Valkyrie Profile 2 impressions and stuff

[Cless]

Game of the generation. Nay. Best. Game. Ever.

The original VP was my favorite game of all time. And this one so far IMO trumps it.

They've changed a lot of things, a lot of the originality of the first game has been traded for some standard RPG fare, but I don't really think it hurts the gameplay.  Some important changes:

• No period time limit system
• Linear storyline progression, so no reaching the last dungeon in an hour (or getting wiped off the face of the planet by Freya by trying)
• There's no war in Valhalla or anything. So there's no need to gather Einherjar, or anything similar.
• Einherjar do exist, and they join you. But there is no little depressing story behind them that occurs before you get them. They have a little bio in the status menu, that's about it. The idea is to build them up and release them. You'll get get stat-raising items for doing so. You'll get extra powerups as a reward for training them higher than the minimum required release level as well as giving them better equipment than they started with (the better it is, the more rewards you reep). After you release them, you can find them anywhere in the world hanging out. Usually they'll give you really good items or money.
• There are a lot of Einherjar in this game, more than the original. But it comes at a cost. They're best described as "generic". While they're lucky enough to have unique designs, there are many who share the same movesets (including finishing moves), and each gender only has a handful of different voices each.

Dungeon exploration: Pretty much the same as the original. It's all sidescrolling and platforming. They've also added a minimap that shows nearby enemy positions. They've axed sliding, I guess there's no use for it in this game.

Alicia's photons mostly work differently to Lenneth's ice:

• Still used to freeze enemies. But the similarities end there.
• Hitting a frozen enemy with another photon shot will cause you to switch positions with them. Useful for soliving puzzles, reaching areas otherwise inaccessible, and moving through dungeon rooms faster.
• The photons can be shot diagonally
• Photons bounce of walls/floor/ceiling a few times and then disintegrate, rather than forming a crystal on impact.

An important difference is that as soon as you reach the third dungeon in the game, it introduces you to the orb system. These create effects that can either benefit or cripple you, and/or the enemy (such as 1.2x attack power, 2x EXP but no money, additional elemental weakness/defense, enemy always ambushes you... etc). The player/enemy effects are separated.

The orb effects are found in dungeons only. You can use the ones in a particular dungeon and take advantage of them there, but if you want to use them in other dungeons, you will have to "purchase" them with the crystals gained from battles. Some are extremely expensive and may take hours of fighting to afford them.

At first you can only have one orb effect on your party. But it seems like you can increase the capacity by one by defeating a boss in an optional dungeon. I'm not too sure if it's possible to increase the orb effect capacity for enemies, as I still only have one slot for them (I have 3 for my party right now).

Other stuff:

Towns are more alive, or something. What townspeople had to say in the original was pretty much useless for anything. Going in a town was often a waste of a time period. There are a lot more people in the towns in this game and it seems to me townsfolk talk is far more important (at least, that's how you open up optional dungeons).

Music is good. Although it takes a much more laid-back approach than the first game. So far it mostly only works in the context of the game, there's not too much I'd really want to listen to outside of it. So far overall, I'd say the first game's soundtrack is a lot better, and definitely much more listenable outside of the game context.

Some town music is way too HAPPY :P. I miss that gloomy town theme in the first game...

Graphics. Sometimes I still can't quite believe this is a PS2 game. My favorite area in the game by far is the Kithena Plains. Beautiful swaying 3D grass, flowers blowing away in the wind, ocean water in the background (all with relaxing music to boot).... wonderful wonderful atmosphere.

Game runs at 60 frames per second (FPS) during battle and exploration. 30 FPS for cutscenes. Unforunately, the framerate takes a hit during battle when there are several enemies present on a battle screen. It seems like they might have coded it to instantly drop to 30 when it encounters too much stress to handle the full 60.

.....I still have more to write. Especially on the battle system. I'll post the details on that later. I'm too tired to go on about that...

[demented_lullaby]

Thank you for the write up. You have me really drooling for the NA release.

[Phren]

yeah, I definatly like it myself. Though, I can;t see what everyone's all up in arms over the difficulty about.  Maybe I missed the difficulty setting, but I'm well past the  second boss, and I have to say that after I got the hang of it, battles were, like, really easy.

But it's *so* pretty. Not just the level of graphical power, but the aestetics are nothing short of wonderful. 'Cap'n Jack' and crew move a little shaky, but character design and execution look good overall. The city/castle/laboratory after the first cave dungeon just wow'ed the heck out of me.

[Cless]

The difficulty spikes in chapter 3. It's still not too difficult. I've yet to have an unintentional game over. Then again, I'm slightly ovelevelled I think...

[demented_lullaby]

Hmmm I like my RPG's to be difficult. I did get through Nocturne on the hardest dif. so I'm not to worried .

[Magicpaint]

Sounds awesome, I hope to be playing the English version, I don't think I can afford an import with my credit card as dry as it is. >_>

[Judas]

The game's great...I've been hooked on it since it arrived last thursday, and for supposedly being 'import infriendly' I've had no trouble with it, only time I checked the boards was to confirm the bonus dungeon's location (S Gate) and am currently a lil over halfway through it on my SCC...my only issues are the music like you said Cless it's not that great outside of the game save for a couple songs like the remix of Stairway to Heaven and Mission to Deep Space? ...is that song in the Gate supposed to be it because I've only identified part of the original tune...anyway my other complaint is the lack of the godly stats which you gotta work hard to get now...graphics are good I really liked the upper section of the Yggdrasil and the S Gate's redesign...difficulty wise it's fair considering I'm doin a SCC it's kept me on my toes and I can't wait to unlock the Hard mode after completing the game...well that's really all I can say about it now

[Cless]

Mission to deep space is back again? Seriously now, that track is getting incredibly old. Please don't tell me they're also reusing Incarnation of the Devil in some optional fight again.. I'd like to see something good and fresh that lives up to those as they originally did.

Anyway, the things that are preventing it from being import friendly for me is all the different kanji named items and orb effects.

But at this time I'm debating on whether to play more or not and wait for the english version. I'm in chapter 3 at the rainy swamp dungeon.

[Judas]

I meant I can't tell if it's Mission to Deep Space...but whatever it is it's pretty catchy, dunno about Incarnation of the Devil since I haven't fought the Queen yet...stuck on 'Frow' right now, and if the Sealed Orbs bother you then I'll warn you about the Palace of the Venerated Dragon where you need 'bad' effect Orbs to clear a puzzle

[Phren]

Aww, come on, I like hearing the old 'mission to deep space' start up..

And yeah, I can not speak more then a few words of jap, so I have to rely on kata, the few spoken things I understand (rare is the word that has only hira, and not kanji) and my understanding of RPG's in general. So orb effects, accessory effects, and some submenus (I'm sure there's a way to be making myself/party stronger on the side from some complex menu), are completely a mystery to me...

 Other stuff is sketchy, too: Like, I fought that dragon boss on the cliff, and tried to go back to see if anything was there, and it gave me a choce of something or other, and I kind of ended up fighting it again, with only Leone/Hrist alive.

Other then that, it's enjoyable and easy to play for the jap illiterate like myself, but if what Judas is saying is true, I'm sure I can only claw my way so deep into the game before I have to wait for the domestic release, so I'm tirn with continung onward just to get stuck or not.. having a huge urge to pop in the original...

[Goshi]

So far no PAL release though, just like the 1st. However since VP: Lenneth made it out there, I see no reason why they can't release it here too. They better release it in PAL too >:(

[Cless]

Apparently, every time you beat the game you can create a clear file. And starting up from that clear file the game actually gets even harder than the last playthrough. Have no idea if there's a difficulty cap...

Better brush up on them strategies!

[Judas]

Apparently, every time you beat the game you can create a clear file. And starting up from that clear file the game actually gets even harder than the last playthrough. Have no idea if there's a difficulty cap...

Better brush up on them strategies!

Same applies for the Seraphic Gate but I'm not sure if it stops after the 10th battle with Iseria to get 'you know what'...I can imagine how hard the Gate will be with it's hardest level on the game's highest...might even be able th trump SO2's Universe...also the tri-Emblem is really easy to miss

[Goshi]

Same applies for the Seraphic Gate but I'm not sure if it stops after the 10th battle with Iseria to get 'you know what'...I can imagine how hard the Gate will be with it's hardest level on the game's highest...might even be able th trump SO2's Universe...also the tri-Emblem is really easy to miss

Whenever I kept clearing Seraphic Gate the difficulty never changed for me >_>

[Judas]

Really? Even with the Levantine the enemies seemed a bit harder...or are you talkin about VPL's game

[Goshi]

Really? Even with the Levantine the enemies seemed a bit harder...or are you talkin about VPL's game

No, I don't have VPL yet. I waiting for it to be released in English.

I'm pretty sure they never got any stronger ut I might be going crazy or something. I'll have to check through it again later.