Valkyrie Profile: The Covenant of the Plume
Norse mythology RPG, who knew this would take off?
Tags: Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume Categories: DS Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on May 11th, 2009
As Neil Gaiman once said, the Norse worshipped a-holes. It really is quite true, as their mythology is filled with more twists and turns than a soap opera. Tri-Ace has a series of games set among the mythos, Valkyrie Profile. There were two installments, one for the PS and one for the PS2, the original being remade for the PSP a few years back. A proper sequel has been made to the game in the form of Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume for the DS.
I struggled a bit with the new design of the game, as the elimination of the side scrolling exploration removed a lot of what made the original unique. However, in its place is an expanded battle system that mixes in some strategy with the RPG elements. It meets with mixed success, I feel, as there are a ton of strategy RPG titles coming out of the wood work.
The story telling style of the earlier games is reworked, but only slightly. Instead of taking control the Valkyrie Lenneth, you are a young mercenary Wylfred. Wylfred’s father was taken by the Valkyrie, and he seeks revenge. After nearly dying he makes a deal with Hel to get his revenge. She sends him back with the plume of the Valkyrie left on his father’s body. This journey takes him through rebellions and invasions, and along the way he gains “sin” by extreme cruelty of over killing your enemy. This isn’t animated in any way but continuing to attack a dead opponent and a gauge fills up. Each battle stage has a requirement and failing to do makes your benefactor upset.
The game play is rather solid, nothing you haven’t seen in the multiple strategy RPG titles that have come out in the last few years. The elimination of the dungeon exploration really took a lot away from the title for me. Things do get a little more interesting when you can basically pump your characters up with a mystical ‘roid rage, at the cost of the existence. Considering one of my complaints about the earlier titles was that there we far too many characters to work with, this is a nice touch, and works its way into the story.
The story doesn’t do well though. In some misguided aim to make Wylfred still likeable, our mercenary out for revenge against the gods, comes off like a whining teenager. He seems shocked by the brutishness of his comrades, and it just doesn’t fit together well. He seems to be far overshadowed by the other mercenaries early in the story. There is a rather large and branching story to discover, so they could be writing the character with enough of a void to fit the player’s choices. I would have rather seen three characters actually fleshed out.
This is a passable SRPG, but it is missing much of what made the original Valkyrie Profile so endearing. The strategy elements are generic, and I feel like the decision to put this title on the DS is limiting the title from conforming to the series. It does play well, and has a bit of replay value if you want to explore the choices you can make. It took awhile to really form an opinion on this game, as there isn’t anything that reaches out and grabs you.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
| + In depth story has replay value through branched story | 8.5 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Gameplay changes one of the game's most unique aspects - Main character is not as compelling |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| This is a nice title that delivers on the content, but it is missing some of the series' defining characteristics. | |
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Tags: Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume
Posted by Mike "Two Tone" McConnell on May 11th, 2009 and is filed under DS Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
