Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth

by Square Enix

Product Features

• Relive a classic RPG faithfully converted and enhanced with all-new CG cut scenes
• Every action in Midgard is reflected in battle reports from above
• New battle system allows the player to control their party of four heroes simultaneously
• Land successive attacks to build combos, and unleash spectacular special moves and magic to devastate the enemy
• 24 unique playable characters weave together an epic tale inspired by Norse mythology

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000G0O6CW
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 3.8 x 0.8 inches ; 3.2 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: July 19, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,583 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #15 in Video Games > Sony PSP > Role-Playing
  • #47 in Video Games > Sony PSP > All Games

Product Description

Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth brings the classic PlayStation game console title to your PSP -- with completely new CG cut scenes that dramatize the epic of a Norse maiden collecting souls for a war between the gods. Lenneth is a Valkyrie, a warrior priestess with the gift of hearing the thoughts of dead and dying men in their final moments. Lenneth's duty is to travel Midgard, the mortal world, to recruit and train the souls of worthy warriors to join the ranks of the Aesir in the Sacred War.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Valkyrie Profile is Back, July 21, 2006

By 

S. Rhodes - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth (Video Game)

A lot of people haven't played the original Valkyrie Profile. Check around here and you'll easily see it going for more than $100. It's ridiculous to pay that much. Greedy gamers and collectors are like that, and they know some consumers will pay. However, if you're not up for collecting the original copy, you could easily shell out the money for this version. It's basically a port of the original Playstation version with a few tweaks here and there. It beats paying some greedy collector over one-hundred dollars, doesn't it? Valkyrie Profile is a unique RPG experience that if you missed six years ago, now you'll have your chance to play it.

Players of the original often express their love affair with this game and it isn't entirely hard to see why. Our main hero, Lenneth, is a Valkyrie. Lenneth serves Odin, the leader of the Gods. In the world of Asgard, a sacred war has broken out among the Gods. Odin needs brave souls from humans to form an army to fight. It's Lenneth's job to go to the mortal world of Midgard and find the brave souls of humans to send to Odin.

The game spans eight chapters to get you through the game. There is a time limit, however. Everything you do from resting to trumping through dungeons takes time. If you're feeling very brave and gutless, you could rest for all eight chapters and then take on the final boss. Your average gamer, however, doesn't want to do that, and so you just might opt to go and find those souls. You can recruit up to fifteen souls (despite that you probably won't need all fifteen), and only three can enter battle at a time with Lenneth.

As you crawl through dungeons, you'll get the feel of playing some kind of action/adventure game. For one, you'll go through dungeons running around, jumping on platforms and shooting ice-crystals, which can also be used to make platforms. Sometimes it just feels weird but you'll quickly adapt to it. Sometimes crawling through dungeons feels like a pain because some of the controls are so awkward. Each dungeon is also crawling with monsters. Battles are contact-based so if you touch a monster you'll be hurled into battle where you'll control each character with the use of the buttons on your PSP. Each button controls one character. The battle system feels refreshing and original at times. It also calls for a bit more strategy. By timing button presses you can string together combos, and you can also use magic by pressing the select button in battle. You won't use magic often (and pressing the select button to use magic just feels weird), and stringing together combos is usually enough to thwart any opponent.

Experience points are divided among your characters how you see fit. You will, of course find it better to spend them on your current party. Although, you might want to consider spending some experience points on your outside souls because Odin will be wanting strong souls. Not weak ones. Depending on how you do this may also affect the ending of the game. To get the better ending you will have to send Odin strong souls. There are a multitude of endings for you to get as well. Seeing as how on average it'll only take you twenty hours to complete the game, going for the different endings is pretty worthwhile.

The best thing about Valkyrie Profile is the music. Some of the best I've heard in an RPG before. The soundtrack, beautifully conducted, is what makes this game really worthwhile in the end. It always has the right music at the right time.

Valkyrie Profile also has multiple endings and diffculty levels. Your actions make a difference in the ending you get. Even better, some endings and souls can't be obtained unless you're willing to play on different difficulty levels. This brings Valkyrie Profile's replay value way up.

There are a couple of things that keep Valkyrie Profile from being as fantastic as other RPGs. For one, the story, while fantastic, is very slow. A lot of cutscenes are long and spend a lot of time talking and rehashing conversations that have already taken place. Some cutscenes have voice acting. Some voices are really good, sounding just the way you want them to sound. Others sound a little too over-dramatic and over the top at times. Still, for what it's worth the voice acting is perfect.

However, my biggest gripe with the game is how the recruiting system works. I didn't play the originl Playstation version, you see, and the game does a horrible job at explaining how to recruit souls. They do a horrible job at explaining how to organize and manage your party. In other words, the learning curve to this game is pretty steep. You may need some outside help to get you going. By the time you yourself learn the bells and whistles of recruiting, you'll come to see that your team isn't nearly as good as they could be. Luckily though, once you get it down you can really make a power house team. I just wish that they had explained it better.

The game also takes a very long time to load. Several PSP games suffer from this, but Valkyrie Profile suffers a great deal from it. It takes a few seconds to open the menu and to get things going within the menu. For example, the game has to load every time you equip a character, use an item, etc. The load times are horribly long, but they stack up really quickly, especially with how much you're in the menu. To accompany the often annoying load times, you'll also be faced with slowdown at some parts. So while it's a port it isn't a fantastic port. Some of the mechanics didn't make it over to the PSP all that well. Still, it beats shelling out more than one-hundred dollars from a greedy collector.

Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth is a fantastic experience for those who want to re-experience it and for those new to the game itself. It's not as good as the Playstation original, and it may be another port for the PSP, but it's still an overall rewarding experience.

On the Positive Side
+A port of one of the Playstation's most sought after RPGs
+Engaging and perplexing storyline
+Great Gameplay Mechanics...
+Fantastic Soundtrack
+Multiple endings and difficulty levels make for replay
+The games short length also makes for replay value
+Beautiful Artwork

On the Negative Side
-Long load times
-The gameplay mechanics don't get an in-depth explanation making for a steep learning curve
-Long drawn out cutscenes make the pacing of the story really slow

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best RPG for the PSP so far..., August 25, 2006

By 

AngelosOne - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth (Video Game)

Valkyrie Profile was an RPG that came out during the later days of the PSX. While it never achieved massive success, it went on to become an RPG classic and has garnered a very loyal following.

Fast forward to 2006, and we see the re-release of this awesome RPG for the PSP. However, don't make the mistake of writing this off as a plain old port.

Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth includes "new" high quality CG movies that help immerse you in the story. The graphics consist of highly detailed sprites on pre-rendered backgrounds; when seen on the vivid PSP screen, it just makes the game look downright beautiful. Some of the combos are just awesome to look at.

The battle system is a mix of real-time and turn-based fighting that is surprisingly intuitive; newcomers and old pro's will have no problem getting used to it. At first glance, it might look simple, but as you progress through the game, you'll find a depth to it that makes it quite fun.

The main story, itself, is very well developed...even if this RPG doesn't follow the traditional linear way of telling it. One of the things I enjoyed most about this game is the character "episodes" you see when you collect a new soul to help in the battle to save Valhalla.

If you enjoy RPGs, or feel adventurous enough...I highly recommend you buy this game. It's definitely a must have PSP game.

22 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Rent Before You Buy, April 10, 2008

By 

Madam President - See all my reviews

= Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth (Video Game)

Back in '99, I owned the original copy of VP, but sold it to Game Stop to purchase Suikoden II a mere three days after the purchase. The amateurish voice acting really grated on my nerves, as well as having a "time limit" to play the game, topped with a lack of true world exploration and character interactment.

Over a course of seven years, I heard the game was EXCELLENT from many gamers, so I thought I had really missed out on something special due to my quick judgment. The original game, retailing at an astounding 100+ dollars made the title even more alluring. Years later, I picked up Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, thinking I would never play the original and this would be the next best thing. As fate would have it, VP was ported to the Playstation Portable!
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this game. Playing felt like a chore.
For those of you who sold your copy with the same mindset I had, or have always been curious about the title, but refuse to pay a ridiculous price for the original...you may want to rent this first before you buy.

Here are the Pros and Cons of this game:

Pros:
-A unique revision of Norse Mythology. You can really use this game as a tool to cause Norse Myth buffs to "spin on their eyebrows" and the liberties taken with the Pantheon (Heh,heh)
-20+ recruitable characters
-Clean CGI visuals
-No random battles
-No need to worry about "money farming" to purchase arms and items

(*More of a personal "pro", for those of you who have played the PS2 prequel before this...Brahms. Oh, LAWD, Brahms! <3*)

Cons:
-PAINFULLY repetitive
-Lackluster sound track
-Bad voice acting (with the exception of the new CGI cut scenes), poorly delivered lines.
-Timed.
-Little to no world exploration
-Not much of a story, really. Why were the Aesir and Vanir fighting one another? I was disappointed by the lack of appearance by Hel, Goddess of the Norse Underworld (..Hel).
-Virtually no character interaction. Coupled with the lackluster story, this feels very hollow and boring if you're accustomed to playing traditional RPGs, and this missing element really formed my opinion about the game. Lenneth is the only character that really shares her thoughts (which is usually the same "ice princess" kind of attitude).
I liked VP2: Silmeria in this respect, as a certain degree of camaraderie was felt between Alicia and the core Einherjar. Many "main" characters were flat, had virtually no dialog or purpose, and back stories and motives went unexplained, even if one has played the PS2 prequel, VP2: Silmeria. For example, how and when did Lezard come to become so sickly enamored with Lenneth? What was the depth of Brahms's and Silmeria's relationship? Lezard and Mystina? During a certain event in the game, you'll be asking yourself, "Why are Arngrim and Mystina even emotionally affected by this?"
-One DUD of an ending. (I received the "A Ending", i.e. the "best" ending)
-Voices CANNOT be muted
-Cutscenes involving einherjar recruitment can't be skipped, and can be quite lengthy.
-Items cannot be sufficiently organized. Searching your inventory for an Elixir can be a real annoyance if one has too many items
-Providing you meticulously preened your Seal Rating during certain chapters to receive the "A Ending", the 3 final bosses on Asgard Hill have an extreme advantage against you (As much as I'm ashamed to admit in this review, I wasn't able to defeat Bloodbane and reach the true final boss, and had to resort watching the ending via YouTube, despite cutting down every single boss and enemy I had encountered with relative ease--except the Mandragora in the Forest of the Elves. Oh, GOD, AVOID THE MANDRAGORA! RUN or use a Tome of Alchemy if you encounter them!)

All in all, rent this game before you buy. The original PSone version certainly isn't worth a price tag the size of friggin' Jotnar (a little Norse Mythos geekery for you guys). You might consider playing the prequel for the PS2, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria instead. That game too, has its rough spots, but can be enjoyable nonetheless.

For those of you who are Square-Enix fans, looking to play the good 'ol classics of Enix and Tri-Ace, I recommend Star Ocean 2 (which is being ported to the PSP with major improvements). It's a real blast!

NOTE: *If any other reviewer can shed light or correct me on some of the things I've said about story elements or characters, I would be greatly appreciative and edit my review accordingly.*