Valkyrie Profile: revisited

After finishing P3P some months ago, I decided to play an old game that really grew fond on me – Valkyrie Profile Lenneth. Technically it is my second playthrough, because I’ve played and finished the PS1 version before.

A bit of history about Valkyrie Profile and me: I was introduced to Valkyrie Profile series back then when the 2nd installment, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria was released for PS2 (around 2006 I think), and it instantly became one my lifelong favourite jrpg due to its unique gameplay, beautiful graphic and (loose) usage of Norse mythology. Then I tried to look for the prequel game Valkyrie Profile 1, released for PS1. But the game was extremely scarce at that time (because of many reasons, such as the being released at the end of PS1 era/beginning of PS2 era), and it was not until quite some time after I finished VP2 (around end 2006) that I was fortunate enough to find a copy of VP1. Needless to say, I completed the game, getting all three endings as well as getting a bit of journeying into Tri-Ace’s typical secret dungeon, Seraphic Gate. But I still had unfinished business with the game (especially regarding Seraphic Gate), so after quite some years, I’m back to VP1, this time into the ported version on PSP, Valkyrie Profile Lenneth.

During the stone age of this blog, I’ve written some lousy, half-ass reviews (here and here) of the Valkyrie Profile franchise, but never write something exclusively for VP1. Now that I’ve finished the PSP’s VP:Lenneth, I decided to give a more elaborate thought on the game (not to the extend of a full review though), and the many thing that brings the memories of VP1 and VP2 from the old days...

Title: Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth
Developer: Tri-Ace
Platform: Playstation Portable (PSP)
Genre: jrpg
Release date: July 2006


Story

As mentioned, the basic story of VP1 revolves loosely around the Norse-Scandinavian myth. Lenneth, a reincarnation of an unfortunate girl named Platina, was awakened in Asgard by Odin to do her duty as the second Valkyrie - descend to human world Midgard and recruit potential Einherjar, then send them back to Asgard to prepare for Ragnarok - the end of the world, and the war against the Vanir. That's pretty much the base of the story, but the plot can expand into a very personal issue between Lenneth, Loki, and her past memories as human; and this part of story can only be achieved if you do specific things during the course of the game and aim for the Ending A. Anyway despite being the first of the Valkyrie Profile series, the story of VP1 actually occurred some few thousand years after the events in VP2: Silmeria.

This brings us to the endings. The game has three endings: Ending A (good), B (normal) and C (bad). (spoiler alert) Obviously Ending A is the best and something that made the game has its “story”, but it require a bit of planning in order to be achieved. Though I personally never liked this ending, because I don't like that "man". Ending B was a bit dull if you ask me, because it’s all about Valkyrie and her duty as Valkyrie: go to Midgard, recruit Einherjar, send someone before the end of chapter, and at the end of the game, fight the battle of Ragnarok at Jotunheim. Ending C is about Lenneth failing her duty as Valkyrie and hence banished to kingdom come by the mighty Freya herself. While it is not a nice ending at all, it’s worth to watch at least, plus if you’re confident enough, you might want to try beating Freya, although she is extremely hard to beat, probably even harder than the Ethereal Queen at Seraphic Gate.

Great addition of CGI Movies

VP: Silmeria has everything contained in the original VP1 with little to no change: same graphic, same gameplay, same game content; basically a more straightforward port than Persona 3 ported to PSP into P3P. But one interesting stuff added for VP:Lenneth is the 12 CGI movies replacing the many cutscenes that originally exist in the original VP1. These movies were definitely beautiful (I think you could find them on utube). Some were unimpressive (eg Lucian’s blues moment), but a few others definitely caught my attention. Among them are the cutscenes at Brahm’s castle, showing Lenneth’s marching through Brahms’s throne, only to find the crystallised Silmeria alongside him. Another scene that got me really excited is Alicia(!)’s appearance in Dipan, a cutscene that was much similar to the one we see in VP2 (with her appearing from the crowd when King Barbarossa was about to be guillotined by Hrist), except that the Alicia in those scene was…well, less cute I guess.


Seraphic gate, as usual

Being a Tri-Ace's game I always anticipated a great extra dungeon with super hard bosses waiting inside. IIRC VP1 is the among the first Tri-Ace’s game that introduced this kind of extra dungeon, and most importantly, the two iconic, trademark Tri-Ace’s super bosses, Gabriel Celeste and her sister Ethereal Queen. Seraphic Gate later reappear in Infinite Undiscovery and VP2, with GC and EQ reappearing in Star Ocean 3, Star Ocean 4, Radiata Stories, Infinite Undiscovery and VP2. Seraphic Gate in VP1 was a completely separate dungeon/mode that detaches itself from the main game, accessible from the main menu once we reach the final save point in Ending A or B. Kind of a shame because unlike VP2 where SG is part of the main game, this means whatever we accrue in Seraphic Gate (the extra characters, uber weapons etc) can never be brought into the main game.

Anyway, exploring Seraphic Gate in VP1/VP:Lenneth is only enjoyable if we play in Hard Mode because there are secret rooms in this dungeon that can only be unlocked by certain items obtained only from Hard Mode dungeons (yes, in this game there are a number of dungeons that were only available in a specific difficulty only), and these unlockable includes uber characters Freya (!), Brahms, and the mad scienti- ops, mad mage Lezard Valeth; and extremely overpowered weapons/gears like Holy Wand of Telos, Ether Laser and Eternal garb. Then the final challenge, Gabriel Celeste and Ethereal Queen. The monsters in the area round Ethereal Queen are the hardest in the game, and it's very unlikely to survive these fights without Auto-Item and Guts. Speaking of Auto-Item and Guts, these are arguable the two most important equipped skill in the game. Why? Because in VP1, many bosses can kill you easily with their special attack (aka PWS/Great Magic), and Auto Item skill helps immensely to immediately brings back the dead or heal the low hp allies when using item/spell manually will cost a turn. I have never played a game where healing items are significantly more important than the spell counterpart. Oh, Ethereal Queen's special attack, Empress Massacre can deal about 1 million damage to any single character -_-

Nevertheless, I ended up beating EQ 10 (!) times, getting a Tri-Emblem as the first reward, 8 Book of Riddles (which absolutely has no use) in the next 8 times I beat her, and an Angel Slayer, the strongest weapon in the game in the 10th battle. Those who explored Seraphic Gate in VP2 will remember this pattern, and in fact, the Book of Riddles that we got in VP2 had similar message as the one we got from VP1's Seraphic Gate. Another returning SG features from VP1 to VP2 is the "hamsters", a tiny, cute little animal in SG that like to appear in groups. Unfortunately, they were also the most dangerous, the hardest enemy to beat in the game, because....they're too small!!

My end game party, and some of the "Book of Riddles". Now, why Nanami instead of Lezard, you ask? Because I like Nanami's battle quotes XD

The full text of the Book of Riddles:

1. Congratulations on clearing it! I thank you for playing the game so much.
2. Wow, you cleared the Seraphic Gate 3 times...What else are you hoping for?
3. Did you finish the game again? I'm so happy that you like the game this much. But there's really no reward...
4. Do you want to play more?! There's no reward, is there? Why don't you do something else already?
5. Are you getting sick of this yet? Unlike Star Ocean, you can get only to level 99...
6. What game should I play next...
7. maybe next will be STAR OCEAN The T???d Story...
8. I'm back. Can't believe I have to do it 9 times... Anyway, I only have one more to do. If I finish that...

p/s: Whenever I watched Etherealsky’s Cool Edition, I always smile at the Mystina part (at 2:13), because indeed, I kinda feel sorry for her because while other major characters reappear in VP2 (Lenneth, Odin, Freya, Lezard, Brahms, Arngrim etc), she was left out. Well, Lucian also was left out but he was never my favourite character (despite the usefulness of his Slash Bolt in battle) I’d rather not having him in VP2.