The End of Days: Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria Review

Rule number 4 in Ernest Adams' games manifesto "Dogma 2001" states: There shall be no knights, elves, dwarves, or dragons. In a 2001 Q&A, Adams said that the logic behind this decree is that European mythologies are played out in videogames as a whole ("That well's been sucked dry.") It's hard to disagree. While videogames started their life half a century ago mimicking sports and science fiction, swords and sorcery have been a mainstay across all genres in the medium. But one factor that has kept the motif charmingly fresh over the years is the predilection in Japanese RPG developers to co-opt an entire mythology from ancient Europe and completely ignore every facet of its real life tenets and structure. Mythology as set design. Tri-Ace's 1999 RPG Valkyrie Profile was a classic example of this; a unique 2D sidescroller that blended platforming and role-playing and that was steeped in a strange pigeon-Nordic myth. While Valkyrie Profile wasn't accurate in its portrayal of Norse traditions though, it became a fan favorite thanks to a rich combat system and gorgeous sprite based graphics. Seven years later, Square-Enix and Tri Ace have brought back that world with Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria and it is easily one of the Playstation 2's most unique and well made RPGs.

Silmeria takes place many years before the story of the original game and finds the exiled princess of Dipan, Alicia, sharing her body with the outcast valkyrie Silmeria attempting to stop king Barbarosa and his three mages from going to war with Odin and the Aesir (Norse gods). If you happen to be out to dinner with a group of Vikings at any point, please don't try to impress them with your knowledge of their pantheon based on Silmeria's story as you'll most likely offend them. Silmeria's story is interesting enough but the jargon heavy dialogue and typical gods versus kings versus unlikely heroes plot keeps it from standing out from the role-playing pack. Silmeria's gameplay however more than makes up for its plot's inability to distinguish itself.

Silmeria's gameplay most closely resembles the cult Sega Saturn game Princess Crown. The player guides Alicia from left to right through towns, dungeons, and landscapes and while some gamers might find the dimensional restrictions archaic, it's more refreshing then irritating. Dungeons also feature a healthy amount of platforming and platform based puzzles which is quite rare for turn based RPGs. Enemies roam about the field and can be frozen to form new platforms but if they're touched, the action shifts into three dimensions where the player can move freely in any direction for a battle. A battle party is formed of four characters, or Einherjar as they're called in Silmeria, and each character is assigned to one of the controller's four face buttons. Press their button and that character attacks. The battles are frenetic and forming combos with all the party members is satisfyingly physical and chromatic, another example of Silmeria's excellent blend of turn based RPG mores and real time action. For customization fans, party formations and character maintenance is complex on the level of Final Fantasy Tactics, but can be frustrating for non-enthusiasts as items and weapons aren't easily organized and menus can be a chore to navigate.

It doesn't hurt Silmeria that the environments and character models are absolutely gorgeous. Tri Ace has really honored the Playstation 2 at the end of its life by harnessing the Emotion Engine chip's power to create an elegant, beautiful game and while the story and settings don't adhere to true Norse lore they're wonderfully effective at creating an engaging atmosphere. Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria may break "Dogma 2001's" fourth rule but that can be ignored; it does everything else quite well.