Valkyrie Profile is celebrating its 25-year anniversary immediately, August 29, 2025. Below, we glance again at why the RPG went ignored on the time, and what makes it nonetheless stand out as particular immediately.It’s not arduous to see why Valkyrie Profile wound up ignored in its preliminary North American launch. Japanese writer Enix had solely lately revived its US department, probably resulting from each the surge of recognition of JRPGs within the post-Final Fantasy 7 period and the success Sony had licensing and releasing Star Ocean: The Second Story globally. But it was going to be an uphill wrestle to get a brand new PS1 RPG any traction, even one made by Star Ocean 2 developer Tri-Ace. The Dreamcast was already out, the US launch of the PS2 was lower than two months away, and Squaresoft had dropped Chrono Cross, a follow-up to the beloved Chrono Trigger, a few weeks earlier.It was my freshman 12 months of school, the weekend simply earlier than my birthday, and I needed a brand new RPG to maintain me occupied between courses. I had two selections: Valkyrie Profile or Chrono Cross. After having a pleasant expertise with Star Ocean 2 the summer time earlier than, my intestine was telling me that Valkyrie Profile was the one I ought to decide.I’ve by no means as soon as regretted my buy. Valkyrie Profile was–and nonetheless is–one of the best RPGs of its period, a recreation that–despite common acclaim from its many devoted fans–remains criminally underplayed. It’s been 25 years, and there is nonetheless nothing else that captures the identical magic.The enhanced port Valkyrie Profile: LennethAs you would possibly surmise from the title, Valkyrie Profile’s setting is constructed round ideas impressed by Norse mythology–with a great deal of inventive wiggle room, in fact. Lenneth, the titular Valkyrie, has been summoned to the service of the good god Odin, ruler of the heavenly realm of Asgard. He has realized that the legendary Ragnarok is nigh, and between that and the Aesir gods’ wrestle with the Vanir heating up, they want manpower within the type of worthy human souls: einherjar. Lenneth should discover the worthy souls of the lately departed on the decrease aircraft of Midgard to coach and switch to Asgard earlier than the gods’ closing confrontation. There are additionally loads of messes on Midgard to wash up, however–the undead seeping in from Niflheim, a rebellious former einherjar, and people overstepping their boundaries.It’s clear from the outset that, in distinction to the gilded realm of the gods, Midgard is a den of abject distress. Villages exist getting ready to catastrophic collapse. Desperation has led to many partaking in harmful actions to make a residing. Illicit trades like smuggling, thievery, and even human trafficking thrive on this harsh, bleak realm, and lots of appear to dwell each day with one foot already within the grave. You can not help however surprise if the cataclysm of Ragnarok is likely to be a small mercy to finish all of the struggling that is seen.Lenneth, with the present of non secular focus, can sense the struggles and anguish of the departed. When she involves take their soul beneath her wing, she sees what their closing days of existence have been like, their tragic fates laid naked. Her first recruits contain a haughty princess and a gruff mercenary who discover themselves caught up in a convoluted plot by a traitorous noble–one that dooms them each. More tragedies observe. A warrior strikes a faustian discount to remedy his sister’s blindness, solely to perish by the hands of his inside demons. A headmistress at a magic academy finds herself slaughtered by her personal husband, remodeled right into a monster by a vengeful pupil. Those are only a handful. Not each dying feels undeserved, as not everybody who Lenneth recruits is a very good particular person. It’s their usefulness to Odin that matters–and Lenneth may help form them into the proper fighters.Knowledge of Midgard’s geopolitical atmosphere may be gleaned from the interwoven sagas of the departed, and whereas the gods typically care little about most human affairs, Lenneth encounters quite a few personalities that shake up her ongoing mission. There’s an einherjar who appears oddly accustomed to Lenneth. Then there’s Brahms, the lord of the undead, who seems to carry somebody essential to Lenneth and the gods hostage to forestall them from destroying him. And, in fact, sorcerer wunderkind Lezard Valeth: The solely factor worse than his creepy obsession with making the Valkyrie “his” are the immoral means he’ll stoop to to make that occur.The ever-present tragedy of Valkyrie Profile helps set it other than most different RPGs of the period, however a variety of what makes it really feel particular to today are its distinctive interlocking gameplay mechanics. One of those is the sport’s distinct construction. Exploration is basically freeform, permitting you to go to areas, recruit einherjar, and delve into dungeons whenever you see match. Progression is as a substitute dictated by a timer system: The recreation’s chapters are divided right into a set variety of “periods,” and actions–recruitment, exploration, resting–all have a set time value. When you attain the top of that chapter’s durations, Lenneth receives an analysis from Asgard. Actions carried out in the course of the chapter, akin to sending appropriate einherjar and misplaced artifacts to Asgard, rely in the direction of your analysis. Perform nicely, and also you get rewarded. Then you progress on to the following chapter. While some characters and areas solely grow to be out there in sure chapters, you are normally not obligated to finish something as quickly because it seems, supplying you with a variety of freedom.Another defining gameplay attribute are the dungeons. These are offered as 2D, sidescrolling platformer-style affairs, laden with traps, enemies, jumps, and gimmicks. They typically characteristic bespoke obstacles and methods that Lenneth might want to overcome, including a component of puzzle-solving to the platforming motion. Fortunately, Lenneth has a helpful little instrument to assist: a crystal projectile. This presents all kinds of makes use of: briefly freezing enemies, creating limitations and platforms, even refracting gentle or manipulating objects from afar. She can even carry out superior motion strategies by constructing and shattering crystals in varied methods, propelling her into hidden enclaves (and permitting for some enjoyable velocity tech).But Valkyrie Profile’s most memorably distinctive component is its fight. Tri-Ace’s earlier Star Ocean video games added a component of motion gameplay to the same old RPG proceedings, and Valkyrie Profile does one thing comparable in idea, but completely completely different in execution. Each flip of fight sees you controlling 4 characters, one assigned to every face button. Depending on the weapons you’ve got geared up, every character may have entry to sure set assaults, which they may execute whenever you press a button. Some assaults have particular properties, akin to breaking an enemy’s guard or launching them airborne for juggles. Land sufficient hits in a flip and you will fill a gauge, permitting you to unleash one in every of your social gathering member’s final assaults. With some technique and apply, you may study to chain combos and supers equally to the way in which you’ll in a combating recreation.However, the enemies will not at all times make it easy–they’ll guard, parry, and sidestep once they can, upsetting your fight stream and making them rather more difficult to slay. Observing and determining the properties of your attacks–how they hit, what number of hits they’ve, if they will juggle or injury enemies on the ground–is essential to each defeat sturdy enemies and earn a number of post-combat rewards. Learning how the enemies react to your assaults and conduct offense on their flip is essential, as nicely, since it’s also possible to dodge, counter, and guard, offered you’ve got bought the suitable abilities. As cool as this would possibly sound, I’m really oversimplifying the fight: There’s an amazing quantity of talent and nuance right here that may problem RPG vets and seasoned action-game gamers alike.An in-depth talent system bolsters Valkyrie Profile’s gameplay depth. Not solely does studying abilities assist characters in fight, however in addition they elevate characters’ Hero Value and provides them constructive traits, making them extra appropriate for service in Valhalla. Passive character abilities grant stat boosts, take away unfavorable character traits, and have a tendency to come back as particular requests from the gods. Combat abilities embody auto-heals and low-HP survival strategies, counterattacks, added results to regular strikes (like splash injury and additional hits), and highly effective strategies to catch enemies unaware.The enhanced port Valkyrie Profile: LennethWARNING: Spoilers for Valkyrie Profile’s ending, together with its true ending, observe.Everything culminates within the recreation’s closing chapter, the place Lenneth leads the einherjar in an assault on the Vanir stronghold. When she emerges triumphant, you would possibly count on an excellent celebration in Valhalla. But that is not what you get. The ending you obtain for this stellar efficiency is… bland. And quick. Eerily so, as if there’s one thing being hidden from you. And there’s! Valkyrie Profile is a multi-ending recreation, and a part of why it stays so strongly within the reminiscence of gamers is the trick it pulls on them.The key to acquiring the true, finest ending within the recreation is a radical departure from what gamers are sometimes led to count on. It’s straightforward to imagine that performing the duties the sport units out for you exceptionally nicely would yield higher rewards, and thus, a greater ending. But that is not what Valkyrie Profile does. Instead, Valkyrie Profile desires you to query and doubt your assigned job.There are hints all through that Odin and the gods will not be completely noble, seeing humanity as merely helpful instruments for his or her battle and repair. By strictly following the orders that Odin has given her, Lenneth performs proper into his palms, appearing as his obedient pawn. But what if Lenneth disobeyed? Obviously, outright revolt beneath the watchful eye of a strong god would put her instantly in his crosshairs for elimination.What the participant should do to free Lenneth from Odin’s management is stage small acts of revolt over time: sending up solely the required variety of einherjar, deciding to maintain among the gods’ sacred treasures present in dungeons, visiting locations tied to a forgotten previous. Even the easy act of eradicating the ring Odin bestowed upon Lenneth when consulting with Asgard between chapters will assist break his sway over her. Lower the Seal Value sufficient, and whenever you enter a sure space in Chapter 7, a collection of dramatic occasions will happen, ushering in a second of reckoning for Lenneth with the destiny of all of the realms hanging within the stability.The distinctive necessities to entry this ending was fairly a shock to gamers when the sport first launched, and even now, it stands out. We’re conditioned to do what we’re instructed will get us reward and rewards in video games, hardly ever stopping to query why we’re doing it. Valkyrie Profile, in distinction, solely reveals the total fact about its world to those that intentionally and defiantly mess around its core techniques.Valkyrie Profile has had sequels, spin-offs, and non secular successors, in addition to giving inspiration to many video games that adopted. Some of those video games have been glorious in their very own proper, others not a lot. But all the video games which have come since have deviated not directly from the unique gameplay parts that helped make Valkyrie Profile the unbelievable expertise that it’s. Perhaps it is only a case of lighting in a bottle–the world of video games and recreation growth have modified a lot since its unique launch you could’t recapture the identical magic. That’s why its lack of availability on fashionable platforms is so tragic: solely a compromised cellular port and a PS4/5 re-release of the PSP model exist. I can solely hope that adjustments ultimately, as a result of there’s nothing else like Valkyrie Profile, and there most likely by no means might be. When I first performed all of it these years in the past on PS1, I used to be entranced. 1 / 4 of a century later, I nonetheless am.
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