So..this game isnt that good?

[Hansell1001]

Tell me the pros and cons in a nutshell.

[Valeriya]

The combat is acceptable but it's something we've seen before, I appreciate the graphic style but a lot of situations are repetitive, enemies, zones and item drops.
The story is barely sketched, taken for granted, I immediately understood how it will end, who is the good guy and who is the bad guy. The completely naive protagonist, I haven't been able to get attached to the pg, she doesn't express anything, almost devoid of character or empathy and as far as the game mechanics are concerned, although already seen in other titles, there is something more, like the summoning other characters in battle and spells to cast towards enemies, but in the end it's always the same thing already seen albeit appreciable.
Upgradable weapons and stats, no alternative costumes.
There are side quests that you can choose to do later if you like, quests that drop items upon completion.
It's not a bad game, but it's not worth the full price, better at a discount.

[Hansell1001]

Thank you.

And about "It's not a bad game, but it's not worth the full price, better at a discount".

Thas why I was also asking. It has discount now so Im thinking of buying it just for the sake of having a Valkyrie Profile game again (though I understand this game is far from the Valkyrie Profile series concept in general).

[Valeriya]

Publicado originalmente por Hansell1001:

Thank you.

And about "It's not a bad game, but it's not worth the full price, better at a discount".

Thas why I was also asking. It has discount now so Im thinking of buying it just for the sake of having a Valkyrie Profile game again (though I understand this game is far from the Valkyrie Profile series concept in general).

I too got it on sale just recently and even if I don't have money problems, I would never have taken it at full price, I had read some reviews and seen some gameplay and I knew what I was getting into, at this price it may be fine but not at full price, it is very far from being a triple A even if it is sold at the same price when it is not on sale.
The deluxe edition includes only one useless weapon that sells for about $10 (full price). Now is the right time to buy, we don't know when it will be on sale again, but it's a somewhat controversial title and almost devoid of ideas.

[Hansell1001]

I bought it yesterday. How bad can it be, right?

[vault2049]

If you haven't played any Valkyrie Profile game, you might find this one decent enough. It's not a bad game, nut it is a bad Valkyrie Profile game.

[Hansell1001]

Publicado originalmente por vault2049:

If you haven't played any Valkyrie Profile game, you might find this one decent enough. It's not a bad game, nut it is a bad Valkyrie Profile game.

I own Valyrie Profile 1 and 2. The tactical one, well not for me. And the "Anatomia" one is forgettable to say the least of course.
If this one is not good enough well at least I´d have a reason to implore Square Enix for Valkyrie Profile 3.

[Atom]

It's a very mixed kinda game.

+: superb character action combat with a lot of depth and player expression. This is entirely up to you if you want to engage with the depth of the combat -- like most character action games you can just button mash through everything but there's a ton of nuance that can let you do some really sick stuff. If you like action games there's a lot to like here. If you don't, you can probably write this off and I'd say just avoid the game in general. This is probably a deal breaker as its the major focus of the game. It can feel a bit stiff at first but pretty quickly becomes a lot of fun. Some of my favorite aerial combat in a recent action game in particular. The game tells you very little about the nuances of its systems though, so you kinda have to experiment a lot here. There's a postgame alternate playable character and mini bloody palace mode for extra combat opportunities.

Difficulty modes that offer a large spectrum of challenge. The higher difficulties don't just juice stats, but radically change up enemy patterns, aggressiveness and whatnot.

Great music. Very reminiscent of VP2 more than 1, the soundtrack is dynamic with battle and exploration versions of each track that seamlessly transition. Boss themes are all unique and have some great orchestral rock stuff going on, hints of Sakuraba's dark souls stuff.

Art direction is a matter of taste but I really like it. Feels very valkyrie x drakengard in a good way. There's a PC mod to remove the thick outlines on characters which might be worth looking into if that bothers you.

+/-:
Levels: the layouts themselves are pretty good with a decent amount of side paths that have worthwhile items to find, but the game only has like only 5 main large areas, so there's a bit of a variety issue. I don't think the level design is notably worse than many other recent action RPGs (imo it's better than something like Scarlet Nexus or FFVII Remake dungeons), but that's a low bar to clear. Not as good as the old VP1 dungeons at any rate. They're traditional PS2/PS3 era action game levels, think somewhere between DMC4 and 5, or Bayo 1 and 2.

Enemy variety is also pretty limited. It's not terrible or anything and they switch enemies up with palette swaps and add in a couple new types with new attacks and stuff, but its noticeable by the halfway or two thirds mark at least. In a longer game it would be more of a problem, but at 15 hours give or take its not as bad.

Main story: It's not *bad* on the whole per se, but it has a major issue of not much/nothing happening for the first two thirds or so. VP1 had this issue as well but there was more backstory stuff with Einherjar to keep you occupied. There are little lore notes and things you pick up and can piece stuff together. It's minimalist and ranges in quality from pretty decent to pretty poor.

Characters: They're pretty decent to good for what they are, and there's a good amount of party banter. You unlock their backstories as the game goes on by doing side missions, and they're pretty good, but they're only presented as audio dramas and there's not a ton of it.

Side missions: they're just short reused parts of levels where you kill enemies with maybe a little bit of story if you're lucky. That said, the side missions all give worthwhile rewards which is more than can be said about a lot of recent RPGs.

-:
A real clear lack of budget that extends to a lot of facets of the game, some alluded to above:
Only 4 Einherjar. Though they get more fleshed out than many of the ones in 1, and certainly those in 2, it's disappointing that there weren't at least another few secret einherjar to recruit.
Only 5 major environments with a lack of optional dungeon areas and stuff.
Only 15-20 hours of content.
Stiff and stilted cutscenes except for the handful of big important ones (which admittedly look really quite nice).
Einherjar backstories that are only audio dramas. Even some concept art of visual novel stuff would help here.
Lack of QoL features like having multiple equipment loadouts which can lead to a fair amount of menu management late game.
A laughable lack of NPCs or Towns. It makes sense in the narrative but it's a clear budget cut and it genuinely sucks.
Limited cutomization, gearing and RPG aspects.

If you go in expecting Valkyrie Profile 3 or a super fleshed out full fat JRPG you'll be disappointed. If you go in expecting an solid ~15 hour action game with light RPG elements, a (mostly decent) Valkyrie vibe with a cool atmopshere and some good Sakuraba music, and get it on sale (cheaper on others sites rn btw), I think it's a good bit of fun, especially if you can overlook some jank and clear budget issues. Some seem to view it as an irredeemably awful game and like, idk. It's not phenomenal GOTY all-time classic stuff for sure but it has some strengths and there are plenty of way worse games out there lol. A lot of decent bones that could be refined into a much better sequel.

[Hansell1001]

Sorry thats very long. And maybe spoilerific.
I will compare notes once Im done with it.