#30

Valkyrie Profile (Originally released in 2000 for the PS1.)

I do love me some mythology, so when I heard that a game was going to be dealing with Norse mythology I had to check it out. Valkyrie Profile is a pretty intense game. A lot of the Deity in the game were names I recognized. Being of Norse origins, there were a lot of names that were new to me, but it all ties together so well and fits the mythology scheme. The game really does leave you with a great fantasy experience.

You take control of Lenneth, a recently awakened warrior maiden who is a servant of Odin, the ruler of Asgard. Odin commands Lenneth to go out and search the lands for the strongest humans. These special humans will then serve under Odin as his foot soldiers in the upcoming Ragnarok.. The catch is that all these humans must be dead in order for Lenneth to recruit them, so most of their recruitment scenes shows their last minutes alive in the human realm.

Everyone who joins you, unless they are a God, has a death scene. These scenes are the best part of the game, because you get to witness these characters last moments alive. The game really drives deep into the human emotion of coming to terms with death. Then, when these characters think the end is near and their stories are complete, Lenneth reveals herself and gives them the option of joining the battle of the Gods. Most of the characters are noble one, but some of the better recruitment scenes are the shady characters Lenneth recruits in which she ponders what redeeming traits these people have. There are a lot of characters to go out and recruit. They mostly consider of archers, long-swordsmen, mages, agile swordsmen and in certain instances, the God themselves tag along.

The battles in this game are fun as well. You can select three people to fight alongside Lenneth. Each character is assigned a button depending on where you place them in the party. Selecting that button sends the assigned character off to attack the enemies. You can mash all the buttons at once to send every ones attacks out at the same time, but that strategy does not work to well in this game. This game is based on a combo system and timing is key. You want to start off with characters who have easily chained moves and then find a way to keep the enemies in the air to build combo points. When you collect enough points in a turn, you may trigger a special attack. This is where the battles get pretty. Special attacks all vary from each character and they are powerful displays of hacking and slashing. Some characters are better then others, but you can try out anyone, or fill in teams slots with people that you enjoy watching their specials go off.

Valkyrie Profile sets the mood just right. You are set to enjoy a game whose story revolves around the Gods conflict with one another. The characters are all entertaining, and the game has multiple endings, so be sure to choose wisely in every decision you make. I enjoyed this game a lot due to the all the ties with Norse mythology I did and did not know about. If you are also a lover of that genre of literature, then I suggest you give this game a try. You may even find out something you had never known before. I know I did.