Valkyrie Profile Part #1

Part 1: Part 0-1

Welcome to Valkyrie Profile!

We will be doing two playthroughs on this run to get all the endings. It's not necessary, but for now the plan is to do a Normal Run, then a Hard run to compare the differences. For now, we'll do Normal.

Bells ring as the screen slowly pans down.

A bride waits, alone.

Hm?

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OST: To the Unhallowed Ground

Going to skip past most of the credits, pointing out some notables.

Aside from designing VP, Norimoto also helped design Star Ocean and Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, as well as the supervisor of Radiata Stories.

Miyake has designed battle systems for several games, such as Eternal Sonata and Xenosaga III.

Sakuraba is one of the biggest names on the list. Just a few other games on his resume include the Star Ocean series, Super Smash Bros Melee/Brawl, and many games from the Tales games, including Xillia/Xillia 2.

Gotanda is the current president of tri-Ace. As with most of the crew, he was heavily involved in the Star Ocean series.

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We get control of Valkyrie, but we can't do anything except run left into...

Since Valkyrie doesn't have a portrait for her normal girl appearance, I'll be using her regular portrait instead.

Frei is voiced by Kayzie Rogers, whose biggest and most famous roles are from Pokemon. Said roles include Wobbuffet, Max, Professor Ivy, and many more. Also related: her vocal coach was Maddie Blaustein.

Lenneth is voiced by Megan Hollingshead. Like Rogers, Hollingshead has had several roles in Pokemon, including Nurse Joy, and has also had roles in Naruto and Bleach.

Listen to the conversation!

You seem as if you're waiting for someone.

Has it been that long...? Are you well?

Yes!

Oh! Lord Odin is waiting for you within.

Of course. We will speak later, Frei.

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OST: Valhalla

A few options here: you can watch the rest of this scene here, or if you just want the audio, listen to the conversation here.

You have no need to kneel before us like a dweller in Midgard.

Freya is voiced by Veronica Taylor. Famous for her roles as Ash Ketchum and May in Pokemon, Taylor was also Cosmos in Dissidia Final Fantasy and Leo Klissen in Tekken.

I understand.

I rejoice to see you again! You have been missed.

And you.

Lenneth Valkyrie.

Odin is voiced by Rodger Parsons. As with the other people in this scene, he's had a notable role in Pokemon, as the Narrator from the first 6 seasons and from season 9 onwards, and Cid from the Lufaine from Dissidia.

Yes, my lord.

The head of Mimir has told me that Ragnarok, the end of the world, draws near.

Ragnarok!

There have been signs of unrest among the Vanir of late. It seems that we, the Aesir, will not be able to avoid war with them. We require warriors. You shall journey to Midgard, the world below, and search for suitable human souls.

It is my honor, Lord... to serve you.

I expect great things from you. Well then, Freya...

Yes, my lord.

You have but recently awakened and it would be unkind of me to send you alone.

And they teleport out.

---

Yes. The lower world of Midgard. Where souls wander around... locked in cages of flesh.

Does it remind you of anything?

Not particularly. I have never seen this world before.

Then let us go. It is time for me to teach you about who you are and what your role is.

---

What do you mean?

You have a power that is yours alone. Close your eyes and open your heat. Concentrate and listen. You will understand.

We'll be using Spiritual Concentration at the start of each chapter. It basically allows us to scout Midgard for situations where we can recruit new characters. Occasionally it also provides information of other places of interest.

In a situation where we can recruit a new character, we get a voiced clip of what's going on:

Listen: Spiritual Concentration 1

"Ahhh.... Arngrim... it hurts!"

"Help me... save me...!"

"It... it's a monster!"

"You think it's foolish brother, because you're content with what you have."

"You're wrong!"

...Yes...

Do you hear it?

What is this...?

That is your power. The power to hear the sorrow, anger and hopes of humans near death. The power to hear their souls cry out. It is your task to take the souls of those chosen departed within yourself.

I am to search among the souls of the departed for those worthy to become heroes?

Yes. That is why...

That is why what?

Let us go. If we go even close, you will be able to synchronize your soul with theirs. Then you will understand more.

---

Our next scene begins with this guy slicing a monster in half.

Followed by a bunch of Generic Mooks running by him, one guy lagging behind.

Arngrim casually walks off to the next screen. We get control of him, but we don't have anything to do except run forward.

Ah...

Nuisance. Out of my way!

Let me assist you.

And we get our first battle!

OST: Confidence in the Domination

The game throws very few tutorials at you, so I'm going to have to explain this on my own. The basics of VP's battle system is the ability of your characters to attack in tandem. You can have up to four characters in the party at once, and each of the main buttons (Square, Triangle, Cross, Circle) correspond to one character. So pressing Square will have Arngrim attack, and X for Lawfer. Each characters has up to three attacks a round, depending on their class and their equipped weapon, and they have attacks unique to each character. For now, we're stuck with one per.

Green bar is health. CT is Charge Time - we'll get to that eventually, but we can ignore it for the time being.

Units can block...

...And evade attacks.

Because each character has unique attack that strike in different ways, you can get combos where you wail on an enemy on the ground or juggle them in the air. Here, Arngrim knocked the enemy to the ground, and Lawfer hit the Lesser Harpy afterwards. Hitting an enemy while it's on the ground has a chance to produce a gem, which is then randomly distributed to one of your characters. The gems will then reduce CT - again, we'll get to that when it becomes relevant.

The number of hits you can get in a combo is also important. Attacks deal 1% increased damage for each additional hit in the combo.

Conversely, hitting an enemy while your attack has sent them in the air has a chance to produce crystals, which increase experience gained at the end of battle.

Either way, this first battle is of no threat at all.

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OST: All is Twilight

Whoa, are you okay?

Yeah. Just sit down.

Art is more than just "that stuff"...

If you can't sell it, what's the point?

I don't do it for money.

Hmmm. Whatever.

Brother... It's different. Different from war where you just kill people.

I don't fight for money. I'm a mercenary because I enjoy it. Same as you, right!?

I don't give a damn about "expressing myself" or whatever.

---

You think it's foolish, brother, because you're content with what you have.

...

For me, drawing pictures has always been a way for me to escape the confines of a frail body of mine.

---

I'll leave the money here.

That statue?

It's a present from His Highness. They give it to the guy that kills the most people.

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Our next scene starts with a clatter of something hitting the floor.