Valkyrie Profile

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

Film critic Roger Ebert says that videogames aren't artistic in the same way that movies or books are, and he's right. All three structure their stories in different ways: the plot of a novel—William Thackeray's Vanity Fair, for instance—won't fit neatly into a three-act film without some cuts, rearrangements, and reimaginings. But I don't agree that one kind of storytelling is inferior to the others.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes

It's funny how time can change your perspective on things. When Valkyrie Profile was originally released on the PlayStation way back in 2000, I liked it a lot but took it to task over certain issues and held back a few points on the score. Now that some time has passed and the current game environment is different than it was back then, I find that my affection for the title has only grown.

According to ESRB this game contains: Fanatsy Violence, Language, Suggestive themes, Use of Alcohol

Game Description: Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth brings the classic PlayStation game console title to your PSP -- with completely new CG cut scenes that dramatize the epic of a Norse maiden collecting souls for a war between the gods. Lenneth is a Valkyrie, a warrior priestess with the gift of hearing the thoughts of dead and dying men in their final moments. Lenneth's duty is to travel Midgard, the mortal world, to recruit and train the souls of worthy warriors to join the ranks of the Aesir in the Sacred War.

When looking at RPGs lately, it seems to be getting harder and harder to tell them apart. You know how it goes—a young hero from a quiet town is thrown into circumstances beyond his control. He sets out to right a wrong and gathers together a band of friends to help him on his quest. After facing insumountable odds and legions of evil dragons/sorcerers/corrupt rulers, etc., our courageous hero emerges victorious to right all wrongs done to innocent townsfolk everywhere. Justice prevails, you win.

According to ESRB this game contains: Teen (13+), mild animated violence, mild language, suggestive themes

Game Description: In an interesting mix of side-scrolling action and role-playing games, Valkyrie Profile will have you scouring the ranks of the dead in search of suitable warriors for Odin, the Norse god of gods. But before these dearly departed can be entered into Odin's einherjar, or heavenly army, you've got to train them in the right battle skills.

Unlike so many of the role-playing games that are out now, here is one that is wonderfully fresh and endlessly interesting (in other words, the complete opposite of The Legend Of Dragoon). I love how the game creatively wraps itself in Norse mythology, and how it infuses the battles with such action and excitement. It has truly been a while since Ive played such an imaginative and energetic piece of work. However, I just cant justify giving Valkyrie Profile a higher score because the game goes a little overboard in the scope of both its gameplay and its epic story.