Valkyrie Profile

What makes Valkyrie Profile interesting is -- well, let's start over. One of the interesting things about Valkyrie Profile is how great the production values are for its time and platform. It pushes the boundaries of graphical detail on a PS1, and the care that was taken in its art, its story-crafting, and its intricate gameplay mechanics is very evident. Even a decade later, the whole package is reasonably impressive.

The other really interesting thing is that those intricate gameplay mechanics haven't been more commonly ripped-off in modern games. Although the whole Valkyrie Profile strategy is quite complicated - an extremely minimal in-game tutorial barely scratches its surface - almost all of it is taken care of in pre-combat menus. Learning and equipping skills, synthesizing items and equipment, and ordering abilities would be enough to contend with even without the game's central premise, which is that your trained and battle-hardened heroes will be sent to Midgard for Ragnarok. But past all that setup, battle itself is pretty simple: every turn, each party member is attached to one of the controller's four face buttons, and pressing them simply orders your party members to attack in real-time.

I really like this approach, which lets me make the tough decisions at my own pace, while keeping the combat itself timing-sensitive and fast-paced. And I'm glad that I have The Internet helping me to understand it, because when I started the game, on my own, it was all terribly confusing. Likewise, I'm also glad for The Internet's guidance in what areas to approach in which chapter, because each chapter has a limit on how many things you can try to do in it, and left to my own devices I would likely end up accomplishing nothing. (Actually, I guess the Start button is supposed to help me with this. I'm still learning.)

So, I am somewhat dependent on external guidance, but not really any more than I would expect from an RPG made in this time. Oh, and the story sequences, while well-executed, are a little slow and over-long. But otherwise I'm really impressed with Valkyrie Profile in general. Hopefully it doesn't turn into a grind-fest.

Next entry I'll try to get to the dungeon exploring, platforming, puzzling side of the game. Even in the first dungeon, I was already growing crystals into the wall and exploding them to propel me toward treasure chests. It's pretty badass.

Progress: Midway through Chapter 1