The Masterpiece Square Enix Doesn't Care About - Valkyrie Profile 2

Rush Hour | Valkyrie Profile 2 Review

It's becoming more evident by the day just how big of a mistake consoles were for this industry. So many top shelf games are going to be lost to time. Valkyrie Profile, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Parasite Eve, Einhander, and countless more, all stuck on consoles from the past. And what are you going to do? Pay a ridiculous amount of money for a second hand copy?

But instead of breathing new life into these games that need ports, modern publishers are content to "remaster" and "remake" The Last of Us twice within a decade. Port Red Dead Redemption to the Switch for $50. Bring Skyrim to every single electronic device in existence. Popular games will forever remain within arm's reach, but what about the ever-expanding ocean of niche games?

Even if you own a working copy of Valkyrie Profile 2, and a working PS2, getting the game to run can be a mission. Tri-Ace used some bizarre voodoo magic to get their games to work on the PS2, and they're very prone to disc-read errors. I own two copies of Valkyrie Profile 2, and replaced my PS2's laser with a brand new one, and it still spits out errors constantly just for Tri-Ace's games.

And Square Enix has no love for this series. Fans made a 4K patch for Valkyrie Profile 2, while Square commissioned a gacha that died after one year, and a run-of-the-mill action game from a studio whose specialty is mediocre action games (their staff worked on Devil's Third and Wanted: Dead).

Even if you have no intention to play this game, I think it's worthwhile to remember unique games like Valkyrie Profile 2 every now and then to stay sane in this era of regurgitation. We may never see anything like it ever again.

0:00 Games lost to time
1:00 The mistreatment of Valkyrie Profile
2:24 Publishers play it too safe nowadays
4:07 Vanillaware is incredible
4:44 Tri-Ace: masters of action rpgs
5:36 The beauty of strategy games
6:53 The wonderful depth of limb destruction
8:27 One part combat; one part platformer
9:29 Recruiting characters
10:55 Gameplay that rewards good execution
13:16 Valkyrie Profile 3 exists
14:17 Valkyrie Elysium is fanfiction
15:27 Publishers don't care about games; fans do

[tuliosan]

This game is still in my top 5, together with vp1, since 2007

[justyouraveragecountrybump]

yeah vp2 really really really need a remaster/remake.. I bought a goddamn ps2, again just to play it

[Vayne-bu]

I hope square enix at least remaster vp2 and release it on steam

[megasoniczxx]

I feel like I can actually appreciate a lot of what tri-Ace (and Squaresoft) did more now than I could when I was younger. There are so many similar playing RPGs now that it's fun to go back and play some of these quirkier titles and i'm pleased to say i've enjoyed them immensely despite not having any nostalgic connection to a lot of them. I just wish tri-Ace were more successful than they are since i'd like more games from them and they had a proper budget again.

[LaSignoraTheFairLady]

my favourite ps2 jrpg. and that battle theme is just great i would normally seek battles out just to hear it

[BobBob-preh]

Definitely need more vp. I would love a sequel to the timeline in vp2…with Rufus etc

[sailorboy]

It’s one of my favorite games ever made and I can’t even play it

[bigumamitaste]

Six years between mainline releases isnt what i would consider "milking". That was such a silly little thing to say, bud!

[dudemcguy]

Another solid video. Still have my copy of VP2. The systems are deep and satisfying.
Maybe the success of Star Ocean 2 Remake will give us a chance at some VP Remakes (I've given up hope of a VP3).

[jeffreymartinez]

Everyone's talking about Valkyrie Profile but nobody is talking about how Squaresoft single Handedly killed the Brave Fencer Musashi Series after the second game which was absolutely abysmal

[spotsthecat]

11:00 ish... did you use Order of Ecclesia soundtrack? Damn, Valkyrie Profile and Cv Order of Ecclesia are awesome games!

[BioPhoenixReviews]

VP2 is a really good game. i do want to go back to it but i may just restart as i feel like i messed up my whole playthrough due to not realizing that you gain more skills with the equipment until way too late in the game. also as much as i like the menu design for how cool it looks. it is a bit cumbersome to get use to. but outside of these learning curves i think it is a much more enjoyable game then VP1.
VP1 wile it has many cool things going for it. it has way too many annoying things like the time limit, most of the early dungeons are too hard for early game, and trying to get the good ending is super cryptic and no one is getting it without needing a guide unless you have the luck of fools lol. but yeah VP2 has such a unique and fun battle system and the graphics and music are top tier for PS2 and could even pass as an early PS3 game

on a side note, vanillaware not porting their games to PC is so unbelievably backwards

[nitramusestronghold]

Muramasa is also on the Wii, which emulates just fine :)

[kenelt]

i will take 1 over 2 eny day. the movement in combat as an abosolute deal breaker some maps where hair pulling, in open areas where you can move round the map wasnt so bad but in areas like the aquaduct were terrible. like they make the map to look good over work properly in combat. if they have worked on the map and better collision so you dont got stuck in the smallest things it would have been an exponentially better game.

[reneramirez]

I really liked it, the music the story and the vibe, but the gameplay was weird and didn’t actually understood it

[CynicalGamingBlogTerry]

Maybe this is why I hate modern gaming so much, because Valkyrie Profile 2 is my favorite game XD.

I swear to god if anyone wants a reminder of how terrible videogames are today, play Valkyrie Profile 2 and you'll hate modern gaming just as much as me because you will see what gaming used to be like and how great it was and how developers would work tirelessly to reach the boundaries of hardware limitations. There's none of that now. Valkyrie Profile 2 represents all of it.

Did you know that Vanillaware and tri-Ace used to work in the exact same building? It's not surprising that Odin Sphere has a literal Nibelung Valesti move in it, then you see Laeticia's design in Star Ocean 6 and you're like "did Gradriel from Princess Crown cover her hair in bleach or something?" I swear to god those two companies are like siblings.

Suguro is no longer with tri-Ace so I think if they made another Valkyrie Profile game it wouldn't be like 2 at all, if anything I'd just like to see a multiverse sort of thing where you play as Hrist... like some kind of continuation from ending C in the first game, Drakengard did it with Nier so why not Valkyrie Profile?

As for Resonance Of Fate being Valkyrie Profile 3, I'd disagree, it's very different but it is very Suguro, you can tell it's a Suguro game for sure but he took things in such a drastic direction that it's incomparable. I'd say Resonance Of Fate is more akin to Suguro's attempt at making 10000 bullets more than Valkyrie Profile 3. I feel that Resonance Of Fate's combat is a little bit too complicated but doesn't quite have the depth of VP2's combat to back it up but I appreciate the attempt at least to make something unique, better than what you see nowadays.

Ultimately though, I'm beyond caring what Square-Enix do with this series, PCSX2 gets the job done for me but I can see why people would want a port of it and why it hasn't happened, it's because Square-Enix are cowards, they remade Star Ocean 2, a game that didn't need remaking but Star Ocean Blue Sphere, a game that didn't get localized in the west? No, too much work, can't do that.

[musha]

interesting video :) keep it up i can feel that you're gonna succeed

[heysamesam]

If you want to talk about half-ass attempts at making VP successor you need to check out Exist Archive. I wanted to love that game but it makes you wish you're playing VP instead. The combat was serviceable but everything else was functional at best.

[soratheorangejuicemascot]

Are you familiar of Dept. Heaven series made by Sting Entertainment? I feel like its main inspiration is Valkyrie Profile series. Not just because its a norse myth setting, but also because its very very very different. Its a very different take from a known genre and the series is pretty dead. I miss them very much.

I do hope I get to play a nostalgic game someday.

[collapsiblechair]

another video crying about Japanese games unavailable on pc. your videos just sound whiny and negative. start with the positives if you genuinely like the games.