Since I started creating gaming content, I've promised myself and the few readers I have that I was going to be as honest as possible. I'm going to do that, even if it gets me in trouble.
While I try to avoid really ridiculous hot takes, I'm going to absolutely call out games that I don't really like, even if they are otherwise popular. That goes for the popular selections for "hidden gems" or "underrated" games as well. I don't do it often, but I certainly have demonstrated that I have no problem doing it. I did it relatively recently with Yoshi's Island and I've done it in the past with other games like Alundra or Jet Grind Radio. Some of those games I've liked, just not as much as others. Some of them I have actively disliked despite how well regarded they are. Sometimes I get why these games are so beloved (I hated the controls in Yoshi's Island but my goodness is it beautiful and unique). Other times, I don't (Alundra is a miserable, frustrating slog full of unfair puzzles and bad platforming and no amount of badgering will convince me otherwise). This week's game, or I guess the next two week's game, sort of fit into the latter category for me.
When talking about all-time underrated games, at least among RPG fans, few titles are as frequently referenced as Valkyrie Profile for the PS1. Released at the end of 1999 in Japan before making its way Stateside in mid 2000, Valkyrie Profile was the result of yet another collaboration between publisher Enix and developer Tri Ace. I think that's a big part of the reason it is so reverred, those two had combined to create some truly memorable gaming experiences in the 90's. The golden age of console RPGs was winding down, but it was still very much in full swing as the 6th generation began. I've talked before about how excellent games tend to come out towards the end of consle life cycles, yet another reason VP tends to be highly regarded. But as you might have discenred, I have somewhat of a difference of opinion to regarding this title. I definitely won't say it's bad, but I can't say I liked it as many of my fellow RPG fans seem to. As to why? Well, some of that has to do with gameplay...which we won't be discussing until next week. As is customary with RPGs, I'm going to start with the story, which I also found to be interesting yet uneven.
While the game starts with a scene between different characters, the events predominately put you in control of Lenneth, a Valkyrie in the service of the Norse God Odin. Odin has reawakened Lenneth after a long sleep to complete an incredibly important task. You see, the battle of Ragnarok will soon occur in the God's homeland of Asgard, and Odin is in need of soldiers to serve his Aesir in their battle against the Vanir. He asks Lenneth to recruit these soldiers, or einherjar, from the spirits of recently deceased human warriors. Assisted but the Godess Freya, Lenneth sets out to find the best, brightest and bravest warriors to join Asgard's ranks and prevent its destruction at the hands of the Vanir. Throughout the story, you will learn that things are not necessarily be as the seem...well, you might.
On it's face, the story of Valkyrie Profile is quite interesting. If nothing else, the setting is completely unique from any other RPG, and games of other genres, of its era. Remember, this was well before Skyrim, games focusing on Norse mythology were extremely rare and I don't know if there were any other RPGs that broached the topic. That may have been the biggest thing VP had going for it, especially as someone who finds that kind of thing very interesting. It was certainly a welcome change of pace from the standard RPG worlds of the late 90's and early 00's, be they fantasy or sci-fi. The story does manifest itself in the gameplay quite substantially in a way I think works pretty well. VP is broken down into phases, with each one unlocking certain potential events to see or characters to recruit. Lenneth can use her spiritual concentration to locate potential einherjar and convince them to join by visiting specified map locations. Once recruited, these characters can be sent to Asgard, which causes them to leave your party but provides you access to them at the end of the game. Freya will give you hints on which sort of characters she is looking for, but it is largely up to you to determine who to send. When recruiting characters, you will be given a brief backstory about them, including how they were killed and an explanation of why Lenneth decided to recruit them. While most of them are very well designed and compelling in theory, this leads us to my first big issue with VP.
With a few notable exceptions, those brief cutscenes are all the character development you are going to get. You get a brief story, an explanation and that's it. While some characters are developed further, one or two of them are essential to the main plot, most of them receive absolutely nothing beyond this. That is an absolute shame, because some of these characters have very interesting, very unique backstories that could have really dug deeply into some incredibly sensitive topics.
Take Belenus, a nobleman you can recruit as early as chapter 1, for example. Born into a life of privelage, he has come to acquire the family estate after his father was killed in the war. He now runs the household alongside Asaka, a young girl raised alongside him. The two very clearly have feelings for each other, but that causes a little bit of an issue for Belenus. The thing is Asaka is, let's call her a servant, who was... purchased by Belenus' father as a child. Further complicating things for Belenus was the fact that his wife, who he married out of obligation as a noble, made a pact with a demon to curse his household. This all leads to an incredibly touching and dramatic moment where he chooses to trade his life for Asaka's, leading to him being selected as an einherjar. It's an awesome story that digs into love, loss, ethics and other things most games wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. But once Belenus is recruited, it's over. You don't learn anything else about him, or what happened to Asaka, or how his kingdom was impacted by his death, nothing. I understand they couldn't have gone that deep on every single character, but there were some awesome stories to tell that I think were left on the table.
Like many RPGs of the era, Valkyrie profile has multiple endings. Not nearly as many as its close cousin Star Ocean, but it does have two separate and very distinct endings, one of which is very clearly the "right" one. Ending A isn't bad by any means, but ending B is far more detailed, dives far deeper into the lore and actually explains a lot of the seemingly nonsensical events that happen throughout VP.
You know what, that's fine. I like when games give you multiple endings with certain requirements for making good choices or paying attention to details. It gives you some incentive to play a few times and to ensure you are thorough. The problem with VP though, is that it is basically impossible to get the true ending without following a guide.
Look, I've played RPGs for a long time, I'm used to dealing with some pretty obtuse stuff to get ultimate weapons or special endings or whatever. But there is absolutely no way I was going to see ending B without a detailed explanation on how to do so, even if I played through this game a million times. Part of it is a gameplay problem, there are certain mechanics that just aren't well explained. But having to do such precise events in a precise order with zero deviation is a tall ask, even for RPG veterans. I wouldn't have as big a problem with this if it didn't feel like 2/3 of the game's story were locked behind this ending. This isn't like the developer's room in Chrono Trigger or the alien ending in Silent Hill, where you are jumping through hoops to see something unique or special. This is basically forcing you to follow a guide if you want to see the overwhelming majority of character and plot development. The opening scene will make absolutely zero sense to you at all if you don't obtain this ending and the overall game will fall a little bit flat.
That being said, the game finishes really, really strong if you do find a way to get that B ending. I don't know if it was quite strong enough to make up for the lack of character development throughout, but it throws plenty of really cool, really interesting curveballs at the player. The amount of enemies that become your friend in a way that doesn't feel forced is really cool and the ambiguity of the morals of both the "good" and "bad" guys are finally well explored. I think it should have been a little easier to come by, but going the ending B route really made the back third of the game feel essential. It's one of the reasons I really understand why people are so high on this game, despite me not being so. It also explains why Lenneth is such a beast to deal with in Star Ocean III. Speaking of Star Ocean, I think the fact that I played that series first added a little bit to my enjoyment here. There are a lot of crossovers from this game, even if they are just in name only, so for me it was kind of cool to see where characters like Lezard came from.
Again, I really think the story here had a lot of missed potential. There were so many deep, dark themes that they started to explore before simply giving up on them and never going back. There were some really cool individual sections that provided some interesting lore, but I think they were a little too few and far between for my liking. I even think they could have done more with the Norse mythology and setting, espeically when it came to town and dungeon aesthetics. But what about gameplay? Well, this is where things get even more complicated. Because while it's an RPG, Valkyrie Profile is anything but traditional. There is a lot to unpack with the gameplay here, way more than you would typically see in a role playing game. And just like with the story, it's a bit of a mixed back. As to why? Well, you are going to have to wait until next week to find out.
While I try to avoid really ridiculous hot takes, I'm going to absolutely call out games that I don't really like, even if they are otherwise popular. That goes for the popular selections for "hidden gems" or "underrated" games as well. I don't do it often, but I certainly have demonstrated that I have no problem doing it. I did it relatively recently with Yoshi's Island and I've done it in the past with other games like Alundra or Jet Grind Radio. Some of those games I've liked, just not as much as others. Some of them I have actively disliked despite how well regarded they are. Sometimes I get why these games are so beloved (I hated the controls in Yoshi's Island but my goodness is it beautiful and unique). Other times, I don't (Alundra is a miserable, frustrating slog full of unfair puzzles and bad platforming and no amount of badgering will convince me otherwise). This week's game, or I guess the next two week's game, sort of fit into the latter category for me.
When talking about all-time underrated games, at least among RPG fans, few titles are as frequently referenced as Valkyrie Profile for the PS1. Released at the end of 1999 in Japan before making its way Stateside in mid 2000, Valkyrie Profile was the result of yet another collaboration between publisher Enix and developer Tri Ace. I think that's a big part of the reason it is so reverred, those two had combined to create some truly memorable gaming experiences in the 90's. The golden age of console RPGs was winding down, but it was still very much in full swing as the 6th generation began. I've talked before about how excellent games tend to come out towards the end of consle life cycles, yet another reason VP tends to be highly regarded. But as you might have discenred, I have somewhat of a difference of opinion to regarding this title. I definitely won't say it's bad, but I can't say I liked it as many of my fellow RPG fans seem to. As to why? Well, some of that has to do with gameplay...which we won't be discussing until next week. As is customary with RPGs, I'm going to start with the story, which I also found to be interesting yet uneven.
While the game starts with a scene between different characters, the events predominately put you in control of Lenneth, a Valkyrie in the service of the Norse God Odin. Odin has reawakened Lenneth after a long sleep to complete an incredibly important task. You see, the battle of Ragnarok will soon occur in the God's homeland of Asgard, and Odin is in need of soldiers to serve his Aesir in their battle against the Vanir. He asks Lenneth to recruit these soldiers, or einherjar, from the spirits of recently deceased human warriors. Assisted but the Godess Freya, Lenneth sets out to find the best, brightest and bravest warriors to join Asgard's ranks and prevent its destruction at the hands of the Vanir. Throughout the story, you will learn that things are not necessarily be as the seem...well, you might.
On it's face, the story of Valkyrie Profile is quite interesting. If nothing else, the setting is completely unique from any other RPG, and games of other genres, of its era. Remember, this was well before Skyrim, games focusing on Norse mythology were extremely rare and I don't know if there were any other RPGs that broached the topic. That may have been the biggest thing VP had going for it, especially as someone who finds that kind of thing very interesting. It was certainly a welcome change of pace from the standard RPG worlds of the late 90's and early 00's, be they fantasy or sci-fi. The story does manifest itself in the gameplay quite substantially in a way I think works pretty well. VP is broken down into phases, with each one unlocking certain potential events to see or characters to recruit. Lenneth can use her spiritual concentration to locate potential einherjar and convince them to join by visiting specified map locations. Once recruited, these characters can be sent to Asgard, which causes them to leave your party but provides you access to them at the end of the game. Freya will give you hints on which sort of characters she is looking for, but it is largely up to you to determine who to send. When recruiting characters, you will be given a brief backstory about them, including how they were killed and an explanation of why Lenneth decided to recruit them. While most of them are very well designed and compelling in theory, this leads us to my first big issue with VP.
With a few notable exceptions, those brief cutscenes are all the character development you are going to get. You get a brief story, an explanation and that's it. While some characters are developed further, one or two of them are essential to the main plot, most of them receive absolutely nothing beyond this. That is an absolute shame, because some of these characters have very interesting, very unique backstories that could have really dug deeply into some incredibly sensitive topics.
Take Belenus, a nobleman you can recruit as early as chapter 1, for example. Born into a life of privelage, he has come to acquire the family estate after his father was killed in the war. He now runs the household alongside Asaka, a young girl raised alongside him. The two very clearly have feelings for each other, but that causes a little bit of an issue for Belenus. The thing is Asaka is, let's call her a servant, who was... purchased by Belenus' father as a child. Further complicating things for Belenus was the fact that his wife, who he married out of obligation as a noble, made a pact with a demon to curse his household. This all leads to an incredibly touching and dramatic moment where he chooses to trade his life for Asaka's, leading to him being selected as an einherjar. It's an awesome story that digs into love, loss, ethics and other things most games wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. But once Belenus is recruited, it's over. You don't learn anything else about him, or what happened to Asaka, or how his kingdom was impacted by his death, nothing. I understand they couldn't have gone that deep on every single character, but there were some awesome stories to tell that I think were left on the table.
Like many RPGs of the era, Valkyrie profile has multiple endings. Not nearly as many as its close cousin Star Ocean, but it does have two separate and very distinct endings, one of which is very clearly the "right" one. Ending A isn't bad by any means, but ending B is far more detailed, dives far deeper into the lore and actually explains a lot of the seemingly nonsensical events that happen throughout VP.
You know what, that's fine. I like when games give you multiple endings with certain requirements for making good choices or paying attention to details. It gives you some incentive to play a few times and to ensure you are thorough. The problem with VP though, is that it is basically impossible to get the true ending without following a guide.
Look, I've played RPGs for a long time, I'm used to dealing with some pretty obtuse stuff to get ultimate weapons or special endings or whatever. But there is absolutely no way I was going to see ending B without a detailed explanation on how to do so, even if I played through this game a million times. Part of it is a gameplay problem, there are certain mechanics that just aren't well explained. But having to do such precise events in a precise order with zero deviation is a tall ask, even for RPG veterans. I wouldn't have as big a problem with this if it didn't feel like 2/3 of the game's story were locked behind this ending. This isn't like the developer's room in Chrono Trigger or the alien ending in Silent Hill, where you are jumping through hoops to see something unique or special. This is basically forcing you to follow a guide if you want to see the overwhelming majority of character and plot development. The opening scene will make absolutely zero sense to you at all if you don't obtain this ending and the overall game will fall a little bit flat.
That being said, the game finishes really, really strong if you do find a way to get that B ending. I don't know if it was quite strong enough to make up for the lack of character development throughout, but it throws plenty of really cool, really interesting curveballs at the player. The amount of enemies that become your friend in a way that doesn't feel forced is really cool and the ambiguity of the morals of both the "good" and "bad" guys are finally well explored. I think it should have been a little easier to come by, but going the ending B route really made the back third of the game feel essential. It's one of the reasons I really understand why people are so high on this game, despite me not being so. It also explains why Lenneth is such a beast to deal with in Star Ocean III. Speaking of Star Ocean, I think the fact that I played that series first added a little bit to my enjoyment here. There are a lot of crossovers from this game, even if they are just in name only, so for me it was kind of cool to see where characters like Lezard came from.
Again, I really think the story here had a lot of missed potential. There were so many deep, dark themes that they started to explore before simply giving up on them and never going back. There were some really cool individual sections that provided some interesting lore, but I think they were a little too few and far between for my liking. I even think they could have done more with the Norse mythology and setting, espeically when it came to town and dungeon aesthetics. But what about gameplay? Well, this is where things get even more complicated. Because while it's an RPG, Valkyrie Profile is anything but traditional. There is a lot to unpack with the gameplay here, way more than you would typically see in a role playing game. And just like with the story, it's a bit of a mixed back. As to why? Well, you are going to have to wait until next week to find out.
Comments
Post a Comment