Square Enix: Official Valkyrie Profile (PSP and PS2) site is up

[Shark Sandwich]

4 hours? I'm assuming that's if you skip all the cutscenes, don't talk to anybody, know your way through dungeons ahead of time, don't explore at all, don't do any item creation, etc. That's not exactly the way a plot-driven JRPG is supposed to be played, but that's cool anyway. I had no idea you could beat SO3 that quickly.

If Tri-Ace were to make a dungeon crawler with multiplayer support (something that should've been in SO3 and RS for the love of God), a minimalist plot, no voice acting in battles or cutscenes, no 17 year old idiot with a sword trying to save the universe, better character models (anime style is cool with me, but some of the SO3 models have FREAKISHLY HUGE foreheads and eyes), 4+ character parties, and music on par with SO2's and Valkyrie Profile's, I would buy that in a heartbeat. It would be a game that focuses on Tri-Ace's strengths. It would be especially cool if they had a cast of characters that was as crazy and over-the-top as SO2's. Man. . . this game needs to get made SOON.

My problem with Tri-Ace is that, in their last couple games, they made plot and character development the centerpiece of the game, but they have absolutely no idea how to do those things right. The thought of what Tri-Ace could do if they hired competent writers gives me goosebumps. I can only hope. . .

 

[Farid]

SO3 had three problems in my book, plain bad character design (graphically), way too long and prominent cutscenes and an almost broken battle system.

The character desgin is a simple matter of personal preferences, but I have to say the character art is as generic anime as possible.
While, strangely, contrary to most people I didn't mind the plot nor the quality of the dialogues, seeing how fresh and straightforward they are (things I appreciate a lot more than drama/pseudo-intellectualism stuff in my RPGs), I have to admit that there are way too much cut-scene, especially in the first 30H or so... A slow as hell start.

And the main issue for me was the Battle system, I won't say it's plain and simply broken as some folks did, but I clearly see the flaws of the system. Actually, without starting any precise discussion on the subject, I'd just say that the flaws of the battle could have been hidden if some of the bosses/enemies didn't actually make thoses flaws so clear, some battle were a complete random mess.


BTW, and to get the thread back on rail, is VP gameplay/story evolving after the first 10H or so? I'm asking because I nevertook the time to pass throught those first 10 hours. Also, what's better for a first playtrought in VP, choosing to send characters back to the Gods or keeping them?