Square Enix and Tri-Ace are back with a new role-playing property for North American gamers in the form of a prequel called Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria. Silmeria takes a hundred years before Lenneth's adventure, and tells the story of another Valkyrie named Silmeria. The game opens with Silmeria falling out of grace with Odin, who banishes the mighty Valkyrie to be sealed into the body of a human. But Silmeria, not content to "go quietly into that good night," has a few tricks up her sleeve and awakens within her host - who just happens to be a princess. The Princess Alicia and Silmeria find themselves sharing the same body, and Alicia's constant bickering with herself (Silmeria) causes those around her to believe that she has gone mad. Rather than deal with this strange child, the king orders her to be whisked away to a tower and locked up forever, but the timid girl with the help of strong willed friend manage to escape into Midgard. But that's the least of their worries - Odin knows that the wayward Silmeria is still cognitive within the princess and therefore sends out his minions to deal with her. Thus begins the whirlwind adventure of this girl and this overbearing personality who share the same flesh and need each other to survive.
The first thing players will notice is that the game uses an interesting world map where 3D and 2D are melded together to create an interesting exploration field. This technique feels old school because you move left or right or up and down depending on where the world branches. Despite this, the way it's all laid out in the game works pretty well. This is used in the cities and out in the wilderness when your exploring areas where monsters lurk. The other interesting aspect is the ability to use a special ability that fires a projectile at a living or dead enemy. This interesting power allows you to use living or fallen enemies as "stepping stones" that you can use to advance to areas you otherwise might not be able to reach. Further, by holding the action button, you'll be able to switch spots with these frozen enemies and do a little jump - handy for reaching those upper areas hidden within many of the maps. While this small bit of platforming is confusing at first, it works pretty well at creating some puzzles that players will need to figure out.
While exploring this seemingly 2D world players will find treasure, monsters, fallen comrades they can raise (more on that shortly) and more. Save spots are pretty sparse, but players can return to them with relative ease should they desire to do so.
Silmeria really lends itself to old school play while exploring, but the meat of the game, the combat is far from old school. The combat system is a hybrid of previous Tri-Ace games, borrowing a dash here and smidgeon there from the company's previous RPG offerings (Star Ocean, Radiata Stories, etcetera) to create a pretty compelling experience.
The battle system focuses on combo attacks using multiple characters with different skill sets. Combining skills like magic, swordplay and ranged attack makes for a sort of blitzkrieg affect that quickly takes the average monster down to size in a matter of seconds if the conditions are right.
Do things right and at the right time, and you'll enter break mode, a chain of targeted attacks that carves monsters up into pieces like a Thanksgiving turkey. This is significant because those parts will be yours at the end of the match - and these items are useful in creating items later on down the road at select merchants. The battle ends when your team is defeated or the enemy's team is dead. But there is a quicker way to end things: by heading straight for the boss monster in each battle. Eliminating the boss will instantly win the battle and fast track you to victory.
Each character is controlled using a button. For example, players wanting Alicia to attack might press the Triangle button, while the Square, Circle and X buttons might be used for three other characters. The game is all about timing, quick reflexes and using your skills. Players can also divide their party into two teams on the battlefield, allowing for some interesting tactics. Wielding two team can be a bit difficult at first but utilizing two different groupings allows you to use some sneaky attacks and tactics against enemies that's useful. There's the usual action point system play and you use them up moving, using items and attacking, so the usual caution is required when taking on more powerful bad guys...
The other promising feature in Silmeria is the ability to materialize einherjar (fallen warriors) by using weapons that spirits are attached to. This allows players to find and recruit new heroes to aid them in battle, but training them and releasing them offers other boons. IF a player trains these warriors and then releases them for service, they become "human" and take up residence somewhere in Midgard. Locating them usually affords the player's party special gifts or items that are ultra useful in battle. Obviously players won't want to release every einherjar they materialize, but at least there's a real practical advantage to letting go.
There's one more thing worth mentioning that directly affects combat and that's the use of Soulstones. Soulstones are special stones that cause area affects in an entire location by placing them in special spots scattered throughout the world. Some of these are connected to other spots in the world which has an obvious advantage. This special component of the game can be of great advantage to players who use them properly. Soulstones can affect players or the enemy depending on how they work. We're looking forward to fully exploring the possibilities of Soulstones.
We're looking forward to playing more of Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria leading up to its retail release later this month. The game offers some familiar gameplay that fans of Radiata Stories and Star Ocean fans will appreciate but offers a different kind of story and gameplay elements that should separate it from the rest of the pack.
