In short, Valkyrie Profile is a nonlinear RPG that discourages exploration or even freedom of choice. Even in the most linear of RPGs, you can take time to explore towns, backtrack over previously explored areas, or enter dungeons to power up your party. Not so Valkyrie Profile. With the clock always ticking and every move having an associated cost, you'll simply consult your "soul concentration" and do precisely what it suggests, no questions asked. You may be role-playing a nearly omnipotent demigoddess, but the game still manages to feel restrictive. Despite the game's implied freedom, the shackles of unstoppable time make it one of the most confining RPGs ever created.
In a change from the normal style of traditional RPGs, the dungeon sequences are entirely side-scrolling and 2D. Valkyrie can run, jump, slide, climb, attack, and shoot ice crystals to freeze enemies and create temporary platforms against walls. Despite the inherent limitations of the XY-plane, dungeon designs are spruced up with movement along the Z-axis - doorways in and out of the screen connect parallel 2D planes. If it sounds confusing, that's because it is. Instead of a cohesive environment, locations feel like a series of paintings awkwardly connected by portals. A decent automap helps gamers visualize the links between a dungeon's planes, but the experience is still inelegant.
Battles begin when the party intersects an enemy visible onscreen, and they unfold via one of Tri-Ace's customary "active" battle systems. Each of the four members of the party is assigned to one of the PlayStation's four buttons. Pressing a character's button directs them to attack, and some characters can attack multiple times per turn via multiple presses. The system gets far more interesting with the introduction of combos. Correctly timed button presses give simultaneous strikes, air juggles, and feints against defensive enemies. For example, a low-striking character could attack an enemy, who then guards low. However, a high-striking character simultaneously attacks the enemy, who is unable to simultaneously block high. Another character runs in for two more juggle hits, and the enemy is finished off by a powerful blast from a magic user. Combo-savvy players are rewarded with additional experience and items, providing strong incentive to progress beyond simple button-mashing.
Visually, Valkyrie Profile offers much to enjoy. While the graphics are 2D, they feature vivid colors, strong design, and unmeasurable amounts of parallax scrolling. Characters are universally well animated, and battle effects have a sufficient "wow" factor. Character portraits deserve particular accolades; the artwork is both larger and more detailed than any game in recent memory, and the wide emotional range of portraits for each character helps to offset the limited pantomime of tiny sprites.
The graphics are matched by an epic, orchestral soundtrack that genre fans are sure to love. Large amounts of voice acting are interspersed throughout the story; the localized English voices range from excellent to typical video game voice acting. The oft-heard in-battle voices are mostly spot-on and don't grate as much as they could. Sound effects are decent, if occasionally muddled. Enix of America's first major localization effort deserves accolades - the text flows naturally and does an excellent job of capturing the scenarios' inherent drama.
Valkyrie Profile is a complex, ambitious, and gorgeous title that offers much to like: beautiful graphics, an entertaining battle system, engaging characters, and a creatively balanced dual scenario. Unfortunately, the game is structured so that you'll rarely have time to enjoy the surrounding splendor. If you're able to accept the awkward dungeon layouts and Draconian pacing, you'll be richly rewarded, but if you're unable to accept these quirks, you should approach with caution.
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