I have never played any of the Valkyrie Profile games, but I am familiar with their premise of chapter-based plot progressions and epic fantasy settings, and I have had my eye on the 2nd installment for a while. The only reason I have not picked it up yet was because I have not had a personal account of either game from a friend or personal acquaintance of mine. Perhaps now I can finally make a decision.
There are very few films and video games these days which are completely original, and I’m not surprised, as it seems that everything has already been done. As a result, many of the best fantasy games these days find strength in carefully borrowing select themes and ideas from past works which appeal to smaller target audiences and which in turn yield a particular type of story. Whereas the Final Fantasy series has the name and so can appeal to a massive audience, games like Valkyrie Profile find niche markets to please, and Square Enix knows this. What I find most appealing of what the Valkyrie Profile series borrows is its references to Norse history and mythology. There is not a tremendous amount of works which have dabbled in fictionalized versions of this area of European history, but the ones that do exist have given rise to a unique fanbase. Personally, I would never play a game that did not possess at least some level of intellect, for there would never be a point (and trust me, these kinds of games do exist). This real-world history connection seems like a strong enough reason to keep me interested.
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Originally Posted by dark angel
However, the story progresses very slowly and boringly towards the middle of the game in the Quest for the Dragon Orb parts to the point where you trudge through an entire dungeon only to find out that the treasure isn't there and you need to go somewhere else.
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I know that it can be absolutely maddening when certain games offer such vague hints on where the location is in order to achieve the next goal to progress in the game. This can be even more daunting when the dungeons are so big as you say, and the rewards so small. But we must not forget that copious amounts of exploring in trial-and-error style adventuring are meant to force the player into time spent raising levels and collecting new equipment and items, not all of us after all play with a player’s guide opened up in front of us as we play, and most RPGs are meant to take a considerable amount of time to finish. But for those gamers such as myself with short attention spans and who primarily play games in order to experience the story, quickly loose their patience with things like this. DAMN YOU TO HELL DRAGON QUEST!!!
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Originally Posted by dark angel
Valkyrie Profile 2 makes you unlock skills by equipping certain accessories.
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I like this idea, it reminds me of how magic spells and skills were learned with Zidane Tribal and co. in FFIX. In a world of fantasy, it makes sense to me that magically infused artifacts slowly share their abilities permanently with those who prove worthy enough to wield them. In this regards, it helps explain how everyone from a young apprentice magician, to a powerful knight can gain magical abilities without typically classifying themselves as magic users. It also adds to the allusion that magic is an artistic skill which must be learned over time with practice.
As for your issues with the game’s intense level grinding; well, we all know my opinions on this topic *cough cough FFXI*. But I am also surprised to hear this. With a few exceptions, Square Enix has pretty much all but left this problem in the dust. Most good RPG developers now allow the player to relatively raise the character’s levels along with the storyline in games, that is as long as you do not make a habit of running from many battles and participating in the bulk of the game’s main story. So, I must be honest, this worries me somewhat and does frighten me a bit into trying this game. After all, my time is precious, and I do not have time to spend hours and hours doing stuff like this, especially when there are so many other games to play. LOL
Nonetheless, I am a firm believer that all games deserve a chance, no matter what their subject content and game style. There is after all a target market for pretty much anything that can be developed. Games like Valkyrie Profile 2 is obviously targeted towards gamers who like Final Fantasy type games, and not simply because it was developed by Square Enix. Ideas such as turn based battle systems and emotional storylines are popular for a reason, because they are formulas that have proven to work well. Because these types of features were first perfected with Final Fantasy is probably the reason why this is the model of what most other RPGs tend to be judged, and Valkyrie Profile 2 seems to utilize some of the best of these methods. So, I thank you for your overview Dark Angel, and I promise you that I will definitely give it a chance, uh, well, at least the next time I see it in an electronic store bargain bin near me.