The Strangest Sequel? - Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria | KBash Game Reviews

sequel, prequel, freakquel

Welcome back to the second episode of Valkyrie Profile, this time featuring the weirdest sequel ever. I mean sure, Dept Heaven has a leg up on the competition strictly speaking, but this is NOT how I'd go about following up one of the greatest PSX JRPGs. Not that I hate the thing - it's fun enough, it's cool and interesting, but it shifts the design framework in such incredible ways you have to wonder why.

Instead of bashing wherever hurts most with the big-sad-mallet every twenty minutes, Valkyrie Profile 2 opts to send the player into the wilderness to grind offscreen for 6 hours. Not always, but it happens. It's a tough nut to crack, nothing like my usual bedtime escapades, so it's a buyer-beware experience.

I pulled cutscene footage and some miscellaneous bits from around the web because multiple video files corrupted. It's a notoriously obnoxious game to get up and running well, accounting for community support, so buying a good quality PS2 copy is probably the best play. Thing's gorgeous, so, I mean, why not?

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0:00 what is this
05:43 game's weird bro
16:35 full story and spoilers

#kbash #valkyrieprofile #review

[GumikoVT]

Hey kbash, you should look at the game Resonance of Fate/End of Eternity. It's a super weird jrpg that features a combat system based around bullet time. I think that would make a really cool video.

[KevinSkye]

YES DUDE, FUCKING YES. NOBODY EVER TALKS ABOUT VP2 LIKE THIS. DEAR ODIN, THANK YOU FOR PRESENTING US THIS GLORIOUS GIFT

[StewNWT]

This game is fucking awesome, it's one of those amazing games where this NOTHING else like it and it's super enjoyable to play. Great challenge too. You should definitely play Alundra, as well as Skies of Arcadia Legend

[pilbtff]

VP 2 is the best VP/Tri-Ace Rpg for me. It's a game that screams early 2000s era of gaming where games are beautiful but also deceiving, be it with the plot, the game mechanics or the difficulty set-up. VP2 story wise is chaotic. Not in a way it's hard to understand but with how much tragedy befalls the main cast like a ladder and they just keep going. Unlike VP1 where Lenneth is seeking her humanity, Alicia is just doing things almost slave to her own cause and from the spirit of Silmeria. And when Silmeria was gone she felt incomplete. And it was rightly so because unlike Lenneth who became a warrior instantly, Alicia wasn't. She's the chosen of the slain but Silmeria is a rebel and she would even free her einherjars than deliver them to valhalla. Meanwhile, all the villains are scheming. Even the King was Scheming and the surprise final villain has the biggest scheme. The combat system of VP2 is the best thing there is. The visuals are beautiful, the combat is seamless and the enemies are tough but they're not unbeatable. There are secrets and mechanics that can help you finish the game and the Seraphic gate is just great. The music is also great and the dog theater is the best. VP2 is the best Rpg that nobody knew.

[CynicalGamingBlogTerry]

The way I see it, the reason why the second game is so different is because it's Silmeria's game. In Lenneth, the entire experience revolves around her perspective, discovering herself and developing empathy for the world around her. The entire game is purely world building and you're sharing that experience with Lenneth, learning about the world together.

Silmeria on the other hand already knows what's up, she already harvested her einherjar and had she not been trapped inside Alicia, she'd be ready for battle. Alicia's story is more about dealing with her own problems while the world around her is completely apathetic towards her problems, focusing instead on the task at hand. It's a far cry from the original where everyone is suffering and it's all about developing empathy. It's sorta like Halo 3 in the sense that it is essentially "finishing the fight". The game feels more long drawn out because the world at large is in a much better shape, there isn't that sense of urgency like the first game because the game is trying to build that feeling of apathy which clashes with the tone of Alicia's story. The game actively tries to distract you from the task at hand to constantly remind you of the disconnect between the world and Alicia's story because at this point, nobody is aware of what's coming. It's the calm before the storm you could say and because of that the game feels more like an excursion than a marathon.

Honestly I like that better and it's a big reason why I prefer this game over the first, I like sinking my teeth into these types of games and I like to take my time with them, explore at my own pace and enjoy the ride. Valkyrie Profile 1 felt like a long ass task sheet with vague instructions. It felt more like work than play, Valkyrie Profile 2 however felt like a playground I could mess around in and that's what I want in a videogame, which is why I prefer the second game over the first game.

[ToseRoyal]

I really wish this game would be rereleased on modern consoles so that it's not just locked to the PS2 forever.

[ChrisLT]

Loved VP2. It was my favorite JRPG for awhile, and I liked how it expanded the combat system into 3D. Curious to see how it holds up from a modern perspective since most of the small details have left my memory long ago.

[Layazeroda]

I played this game for the first time earlier this year, and I absolutely loved it. It didn't blow me away or anything, but it was just such a well-crafted game! Although I prefer VP1 because that had a better OST and characters, VP2 destroys it gameplay and mechanic-wise, and it may have my favorite turn-based battle system out of anything i've ever played (I personally wouldn't call it real time).

I hate grinding in RPGs, especially necessary grinding, but grinding in VP2 was so fun. You forgot to mention that cool thing of breaking enemy parts in battles... like their tails, or their held weapon, helmet, etc. Not only did that add another layer to battles but you were rewarded with a unique drop when you broke a enemy part. It affected their attacks too, like if you break a dragon's wings or tail then it couldn't use wing or tail attacks against you. Or breaking a soldier's chestplate or sword may get you their armor or sword after the battle. Stuff like that is just too cool, made battles feel so dynamic and strategic. This game is super deep and well made but you are totally right how it is very niche and you need to be a certain kind of person to *really* enjoy it.

Like for me, I never thought dungeons were boring. I was excited for every new dungeon because I was so desperate to dismantle all the enemies and find things to make my party as OP as possible, or hoping to get the final part for a skill that I want. Every time a new dungeon opened up, I'd try to break every possible part of every new enemy so that you could see every drop... Something about that was very satisfying and it really kept combat from ever getting stale unlike VP1. Every dungeon had unique battlefield layouts too. My favorite thing that kept it feeling fresh was the parry skill you could unlock (I'm a big fan of parries in any game), and then you could try to learn the timing of each enemy's attack animation to parry it and come out of battles damage-free. Gave battles a risk high reward style that made it soooo fun.

Overall this game did such a great job at throwing variety at you, rewarding you when you explored your curiosity, and giving you tons of tools to make party builds with. It was overall a very meaty & satisfying JRPG to play through, but yes it is difficult, obtuse and can't be recommended to everyone, but if it's approach does sound good to you then you are going to LOVE the mess out of it I swear, 'cuz I never played anything like VP2.

[Beodude]

Such a pretty game. I was absolutely blown away when I played it!

[cliftonsargent]

This fighting style seems like the kind I would be able to really enjoy. Thank you Kbash for another great video

[XxXVideoVeiwerXxX]

Valkyria games...profile and chronicles, such underrated gems.
P.S Holy crap the graphics look like a PS3 game, that bit is seriously underrated

[onoredecade]

The best thing about VP2 is that they have NG+ but for enemies. You will start fresh, giving the whole new experience and really test your knowledge about the game. Max difficulty is 50 crystals which means NG+ 50.

All enemies has hundred thousands of hp and millions for major bosses. Even normal monsters early game took at least for me around 1 hour to kill.

[Cheese-tann]

The company NEEDS to port this game onto modern consoles. People should take the chance to play this game. The gameplay is VERY FUN.

[TDSFounder]

This one is my favorite VP game. But on the topic of the Einherjar, its not that you suck the soul out of the weapon. The souls are already inside of Silmeria and when you find one that's compatible then she uses it to materialize them (hence the randomizer). It's how they basically get around giving them development like the other souls had to focus on the main group, but they can then eventually be reincarnated into living people once more instead of being sent to Vahalla.

[DanteCrowlley]

It took me years to know the game had a sequel

[TheHarmpo]

I absolutely adored this game, knowing nothing about the series, everything felt confusing and underexplained and by the end I still felt like I was still just fucking around and I loved that.
Played the game till I damaged my disk and I've been looking for an affordable replacement ever since 😢
Fantastic video, thank you for this 💚

[Brotagonst_in_Hiding]

Literally looked at this game in a store today and thought "when will Kbash cover this one"

[ShockStormRPG]

Valkyrie Profile 2 was a really cool game. Tri Ace is coming out with another game soon Star Ocean 6 I am looking forward to their new Star Ocean game as well.

[Ty]

I'm Soo glad you made an individual video for the "sequel"

[SerpentineDeity]

I love VP but I adore VP2 for Alicia alone. Watching her grow from that meek nepobaby to a confident warrior princess was progressive done right and she didn't need no manjaw for that. The game being so needlessly complicated made it a sandbox for OCD-like people and I can come back to the game twice a year easy.