Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria [Artifact Box] [Japan Import]

Figure is amazing especially the carved design is exactly as described on the page, for all fan I recommend it =)

For those seeking the product review and not necessarily the game review please scroll down to the artifact box section. This review will include both information and personal opinion based off of experiences please excuse my harsh tone about the first game for it isn't a bad game however i will give you my input on the first game in order to support my review on the second game just so you know what i'm talking about. No matter how hard I tried I could never get into the first Valkyrie Profile and i kinda gave up on it altogether. Valkyrie Profile 2 could be considered a great example of a possible re-vamp of the original Valkyrie Profile which fell flat on it's face not because of it's content (which is great i might add) but because of the maze of choices that were thrown at you combined with it's action timer which the game gives, though it may be a good idea it hinders the game greatly to the point that the player gets frustrated and under pressure when trying to get the "real" ending which extracts the fun out of the game and without the option for new game plus. This means that making one mistake can screw you such as leaving a dungeon, missing a scene or even following the plot. The main problem with Valkyrie Profile is that the game doesn't give you a direct path to follow making it near impossible to get the "real" ending and trust me, it's not worth playing for the other endings, and if you get those endings, prepare to be disappointed. Another thing that screwed me over was the materialized points. When i reached the final dungeon I was given 20000 materialized points to spend only to find out that after I spent it all I was completely skint and unable to buy items because enemies don't drop them so I was completely screwed which led to a major game trap since i was level 19 and unable to fight any encounters and/or beat the final boss only to throw away the game and never to play it again. Anyways I later found out that there was a sequel and out of curiosity I saw some game play and decided to give it a try, that was one of the best decisions I ever made, the game literally improves every single aspect of the original game whilst keeping its traditional style. It's a completely different style to the original with a linear, easy to follow plot despite its complex theme. Though some may not understand some of the main plot elements of the game if they haven't played the first game, they can easily be picked up by simply watching game play videos since the original game is simply not worth playing without a guide. Despite it's more linear approach, Valkyrie Profile 2 feels a lot less streamlined and open perhaps not in exploration but in the game play. You can actually grind in Valkyrie Profile 2 unlike it's predecessor which allows the game to be more easily accessible for new players and grind-o-holics such as myself as there is a massive stat range which starts you off fighting with a bunch of weaklings with limited attacks but by the end of the game your guys can be come unstoppable gods. But the game doesn't give it to you, you have to work for it, depending on how much of a life you have you may wish to put more time into this game as it can be somewhat amusing to take down a super boss in 1 hit especially after the countless game over screens you had against them in the past. There are also lots of items to collect and a few side quests here and there, there are also seal stones, a new feature which affects the area or the party with certain conditions ranging from stat changes to exp bonuses though be careful as there are also negative seal stones that can harm your stats though you can put them in a dais which allows them to rain on the enemies parade, though these seal stones are often more useful later on in the game. The presentation is simply divine, there are no other words to describe it. The level design combines with the music perfectly making games like Odin Sphere look like a complete joke especially considering that it's presentation is it's selling point. Ironically the game was released a year after, both games follow Norse mythology also. I smell a hint of inspiration from Valkyrie Profile 2 right there, sort of speaks for itself really. Even to this day, Valkyrie Profile 2 is still comparable to most modern games in terms of presentation, it could very well hold it's own on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (HD remake pleaseSquare-Enix). The platforming aspect of this game is rather gimmicky with the occasional trapped chest/puzzle etc but it seems to work well for the most part though it's a bit too easy, personally I'd rather remove the gimmicks and replace them with obstacles which range from simple to complex. Some of the seal stones assist with the platforming element allowing for super jumps and multiple photons (bots of energy which turn your enemies into crystal and allow you to switch places with them allowing you to traverse certain areas of the dungeon which are otherwise inaccessible) and some dungeons have special gimmicks unique to said dungeon such as lightning pillars and elemental towers which shoot elemental magic at you dealing damage to your party. There are also damage floors to watch out for such as lava and poison, some floors can slow you down such as swamps and there are also some areas that require seal stones to open them. The combat in this game has improved a lot. It is a wait time battle system which is very similar to roguelikes such as the Mystery Dungeon series where the game moves simultaneously with the player. Battles take place on a 3D battle area In which you expend AP to perform actions, whilst moving around/waiting refuels it, similar to the rage gauge from Star Ocean: Till The End Of Time though it affects the entire party and requires strategy to manage. Whilst the combat itself rather lacks diversity, the positioning and the set up takes a lot of strategic planning which may leave new players spending hours on one boss battle. Though Valkyrie Profile 2 has a wide variety of options and equipment at your disposal to allow you to refine your strategy as well as certain seal stones that you may have thought to have been useless in the past but serve to be somewhat helpful during later battles so you may wish to backtrack to certain areas to obtain them again with your magic crystals. The storyline is rather unique as it directly follows Norse mythology though despite this the plot structure is rather lacking and can be repetitive at times especially halfway through the game due to a recurring plot element which is poorly implemented into the game. The story makes up for this with its accurate depiction of Norse Mythology and it is told in a far better standard than the last game in which the plot only manages to develop near the end of the game. The story develops slowly but due to the lack of plot ideas the plot seems a little short though the game play makes up for this with plenty of dungeons to plunder through. The plot starts to expand near the end however and the climax is very well done, one of the best I've seen having referred to the previous game. The music in this game is beautiful, one of Motoi Sakuraba's best works in my opinion though some Star Ocean 2 fan out there is bound to disagree, whilst the first game focused on more dynamic tunes, this game has wide variety of different melody's on show each one being great in their own way. Each piece excels in its category giving this game a great all round score at least one of the songs will catch your ears and will stick in your head for hours on end, especially if you liked the music from the first Valkyrie Profile. The voice acting is particularly good especially considering the fact that this is a Japanese title (most Japanese games are known for their bad English dubs), which has some of the greatest voice casts on show, some you may have heard in the persona series, in most cases the voice acting adapts to the games theme very well though some of them aren't very well placed though this shouldn't be a disappointment for most since the voices are of a very high standard and are often impressive and really drive the story well. The main cast of characters are very slim in terms of personality but they get the job done, most of them are key to the plot whereas some are just there to fill in the gaps though despite this there is a fair selection of characters to choose from in battle as you can use einherjar (materialized souls of the dead that heed your every order) though they aren't important to the story they generally have higher stats than the main cast though some aren't worth using and have terrible stats. You also get a little background information about them in the status section but nothing more, just consider them the background cast, as you watch the main cast in the storyline you're beating up enemies with your einherjar in battle. Another thing to note is that this game has up to 50 difficulty levels which can only unlocked with each play through (complete the game on 1 difficulty, unlock the next difficulty etc). Each difficulty multiplies the enemies stats depending on the difficulty making this game quite possibly one of the most challenging rpg's out there. If you are a perfectionist you will spend a long time on this game. The game also has a bonus dungeon which butchers the games storyline deliberately (you can tell the developers had a lot of fun making this) which provides a real challenge for the dedicated players. The bonus dungeon has 5 floors each packed full of mini-bosses and tough super-bosses and lots of loot. Much of the side content takes place here and the developers worked hard despite having limited resources to make it a somewhat interesting bonus dungeon compared to the conventional bonus dungeons many rpg's implement which tend to be rushed, dry and tedious. Valkyrie profile 2 carries on the trademark super-bosses of the Tri-Ace franchise as well as adding it's own, allowing players to recruit otherwise inaccessible characters in the main story. Sadly most of these characters have already been playable beforehand so you won't find many surprises here except maybe for one but you'll have to wait and see. There is also a 2 player co-op function which can be accessed in the party screen however the co-operative function is slightly disappointing due to the lack of actions the second player can take in battle as they are unable to move around as their character if they are the party leader which is a shame. Nevertheless this is definitely a welcome add on and can be fun to play with friends so long as you swap the controllers around every now and again to give them a chance to play. Overall Valkyrie profile 2 is a true gem of a game that you don't know you're getting, unless you read this review, either that or you are going to be disappointed by it if you actually enjoyed the openness of the first game since playing Valkyrie Profile 2 will literally cover up the first game forever as it literally beats it to a pulp and throws the remains into the furnace. As a game however it is without a doubt a great game if not one of the best out there. If you enjoy Tri-Ace games but want a change of tone, or are simply a die hard console style rpg fan like myself give Valkyrie Profile 2 a try or you'll never know what you missed.-------------------------Artifact Box For starters i shall talk about the box itself. The box comes in large thin cardboard sleeve and is approximately 1 meter width long. The box is made out of thick cardboard and is held together by two sets of velcro straps. It has a silver logo on the front. Inside the box is the following: 1x Valkyrie profile 2 game (Jap), 1x Solid Steel Ring of Mylinn, 1x Bonus soundtrack CD with selected songs from the first game and the second game and two bonus songs, 1x Silmeria Figurine which comes in limited edition box, 1x Visual Profile Complete art book which includes artwork from visual profile and visual profile 2, 1x limited edition DVD insert. Now as for the game, the Japanese version has a fairly good voice cast and the following character names are different from the pal/ntsc versions: Hrist (pal)/Ahly (Jap) Arngrim (pal)/Aluze (Jap). The Japanese version also uses different names for soul crush attacks one of them being Grand Trigger (Jap)/Animate Earth (Jap) and the same for seal stones but there is no point going over them because if you are reading this review then you probably don't understand Japanese either and if you do you will have probably realized these differences. The Bonus soundtrack comes with a small assortment of songs from the first and second game though it seems that there are more songs from the first game on the disk than the second, regardless the soundtrack is excellent and is worth listening to. The case comes sealed in a cellophane wrap, be careful when taking out the disk as the surface of the disk is upside down. The solid steel Ring of Mylinn comes in a small black box, there is a removable keychain attatched to it, there is also a plastic translucent orb in the middle though it is smaller than the in game ring which actually makes it look better in my opinion. The ring is very well crafted and is wearable though it is a very big (reference from the game probably) so you'll need big fingers to hold it in place, alternatively you can just put it on your car keys though i don't see why you would want to do that. The Silmeria statue is very well crafted and comes in a limited edition box, highly collectable. Comes with an attachable sword and a stand which is attached to the feet of the figurine. The stand is small but holds up the statue well. The overall design of the statue is pleasing and highly detailed though the facials are kinda off. The art book contains artwork from both Valkyrie Profile and Valkyrie Profile 2 including CG concepts and character concepts and other fine artwork found in the game, this comes in a thin plastic file sleeve with a limited edition DVD insert to replace with the original insert for the game. Overall this edition is not for those who haven't played Valkyrie Profile 2 already, I'd only recommend buying this edition if you are a big fan of the Valkyrie Profile games or if you are a collector, otherwise you should check out the standard edition, you can pick it up for a good price now and i strongly recommend it. this collectors edition is pricy but it's well worth the money for what you get with it if you can appreciate this sort of thing.Please note that this game will NOT play on Pal/NTSC consoles, this game is a Japanese game get the standard edition first  Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria (PS2) .-------------------------Plot/story: 8.5Presentation: 10.0Graphics: 9.0Music: 10.0Game play: 9.5Lifespan: 8.9Replay Value: 10.0--------------------------Overall score: 9.6--------------------------Buy this game to get the most out of it Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria (PS2)

私も通常版にしようかと思ったクチですが、サントラの収録曲にあの幻となった『VP1』のCM曲が入っているという点だけでこっちを選びました。ヴァルキリープロファイルシリーズのTVCMはとってもいいです！北欧神話のイメージ色がリアルにでてます。あそこまで芸術性を高めるともう頭の中に残りますね！！その導入役とでもいうあの曲はもう一度聴きたいと思わせてくれる逸品ですので、フィギアいらないと思う方も（等身ちっちゃくてもかわいいじゃないですか(笑））、指輪いらないよという方も！(ゲームプレイすると欲しくなってくるかもじゃないですか(泣）、一度がんばって手に取ってみてください！