[PS2] Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria

Didn't realize we lacked a VP2 thread here. After getting a good look at it, it friggin' reeks of awesome.

http://www.square-enix.co.jp/vp/vp2/index.html

Anyway, for those who haven't been paying attention, the premise is this:

Several hundred years ago, while the Kingdom of Dipan is still under the rule of King Barbarossa, the youngest of the Three Fates, Silmeria, is punished by the All-Father Odin for committing some unknown crime against the gods. Odin has her physical form annihilated, and forcibly places her soul inside that of Alicia, the princess of Dipan. Soon aware of the fact that her body is being shared with the Battle Maiden, she sets off (to find a way to get Silmeria out of her body, I would assume) with Rufus and Dylan; loyal Einherjar tied to Silmeria's soul. Odin becomes aware of this turn of events, and sends Hrist, the oldest of the Fates, to keep an eye on her.

As for the world, it seems that tri-Ace will be bringing back a lot of familiar towns and dungeons, likely meaning the whole of Asgard will be explorable once again. I was worried the entirety of the game was going to take place on the island of Dipan. So far we've seen Dipan, Solde (a town this time, instead of the Catacombs), Coriander, and Villnore.

Okay. Is anyone else excited for this game?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Who wouldn't be excited about the game. Its gorgeous and a near perfect transition from what we loved about the original while other 2D franchises have struggled to find their identity in 3D. The overall story seems slightly anticlimatic since we all know the fate of Dipan but i am sure there is plenty of room to unravel the mysteries of Hrist involvement and hopefully how Silmeria became entrapped. I am just amazed they kept the platforming and frenetic 2d battle fields. Every screen it seems is like a work of art. I only hope this doesn't suffer the fate of Grandia 3 and being just eye candy with the substance of the gameplay length hollowed. Though with Tri-Ace background I highly doubt that will happen.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I thought there was a VP2 thread, kicking around, but it's probably before the crash. I'm about almost done Chapter 5 of the first game, and I don't think I'll be getting A ending this time around. I do have my hopes up for Silmeria and it looks like its coming along nicely. Any word if Sakuraba will be handling the music again?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I am sure about that, there has been no official word about that, though. But a VP without Sakuraba would be unimaginable, imo =o
Anyways, I am really hyped about this one and am going to pre-order it. I love the first one, so I got a good reason to keep an eye on the pre-sequel Silmeria.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I want to pre-order BUT there's no word of its release.

I was speaking idiomatically.

VP:S will be released on June 20 in Japan, according to The Magicbox

Quote:

(06/20/06) Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria [Square Enix]

I'm not familiar with the interval of time for NA releases, but is 9 months a fair estimate for most RPGs to North America?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Depends on how much text the game has. Something with a shitton of text like a Xenogears would take longer to make it across the lake than something with little text, like say an MMORPG. Add in voice acting and you tack more time on.

This is one that I'd look forward to and will preorder when it gets closer to release. The sequel to my favorite PSX game makes me happy and sad at the same time.

FELIPE NO

Sakuraba fans might want to check out the intro here;

http://www.square-enix.co.jp/vp/

It's not much, but I think it sounds of the same style the first game had, and we'll have another awesome OST.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

The music for that "trailer" certainly does have Sakuraba qualities to it, and I couldn't really think of anyone else to fill his shoes for this particular role.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Official site updated again, 3-24.

Translation thanks to someone over at GFAQs, no idea how accurate it is.

Quote:

Character: Leone
She's the female with short black hair. Some people have confused her as Anri/Hrist when she first appeared in Alicia's character section. Nope, she's flesh and blood human, and she appears together with Aluze (!) as treasure hunters or something like that.

She's intrigued by Alicia and her band, and offers to join them. Leone plays the role of an elder sister figure to Alicia in the story.


New feature: Object Reading
This is Silmeria's unique ability. She/Alicia can read the remnants of thoughts and emotions in objects you encounter throughout the game. Use this ability to open up new pathways, learn more about the past of people and the world, and... gain Einherjars.

The example shown is Alicia's own childhood past. Through a rusty amulet, you see how as a child, she was banished and locked away in a cave. (Alicia is considered "touched" aka all messed up and a Royal embarassment, since she kept seeing/talking to Silmeria.)


New feature: Materialize
Because of Simeria's forced reincarnation, her Valkyrie power is a little off. This affects the Einherjars that sleep inside her. She/Alicia relies on objects/possessions left behind by the deceased to regain their memories and identities. Silmeria then can reconstruct the "forgotten" Einherjars.

As Einherjars becomes stronger (both power and will/identity-wise), they eventually regain their full flesh and blood body and is reborn as human beings again. They are then freed from their role as Einherjars. In this game Silmeria is not a Battle Maiden in Odin's service. There is no need to send Einherjars to Valhalla.

Oh yeah, the last panel in this subject hints at the reunion with Einherjars after they have gained freedom. But the sentence simply trails off at that and I can't figure out what's supposed to happen, or if there's any big deal about that even.

The screens also show some female warrior named "Rishel"... battle shot of her is hot :dopey_love:

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Yay, Ruliweb
http://ruliweb.dreamwiz.com/ruliboar...=10922&main=ps

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Just to clarify, Aluze was the original name for Arngrim. Hence the exclamation point.

EDIT: Hey, what the hell? In that screen before last, that silver chick has a feathered helmet. Don't feathers indicate the rank of a god/goddess in Asgard?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

In the screen before the last, with the girl wearing silver armor, Risheru, is not wearing a feathered helmet. It's a metal band going around the back of her head, as can be seen in her portrait art a few screens above it.

Also, to my knowledge, feathered helmets don't signify anything in Valkyrie Profile, aside from the fact that only the Valkyries wear them (And it could be argued that they are not goddesses). Considering none of the other gods, Æsir or Vanir, wear feathered helms, I don't think they are used a symbol of status.

Also, it has been confirmed Arngrim will be able to join your party, as can be seen in the attached images.

I was speaking idiomatically.

hmm it's weird that he will join our party... does this mean that the warrior that Silmeria recrute are not dead? because I can't see how he could be dead and died again in Lenneth...

How ya doing, buddy?

It's also impossible that he'd be alive for over 100 years.

The Arngrim in Silmeria is a past incarnation of the Arngrim in Valkyrie Profile. Whether he's dead or not, I don't know. Considering he was an Einherjar with Hrist when Barbarossa is executed, I would imagine he is dead when he joins Silmeria. Though, that does not explain this "Treasure Hunter" connection with Leone. It's tough to say.

FELIPE NO

Oh, wow. This game looks beautiful. I played the first one only one time through, though I've always inteneded to play through it again. That never happened. But yeah, <3 VP.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Quote:

Several hundred years ago, while the Kingdom of Dipan is still under the rule of King Barbarossa, the youngest of the Three Fates, Silmeria, is punished by the All-Father Odin for committing some unknown crime against the gods.

What's interesting is I just finished the Dipan quest and "freed" Barbarossa in Chapter 6. I'm still on my first play through on Normal, and it's starting to somewhat come together now. I just noticed that just now, so at least some of the events mentioned in this thread are starting to make sense.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Why in God's name did you start on normal?

Originally Posted by Black Mage

In the screen before the last, with the girl wearing silver armor, Risheru, is not wearing a feathered helmet. It's a metal band going around the back of her head, as can be seen in her portrait art a few screens above it.

Oh yeah, dur. Sorta forgot about after a couple seconds, I guess.

Quote:

Also, it has been confirmed Arngrim will be able to join your party, as can be seen in the attached images.

It's actually quite surprising how quickly my images went around. I even saw them posted on someone's fansite, which was quite flattering.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Generic Badass

Why in God's name did you start on normal?

Well I thought it would be a good setting to play the game through for the first time. It's not like I'm not going to replay it again, and plus my seal value's too high to get the A ending this time around. When I play on Hard the next time, I'll have a better idea what's going on.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Not just that. You're also missing out on additional characters and storyline, dungeons, and those flame gems for Seraphic Gate. Part of me wonders why they even have the difficulty option.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I knew Easy would be a waste of time, since the combat configuration was supposed to be easy-auto, or something like that, making your combo attacks not as effective, according to the walkthrough. Yeah I'm missing out on Lezard and Brahms, but I'll be sure to keep strategic saves throughout my next play incase I screw up with the transfer process or seal rating etc. Plus if I already started on hard, then there'd not be much point to revisit/replay VP again. Supposedly if you see ending B first then A, one's appreciation is heightened. But don't spoil the ending for me obviously. I'll probably not be happy about the B ending, which will have some motivation for me to get A on Hard.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Still no damn release date listed on our pre-order list at work. T_T Anyone made a PSP thread yet? If not, should I make one or should we just contain it within this thread?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I guess you could make a seperate thread, but I think it'd be somewhat overkill, since there is bound to be *some* discussion of the original VP, and Lenneth pretty much covers it here. Check with Generic Badass, as he created the thread.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe Lenneth is already out in Japan? (Currently checking Magicbox)...

EDIT:

Originally Posted by Magicbox

Top 10 Japanese Console Games
From: Mar 6 - 12, 2006


Rank Game Title Developer System Genre Units Sold
Total Sold

1 Doubutsu no Mori DS [Animal Crossing: Wild World] Nintendo NDS ETC 81,850 2,116,873
2 Kahashima Ryuuta Kyouju Kanshuu: Motto Nouo
Kitaeru Otona DS Training Nintendo NDS ETC 70,950 1,504,507
3 Sengoku Musou 2 Koei PS2 ACT 48,632 473,577
4 Eigoga Nigatena Otona no DS Training: Eigo Zuke Nintendo NDS ETC 42,378 616,806
5 Kahashima Ryuuta Kyouju no Nouo Kitaeru Otona
DS Training Nintendo NDS ETC 40,904 1,682,878
6 Mobile Suit Gundam: Climax U.C. Bandai PS2 ACT 33,819 190,855
7 Seiken Densetsu DS: Children of Mana Square Enix NDS A.RPG 26,571 129,126
8 Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth Square Enix PS2 RPG 20,826 90,910
9 Mario Kart DS Nintendo NDS RAC 19,452 1,171,181
10 Monster Hunter Portable Capcom PSP ACT 17,282 558,134

Ah yes, it looks like it's been released.

FELIPE NO

Elixir already made a Lenneth thread a while back.

http://gamingforce.com/forums/showthread.php?t=885

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Generic Badass

It's actually quite surprising how quickly my images went around. I even saw them posted on someone's fansite, which was quite flattering.

Those were your images? Heh, how embarassing. Regardless, it's great to see someone with such a good eye. Thank you for sharing and supplying those.


As for the normal setting, when I played the game the first time through, oh so many years ago, that was the setting I picked. Not that Hard mode is much more difficult, I don't regret choosing normal first. As you undoubtedly know, the Einherjar don't start at level 1, and are instead at a preset level, which does help a little bit when you first get them. It was nice for my first play through, since I was still learning about the ability system, traits, and so forth. It's not so bad leveling up your level 1 characters when you have Auto-Item and Guts, but when they're constantly dying your first play through, it's a little more difficult.

Hard mode is definitely more complete, and the game definitely needs to be played through on that mode to get the fullest experience of the game. No argument there.

Jam it back in, in the dark.