Title: Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth

Date: 07.21.2006

Genre: RPG

Platform: Sony PSP

Developer: Tri-Ace

Publisher: Square Enix

Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth is little more than a port of the super-rare PlayStation title "Valkyrie Profile", which came out in 2000 in limited quantities and quickly became a staple of eBay's rare sales. The game featured a unique storyline set in the norse-inspired Midgar, where gods and demons battle over the souls of the Humans in an effort to turn the tide of the impending Ragnarok. The protagonist, Lenneth Valkyrie, is a battle-maiden whose task is to gather up the souls of the righteous dead in a last-ditch effort to defeat the forces of evil. The game featured a rather unorthodox time-limit system as well as a side-scrolling area design, as well as a deceptively simple battle system that required little more than pressing the iconic buttons.

Due to its rarity and obscene online prices, Valkyrie Profile remained a hoity-toity "rich gamers only" affair that most gamers couldn't afford to play. Not anymore, fortunately, as Square-Enix saw fit to port the game (along with some breathtaking new FMVs) to the PSP. For all its faults and questionable design choices, Valkyrie Profile is a game that perfumes a level of production values which no handheld RPG (or most console ones, at that) could hope to achieve. It is quite clearly a game of the highest-quality design, and its miraculous phoenix-like resurrection bodes well for gaming as a whole.

Graphics

The game is primarily a mesh of absolutely gorgeous 2D backgrounds and sprites, which are animated beyond the standards of most PlayStation games. Don't be alarmed by the fact that your super-powerful PSP now has a primarily 2D game, however, as the game makes very good use of the PSP's high-resolution screen to display some truly marvelous characters and backgrounds.

Much like the PlayStation version, sadly, some of the backgrounds wiggle slightly when moving in parallax with other backgrounds, but this is something exceedingly common in even the best of 2D games so it can be forgiven. One complaint I have with the sprites is that the PSP filters their pixels, which makes them somewhat more blurry than they were on the PlayStation. Sure, it's a small nitpick but it is worth noting.

The CGI FMV's, however, are jaw-dropping gorgeous. We're talking on-par with the likes of Final Fantasy X's FMVs. What a pity that there aren't too many FMVs in the game.

Sound

Typical 32-bit Enix fare; high techno soundtracks mixed with overly melodramatic cut-scene music. It's not exactly the best soundtrack ever written but it certainly is unique. Those who played the recent GBA title Riviera: The Promised Land might be surprised to find out just how much of that game's soundtrack was clearly based on Valkyrie Profile.

The voice acting is very hit-or-miss, with emphasis on the latter. Nevertheless, there's a good deal of voice acting in the game and none of it is bad enough to warrant turning the sound off.

Gameplay

Valkyrie Profile presents an ironic dichotomy of being far too complicated, yet diabolically simplistic. The battle system consists of nothing more than telling your character to attack by pressing their corresponding button, but the menu system is about as complex as an Armored Core game (which is to say, clear as mud and about as friendly).

The battle system is definitely the best part of the game, as its simple action-oriented approach does wonders for the game's presentation. It's always fun to see an attack that sends about a thousand different numbers going in every direction imaginable.

Overall

Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth will definitely please those who were interested in Valkyrie Profile but couldn't afford the game, as well as those who have the original but want to see the new FMV's. It's an excellent port without a lot of flaws, and it's most certainly the best PSP RPG released in America (Tales of Eternia doesn't count, since its English version is currently locked in the UK). Definitely worth buying, considering the original is roughly ten times the price.

Game Score

8.9

Reviewed By: Contributed