Valkryie Profile: Covenant of the Plume (DS)

[lopez]

I'll try to do a micro review:

Story:

Main character loses his father and blames the Valkyrie (Retriever of souls) for the impact it has on his family.
Goes on a quest to kill the Valkyrie with the help of Hel (female version of satan). Along the way he meets characters involved in a power struggle between 2 rival powers trying to control the land. Betrayals and plot twists ensue. Most of the battles/events depend on the characters moral choices. Overall, a great morality gripped story keeps you going and sets up further replays.

Score: 9/10

Gameplay:

Turn-based strategy game. It's a mix between Valkyrie Profile 1 and Final Fantasy Tactics. You control up to 4 characters and move along a grid to attack your enemies. When attacking, all allies within range join in to attack the enemy. Each character can do 1-3 attacks in a given battle sequence, depending on the weapon equipped. Each character is set to one of the 4 buttons (A,B,X,Y) and pressing the button causes them to attack. The initial playthrough can be challenging if your unfamiliar with the gameplay. It is a fun and reward system if you put in the effort to strategize your movements on the grid. Reckless playing leads to a quick game-over. Overall, entertaining take on the turn + grid-based strategy games.

Score: 9/10

Characters:

Each of the recruitable characters is unique and interesting. They play a strong part in each of the games chapters. Each character (besides Mages) has a unique play style in battle that helps expand replayability. There are a few stereotypes, but overall their stories and dialogue make up for the cliches

Score: 8/10

Music:

Most of the music is recycled from previous Valkyrie games. This isn't necessarily bad, as the music is good, it's just disappointing how they couldn't create more new music.

Score: 7/10

Replayability/Extras:

Spoilers:


There are three different endings depending on your moral choices. Each play-through can lead to different sides of the story and different characters depending on your moral choices. After obtaining all three endings a new dungeon is available. A New Game+ is available after each play-through resulting in weapons/armor being carried over (this is a huge help for obtaining the A ending)

Score: 10/10

Overall: 9/10

Great game. In my opinion it was the most enjoyable out of the 3 valkyrie games to play. You should pick it up if you enjoy turn-based strategy games like Final Fantasy Tactics.

[Prinny]

Hmm sounds good =D

[CelticRedemption]

Sounds too good, i honestly have to say i didn't like it NEARLY enough for it to be a 9/10. It has almost none of the charm the first and second game had

[Mesarthim]

It's going to take a ton to get me to like another valkyrie game over the original, when the second one wasn't that good. I'll take a whirl at this game's soundtrack in a bit but the original game's soundtrack is made of win whereas the second game not so much but still had some decent tracks.

I'll probably find my way to this game eventually, but seeing as I don't actually own a DS, might be a while.

[CelticRedemption]

Agree, the first game is so very hard to top! ><

also, nice Vanilla H avatar >.> lots of people have nice avatars this time around

[lopez]

What was so great about the 1st? I really enjoy it too, but I thought the story of blind vengeance was cool. I loved how Wil learned about how his quest for vengeance was so hollow and one-sided. The 1st games mini independent stories wasn't as interesting as the DS game were all the mini stories are all linked and Wil is at the center.

Also I loved the addition of strategy to the formula. The first game was fun to play, but it lost it's appeal after a few playthroughs...

[Mesarthim]

The first game was fun to play, but it lost it's appeal after a few playthroughs...

I've probably played through it a dozen times or more and still enjoy it every time, despite knowing too much. I can easily clear hard mode casually, secret dungeon included, in the span of about 20 hours. In terms of soundtracks I'd have to say the original game had the best soundtrack overall. Motoi Sakuraba's work for Valkyrie Profile 2's soundtrack was a little bit of a letdown compared to his original work. Would you mind going into detail of why you think the game lost its appeal after a few playthroughs? It's not like I don't see your point on that, but it's still curious.

[lopez]

Well the 1st game was too structured. The only thing that really changed between playthroughs was who you sent up to Asgard after each period.

Each playthrough (on hard) was identical. Recruit the same characters during the same periods and level grind in the same dungeons all in the same exact order.

In the DS game each playthrough is different. If you use the plume so many times you recruit certain characters versus not using it leads to different characters. Also if you don't meet the Sin requirement, then you get a few different enemies to fight in the next battle. So basically, you have control over how the game plays out. Also the different pathways all have different perspectives on the overall story, where the 1st game really only changed near the later periods if you go for the A ending.

In the 1st game you played the game a specific identical way, albeit with different battle characters...

I still enjoy playing the 1st game, I just think the DS game is a more diverse experience minus the recycled music

[Mesarthim]

Huh... well I just got around to acquiring the soundtrack for Covenant of the Plume. I can say with absolute certainty that I recognize at least half of the soundtrack. They're not bad but... I think I like their original counterparts better.

Though sometimes I wonder why Motoi Sakuraba makes arrange albums if the actual game soundtrack is pretty much like half of an arrange album as it is, specifically, if worded correctly:

Ray of Darkess, Ray of Light
Epic Poem to a Holy Death
Blameless Thoughts
Ancient Illusions of Eternity
Distortion into An Abyss
Mighty Blow
Confidence in the Domination
The Counterfeit Self
The Key to Singing the Praises of Victory
When a Person Dies with Another
Prosperity's Compensation, Then Introduction (maybe)
All is Twilight
Tomorrow
Crumbling Id
Thin Haze
Hopeless Resolution
Joy's Oblivion
Out of Chaos
Hard Chain Reaction (ah the memories)
An Inscription on a Tombstone
Rise Above the World
Mission to the Deep Space
Battle With Unidentified Gods Syndrome

Not sure if I left one out. I mean I like most of the themes that are listed here, but some are not too original anymore.

[noexcusepunk]

I'm a huge fan of this series, loved the first, loved the second, and am avidly awaiting a third.
When I heard there was a remake of Valkyrie Profile 1 for the PSP, I IMMEDIATELY went out and bought a PSP and waited for the game to be released.
When I heard this was coming out for the DS, I picked up the game on launch day and played through it within the first couple of days.

I pretty much agree with the TC's review though I would lower the points in story and music a couple of points simply because compared to the first and second games scores.... well, it's just hard to compete with those two golden OST's.

Tri-Ace make some great games, and I really haven't disliked any of them save for Star Ocean 3, which really is for a silly reason, but I just can't get around the flaw in my mind. Everything else is just fine. I'm avidly awaiting Resonance of Fate.

[Ubiquitor]

Great iteration to a great series.
Achieving the A ending on my first iteration through the game was unnecessarily tedious.

Lieselotte dominated me to the degree that I actually missed my sin quota.

[DarkPrier]

I'll try to do a micro review:

Story:

Main character loses his father and blames the Valkyrie (Retriever of souls) for the impact it has on his family.
Goes on a quest to kill the Valkyrie with the help of Hel (female version of satan). Along the way he meets characters involved in a power struggle between 2 rival powers trying to control the land. Betrayals and plot twists ensue. Most of the battles/events depend on the characters moral choices. Overall, a great morality gripped story keeps you going and sets up further replays.

Score: 9/10

Gameplay:

Turn-based strategy game. It's a mix between Valkyrie Profile 1 and Final Fantasy Tactics. You control up to 4 characters and move along a grid to attack your enemies. When attacking, all allies within range join in to attack the enemy. Each character can do 1-3 attacks in a given battle sequence, depending on the weapon equipped. Each character is set to one of the 4 buttons (A,B,X,Y) and pressing the button causes them to attack. The initial playthrough can be challenging if your unfamiliar with the gameplay. It is a fun and reward system if you put in the effort to strategize your movements on the grid. Reckless playing leads to a quick game-over. Overall, entertaining take on the turn + grid-based strategy games.

Score: 9/10

Characters:

Each of the recruitable characters is unique and interesting. They play a strong part in each of the games chapters. Each character (besides Mages) has a unique play style in battle that helps expand replayability. There are a few stereotypes, but overall their stories and dialogue make up for the cliches

Score: 8/10

Music:

Most of the music is recycled from previous Valkyrie games. This isn't necessarily bad, as the music is good, it's just disappointing how they couldn't create more new music.

Score: 7/10

Replayability/Extras:

Spoilers:


There are three different endings depending on your moral choices. Each play-through can lead to different sides of the story and different characters depending on your moral choices. After obtaining all three endings a new dungeon is available. A New Game+ is available after each play-through resulting in weapons/armor being carried over (this is a huge help for obtaining the A ending)

Score: 10/10

Overall: 9/10

Great game. In my opinion it was the most enjoyable out of the 3 valkyrie games to play. You should pick it up if you enjoy turn-based strategy games like Final Fantasy Tactics.

I completely agree, but the music was mostly just VP1 so I would put it at a 5 or 4.

I like how there aren't just a ton of mages like in the first one(or terribly generic spirits and story characters in VP2), and the mages in this game are all extremely cool and unique.

I still think Aelia is a better VP character than all VP characters though, I wish she was in this game.

[Ubiquitor]

... the mages in this game are all extremely cool and unique.

I agree with this to the degree that I used an all-mage party for Seraphic Gate.

[Shizuka]

When I got to the last stage, the game got too hard for me, and as this is a no-grinding game, I got stuck. >: Nice, but could get a few improvements in graphics and gameplay.

[Clephas]

I also thought this was a good game when it came out. It really is a worthy entry to the series, and proof that Valkyrie Profile is still alive and kicking, despite being a series that essentially limited the number of games it could produce with the timeline it created. Basically, we've seen Lenneth and Sylmeria's personal stories, as well as a side-story/prequel for Lenneth in this game... now all that is left is Hrist. Oh god, I want to have a Hrist game, really bad. It seems like she would be the most interesting of the valkyries, because of that nicely ruthless side she has going. Also... it seems to me that there is a lot of depth to her that is left unexplored, despite the events in Sylmeria and Lenneth. Actually, the events in the other two stories felt like only a taste of Hrist, despite everything.

Edit: One thing I do seriously disagree with the review on is the music. Personally, I think it is just fine that VP reuses the same set of background music, because it was just that good. Better to go with tried and true - and more importantly, uniquely suited to the setting - than go off into new area and have the setting of a new game lose the atmosphere of a Valkyrie Profile.