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An Absolute Atrocity

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: May 29, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Despite the fact that so much time has passed since I got this game, there are still no one star reviews that truly do justice in describing how truly awful the game is. So let's get to the bad points

Lack of Strategy/Ridiculous jumps in enemy levels
As mentioned in other reviews the levels incredible amounts from area to area, making the game very difficult. The problem is you might think "No problem, I like difficult games, I'll just use strategy to overcome the difficulty." Well, here's the thing, you can't use strategy in this game. While at first the sealstones make a huge difference, eventually you'll reach an area where you can't use them. Even if you take your time to set up very complex combos and execute them properly you will do minimal damage. Just so there is no confusion about what complex means- maximizing your gear, attacks, and passive abilities (the dangerous ones that can carry negative consequences) and executing them with perfect timing- is not enough to win a battle by a long shot. Only absurd amount of leveling will do the trick.

Building Items/Armor/Weapons/etc.
In stores if you sell specific items, you can unlock new things you can buy. Naturally, these things are better than normal equipment. The problem comes is that these specific items that have to be sold are a huge pain to gather. First, you have to get a specific monster to appear in battle, something that may not happen every battle. Next you have to break off a specific part of a monster before or when it dies. Here is where the problem sets in. Due to the specific locations of certain parts, you will have a minimal number of attacks, as few as one between your whole party, that can actually target that part. This means you have to stand at a very specific place relative of a monster and use the same attack over and over again in order to have a chance for the part to drop. The monster can move while you do this, so just using the right attack is not enough. Finally, on top of all this, even if you brake off the proper part, there is still a rather large probability the item you need won't drop. When you combine all these things, (actually probability works multiplicatively) getting this item is a chore that takes so much precision that it won't double up for you leveling, since that just revolves around killing monsters as quickly as possible.

Characters
Wait, did I just say you only have one attack that targets a specific area? This couldn't possibly be. I must have messed something up. Well, not really, The thing is just most of the characters you get are random. So if you randomly get characters that lack low attacks, I hope you're not planning on getting any hooves in any reasonable amount of time. The other annoying part is that certain characters can give you very helpful items, but if you didn't get that character, I guess you're just out of luck.

Other people may complain that it has 2D sidescroller elements or that in battle you have to run to a specific part to escape. I really didn't mind all that. I actually found it to be kind of refreshing, but there is no way anything could make up for the fact that the game absolutely lacks tactics, requires grinding that makes Everquest grinding look soft, and boils completely down to luck in certain points.

In short the combat system is seriously flawed, the itemization is horrendous, and most characters are poorly thought out and are completely irrelevant to the story.

Nice Sequel, Same Annoying Dialogue

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: January 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User

At first, I thought this game was amazing. The visuals are done very well and the game itself plays exactly as I hoped a sequel to Valkyrie Profile would. However, the same problem the first game had is here in Valkyrie Profile 2: The voice acting during battles is somewhat annoying, repetitive, and doesn't always make sense.

The good news about this is that you're given the option to turn off the voices in battles if you want to. It wouldn't be as annoying if the characters were saying things that didn't sound so dorky all the time; things like "Might makes right, think about that." When I hear this, I just laugh at it, because I can't take the game seriously anymore; this is a flaw because the game itself has a very serious atmosphere to it.

The other problem with the dialogue in the game occurs with the various einherjar that you find in the game. You'll start to notice that many of the characters are saying exactly the same thing during battles, but there is a different voice actor for each character. To me, this shows a lack of personality between characters. It's sort of annoying when you discover a new character just to find that their personality is exactly the same as the last character you found--this is actually a new flaw that wasn't in the first game.

The only other flaw I noticed with the voice acting is in the cut-scenes. The voices don't flow evenly with the mouth movements. There are times when you'll hear a character talking, but their mouth never moves at all. Most gamers would agree that this is simply laziness on the developer's side and it makes it more difficult to enjoy the game completely.

So, if you can look past some of the basic flaws and try to enjoy this game as a work of art (the visuals are very well done and the surround sound/music is fantastic), then this game is well worth the price and I recommend it for anyone who has played through the first game.

The Before and After of Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: February 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game tells events that happened before the first Valkyrie Profile (Lenneth) and then the timeline changes to continue with the events that happened after the first game. The story itself it's good but it doesn't "feel" the same as the previous game. The biggest change it's the Einherjars that now you do not see how it was before they get killed. You can still read a bit about their previous life but it's different from the previous game were you had an animated short (and sometimes even participate in it) telling you how they became Einherjars. As for the game itself, well as a RPG game... this game ROCKS! The new figthing engine is just awesome! It's not just the usual: attack, use healing/support magic, attack again, rinse and repeat. This time you have to pay attention to your equipped skills and where the enemy is distributed in the field.

If you are a fan of the previous Valkyrie Profile game, you will enjoy revisiting previous cities and dungeons. If you haven't played the previous game, but you are into RPG games, this is a MUST play game that you are going to enjoy for sure.

One of the best RPGs on the Playstation 2.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: August 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

When I first ordered this game based on everyone else's reviews (I know, not always a good idea, but sometimes you got to gamble, right?) I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm a big fan of the original Valkyrie Profile, but from all of the reviews I read, it didn't seem like the developers were going to be true to the original in either gameplay or storyline. Well to my surprise, they were, and this sequel (or prequel, I should say) has actually surpassed the original on many different levels.

Story 4/5: Okay, the story is pretty hard to follow. This is the first game I've ever played where the story has made me go, "huh?" I'm not sure if it was because I got so engrossed in the gameplay and lost track of it, or if the story is just that convoluted. I had to ask a friend of mine about it to figure out what was going on. When I got back on track, I thought it was a neat story. Nothing spectacular, but cool. For those of you who are expecting the depressing themes of the first game, you might be disappointed. Whereas the original Valkyrie Profile had a very mature storyline that deviated from traditional RPGs, Valkyrie Profile 2 has a story that pretty much defines "traditional RPG." This is why so many people said this game has lost the "feel" of the original. It has in some ways, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Gameplay 5/5: Amazing! I was skeptical about the battle system at first, but after a few battles, I was in love! You don't need to have studied Sun Tzu to win fights in this game, but you do need to plan your attacks out carefully. One thing, though. I was led to believe this game was incredibly hard - it wasn't. In fact, compared to the original Valkyrie Profile and other games by these developers, such as Star Ocean 2, this game is very easy. I'm guessing a lot of people having trouble with it are rushing through it and not taking their time; to those people I ask, what's the rush? There are a couple of times where you do need to level up, but not for more than a couple levels. Dungeon crawling is pretty standard for the series; the puzzles are basically freeze enemy-stand on it-jump to higher ground-get treasure chest. Not at all hard.

Graphics 5/5: This is as good at it's going to get for the PS2, folks. These graphics top even Resident Evil 4. The level of detail is so amazing, in fact, my little 13" television couldn't handle it and everything came up choppy, so I had to switch to a larger television set.

Sound 4/5: Motoi Sakuraba's music has changed so much over the years that I have mixed feelings about it. The soundtrack fits, but it's completely forgettable. Since it's Motoi Sakuraba, you get your egotistical progressive rock music with pseudo-intellectual titles. The soundtrack is above average at best, but not because the music is really good, but because the music fits so perfectly. Don't expect this to live up to the original, though. Voice acting is professional. It was nice hearing familiar voices in the game, such as Johnny Yong Bosch, who also played Vash the Stampede in Trigun.

Overall 5/5: Why 5/5 instead of 4/5? Because I'm partial to this game. I love the characters, I love the acting, I love the battles, and I love the dungeon crawling. The story serves its purpose too, and it's nice seeing Arngrim getting more attention. Want a good RPG? Get this.

Lezard Valeth

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: March 24, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Lezard makes this game. That is the best voice-acting I remember hearing in a game ever. I love his voice. And it just gets better near the end. Most of the other voices are decent to good as well.

The story and dialogue are nice, using elements from Norse mythology.
There are many interesting cutscenes, but unfortunately the characters' movements and expressions in them look unnatural.

In fact, compared to the lovely looking environments, the character models are rather horrible. And it's a bit silly how they made Rufus look like captain Jack Sparrow and Lezard like evil Harry Potter.

Some people might complain about the 2D-scrolling, but it doesn't bother me. In dungeons enemies appear on screen (no random battles) and the ability to turn them into crystals to use as platforms is interesting. It's a nice change of pace trying to figure how to reach treasure chests using those platforms and the teleportative ability.

The battle system is a refreshing deviation from the standard. I much rather have the option of walking around the field and mash buttons, watching different kinds of attacks, until my hands/wrists literally hurt, than have my characters stand in a stupid row and repeatedly choose the attack command watching the characters perform that boring same slash through the game. That's been done since NES.

I don't know if I'd give this game 5 stars unless I laughed at Lezard all the time. But it's a really good game and quite original. And it doesn't fizzle in the end like so many other RPGs (it actually gets better I think).

Lots of fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 8
Date: November 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Square Enix is the best rpg developer on the planet. Valkyrie is as much fun as ffs 1-10,graphics,sound,control,and fun are all present in Valkyrie Profile 2. I highly recommend this title.

cloned and old concepts

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 15
Date: March 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Am sorry, but I have never been more disappointed in a game. The art work seemed cloned from older games, no free movement, just follow the path. Just terrible. When I spend almost $50 for a game I expect something for my money. Doubt I will throw cash at another game created by this source again any time soon.

I dont know about this VP

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: October 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I bought this one the same time I did Baten Kaitos Origins and I can say it don't hold up to the original but comes close. you can tell Square had their hands in this one, I liked the 2-D style of the first one the 3-D graphics are very impressive but dont really fit with the gameplay. My 4 star overall comes again from the battle system. It holds true to the 1 button controls 1 character but the movement system needs to go. it uses a full range system like Star Ocean but changes to the "attack view" to do the fighting similar to the original. Ultimate Magic and those really awesome super moves are still intact. Im not far into the game and they already have 2 characters from the original star here and thats Arngrim and Lezard Valeth, which is cool they were 2 of my favs, i cant wait to see all the characters. If the make Valkyrie Profile 3: Hrist I would like to see a return of the hand drawn sprites and the riddence of that movement system. `

Huge disappointment

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 5
Date: June 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The graphics are nice. There, I've said about the only good thing I can think of about this game.

The gameplay is silly, unintuitive, and devoid of strategy. The story is alternately trite and forced, as it tries to make sense of nonsensical gameplay elements. The heroine is a complete twit, and I hope she ends up dead (although I'm sure she won't).

Sorry, but I have come to expect far better from the likes of Square. I bought this game based on their reputation as a maker of quality games. I won't be making that mistake again.

Great Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: July 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Valkyrie Profile 2 is a great game to play. The story is filled with twists and turns that will leave you palying for hours and hours just to see what happens next. The battle system is pretty good, as well.

Pros:
Good plot
Good graphics
Fun battle system

Cons:
Not as impressive on getting personal enough with characters.

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