Silmeria may not be the most graceful name for a battle-maiden. But Valkyrie Profile 2 is certainly a videogame concept with a lot of potential. Fans of the bold first title in the series will feel the pull from the story. The particular breed of player who plays RPGs nearly exclusively for the enjoyment they get out of battle will be excited by the promise of combat just as flashy but even deeper than the stand-out conflict in the original Valkyrie Profile. Anyone who hasn't been keeping track could be forgiven for wondering if this beautiful-looking PlayStation 2 game is part of the next-generation PS3 lineup, and the soundtrack by Motoi Sakuraba so far sounds -- pardon the expression -- pretty freaking rad.
So will this be the next big console RPG? Does it want to be the next big console RPG? It's definitely less of an experiment than the first game, which put players on a one-way plot-train headed straight for the end of the world, whether they were prepared or not. Besides having a more standard, story-based progression, VP2 is a prequel, which lets players know that hey, if you're not familiar with the last game, no worries. That stuff hasn't even happened yet. Now check out this slick opening cinematic.
The game's overall level of production is striking. The computer-generated imagery in the cinematic cutscenes is on par with the best in the business. The scenery seems to be alive with wind and sunlight (or dead with stale air and weathered stone, depending on the area), and you'd probably need a class in fashion design to fully appreciate the level of detail included on the layered costumes of the characters. In battle, the visuals are even more intense, with all manner of visual effects firing at once to convey raw force and energy. Repeated blows result in limbs, wings, bones, beaks and heads being amputated from enemies, leaving wounds that burn blue. Not a bad way to depict brutal but bloodless hero-on-monster justice.
