
	Platform PSP Genre RPG Publisher XSeed Games Developer Marvelous Entertainment Inc. ESRB E10+ (Everyone 10 and up) Released October 2008

- Excellent character creation - All team members are effective in the battles

- Combat is boring and repetitive - Save points are limited

Review: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates (DS) Review: Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (PS2) Review: Fable II (360)
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Valhalla Knights 2

Score: 6 / 10

I never had the chance to try out the first Valhalla Knights that came out around 18 months before this sequel has hit, but from what I understand it was pretty hit or miss with most players. Unfortunately I have the feeling that the same thing is going to happen this time around with some players enjoying working their way through what appear to be endless dungeons and others just feeling like it’s a big chore.

The game starts out promising with a beautifully rendered CG scene that depicts the Goddess of Judgment unleashing a slew of monsters on the world. The Witch of the Crystal , although not as powerful as a God, takes her on in an attempt to save the world. The Witch is not entirely successful, but wounds the Goddess enough to have her retreat. Those left in the world that still worship the Goddess are hunted down and labeled as heretics. Unfortunately, with emotions so high, people are often misjudged and you find yourself accused of being a Goddess worshiper. The orphanage you are at is burned down and you are saved by a special group of adventurers called the Latroci. You decide to join them in defeating the Goddess rather than focusing your energies on persecuting those that worship her.

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The story itself then starts to grind to a halt as you are dealt fairly menial tasks. Understanding that most RPG’s have you doing tasks to gain experience and get familiar with the controls, there seems to be an abundance of fetch quests that do nothing but increase the bore factor fairly early on in the game.

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Valhalla Knights 2 does allow you to experience five different types of jobs at the start – priest, fighter, thief, mage or monk and you can change jobs at any time. As you start exploring you’ll find that are no random battles – you’ll see enemies coming towards you and as soon as you get too close you’re engaged. The problem is that the mapping in the dungeons doesn’t really help a lot since your view is so limited. It’s better in the towns, but you’ll be quite frustrated when you die and revive at an inn where you last saved only to find that half your gold is gone. You’re going to spend far too much time revisiting areas you’ve already been to.

I was also a little surprised by the fact that there was no tutorial on how the combat worked – you just have to fend for yourself and the printed manual provides little guidance. Expect to be taken off guard at first as you sort things out.

The graphics are passable although by this time in the PSP’s life I would have expected a little more out of a title like this. The audio, as well, is average. The cut scenes are well put together and make up for the other failings just a tiny little bit.

It’s wash, rinse, repeat when it comes to the dungeon crawling but if you end up liking the universe you will probably be okay with it. There are limited online options allowing two players to play co-op and versus modes but it’s only ad-hoc. You can also exchange weapons and other items in this mode which you can then take with you.

Like most RPG’s, you’re going to get a lot of hours of gameplay out of this one. You can expect to take your party of six out for forty or fifty hours before you’re done. The problem is there are a lot better options out there and so this one just ends up being average.

- Syd Bolton
December 21, 2008