality, a symbol of a truly amazing JRPG experience. Nowadays, while the brand continues to thrive, recent titles in the series have received a lot of flak, a lot of which I find is deserved, though others would argue that much of the backlash given to recent games was blown out of proportion. Personally I’m not too fond of the newer Final Fantasy games myself, not that my opinion amounts to anything in relevance to this topic, just be aware that I’m not writing this to express my personal bias, rather I am writing this to express why opinions are so divided on the latest installments in the series.
This isn’t Final Fantasy
With the release of Final Fantasy XV, many people were disappointed and quick to hate on the game. Others were satisfied with the game and praised it. Put simply, the game had a mixed reception, something that I predicted would happen many years before its release. In fact the exact same thing happened with Final Fantasy XIII, a game that many were anticipating for quite a while, only to be bitterly disappointed upon release. I was one of those people. I imported a copy of Final Fantasy XIII before its regional launch because I was so excited to play it, heck I even paid £60.00 for it, no joke. This would have been my most regrettable purchase of all time… if it didn’t shape me into the gamer I am today.
You see, it was after playing Final Fantasy XIII and Dissidia Duodecim that I gave up on the series entirely. After that I vowed never play another Final Fantasy game ever again and stuck to my words ever since, hence why you rarely ever see me talking about this series. The only reason why I’m even bringing up this series to begin with is because I believe that it is the perfect example of what I shall call a “brand facade” and I think such a topic is very important to discuss, because it greatly affects the industry as we speak and is starting to become a major issue with games in general. It’s about time I expose this once and for all so that people can finally understand what truly matters in gaming, it’s the very reason why I started blogging in the first place and it’s about damn time I lived up to the name “Cynical Gaming Blog”.
Now I’m not necessarily trying to imply that branding is inherently a bad thing, rather I wish for people to realize that branding can potentially be a bad thing. I want people to understand that Final Fantasy is nothing more than a brand name and that brand names are inherently meaningless to consumers. So why do we have branding? That’s simple, publishers of course… why else? After all, the whole point of this entire site is to point my finger at publishers every time there’s a problem with the gaming industry because 9 times out of 10, they are the ones to blame for all the bullshit.
While branding is not inherently a bad thing, I believe that Square-Enix have misused the Final Fantasy brand name, essentially taking advantage of Hironobu Sakaguchi’s legacy for the sake of maintaining their sales numbers. From a corporate perspective, this is perfectly understandable, after all they are a business and making money is essential for businesses to thrive but I’m not here to talk about a corporate perspective, I am a consumer and I wish to speak from the perspective of a consumer for the sake of other consumers so that I can hopefully empower other consumers with knowledge, knowledge that I believe everyone needs to know right now. Therefore, ever since Sakaguchi’s departure from Square-Enix, I believe that every single Final Fantasy game released since then has been a lie.
Now don’t misunderstand my point, I am not saying that modern Final Fantasy games are bad, rather I am saying that they are not truly Final Fantasy games. Why? Because Hironobu Sakaguchi himself was the core of what made Final Fantasy what it was, without him, Final Fantasy is nothing but a hollow shell, he was the creative mind behind it, therefore the credit should go to him, not the “Final Fantasy” brand name and certainly not Square-Enix. Eventually, Sakaguchi would release a game called Lost Odyssey, a game many considered to be the true Final Fantasy XIII. One could even consider it to be the true Final Fantasy XI, however I personally believe that Lost Odyssey was not meant to be a Final Fantasy game, rather it was meant to be Sakaguchi’s attempt at creating something new and fresh.
It’s common to make assumptions, especially when the information given to us is enigmatic but rarely does one make assumptions about something that people are well-informed on. Thanks to the power of the internet, information is bountiful, to the point that it can feel somewhat suffocating at times, to me at least. Due to the objective nature of gaming news however, much of this information is enigmatic. Because of this, people feel more inclined to view things at face value and this is ultimately the biggest issue with the brand name “Final Fantasy”. The name holds so much power and influence now that the name itself holds more value than any videogame ever could. After all, a videogame is nothing more than a bundle of code and assets melded together, surely there isn’t any value in that… oh wait, that’s the very thing that we are getting when we spend out hard-earned money on these brand names.
Put simply, Square-Enix needs Final Fantasy because shareholders expect consistent sales figures (ideally going up), if they didn’t continue to release Final Fantasy games, they would start to lose face in the industry and eventually they would lose their value as a company as a result. They need to prove that they are still the face of Final Fantasy in order to maintain the consumers trust because without Final Fantasy, their value as a company would be drastically lowered to the point that they wouldn’t be able to please their shareholders, thus the downfall of Square-Enix would be inevitable, hence why they refuse to let go of this IP.
Why am I telling you this? Because I want you to realize why the Final Fantasy series didn’t end with Final Fantasy X, it’s not because the developers are passionate about the series to the point that they want to see it continue, nor is it because they are trying to improve the series (well at this point I’d be more inclined to say that they are trying to reinvent the series), it’s because the series is valuable and generates a shit ton of money that the company needs to maintain stability. To take Final Fantasy away from Square-Enix would essentially cause the entire company to collapse like a Jenga tower, because Final Fantasy is the central pillar that holds the company together.
This isn’t Final Fantasy either
Sure, Final Fantasy is known for mascots such as the moogle and chocobo but let’s be honest here people, how important are those mascots really? Star Ocean has giant bunnys which serve exactly the same purpose as chocobo’s (there are even bunny races which are totally not inspired by chocobo races), Grandia has carros which might as well be considered moogles because they are trying to be the same thing, a cute looking furry thing that is easily identifiable, isn’t that the whole point of a mascot? The truth is, aside from their aesthetic design, these mascots have no real value to consumers and their aesthetic design is merely an attempt to give value to the brand, which is why you see moogles littered all over Square-Enix’s games these days.
The point is that none of this matters really, all Final Fantasy games are completely different from one another, just like how all Grandia games are different from one another. The difference is that Grandia is pretty much dead at this point and rightfully so as the creator passed away a while back. Final Fantasy on the other hand is still alive and Square-Enix are milking the series for every last penny. Heck I wouldn’t even say that Final Fantasy is even alive at this point, rather the series has been inflicted by the zombie status ailment where healing it only ends up damaging it. Final Fantasy isn’t alive, nor is it dead, it is undead, much like how Sylvanas is undead in World Of Warcraft in the sense that its presence has become a nuisance.
This is Final Fantasy
Sure you could just ignore it and move on and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing for years but it’s very hard to ignore it when people continue to talk about it. Like I said before, information on the internet can be suffocating to me at times, that includes anything related to Final Fantasy… it’s suffocating to constantly hear people talk about the series and I believe that I can’t just ignore it anymore, I really have to make it clear to people that the Final Fantasy series is no more. You have all been lied to by Square-Enix, modern Final Fantasy is an impostor and nothing more.
As for the games themselves, Final Fantasy XII has more in common with Vagrant Story than anything XI and XIV are MMORPG’s that have more in common with World Of Warcraft and XV is just your typical open world experience that could have quite possibly been received a lot better if it wasn’t titled “Final Fantasy” but Square-Enix don’t care about that, they already got your money and they’ll get it again with the next installment, because you’re blinded by the brand name “Final Fantasy”. Sure I realize that this does not apply to all of you and I realize that many of you that follow me are smart enough to know all of this but there are many who are still blind to the truth and those people need to know the truth for the sake of gaming’s future.
Why is this so important you ask? Why can’t we just simply ignore all of this? Because publishers need to recognize that they can’t succeed on brand names alone, they need to ensure that the product itself is top quality so that people who buy it will not be disappointed, therefore trust in the company’s products will grow… as idiotic as that may sound but hey, that’s the system we have to work with I’m afraid, it’s called capitalism and I’d certainly prefer that over communism.
Instead of complaining about these corporate entities for milking these games, why don’t we instead take control of the system? We as consumers have the power to shape the future of this industry as we are the ones who are essentially giving these big CEO’s their paychecks and keeping the shareholders happy. How do we do this you ask? It’s called keeping your wallets shut and boycotting on principle. I’m not saying that you should stop playing Final Fantasy just because it’s a lie, I’m just saying that you need to be more skeptical of the brand and base your purchase on reviews, not on trailers or on brand names. Wait for the reviews to come out and then decide whether the game is for you or not. Do not pre-order any more Final Fantasy games should you wish to avoid further disappointment. This is my message to all of you who continue to blindly support this series. Once again, I am not hating on the series and I am not saying that you cannot enjoy it, nor do I say that the modern Final Fantasy games are Inherently bad. This applies to all brand names, not just Final Fantasy, remember that.
Now that I have made my point clear, I believe I should talk about the positive side of branding. Let’s look at Valkyrie Profile for example, a brand that is unknown to many but beloved by many of those that do know it. Now bear in mind that when I say the word “brand”, I’m not just talking about the name, I’m talking about all rights associated with it, much like Final Fantasy’s moogle mascot. Unlike Final Fantasy which is a different game each time for the most part, Valkyrie Profile is set in the same world with the same lore, same characters, same mythological setting with a combat system that emphasizes the timing of button presses to perform combos via the face buttons with each face button representing a character. This is something people have identified with for a long time and while Exist Archive brought many of this back, due to copyrights it was unable to truly be a Valkyrie Profile game despite wanting so badly to be one.
Needless to say, tri-Ace gave Exist Archive a completely different setting with completely new characters for they realized that trying to make their own take on Valkyrie Profile would be futile because people would be unable to take a game that is too similar to Valkyrie Profile seriously, hence why they made Exist Archive’s universe completely different. Regardless, it is the closest thing to Valkyrie Profile 3 we will likely ever get, therefore I respect it for what it is.
Then there are games like Bloodstained Curse Of The Moon which is pretty much the latest Castlevania game, just without the name “Castlevania” in the title. It has the same director, same composer and even the same visual style with a very similar setting and almost identical gameplay. This game was well received but this was likely due to Castlevania’s absence. Had it not been for the absence of Castlevania, Bloodstained would never have been as successful as it was, though it would probably still have a cult following.
So I do see the value in branding, it gives a series of games an identity, something that people can recognize. When I see the name “Dynasty Warriors” I know exactly what I’m getting into (well I should… but the first game is a fighter and the earlier titles are insanely hard to the point of frustration), a dumbed down 3D beat em up that lets you mow down armies of enemies with minimal effort which thrives on visual spectacle to give players a feeling of catharsis. That information is important to me and many of us but is a brand necessary to present that information? Not necessarily. There are other ways to present this information but publishers continue to shove brand names in our faces because it’s the easy way for them to make money. Just don’t fall for it people, don’t buy into the hype!
Edit (As of11/07/2022): I thought I should mention that the recent announcement of Valkyrie Elysium is the biggest example of everything mentioned in this post, another example of Square-Enix selling us a lie.
Ah finally I get to reveal the truth about this game. After all the negativity and all the incessant whining from Japanese fans over a pair of underwear, we can finally get down to business. Star Ocean 5 is indeed the return of tri-Ace and Square-Enix’s relationship and I can say with confidence that it doesn’t disappoint. As a fan of tri-Ace, I commend this game for its efforts to bring the JRPG genre back to life.
Now with all that considered, let’s get straight to it. Star Ocean 5 is basically a giant floating blob of fanservice to all Star Ocean fans, this can be interpreted both positively and negatively but I see it in a positive light, there are tonnes of throwbacks here and there and you can see that the devs are trying hard to bring that Star Ocean magic back into the series.
Welch returns to cause some more mischief…
However things could seem a little too familiar, many of the enemy designs resemble past Star Ocean games and also many of the music is re-used from previous Star Ocean games. Personally this didn’t bother me so much as I like to listen to old Star Ocean music. The enemy designs didn’t bother me much either, it merely helped maintain that Star Ocean feeling.
Another thing you will notice very quickly is that many of the moves from previous Star Ocean games return. Pretty much every attack in the game is re-used from older Star Ocean titles. This isn’t exactly a bad thing since the Tales series does exactly the same. And several attacks look slightly different from they used to.
“Star Ocean 5 is basically a giant floating blob of fanservice to all Star Ocean fans”
That aside, let’s get into the bulk of the game. The story is in Japanese so I didn’t understand a word of it, the cast of characters are quite different this time round. Many of them are highly experienced combat veterans which is a nice change from the usual teenage kid saves the world having had zero combat experience (I’m looking at you Fayt Leingod) and it really gives the cast a strong feeling of importance as if they belong in the story as opposed to being put there due to circumstances in the plot.
The story revolves around planet Faykreed, a single planet. I can see why they went with this though and I believe the plot is the main reason why. The game starts off almost immediately in a conflict which expands over the course of the game, the game revolves around this conflict and as such it’s befitting that the story revolves around a single planet for that reason. As a result, the scale of the game’s storyline is a lot smaller than Star Ocean Till The End Of Time but the execution is done rather well.
“Who ate the last piece of my pie? Was it you!?”
This brings me to the seamless cutscenes. This is where a double-edged sword comes into play. On the plus side, the cutscenes blend in really well with the gameplay rather than taking you out of the gameplay experience in a way many traditional cutscenes do. On the negative side, due to the third person perspective of Fidel it can be difficult to position the camera in a way that lets you focus in on the cutscene. In other words it’s trying to create a Half-Life effect by essentially putting the player into Fidel’s shoes and watching the story from his perspective rather than watching a traditional cinematic cutscene where the player feels detached.
As such, the seamless cutscenes are somewhat of an acquired taste. As you go through the game you grow to appreciate their significance more once they start playing around with new ideas. The game likes to throw them at you quite often and during these scenes you can walk around so long as you stay in the designated area. However there is a new emotes feature you can make use of which is a nifty novelty. The devs obviously intended for the players to make their own fun with the cutscenes and offered tools to do it with. The question is, is it enough to keep the player’s interest?
The answer is simply… it depends. Whilst many of us appreciate the flashy CGI cutscenes, those that don’t can usually skip them. The biggest problem with the seamless cutscenes is the inability to skip them. This can be troublesome at certain points but for the most part they aren’t long drawn out and if for some reason you’re getting bored watching them, you can force Fidel to do all sorts of nonsense to keep you amused. Personally I had a lot of fun with the emote system but considering the fact that Star Ocean 5 isn’t an MMORPG it could be considered to be somewhat out of place. Then again we are talking about Star Ocean *wink* *wink*.
Another thing that sort of feels very MMO esque is the questing system. Like the seamless cutscenes, these side quests have both positive and negative implications. The obvious negative implication being the fact that questing can be kinda bland. On the other hand the bulletin board keeps everything together in its respective area which cuts out all the monotonous running around town in search of quest givers or trying to find that particular NPC you need to give that item to.
There’s so much content in this game that you’ll never be board.
One thing that may bother people is that many of the content acquired throughout the game is locked behind sidequests. This includes skill books which are used to learn new battle skills and item creation professions. As a result you will have to spend a lot of time backtracking to different areas fighting mini-boss encounters and finding certain items to obtain new skills and abilities. So to get the most out of Star Ocean 5, you will have to spend a considerable amount of time doing side quests and backtracking. Then again, Star Ocean games have always involved a lot of backtracking, usually to revisit towns in order to trigger private actions.
Speaking of which, private actions return but this time they are a lot easier to access. To access private actions, you merely need to approach a whistle icon in town where your party splits up and by approaching that party member, you trigger that private action. You no longer need to leave town or use a guide to find private actions though you may still want to use a guide to get certain character endings. I personally tried everything in my power to get any ending besides Miki’s, needless to say, I failed and ended up paired up with my least favorite character, looks like the Japanese language barrier trumped me that time.
Miki appears to get very excited when you trigger her PA’s, shame I don’t feel the same way…
In addition to traditional private actions, certain private actions trigger on the road, kinda like skits in the Tales series only this time you don’t have to trigger them and watch a bunch of character portraits chatting amongst themselves. Instead the private action plays out as you are moving, kinda like seamless cutscenes but you are free to move and even battle during them. Obviously battle will cancel them out. As such you can enjoy these PA’s at your own pace and if you so wish you can take a break from exploring to see their expressions.
Item creation is back and is better than ever. Star Ocean 5 has in my opinion the best item creation in the series. Whilst it mostly sticks to Star Ocean 4’s item creation at first, over the course of the game you will unlock the classic Star Ocean 1 and 2’s item creation… with a twist. As such you get the best of both worlds here. The regular item creation is just like Star Ocean 4’s only this time you no longer have to visit Welch every time and can perform item creation straight from the menu which is handy. Also you don’t have to spend SP on invention or find recipes any more, rather you learn new items by simply making them.
At first all the items are hidden behind question marks so you don’t know what you’re getting but once you unlock it will reveal what it is and you can make more of it should you wish at any time. Like Star Ocean 4, item creation requires you to gather certain components and use them to create a single item. Over the course of the game however you are able to unlock a new item creation system called item synthesis.
Item synthesis (not to be confused with synthesis from 3 and 4) is basically Star Ocean 1 and 2’s item creation where you put items into a pot and get a new one out. This time however you can use just about any item you please and you use up to a combination of 6 items from your inventory. You can have them randomly picked for you or you can choose them manually. Once you’ve selected your items, you can throw them into a pot (or in this case a bunny) to obtain a new item. However be careful not to throw important items in as they may be lost forever and you never know what you’re gonna get, it’s completely random depending on the items you use. The synthesis system is fun to experiment with and you may end up getting an item that you can use in regular item creation to create the item you wanted. If you’re lucky, you may also get a new piece of equipment that is better than the one you had before. Of course you will get duds a lot of the time but that’s the risk you take when you perform synthesis.
Up to six items can be placed in the pot. Choose wisely!
Equipment synthesis (now known as augmentation) is back also but is split up between multiple skills, one for weapons and armor, another for accessories. Like Star Ocean 4 you can apply factors to your equipment using any item in your inventory or combine certain items together to create a new and improved one. The system is very much the same as previous titles and whilst it may be nothing we haven’t seen before, it’s still refreshing that they brought it back in all it’s glory. As such there are many customization options for equipment available to you.
Visually, the game is fantastic. Whilst the overall aesthetic style is inherited from Star Ocean 4, there have been some huge improvements made. For starters, the first thing I noticed in the game was how impressive the game’s draw distance was. Whereas Star Ocean 4 tries to cover up a lot of its empty backdrops with white fog and clouds, Star Ocean 5 adds more detail to the game’s environments making them more vast and as such is contributes towards improving the game world’s sense of scale.
Considering the fact that the majority of the game takes place on one planet though and there aren’t too many areas on that planet, the game’s world isn’t as large as the visuals would lead us to believe. However each location is very detailed. I found it quite odd that the desert area had constant rain though. Isn’t a desert supposed to be piping hot and dry?
The character designs have been outsourced and are designed by freelance artist Akira Yasuda, who is recognized for his work on the Street Fighter games and they look great. The main character, Fidel is probably the best designed protagonist I’ve seen in a while in terms of visual appeal. Victor looks pretty rad too. The character models are a mixed bag though, Some of them are great, others are a bit off. Emmerson’s head looks a tad too small outside of the CGI’s and Miki… well she looks odd in general. Fidel still looks fine though as does Fiore.
Overall I’d say the visuals are pretty impressive, at least compared with most other JRPG’s these days. I think they made a good decision to keep the choice of art style colorful and vibrant rather than trying to make it look realistic. It really gives it that Star Ocean flair. In addition, unlike Star Ocean 4, the characters don’t look like weird dolls anymore (aside from perhaps Miki).
Visuals aside, lets talk about the combat. Tri-Ace made the huge mistake of returning to Star Ocean Till The End Of Time’s horribly archaic battle system. Thankfully that’s the only word I could possibly use to describe the battle system of Star Ocean 5. It’s not all doom and gloom though, there has been some improvements. Now in case you don’t know, Star Ocean Till The End Of Time’s combat was abysmal. With the horrible CP cap, difficulty spikes aplenty and of course the dreaded MP death along with the HP cost for special attacks, Star Ocean Till The End Of Time gave me an experience best forgotten, gameplay wise at least.
Star Ocean 5 attempts to fix the system and it uses many simple yet effective methods in an attempt to do so. One method is to simply allow normal attacks to cancel into normal attacks. This way you aren’t stuck with only special cancels. This adds a little more depth to the gameplay as certain specials are long drawn out and you may wish to use a faster normal attack instead, especially if you think the enemy is about to attack you.
Another improvement is the balancing of the characters. No more useless characters like Adray or Mirage, every character is useful this time round. In fact I found myself switching between characters a lot and thankfully due to the game’s guard system, this worked like a charm. What is the guard system you ask? Remember the fury gauge in Star Ocean 3 which let you guard attacks when it was at its max? Well that awful feature was scrapped and replaced by simply adding a manual guard function. This allows you to block weak attacks and almost all magic attacks which is pretty nifty if you ask me.
Once you have guarded and attack you can unleash a guard counter by letting go of the guard button right after being hit. There is a reasonable time frame but you have to let go of the guard button almost immediately. It does take a while to get used to but once you do it becomes a really fun mechanic and adds a fun new approach to battles. Rather than playing 100% aggressively like in previous Star Ocean games, you can now experience a more defensive style of play. Whilst Star Ocean 4’s blindsides were cool and rewarding, they were rather easy to pull off as you could pull off a blindside before an enemy could get a chance to hit you. In Star Ocean 5 however, guarding requires a lot more precision.
You see by holding down the guard button, you can maintain a guard for as long as you want. However the enemy will usually read this as an opportunity to hit you with a strong attack. If you are hit with a strong attack whilst guarding your guard breaks and you lose a portion of your reserve gauge. So it’s important to read your opponent carefully and guard their attacks only when necessary. Enemies with blue auras around them are often preparing to attack you with a strong attack so be sure to move out of the way if you see one coming your way.
The reserve gauge is essentially the replacement of the bonus board. However, like in Star Ocean 3 it is a bar this time round. The reserve gauge is accumulated simply by attacking enemies. However it is depleted if you get guard countered or ko’ed. It may also be depleted if you are attacked during an attack animation. Accumulating additional reserve rewards you with bonus experience, sp and fol.
Once the reserve gauge fills up one of its bars you are able to unleash a special reserve rush attack. These attacks are basically the Star Ocean equivalent of Valkyrie Profile’s soul crushes and deal devastating damage to enemies (aside from Miki’s which heals the entire party). It’s cool that they implemented this feature as I always loved the soul crushes in Valkyrie Profile and it’s nice to see a similar concept used in Star Ocean.
Like in most JRPG’s, it’s important to give the character an extravagant pose before using their ultimate attack. Just so you know that shit is about to get real.
Unlike Valkyrie Profile however, reserve rush attacks don’t show up on a separate screen. Instead they blend into the rest of the battle allowing you to keep the fight going as the reserve rush piles damage into the enemy. As such you could say that reserve rushes are the polar opposite of rush combo’s from Star Ocean 4 as instead of simply showcasing regular attacks on a separate screen, you are able to use unique attacks on the same screen.
The biggest change however is the fact that you control 6 party members in battle and as such you can swap between all of them to make unique combo’s. I personally didn’t have a main character this time round. Instead I cycled between characters and used each one periodically. I mostly stuck with the three dudes: Fidel, Victor and Emmerson though I occasionally swapped to the ladies for some support when needed.
This brings me to another issue that was fixed from Star Ocean 3. Usually when you switched characters, the character would run up to the enemy in order to perform an attack. This could not be canceled out. In Star Ocean 5 however it is possible to cancel this run up through guarding which cancels out the attack completely. This is extremely handy and can be a life saver at some points.
Another improvement is the removal of boss staggering. Though this could be considered a negative. Bosses will no longer be interrupted by attacks. However with proper usage of the guard mechanic, it’s not likely that they will be able to hit you with a quick attack unless you let them but this is where the strategy comes in. You have to be able to read what the enemy is about to do. As for weak attacks, they aren’t used to interrupt bosses, rather they are used to exploit short counter windows. Strong attacks are used for the same purpose as always, to break down shields. As such, dodging and positioning yourself is very important and you can use it in conjunction with weak attacks for some quick hits.
This means that you can no longer stagger lock bosses which was an issue that plagued the rest of the series. Now you have to think a bit more and use counter windows to your advantage. On the plus side, this feature only serves to make cancel bonuses all the more rewarding. If you can get a 200% cancel bonus on a boss without getting hit, good job but it’s not that easy. In Star Ocean 3, you could get cancel bonuses easy, all you needed to do was button mash and spam. In Star Ocean 5 however you have to be more calculated as enemies can hit you mid combo which causes your reserve gauge to decrease so you have to be careful with how often you stack attacks and wait for a counter window.
As a result there is a lot more thought process behind Star Ocean 5 compared with the rest of the series, even with the game’s rush mode, Star Ocean 4 still had the ever exploitable staggering but only for a certain period of time. However when an enemy entered rush mode you would simply run away from it until it’s rush gauge depleted then you would wail on it again which was kind of an exploit since the rush gauge was somewhat flawed even if it was a better concept than Star Ocean 3’s fury system.
So Star Ocean 5 manages to do a lot of things right with its battle system despite it’s limitations, so much so that many of its shortcomings are outweighed by the good parts. Needless to say however, the combat system remains somewhat archaic to a degree considering the fact that we’re still using MP for specials (well at least it’s not HP like in Star Ocean 3) rather than AC like in the Tales series. In other words, the Star Ocean series has a bit of catching up to do to keep up with this generation’s standards.
All that aside however, the combat is still just as fun as the rest of the series, you could even consider it to be the best in the series. I would personally mark it on par with Star Ocean 4’s battle system. I think any Star Ocean fan will find enjoyment out of this system. If you can have fun by simply replaying old Star Ocean games, you will have so much fun with this game, especially if you enjoyed Star Ocean Till The End Of Time.
Now I want to touch on seamless battles a little bit. When you get into a battle, there are no transitions. Instead you are given the option to either attack or block to initiate a battle. If an enemy hits you, you will get surprised and the battle starts so you must be careful as you approach enemies and make sure you get the first move. Once the battle starts, a red ring appears around the field, running into that ring allows you to escape battles but there’s a timer. One thing that could be considered a minor annoyance is that when playing characters other than Fidel, they may end up outside the ring at the start of the fight, setting off the escape counter. It’s only a minor gripe though and if you do run away you merely have to wait some time to re-initiate the battle so it’s all good.
When the battle ends a results screen appears in the top right of the screen and you are immediately free to move. There is no fade out or loading screen’s in between battles, they start almost immediately. Certain battles may even take you off guard at some points as they are blended in with the seamless cutscenes. Certain battles will give you specific objectives where you have to protect someone as well and as such, battles can get quite difficult later on in the game.
In addition you may occasionally be accompanied by guest characters who will help you in battle. This brings me to what is quite possibly my favorite feature in the game, war battles. War battles are a somewhat frequent occurrence where large scale battles take place in a designated location.
During war battles you can freely move around the map as the battles are waged and can engage into battle simply by getting in range of the enemies and instigating them by using either the guard or attack button. In other words there are several battles going on at once and you are accompanied with NPC soldiers to assist you, very much like the siege of Castle Prevant in Infinite Undiscovery only on a much broader scale. These battles are quite the spectacle and really show off what the game’s seamlessness is capable of as it makes the battles feel more exciting.
Another new feature is the roles system, this allows players to not only provide certain bonuses but it also allows players to alter the character’s AI behavior in battle. As such the AI is vastly improved from Star Ocean Till The End Of Time and no longer will you have to put all characters on manual control due to the fact that the AI likes to recklessly charge towards an enemy. One of thing things that annoyed me the most with Star Ocean Till The End Of Time was the simple fact that Sophia’s AI had to be one of the worst healer AI i have ever had the displeasure of witnessing in a JRPG.
There are 5 categories for roles. One for offensive, one for defensive, one for healing and one for support. The final category is just for stat boosts among other things that do not affect your character’s AI.
Roles can be used for more than simply changing the AI behavior, certain roles have specific abilities that apply certain effects to the characters in battle. These effects can be pretty dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. Certain roles offer great benefits but can impair the character’s judgement which makes their AI less effective, other roles encourage the AI to do specific actions which may or may not be helpful. Other roles such as altruist exchanges all EXP gains with SP gains which can be problematic if you somehow forget that it was equipped and start wondering why your characters are gaining 0 EXP (this happened to me before). Put simply, roles in Star Ocean 5 are like sealstones in Valkyrie Profile 2 taken to a whole new level of dangerous.
Now as I mentioned before, the music of this game includes tracks from Star Ocean 3 and 4, if you haven’t played those games I urge you to give them a try (even though Star Ocean 3’s gameplay is godawful, it’s worth it for the story). The music from those games are as good as ever and with the exception of a few tracks, the majority of the tracks tie in well with the game
As for the new tracks, Motoi Sakuraba has put a lot of work into developing new ideas for his future projects as shown in Exist Archive. The soundtrack of Star Ocean 5 is a little bit more familiar though and really gives off that Star Ocean feeling. You’ll realize very quickly that the music maintains the series the standard of quality the series is known for and while there isn’t as much of it as we expected (Sakuraba is a pretty busy guy these days, seriously they should get Noriyuki Iwadare to work with him as he did the music for Radiata Stories and the legendary Grandia 2) the music we got is top-notch.
You can feel the effort that was put into the music and you can also feel the struggle that Sakuraba has gone through to make the soundtrack as good as it can be. I think by now, music composition has become more of a challenge than ever for Sakuraba as he has a lot of reputation behind him that he needs to maintain and this means experimenting with new ideas and new approaches.
It’s amazing how the soundtrack manages to remain so familiar but feel so different at the same time. The mixture of Violin, brass and alluring techno is the style Motoi Sakuraba went with for this game. The brass often stands out as being somewhat overpowering whereas the violin is very technical. The techno really brings out the sci-fi effect, especially when accompanied with the brass.
As will all tri-Ace games, there’s a bonus dungeon at the end and like the other games in the series there are two more unlockable difficulty levels for completing the game. The game itself is rather short but doesn’t outlive its welcome. There are several diversions available throughout the story such as the cathedral (the replacement for the series’ more conventional arena) which pits you against a gauntlet of enemies and finally a boss to obtain a reward at the end. There also of course plenty of side quests to do via the bulletin board and private actions. As a result you’ll generally spend around 40 hours or so which isn’t bad by any means.
Those intent on rushing through the main story may be disappointed by the game’s length. I’d say the main story is on par with that of Infinite Undiscovery’s main story in terms of play time so if you don’t mind a short JRPG, you should be satisfied with what this game has to offer. I for one am glad the game was short as it meant that I could get to this review a lot quicker. Still I took my time and played through around 37 hours worth doing sidequests and stuff and had a lot of fun doing so, so much so that I was getting a bit lax on my analysis hahahaha. It is a long time since I’ve enjoyed a proper Star Ocean game, I wanted to make the most of it and I got what I came for.
So if you’re wondering whether or not Star Ocean Integrity And Faithlessness is for you, it all depends on what you’re looking for in a JRPG. Are you looking for a long adventure with lots of filler? You won’t find it here. If you’re looking for a game that’s short but sweet and intend to play through some of the game’s side content, I’d definitely recommend this game to you. In other words, Star Ocean Integrity And Faithlessness is the opposite of Exist Archive in the sense that rather than trying to shove as much filler into the game as possible, it aims to bring top quality content in small quantities to keep the budget costs down and while it may not be completely devoid of filler, I find that the seamless combat speeds up the process well enough to keep players engaged.
As such I believe they made the right decision with this game and though many will disagree with me, I think that Star Ocean 5 is an enjoyable experience that didn’t get enough time to fully blossom but is definitely on the right track. I can see a potential for a Star Ocean 6 in the making. So if the game seems up your alley, I highly recommend giving this game a go. As long as you don’t set your expectations too high, you will enjoy this game a lot.
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Plot/story: Satisfactory
Visuals: Exceptional
Music: Great
Game play: Great
Lifespan: Quite Short
Difficulty: Easy
Worth replaying? Yes
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Overall score: Great
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For more about Star Ocean 5’s story click herewarning: may be small gameplay related spoilers!!!
There comes a time where the excitement and wonder of playing videogames begins to waver. As we experience more and more games, our tastes become more refined as do our expectations. It is very rare that a game manages to truly live up to the expectations of a seasoned gamer and when it does, you know you have picked up a true gem of a game. That’s where Valkyrie Profile 2 comes in.
Nostalgia is often the driving force when it comes to deciding on a player’s best experiences. We all look back at the good times… and the bad but it all translates to good in the end because they were an experience. My childhood was spent playing games such as Pokemon, Final Fantasy and Super Smash Bros Melee, looking back my childhood was pretty shallow compared to what I experienced in my later years. Even though I am merely at the age of 23, Valkyrie Profile 2 wasn’t a childhood game, I played it in my late teens. I had already played countless other games beforehand and I was beginning to grow tired of modern gaming.
So I made the decision to go back to the good old days and play some of the games I missed out on in my youth. In doing so I realized that there was more to my distaste of modern gaming than nostalgia, there is something missing in gaming today. I realized that I missed out on so many gems that went under the radar, some were better than others but I soon realized that I had missed out on so many amazing games that I wish I had experienced as a child. Then I found it, A game that went above and beyond my expectations. A game so breathtaking that it put all of my childhood games to shame. Little did I know that it would forever be engraved on my very soul. Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria currently stands as my favorite game of all time and it’s my job to explain to you why I find it to be the greatest game ever made… man this is going to be one hell of a challenge to review.
Unlike the first Valkyrie Profile which was a cult hit, Valkyrie Profile 2 was shadowed by its predecessor in every single possible way and was considered a “massive disappointment” by many fans of the first game. Needless to say, the game’s sales bombed and as a result, the game was quickly forgotten about. To this day I struggle to understand why this game was so poorly received by fans and why some people continue to nitpick it to this day. Seriously just picking out flaws in this game alone is like finding a needle in a haystack. Sure the game does have a few flaws here and there but I don’t consider these flaws to be as detrimental as people make them out to be.
So what did the game do to make people dislike it? Well for starters, Valkyrie Profile was a very good game… I say that loosely considering the fact that it was a hugely flawed game, an acquired taste you could say but the flaws in that game stuck out like a sore thumb. Nevertheless, Valkyrie Profile managed to gain a cult following who appreciated the games design choices for its originality and also appreciating the emotional impacts and deep undertones that made the game feel unlike any other.
Valkyrie Profile was unique and to see it become a traditional JRPG was ludicrous. People refused to accept that an 18-year-old midget princess with social issues replaced the almost stereotypical stoic goddess that was Lenneth but if you look back at Lenneth, as cool as she was, her stoic disposition really took a toll on her character as a whole and her development arc was blatantly forced. I just think the game was rushed by the end… but then again even Valkyrie Profile 2 suffered a similar fate by the end though looking back, I found that Valkyrie Profile 2’s story as a whole was better structured and was better executed than its predecessor.
At first sight, it’s understandable how someone can detest the idea of Alicia being the main character. She appears to be a stereotypical bimbo at the start of the game which is ironic considering the fact that I found that her alter ego, Silmeria fit that category far better in the long run. Over time however, I did start appreciating Alicia as the main lead as I came to understand the developer’s reasoning behind her character taking center stage. It was all about perspective and that’s what led to the biggest change Valkyrie Profile 2 made, the fact that it followed a more generic narrative structure but despite popular belief, this change was completely vital.
Lets face it, Valkyrie Profile was an unpolished masterpiece. Horribly unpolished might I add. Had the developers put more TLC into the game’s execution, it could have become the masterpiece that was Valkyrie Profile 2 but it was held back by some questionable design choices. Despite this it still managed to be a cult hit. Valkyrie Profile 2 didn’t do so well in comparison. People who hadn’t played Valkyrie Profile avoided it and people who played and loved Valkyrie Profile also avoided it. In other words, Valkyrie Profile 2 was to be an inevitable flop that very few were ever going to play or even talk about. Basically Valkyrie Profile 2 is the most under-appreciated video game ever made.
Now as someone who disliked the direction the first Valkyrie Profile took, I played a few more tri-Ace games and realized that they were by the same people who did Valkyrie Profile. So surely I should give the series another chance and I picked up Valkyrie Profile 2 on a whim. It could have been another horrible experience but I had a small glimmer of hope that they changed it and thank god they did.
“Valkyrie Profile 2 is the most under-appreciated video game ever made”
Valkyrie Profile 2 removed the convoluted open-ended story line progression along with its horrendous period system which punished players for exploring the world and replaced it with the old school narrative structure we all know and love. Vanilla storytelling has never been so bliss and to be honest, it was quite refreshing seeing the Valkyrie Profile series’ story line told with a more conventional form of progression as you got to actually experience the story line directly as opposed to just watching some random scene which holds no relevance to the plot whatsoever only to be thrown into the next dungeon, rinse and repeat. The developers clearly recognized just how hollow, convoluted and repetitive the open-ended progression was and while their decision to remove it completely might have sounded a bit extreme to some, I personally think that the decision was plausible.
Valkyrie Profile 2’s traditional approach may not have been perfect though. Early on in the game, you are presented with quite possibly the worst macguffin trope ever conceived to man and I honestly don’t mind macguffin tropes so long as they don’t take up too much time and aren’t too predictable. It’s easy to just sit there and say “this game is boring, give me a better plot” but as bad as it was, it didn’t seem to hinder the game’s pacing half as much as Valkyrie Profile’s entire story line and strangely enough, it really didn’t impede on the overall experience. In fact I believe the slow pacing was actually needed. Why? Because it allowed you to take everything in.
That’s right, Valkyrie Profile 2 is the best looking game on the PS2, still holding up today as one of the most aesthetically appealing games ever created. The visuals bring about a tone that is considerably less darker than its predecessor, illustrating a world where prosperity is relatively prominent, yet tensions are rising and war could break out at any moment, thus foreshadowing the events that occur in the first game and Covenant Of The Plume. The landscapes are comparatively lush and towns are considerably more opulent than they are in the other two games. It’s interesting to see how the state of the world used to be before the events of the first game. Given the somewhat grim nature of the game’s narrative, the visual tone is notably deceptive and for good reason. There is a strong disconnect between the game’s world and narrative, which brings about a huge contrast that blends together so damn well that it gives off a feeling of isolation in this facade of tranquility. All of this works due to the game’s realistic art style which helps emphasize a tone of neutrality throughout.
What truly makes Valkyrie Profile 2 look great however is not the art style itself, rather the attention to detail presented throughout the game’s aesthetic. The game is brimming with gorgeous particle effects which helps to invigorate the environments. Buildings in towns contain all kinds of fancy decorations you would expect from the middle ages within their interior, to make them feel all the more livable. The character designs are particularly eye catching as their attires are brimming with detailed patterns and textures without looking too flamboyant, allowing them to blend in with the game’s equally detailed landscapes. Despite all the trimmings, Valkyrie Profile 2’s aesthetic is surprisingly grounded in its presentation but this only serves to make the more otherworldly landscapes look all the more awe inspiring by comparison. Put simply the visuals are beyond sublime but the game’s incredible soundtrack just happens to be even better. The two go hand in hand to provide the player with one of the greatest gaming experiences you could possibly imagine.
Valkyrie Profile 2 is a work of art in motion and not just visually but musically as well. If you can appreciate music and visuals, then this might possibly be your dream game and I damn well love some good music and visuals as I find that when done right they bring out the personality of the game better than any form of narrative.
I could listen to the entire soundtrack from beginning to end and never encounter a single track that doesn’t maximize its potential. Valkyrie Profile 2’s soundtrack is consistently magnificent from beginning to end, that’s not to say that there aren’t certain tracks that soar above others, rather the music never becomes bland or tiresome.
Listening to the music in Valkyrie Profile 2 is like a drug, I just cannot get enough of it. Captivating is probably the most fitting word to describe Valkyrie Profile 2’s soundtrack. Heck I’ve spent more time listening to the game’s soundtrack than I have actually playing the game. I sometimes even listen to them whilst playing other games, particularly open world RPGs where they are surprisingly fitting.
“Valkyrie Profile 2 is a work of art in motion”
It is implied that many of the locations you visit in Valkyrie Profile 2 are strongly connected with the series’ lore and whilst I cannot discredit the visual department for doing its bit, the music does its part in expressing the significance of each location extremely well by establishing an awe-inspiring ambiance of wonder as players traverse through them. As such it is recommended to experience the music in-game in order for them to truly appreciate the game’s artistic value and its lore.
In addition, Valkyrie Profile 2’s soundtrack is so incredible that it manages to illustrate the story better than the actual dialogue. What I mean by this is that the tone of each track paints a pretty clear picture for each and every moment that occurs in the story. Now Valkyrie Profile 2 isn’t the only game to do this, nor is it the only game to do this well but Valkyrie Profile 2 arguably does this better than any other game. This is due to the consistency of the game’s soundtrack. Many of the game’s tracks are brimming with emotion, allowing players to become attached to the story quickly in order for them to be emotionally prepared for each moment the story throws at them.
What differentiates Valkyrie Profile 2 from every other game is that important cut-scenes are not the only areas that receive this treatment, the towns, fields and dungeons each play their part in building the player’s emotional connection to the game which establishes a strong build up of emotion which carries the story forward. Despite this there are very few sections of the game in which the emotional build up cascades but when it does, it feels more impactful as a result.
A recurring theme surrounding Valkyrie Profile 2 is history. The game takes place many years before the events of Valkyrie Profile and puts you in the perspective of a Valkyrie who can read the psychic energy of objects allowing her to read into the past. Valkyrie Profile 2 tends to feel very barren and empty at times. This is intentional as the game tries to divert the player’s attention away from what is going on in the present, focusing on the events on the past in order for the player to see the world for what it really is. The problem is that many of these events are never explained thoroughly and players are required to piece things together for themselves in order to paint their own picture of the world.
Silmeria’s object reading opens up a whole new dimension within the game’s storytelling.
This is where einherjar come into play. You can collect einherjar by interacting with weapons littered around dungeons and they will fight for you, essentially giving you another character to control in battle. Each character comes with a bio which can only be read in the status screen, some characters relate to one another, it’s funny when you learn that one of the first einherjar you get is one of Alicia’s ancestors. Now this is one of the game’s biggest controversies and what gives the game so much hate. The first game practically revolved around einherjar which are basically warriors risen from the dead to fight for Odin.
In Valkyrie Profile, you can view the death scenes of each character during intervals. This is where the game’s abstraction is rooted, a series of short stories involving character deaths who will eventually become a member of your party and from that point on, you never see or hear from them again, except in battle or the sacred phase (which shows brief conversations between characters that aren’t really all that big of a deal and to view them, those characters have to be removed from your party). So essentially Valkyrie Profile had absolutely no character interaction outside the sacred phase and at a certain point you are expected to believe that they have grown attached to her which is total bullshit if you ask me.
Now the second game replaced them with a brief bio and people hated this despite the fact that the einherjar in Valkyrie Profile 2 took a backseat role in the main story. On the plus side, Valkyrie Profile 2’s main story actually has a bit of character interaction. Though the main cast may not be as interesting as other games in the genre, there’s still some character development to be found here. I do believe the cutscenes do a good enough job, at least enough to motivate the player. People who expect strong character arcs may not find it in Valkyrie Profile 2 (or any JRPG for that matter, go play Warcraft 3 if you want serious storytelling) but it doesn’t make the game any less enjoyable. If you prioritize gameplay and just about everything else over story, then you will likely adore Valkyrie Profile 2.
Then again, there is a lot of attention to detail when it comes to the einherjar backstories in Valkyrie Profile 2, it’s just a different kind of approach which requires more reading than watching. If you take the time to read all of the character bio’s in the game, you will find out about a lot of events which occurred many years before Valkyrie Profile 2. I strongly recommend reading all of these einherjar biographies as they are the key to solving the puzzle that is understanding the world of Midgard. As you are essentially playing from the perspective of Silmeria, you are technically experiencing two stories, Alicia’s story (or as I like to call the “main story”) and the stories of the many souls within Silmeria, giving you an insight into many events that occurred in the past.
Some of the einherjar are connected and will occasionally share a battle quote with each other relating to their backstory which symbolizes that the einherjar, though backseat characters are actually part of the game’s lore. I personally believe that the attention to detail makes up for the lack of more concrete einherjar stories and I also find that a more abstract presentation of the einherjar’s backstories befits this game better as more concrete scenarios would be too distracting for the player when you consider the game is clearly trying to be a work of art in motion. As such, I’d argue that the developers didn’t rush this design choice.
Somebody mentioned in an article that Valkyrie Profile 2 tells a better story in its world and setting than it does in its narrative. This is 100% the truth. The story in Valkyrie Profile 2 isn’t bad by any means but as I have mentioned before, the narrative doesn’t even compare to the likes of games such as Grandia 2 as it is somewhat flawed at certain points. This is because narrative is not the focus of Valkyrie Profile 2 whereas the first Valkyrie Profile had quite a lot of narrative, some more trivial than others but there was plenty of it nonetheless.
Valkyrie Profile 2 decides that rather than telling you the story it wants the player to explore its world and uncover the story for themselves. Sadly, most players aren’t patient enough to do this and as such, I find that the story of Valkyrie Profile 2 was horribly misunderstood. Nevertheless, as I mentioned before, the music of Valkyrie Profile 2 creates a solid ambiance that will pull you into its world should you allow it to and that alone is enough to keep player emotionally connected.
Rather than simply plundering people’s houses for Loot, Valkyrie Profile 2 often has readable books where you can learn some of the lore.
As for the gameplay. It doesn’t disappoint. Much like the first game, it is a side-scrolling RPG which is probably one of the biggest reasons why it was overlooked. In any case, side-scrolling is part of the series’ identity and as such it’s a good thing that the developers didn’t change this. In any case, the visuals more than make up for the fact that you can only move left or right.
As with most side scrolling games, Valkyrie Profile 2 experiments with platforming with the use of photons. For the most part, the game’s platforming sections are pretty simplistic and the game tends to focus on thinking rather than reflexes.
Photons can be used to crystallize enemies to immobilize them, however if you shoot a photon at a crystallized enemy, you will swap places with it. This mechanic is the most common element of the game’s platforming as it revolves around swapping places with enemies to reach certain areas.
If anything, the side scrolling sections are less about platforming and more about puzzle solving. I often joke about how Valkyrie Profile 2 experimented with the portal gun idea before Valve did with their release of Portal as it is essentially the same idea with photons except it uses enemies instead of walls. Overall, the platforming sections are a cool distraction, but the real meat of the game play is in the battles.
Valkyrie Profile 2 keeps the same style of combat as the first game but expands on it greatly. In battle, you are actually able to roam around a 3D battlefield… oh the irony. This opens up a completely new approach to battles and applies more flexibility and depth to them as a whole. The combat uses synchronized time, meaning that whenever the player moves around, so does the enemy. Each enemy has an attack area and if a character moves into it when it is flashing, the enemy will perform their attack. This adds an element of strategy that was missing in the first game, giving the game an extra layer of challenge.
Much like the first game however, characters are set to face buttons and they represent your choice of attacks. What I mean by this is that rather than just giving you a set of special attacks for each character, picking one and letting the computer play the rest, Valkyrie Profile 1 and 2 has you playing as all the characters simultaneously. Each character represents a certain move set which can be customized at will, at least in Valkyrie Profile 2 as the first Valkyrie Profile limits each character to a single attack string of three attacks. This is where Valkyrie Profile 2 succeeds where other ARPGs fail, the ability to be in control of everything on-screen at all times. So if you make a mistake it’s your fault.
Valkyrie Profile 2’s battle system is unlike any other JRPG and can take a while to get used to. It can also feel quite repetitive at the start but once the training wheels are off and you obtain more characters, the real action starts. Honestly when I replayed the game and just had Alicia and Rufus I felt like the game removed so much. That’s because the combat improves over time but eases you into the basics and you better appreciate that as the game is very deep. Sadly it can put a lot of newcomers off, particularly impatient ones who judge the game at first sight.
A lot of people say that this game is really hard. I honestly had no trouble playing through this game. It’s a very deep game and you really need to pay attention to the tutorials, get the right skills and understand seal stones as this game requires a lot of preparation. Valkyrie Profile 2’s game play is all about thinking outside the box. Whilst there is some strategy involved during game play, it matters little if your characters are under equipped, you’re going to get a spanking if you’re not prepared.
Then again, if you do come prepared, you might find the game to be way too easy. This is because Valkyrie Profile 2 is so easily broken, it’s ridiculous. It’s all about knowing how the game works and if you want to play the game the normal way, the difficulty might be tough. However if you’re into power leveling and gearing then this game can seem be a bit too rewarding.
“This is where Valkyrie Profile 2 succeeds where other ARPG’s fail, the ability to be in control of everything on-screen at all times. So if you make a mistake it’s your fault”
There are a lot of ways to play this game and it can seem a little daunting at first but experimentation is key. Valkyrie Profile 2 is all about finding the best play style for you and maximizing it to its full potential, though it is encouraged to switch on the fly. For this reason, gaining experience matters little in comparison with equipment and skills.
Each character has their own set of attacks and they learn more of them as they level up. Considering the fact that Valkyrie Profile is not a Tales/Star Ocean game, the move selection in battle is limited (and linear) for each character simply due to the fact that you are controlling everyone in the party (though you can learn the scramble attack skill to mix things up). You’re not picking out moves, you’re picking out characters and developing moves from the characters you like in order to enhance them, you can then change-up their moves later after you’ve developed them, either that or swap them out for a new character and equip that character with the armaments from the other character to make them just as powerful.
Utilizing all of your character’s skills and abilities is the name of the game here. Most battles revolve around timing your attacks in order to acquire bonus experience via magic crystals as well as increasing your AP reserves via gems which lets you use more attacks. Whereas some characters are best at dealing direct damage, others are better at generating extra hits which can not only help gain more gems and experience crystals but it can also generate more heat allowing you to perform soul crushes which are a signature move each character has which can be chained with other soul crushes to deal a tremendous amount of damage towards the enemy. In addition, the higher your hit count, the higher the damage you deal.
Characters learn skills through battling, the amount of battles required depends on the character’s level. So it’s important to learn new skills as early as possible.
It’s also important to note that each battle has a timer on the right hand side of the screen. As you perform actions, the timer slowly begins to run out. Many of the game’s battles have you fighting against multiple enemies, those that do tend to have leaders. Leaders are essentially stronger versions of the standard enemies and the only way to finish a battle is to defeat them. However, once you have defeated the leader, the battle ends even if you haven’t defeated any of the other enemies. This helps speed things up a little and encourages you to finish the fight in the shortest time possible in order to perform a direct assault which rewards you with bonus experience crystals and occasionally an extra item.
That’s not all, enemies can also lose body parts when they attack in a Monster Hunter esque fashion in the sense that breaking off enemy body parts often rewards you with loot such as accessories which you can use to learn skills and improve stats. Additionally, breaking off certain body parts changes the behavior of the enemy, if you break off their weapon for example, their range will be limited.
Shopping in Valkyrie Profile 2 is like Monster hunter. Basic armaments can be bought with cash, more powerful items need additional materials to be created. You do however get a return on your materials simply by trading them for OTH.
The biggest reward for breaking however is break mode. Break Mode allows the player to attack freely without expending AP so you can button mash to your heart’s content. The official strategy guide mentions that break mode occurs randomly and the rate that is occurs accumulates by 5% per break for each character and the occurrence rate starts at 70%. The fact that the game actually keeps track of how often the player breaks off enemy body parts really goes to show just how astonishing the attention to detail is in this game.
Allow Lezard Valeth to demonstrate the many benefits of breaking
It is often important to experiment with different attacks in order to hit a certain body part and acquire certain items early on in the game so that you can learn skills as quickly as possible. Bear in mind that in order to learn skills, you cannot simply equip an accessory. Most of the game’s equipment comes with its own colored rune and each skill requires a specific color and rune combination to trigger its learning process. This means combining different types of equipment and keeping them equipped until a skill is learned. Talk about needlessly complicating things.
Magic is visually spectacular, however many of the enemies have high resistances making mages fall short of other characters in the damage department. Possibly an oversight by the developers.
Visually, the combat is a spectacle. The animations are exceptionally detailed and encourage a steady flow of combat. Like I mentioned previously, timing your attacks is important and can be very rewarding. However if you miss an attack, it could prove to be detrimental, so it’s important to stay focused on the action. Thankfully the gameplay never becomes too hectic and can even be somewhat relaxing due to its steady pacing. The soul crushes are also a treat for the eyes and can be extremely satisfying to pull off. All in all, Valkyrie Profile 2’s combat is not only intricate in its mechanics but also in spectacle. If you enjoy experimentation and don’t mind a bit of complexity with a few balancing issues here and there, then you’re going to adore Valkyrie Profile 2’s combat.
Valkyrie Profile 2 offers a variety of features which enhance the possibilities in combat. Once an einherjar reaches a certain level, you are able to release them, permanently removing them from the party in exchange for stat boosting items and upon doing so, they become NPC’s who blend in with the world. By talking to them, they might even give you a free item depending on when you released them. In addition to this, Valkyrie Profile 2 adds a new feature known as sealstones. Sealstones are powerful tools you can use whilst traversing through dungeons to empower or weaken the holder.
Sealstones can be purchased with Magic Crystals which are rewarded for hitting enemies in a mid air combo in battle. Allowing you to keep them permanently.
By holding a sealstone, the effects of said sealstone are bestowed upon the entire party. As such you may find some sealstones to be detrimental in battle. However if you place it on a dais within the dungeon, all the enemies in the area will be under the effects of the sealstone. Sealstones have multiple uses, you can use them to assist you and you can even use them to deliberately handicap yourself for challenge runs, if that’s what you’re into.
Furthermore, the game has up to 50 difficulty levels which can only unlocked with each play through (complete the game on 1 difficulty, unlock the next difficulty etc). Each difficulty multiplies the enemies stats depending on the difficulty making this game quite possibly one of the most challenging rpgs out there. If you are a perfectionist you will spend a long time on this game.
Valkyrie profile 2 also has a bonus dungeon that not only deliberately butchers the game’s storyline (typical tri-Ace trend) but also provides a real challenge for the dedicated players. The bonus dungeon has 5 floors each packed full of mini-bosses and tough super-bosses and lots of loot. Much of the side content takes place here and the developers worked hard despite having limited resources to make it a somewhat interesting bonus dungeon compared to the conventional bonus dungeons many rpgs implement which tend to be rushed, dry and tedious.
Valkyrie profile 2 carries on the trademark super-bosses of the tri-Ace games as well as adding its own, allowing players to recruit otherwise inaccessible characters in the main story. Sadly most of these characters have already been playable beforehand so you won’t find many surprises here except maybe for one but you’ll have to wait and see.
One word that defines the experience of Valkyrie Profile 2 overall is elegance. I find that this is the core of every single aspect that makes Valkyrie Profile 2 such a memorable experience. Not only does its mythological setting carry a lot of sophistication within itself but just about everything from the short yet somewhat intriguing story, the unbelievably sublime soundtrack and the lavishly detailed visual style is executed in an elegant manner. heck even the combat system feels elegant with is emphasis on well timed button presses and precise tactical movement which brings about a steady pacing.
In fact, this game is so elegant that it can be difficult to believe that it is a tri-Ace game at times, considering the fact that many of their games present themselves in an overly frivolous manner. I find that Valkyrie Profile as a series stands as tri-Ace’s true claim to fame personally because as enjoyable as their other games are, the Valkyrie Profile games are comparably more dignified and refined in pretty much every aspect of design. You can clearly see that the developers took great care and consideration in maintaining consistency in regards to the serious nature of the series while taking whatever liberties they can to make the supernatural aspects as spectacular as possible without being too ridiculous or out of place with what the context. The games also tend to be considerably more complex in their systems and while this can be problematic at times, when done right it can bring about more depth.
It is this elegant design that makes the Valkyrie Profile series so alluring to begin with but the first Valkyrie Profile, despite it’s plot and setting, didn’t feel half as consistent in its tone as the sequel. For starters, I found that Valkyrie Profile’s ridiculously flamboyant voice acting felt cheesy and unrefined. In addition, as much as I enjoyed the catchy dungeon music, I felt that it clashed poorly with the game’s grim setting which came across as vulgar at times. Valkyrie Profile also delivers much of its narrative through exposition, which despite being presented and performed very well, fell flat on its face in the end due to the fact that they shoved way too much of it down the player’s throat to the point that it could get pretty overwhelming at times, making it difficult to keep up with the game’s story. That and the complex nature of the game did more harm than good in the long run.
Now don’t get me wrong, I do think that Valkyrie Profile was undoubtedly elegant to a degree and I cannot deny that I enjoyed its flamboyant nature despite the fact that it conflicted with the game’s serious tone. My point is that Valkyrie Profile 2 absolutely nails the feeling of elegance that they were trying to convey in the first game as it is considerably more streamlined in its structure, yet offers considerably more meaningful complexity in its combat. Sure there are still a few catchy, dynamic tracks here and there but they are mixed in with more relaxing, atmospheric tracks that are more befitting of the game’s world. There’s also a bit of expository dialogue here and there but it doesn’t weigh you down as much as it did in the first game. It’s the subtle delivery of the game’s lore that makes Valkyrie Profile 2 that much more elegant than the first game as it doesn’t shove any needless information in the player’s face, yet it gives players the opportunity to seek it out should they wish.
“One word that defines the experience of Valkyrie Profile 2 overall is elegance”
You see, the beauty of Valkyrie Profile 2 being a sequel is that the first Valkyrie Profile already explained so much with its expository world building that they had a lot of room to experiment with other means of world building. I think the developers simply saw an opportunity to try something new and ran with it, expecting players to appreciate it better than they did. Regardless, this doesn’t negatively impact the game in any way and I believe that there is some value to be had in the game’s world building despite the fact that many disregarded it.
“I know you are there… come out and play”
Ultimately though, the storyline can be enjoyable but it doesn’t satisfy all tastes as while its narrative can be enjoyable to a degree, it can be rather monotonous at times. The characters are a mixed bag as while some are well-developed and likable, others are just along for the ride. This could be quite bothersome for people who expect a balanced cast of well-written characters as Valkyrie Profile 2’s cast leaves much to be desired for the most part, especially since many of the characters are einherjar who have absolutely nothing to do with the main story but even then, the main cast of characters are still a mixed bag though this is partially due to characters returning from the first Valkyrie Profile that do not get any further characterization.
On the plus side, the voice acting is done in a fashion which befits the game’s elegance. Each line is delivered delicately and is heavily emphasized without being too flamboyant. Needless to say however, some of the game’s dialogue is hammed up to the max, however it doesn’t come across as cheesy like in the first game. There are a few lip sync issues here and there along with a few other oddities in the cutscenes but they are barely noticeable most of the time and when it is, the voice performances more than make up for it. Those that aren’t concerned with the flaws in the game’s story who can appreciate the direction of the narrative will have a good time, whereas those who are dissatisfied with the main story and are unable to appreciate the game’s subtle narrative backdrop may find the story quite boring, which is understandable.
Put simply, Valkyrie Profile 2 is the opposite of Warcraft 3, the story is serviceable but the rest is absolutely brilliant. It brings together everything that makes a JRPG experience so enjoyable. With its subtle storytelling and its elegant design, Valkyrie Profile 2 greatly differentiates itself from other JRPGs, for better or for worse. Put simply, Valkyrie Profile 2 is the videogame equivalent of fine dining. It’s taste may be too rich for some and may not fill the gap for others, however I do believe that there is an audience for this game as it offers a lot of attractive qualities, setting itself apart from other games in the genre. I would recommend Valkyrie Profile 2 to anyone who is looking for a JRPG that offers something different.
Valkyrie Profile 2 may not become one of your favorite games of all time but it will certainly leave a lasting effect on you should you manage to finish it. Therefore, Valkyrie Profile 2 is officially the first game to receive my gold star of awesome as it is a game that went above and beyond my expectations, so much so that I believe it deserves extra recognition, a symbol that represents just how phenomenal this game is. Reviewing a game like this is quite daunting, after all, a game as classy as this deserves a review of equal standards and though that feat is a tough one to meet, It won’t stop me from trying.
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