W-wow. This game both looks and sounds gorgeous. Should really have played this sooner.
It doesn't really hold your hand though. When is the right time to send your warriors to Valhalla? I suppose I'm first meant to fulfill their traits. There's a whole lot of stuff in the menus but is the game really quite simple or am I missing something big time?
>>3059737
It was awhile since I played it but I'm pretty sure I maxed the traits before sending anyone. If you want the true ending, you basically have to use a guide so leave it for the second playthrough.
>>3059737
>It doesn't really hold your hand though. When is the right time to send your warriors to Valhalla? I suppose I'm first meant to fulfill their traits. There's a whole lot of stuff in the menus but is the game really quite simple or am I missing something big time?
Do yourself a gigantic favor and just use a FAQ to figure out the Valhalla-sending stuff, as well as how to get the good ending.
Are you playing on Hard Mode?
>>3059767
I would recommend against getting the best ending first. Unless OP knows for a fact he will only play it once. It's not just the actual ending that changes but also bosses and events so you're going to miss out on stuff by not doing the normal ending first.
The game offeels
>>3059767
I picked the, uh... "least hard" difficulty and after some quick googling I'm really beginning to regret that. It seems that the hard difficulty actually ends up the easiest AND contains most events, wtf.
>>3059772
I honestly don't know if I'll play it more than once. Probably not right now, since I have a lot of games to play.
Should I start a new game on hard? I'm only at the beginning of the second chapter. 24 periods gone, I mean.
>>3059737
>When is the right time to send your warriors to Valhalla?
You mean Asgard, right? Anyway, when it comes to timing you can wait until just before using up the final period in the chapter to send the required amount of warriors. So you have basically the entire chapter to recruit, train and send the ones that will fulfill the conditions. You're not obligated to send all your warriors, the bare minimum will suffice.
>I suppose I'm first mean to fulfill their traits.
Absolutely. Keep in mind what Freya says they'll need at the beginning of the chapter (write it down if you must, it won't be repeated) and play through the game normally. Eventually you'll come across warriors that will satisfy 1 or (if you're lucky) 2 of the conditions if trained properly. Sometime it'd be someone you already had with you from a previous chapter.
>There's a whole lot of stuff in the menus
It's a good idea to level character skills since those aid in battle and improving stats (if you're intent on keeping the recruit with you) and character traits are mostly for the purpose of fulfilling conditions, so don't waste skill points on useless traits because they do nothing in combat (although raising them raises the character's Hero Rating, which probably influences the items you receive from Freya).
Also, yes... Hard Mode is the only mode you should be playing. You don't have to worry about all your recruits starting out at Level 1 because you will almost always have enough points in the EXP orb to help them catch up to the rest of the team.
The game's A ending absolutely requires a guide because it's so easy to screw yourself over from the get-go and get stuck on the B ending route. Basically, you have to lower Valkyrie's Seal Value down enough by a certain point while simultaneously keeping her Estimated Worth up enough to avoid the C ending (not-so-instant Game Over).
Your first playthrough is almost garanteed bad end unless you're a really smart savant or something. You should either play it twice or watch the true ending on youtube.
Too bad the gameplay is shit.
Too bad the translation is so shit. I don't know what happened to Enix around the PS1 era, but I couldn't be bothered to give them any financial support after seeing just how badly their localization team slaughtered Valkyrie Profile.
>>3059943
Nice meme, memefriend.
Don't mind me, I'm just waiting for my game that will never come.
>>3059920
Asgard, yeah. Brainfart. Thanks for your reply, I think I'm gonna start again since I was just a few hours into it. Let's see if I can find a guide without spoilers, the atmosphere in this game is quite unique and I' really want to remain unspoiled.
Btw I really like how this game handles death. Other rpg:s where death is sort of omnipresent (like SMT or something) it's always edgy and gritty. This game... Just felt like being full of sadness, instead of edginess.
>>3060976
You had your gamein my heartHrist.
>>3061229
>This game... Just felt like being full of sadness, instead of edginess.
Well, a certain character dies in a kinda gratuitous way, Shiho's death is also pretty fucking edgy.
The main theme of VP is death, but they USUALLY handle it like it should be handled, drama in death rather than death for drama.
Take Argrim, his death would be pretty edgy if you didn't have the implicit reminder of what's going to happen to his brother, Belenus sacrifices himself because of love, and a "sinful" one at that, Jelanda, a young noble child, dies a pretty gritty death, turned into a ghoul and then gets killed by Argrim and Lenneth, because of some political schemes, and then there's other people like Gray, Barbarossa, Yumei, Jin, Lorenta...
Is there any good art of Lenneth wearing her unarmored outfit like in this picture: >>3059737
She wears it in the intro, but she also wears it whenever you visit a town that doesn't have a quest/einherjar in it. I always thought it was a neat outfit.
This is one of those games that makes me wish I had learned Japanese. That voice acting, man.
>>3060976
Didn't you play Valkyrie Fantasy: Hrist Returns?
I also recommend that you restart on the hardest difficulty. You get all the characters, all the story, plus the extra dungeon if you it. If you are new with these kinds of games, it's an challenge, but a fun one. The difficulty spike begins when you reach the tower of Lezard Valeth. Until then, it's fairly easy. I would advise you on keeping the named blades and greater magic wands for when you need them, though. For instance, the Dragon slaying swords is a really good weapon, but screw that if you're gonna use it on mooks and have it break leaving you holding your dick in your hands when you're against a strong dragon enemy. Same with the wands. They are pwoerful, but have a good chance of breaking. And some bosses will pretty much one hit kill you.
So, to counter that, aside from strong weapons, invest in the "guts" skil. It has a chance of reviving you with 1 hp I believe when you are dealt a killing blow. Doesn't seem like much, but trust me, it is as it is often the difference between a wipe and victory.
I also advise you using a FAQ for th best ending,especially if you won't be playing it more than once. You should follow the general guidelines on who to send in chapters, but some of the characters are not set in stone. (Lucian for instance you have to send to Valhalla at a certain point). The first chapter suggests you send Belenus up for his traits, but I really liked the character in combat so I send the archer guy and still got the best ending. So, take it easy, follow the FAQ for story completion and you'll do okay.
>>3063852
>The first chapter suggests you send Belenus up for his traits, but I really liked the character in combat
You, I like you.
>>3059737
The game would be a lot better if not for things like that Japanese restaurant in Artolia, or the slavers wearing leather trenchcoats and sunglasses. Honestly, what was with that?
It's not like the Japanese restaurant adds anything to gameplay, either, so they easily could've just removed it, and had that scene at the beginning with Arngrim and Jelanda be in the tavern. Similarly, they could've just changed the design of the slavers; I dunno, maybe given them leather jerkins instead of trenchcoats, and removed the sunglasses. Those changes would've taken nothing from the game or the plot; they would've only made the setting feel more consistent and improved the game. I genuinely don't understand why the Japanese restaurant or the Trenchcoat Mafia slaver-outfits were necessary.
>>3063841
>tfw VP had in-game volume sliders but it still wasn't possible to mute the atrocious voice acting
>>3064086
It's not like the JP VA was much better though, to be honest, certain characters like Lorenta sound much better in english.
What they did to Lezard was unforgivable though, I'll give you that.
>>3064096
Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not the guy who wanted the Jap VA. I don't like voice acting in general, and really bad voice acting can ruin a game for me. I usually listen to other music when I play VP in order to avoid the VA... which is a real shame since the music in that game is pretty good most of the time.
>>3064114
>I don't like voice acting in general, and really bad voice acting can ruin a game for me.
True that, I too kinda miss the old days when there was little to no voice acting, most of the time it's completely redundant anyway, I'd rather have something else use that precious development time and money nowadays, with the exception of games like SRW.
>>3063852
Already restarted. My dragonslayer broke but otherwise the game is awesome as hell. Like, one of the coolest rpgs I've played.
I'm aiming for the A ending, and have been following a guide. I'm now at the chapter 4, and I just visited the valley, met Lucian and declined the fight against Brahms. I'm a bit worried about the game starting to hand my ass to me from now on, as I'm supposed to go to Lezard's castle and such.
BTW, are all the dungeons of easy difficulty in hard? I recall going through a snowy forest dungeon in easy, but that didn't show up in now. I assumed the dungeons you're supposed to visit are the ones that show up on the spirit search thingy (START button in map) but are there other, hidden events too? How do I find those?
>>3064124
>the game is awesome as hell. Like, one of the coolest rpgs I've played.
Word, what's your party?
>I'm a bit worried about the game starting to hand my ass to me from now on
It won't be too hard unless you've not being training your characters properly, be sure to properly explore Lezard's Tower as there's a key item in there, since you're reading a guide you'll probably know what I'm talking about.
>BTW, are all the dungeons of easy difficulty in hard?
Nope, certain dungeons do not appear in Hard, just like certain dungeons in Hard don't appear in lesser difficulties.
>>3064124
Just remember that getting one shot killed is normal more or less. Hence the guts thing. It helps. You'll usually end all fights once you start getting wands that have greater magic inscribed on them (I remember Unicorn Horn wand, but there were others that could not break) and building up your combo meter. The Mystic cross greater magic pretty much finishes each encounter in one round, and most boss encounters are two rounds at most with that. Use it last in a chain for maximum damage.
>>3064146
I'm sort of rotating several characters. Both Nanami and Jelanda feel strong, along with Kashell and Arngrim. Jun is also trying to make himself useful but it's looking bleak, haha. Would it be wiser to just to concentrate on three members and use them exclusively?
>there's a key item in there
Hm, the guide mentioned nothing about this. Do you mean creation gem?
>>3064280
>Both Nanami and Jelanda feel strong, along with Kashell and Arngrim.
Nanami and Jelanda are kinda weak, you should try out Lorenta since you're going to Lezard's tower, she's a very good mid tier mage.
I don't personally like Kashell's hitboxes but Argrim is very reliable as a PWS charger and against big enemies, guess you like big swords.
Jun is pretty much the worst melee character in the game with people like Suo due to his weird hitboxes and tricky combo, moreover his PWS is really lackluster when it comes to...everything really.
>Do you mean creation gem?
Yep, that's exactly it, make sure you do get it, it can be a bit hard since Lezard's tower is a pretty long dungeon with quite a few strong encounters here and there but all the stuff inside it it's worth it.
The Creation Gem allows you to synthesize amazing stuff, most of that stuff is only available through the Creation Gem too.
One little tip, once you do get the Golden Fowl, don't give it back to Uncle Odin, it will lay eggs in each chapter, those eggs can be used on characters to permanently raise their stats, it's one of the few items you should keep if you want to squeeze everything out of the game.
>>3064348
Ok, Lorenta will be in the next town, I'll definitely check her out. Thanks for all your tips anon!
I'm definitely a beginner with the battle system but I think Kashell's attacks are pretty easy to chain with the others. So I think I'll hold onto him. Something about those comfy character sprites and their giant swords feels so right.
I love VP, and its music is fantastic, top-notch Sakuraba quality. Anyone who loves this game must listen to this tune at least 100 times:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osSlzyH2tWE
Just too good and energetic. Odin is pleased with Sakuraba's talent. Lenneth is also secretly listening to Motoi's music! Freya not so much...
>>3064398
For a tip about Keshel... he really shines if you reorder his attacks and make his sky dive the first move, and line up the other party members combos based on that.
If you never reordered attacks before, it's on the screen you use to set mage spells. If your weapon has 2 or more actions, you can change the starting starting action.
>>3064398
>I think Kashell's attacks are pretty easy to chain with the others.
Yeah, he's not Jun or Jayle that's for sure, I just don't really like his hitboxes, he has more or less the same problems as Argrim and Aelia, they're good against huge enemies but not so good against flying, small enemies, oh well, not everyone can be as good as Belenus when it comes to combo synergy.
>>3064406
>Odin is pleased with Sakuraba's talentHe bids me give you these artifacts.
>>3064398
I always liked Kashell, his attacks are efficient yet his moves look pretty clumsy. And while most soon-to-be einherjar are facing a dilema or tragedy, he's just a nice, helpful adventurer that encountered a challenge he wasn't up to.
>>3064406
I'm with you on this, and I'm a huge fan of his works. VP and Star Ocean 3 are my favorite Sakuraba soundtracks.
>>3063864
His PWS is actually pretty strong, but it only works in first or last slot.
The sad thing is that Lawfer is so much better than him in every way. If you want an optimum party, then you'll end up using Arngrim, Lawfer, and Valkyrie (Bow) pretty much the entire game, there's never any good strategic reason to switch any of them out. All the mages are basically identical too, so the last slot is always just whatever mage you like best.
Once you get to the seraphic gate, the best party ends up being Valkyrie, Brahms, Arngrim, and Lezard.
The bizarre thing being that Arngrim and Lezard have the same voice actor, who is actually intersex if you can fucking believe it.
Such an amazing game. It's really a shame that there hasn't been a proper 3rd game yet for Hrist.
Okay. Now I've run into what I'd consider to be the first real bullshit part in this game. FUCK this dungeon and especially that platforming prt where the fleah pillars toss you off of them. FUCK that. Almost broke my psp
>>3066886
You're getting through the game really fast. I hope you're enjoying it.>owning a PSP
>>3064825
I never understood the lawfer like. He's got a decent skill set, but his PWS is in my opinion crappy. I find that Belenus works much better with raising and slamming down the enemy into the ground. His Piercing Crusade move is kind of crappy, but the other two are great, and as you mentioned, his PWS does a fuckton of damage if used last in the chain. Lawfer does have the grace of being one of two spear users though, and the better one at that(aside for the tits and ass that Aelia provides) so it's easier to give him gear than to Belenus who's a sword user like half of the cast.
To be fair though, there is no really bad party that you can't finish the game with. You want to go with Badrach, Grey, Suo and that bitch with with a rapier? Sure. It's entirely finishable.
>>3066886
Yeah, there's some pretty fucking bullshit jumps in the game.
>>3066886
That's not even the worst dungeon where you have to do jumps though.
>>3069009
>owning a PSP
PSP is the GOAT handheld from its generation.
>>3069023
Piercing Crusade is great at breaking guards and building up meter though, it's possibly one of the best thrusts in the game, Lawfer does have an equipment advantage in the main game and he's better than Belenus at building meter, but his combo synergy worse, Belenus has the advantage of being able to hit literally anything without problems and without needing extra abilities since his attacks are simplistic and extremely hitbox efficient, unless you start off with Piercing Crusade which is what you quite obviously don't want to do.
If you take the time to learn to use abilities Dark/Sidestep and further add Splash/Reverie/Combo Counter, Belenus is quite possibly the most balanced melee character in the game, great attack and defense, possibly the best combo in the game and a batshit strong PWS, his JP voice is great too.
>>3069151
I kind of grew fond of the english voices, even if I recognise that they are for the most part horrible.
"EXTREME.......VOID!"
"My path is strewn with corpses!"
"Yer dead pal!"
"Icicle disastaaaah!"
That last one always makes me lose my fuckign sides. Also, Badrach had a damn good gem procuring skill set, probably second best after Lucian who you have to get rid off anyway. Shame he sucks in combat in virtually everything else, though. His story is touching, though.
>>3070997
>Icicle disastaaaah!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6amnjy-JPOA
