Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria

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Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria
Developer(s)	tri-Ace, Inc.
Publisher(s)	Square Enix Co., Ltd.
Release date(s)	JP June 22, 2006 NA September 26, 2006 EU Summer, 2007
Genre(s)	Role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single player (1-2 player battles)
Rating(s)	CERO: A (All Ages) ESRB: T(Teen)
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2

Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria is a sequel to the original Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth video game. It was released June 22, 2006 in Japan and September 26, 2006 in America for the PlayStation 2 by its developer tri-Ace and publisher Square Enix Co., Ltd..

Contents 1 Story 2 Gameplay 3 Characters 4 Reception 4.1 Awards 5 Voice Credits 5.1 Japanese Version 5.2 English Version 6 External links

[edit] Story

As the initial game was the story of Lenneth, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria is the story of Silmeria and by extension, Alicia. There is only one mode available to play (as opposed to Easy, Normal and Hard options presented in Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth), however the game gets harder with each subsequent playthrough. Chapters exist, but periods are not used, and thus the player is under no time constraints as in the original game.

During the time of the first game, Silmeria, the kindest and youngest of the three Valkyries, was in the possession of Brahms, lord of the undead, who was at war with Odin. Her soul was crystallized in his throne room, deep inside his immaterial palace for a then unknown reason.

But hundreds of years before this, Silmeria was a faithful servant of Odin. She dutifully gathered souls of fallen heroes for her master until an incident caused her to rebel against Odin's will. Odin recognized this danger and invoked the Sovereign's Rite, which is a spell that would transmigrate her soul and summon the next Valkyrie in her place. Her soul was meant to remain dormant in the body of Alicia, princess of the kingdom of Dipan. However, the spell was not completed, and Silmeria found herself sharing control over Alicia's body.

As a result of her dual personalities, many thought the young princess was mad. This in turn led to her being imprisoned in a distant castle by her father, King Barbarossa, who announced that she had died. She eventually escaped the castle and now Silmeria and Alicia journey together with various other companions to find a power to defy the Gods' themselves.

Silmeria was mentioned several times in the first Valkyrie Profile and was one of the most mysterious elements of the game.

[edit] Gameplay

Battles consist of a Three-Dimensional battle terrain and includes elements not seen in the original game, such as the ability to pincer and attack the enemies from behind. Time does not flow while the player is not moving and not holding the left thumbstick down, giving him time to plan out where he will move next and examine the displayed areas the enemy units may attack. The party may now conduct a Leader Assault. Simply put, targeting the leader of the enemy unit and destroying him or her will end the battle quickly without having to take out the rest. Battles also incorporate the use of Attack Points (AP), which are needed to act in battle. Points are consumed as you attack, and are replenished when you kill an enemy, are attacked by an enemy, or move around allowing time to pass freely. Einherjar have up to three attacks assigned for use in battle from a longer list of attacks.

The same weapon types are making an appearance (Basic Sword, Great Sword, etc.) and Einherjar will be able to use only their specified type of weapon, although they will only be able to perform their Soul Crush move with certain weapons equipped.

Dungeon exploration is done in a manner similar to the earlier game. Alicia is the only visible character and exploration is done in a side scrolling platforming manner. Enemies are visible and by attacking them Alicia can engage them in combat with a guaranteed advantage. Alicia also has the ability to fire beams of light called "Photons." These photons have the ability to temporarily freeze an enemy (and occasionally various objects) rendering them harmless until they break out. If a frozen enemy (or object) is hit once again by a photon, it and Alicia will switch places. This feature is required to solve a number of the game's puzzles.

Alicia also possesses the ability to materialize Silmeria's Einherjar. However because Silmeria has forgotten about those Einherjar, Alicia must come into contact with an object associated with the soul in order to make Silmeria remember, but unlike the first game, there are no scenes telling about the Einherjar's past or motives, they are simply recruited, and they have no major influence on the story. Only special characters, Einherjar or not, are shown on-screen in story scenes. However, placing certain Einherjar in the party will result in a short conversation between them at the beginning of a random battle, such as in the case of having Celes and Adonis in the same group. Also, the Einherjar you find in dungeons are random, there are up to 3 different characters you can find in the same place, always characters that share the same class. For example, when finding the first Einherjar sword, in the Royal Underground Path, the player can get either Kraad or Roland. There's an estimate total of 50 different Einherjar in the game, but only about 21 can be found per game. Once Einherjar have reached a certain level (usually 3 or 5 levels higher than when they were recruited), they may part ways with Alicia, and the player is rewarded differently, depending on whom they will release. This is an alternate method for "lightening" the party load, as Lenneth had similarly done so in Valkyrie Profile by transferring her Einherjar to Valhalla.

The presence of seal stones (called 封印石 or "Fuuin-seki" in the Japanese version) are special items hidden within dungeons, atop diases. Any seal stone that is on a dias will affect enemies within that dias radius of influence. If more seal stones are placed upon diases then the range of older diases can expand. If Alicia carries a seal stone on her person it affects the whole party, and similarly if an enemy possesses one it will affect that enemy party without affecting any others. There are numberous seal stones each with a different effect, from doubling the experience points the player, to cutting the defense of the enemies or the characters by half. Seal stones may also be stored in shells negating their effects entirely. They may also be "restored" at a cost of blue crystals at a spring. When a crystal is "restored" it may be taken from any spring in any dungeon (normally any seal stones are returned to their starting location when exiting a dungeon).

There are no Divine Items in Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria; Alicia will be buying her equipment from shops. Optionally a player may unlock rare items by collecting specific monster parts and selling them to merchants.

All equipment pieces come with "Runes", and by combining them, you have the option to learn certain skills. A player can increase the skill point level to 100% by fighting to use the skill. Every piece of equipment with a rune has a colour link (Red, Blue, or Green), and if you have multiple accessories of the same color equipped whatever enhancement they normally give in increased proportionately with the number of similarly colored items.

[edit] Characters

Main article: Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria Characters

Alicia is the main character of Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria. Not Silmeria herself but rather a mortal host for her soul, Alicia has been shown to exhibit abilities of the Valkyrie, as the story goes on, both her personality and her access to abilities of the Valkyrie develops.

Silmeria herself in physical form only joins the party for a very short period of time. However, as part of the Tri-Ace's tradition, most temporary characters, including Silmeria, can be regained permanently in the bonus dungeon called Seraphic Gate.

Alicia has the ability to hear Silmeria's voice (apparently the two have been in communion for years) and this has caused Alicia to be alienated by her royal family and later sent away from Dipan in exile. Later on in the game, it gives a description of King Barbarossa (Alicia's father) and the three mage's true motivations.

One of the defining traits of Valkyrie Profile was its large cast of playable characters. As Alicia is capable of materializing Silmeria's Einherjar as well as have mortals fight alongside her, the playable character cast will likely be comparable in size.

Death and the transformation to an Einherjar played an important role in Valkyrie Profile but the opposite is true in the prequel as it concerns itself with reincarnation and the transformation from Einherjar to mortal once again. Many of the Einherjar from VP were revealed to have served Hrist in a previous incarnation, including Arngrim. This game does reveal more about Hrist's actions in the past and her relations with her Einherjar/Silmeria. At the start of the game she is on the trail of Alicia, which coincides with her appearances in Dipan merely touched upon in Valkyrie Profile.

[edit] Reception

As of October 02, 2006, the reviews at Game Rankings have averaged 85%. The reviews have been largely positive, giving praise to the visuals and battle system yet a general consensus acknowledges a steep learning curve.

[edit] Awards

• Received IGN's award for "Best Game No One Played" in 2006 [1].

[edit] Voice Credits

[edit] External links

• Square-Enix's official Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria site
• Profile page at IGN.com
• Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria at GameFAQs
• Valhalla Online, a Valkyrie Profile fan forum
• Valkyrie Profile 2, a fan made information site
• Seraphic Gate, a tri-Ace fan community
• Silmeria Shrine

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Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth • Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria Characters