Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume Game Review - Nintendo DS

OUR RATING:

7.2

VERY GOOD

TANGIBLES:

Gameplay:		7
Visuals:		8
Audio:		8
Value:		7
Quality:		7

Why you should buy it: You're a follower of Norse Mythology or you're a loyal fan of tri-Ace's Valkyrie Profile.

Why you should rent it: You're not sure if strategy games are you're thing, or you definitely know you'll beat it because of its unnaturally short length.

UNIQUE RATING:

7.2

SUGGESTION:

Buy It

Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume

Written by: Danreb Victorio | Tags: Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume, Nintendo DS

March 27,2009 - Square Enix’s “other half,” Enix, has seen a lot of action this year. With the recent remakes of their staple franchises, Dragon Quest and Star Ocean, it doesn’t look like they’ll be losing any steam. Next up on Square Enix’s list of DS games is the third entry in tri-Ace’s Valkyrie Profile series, Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume.

Fans of the series are more than aware of the game’s setting loosely based on Norse Mythology. So those who have read stories about einherjars, Yggdrasill, and all that good stuff should feel right at home. The main story revolves around a young warrior named Wylfred, who is actually killed in your first “tutorial” battle. In exchange for living his life, the bane of Niflheim forces him to constantly sacrifice his brethren in order to keep living. With this rage, Wylfred blames the famed valkyrie, Lenneth, for what’s going on in his life because of the wishes of a feather that continues to wreak havoc on the earth in his stead—thus, the title “Covenant of the Plume.”

At first glance, Valkyrie Profile may look like any old turn-based strategy game. Players move units across an isometric grid and have the option of healing allies and attacking enemies, as well as coming across treasure, and conversing with others.

What makes the series stand out, though, is the fact that when you engage in a battle against an adjacent unit, the screen switches to a separate battle screen and adopts sort of an action-based method of battle. The best way to go about attacking enemy units is to surround them with as many units as possible. So for example, if you surrounded an enemy with four of your own units on each side, you’ll have more opportunities to attack them since each of your characters will be mapped to either of the X, Y, A, or B buttons. Pressing the buttons in various combinations will lead to different chains, and this all makes the game that much easier to play.

While this aspect of the game is quite unique and deepens the strategy, other factors come into play that really make everything a drag. Since Wylfred is at the debt of those from the underworld, the plume that came with him is at a constant thirst for blood. In order to keep the cursed plume salvaged and satisfied, sacrifices must be made. To make matters worse, every character you sacrifice is gone forever, and there will be some times where you won’t have any control over which character is sacrificed. Sure, it allows you to move forward, but that unit could’ve been one of the stronger ones. Not only that, but it ultimately affects the overall story.

Visually, the game looks and sounds like every other isometric strategy game the DS has to offer. Kou Yoshinari’s artwork continues to be top-notch, and the high quality cutscenes (which now should be considered a Square Enix mainstay when it comes to DS titles) are as dazzling as you’d expect. The game’s music, composed by Valkyrie Profile mainstay Motoi Sakuraba, goes well with the game’s somewhat dark tone. The main problem with the game’s sound is its primary use of voice acting, and if you combine that with the fact that Wylfred sounds annoying, it doesn’t exactly give people much reason to use headphones at full blast.

Fans of the series might consider this entry to be the worst in the series, but compared with many other strategy RPG’s on the DS, this one is actually quite solid. Some of the game’s conventions relating to the plume in the game ultimately bring it down from mentioning it in the same category as titles such as Disgaea or Fire Emblem, but the game’s main story is as interesting as it is unique, and the game’s short length (it shouldn’t take anybody more than 18 hours to finish) definitely make seeing every ending feasible.

In Norse mythology, the einherjar are those that have died in battle and are brought to Valhalla by valkyries. In Valhalla, the einherjar eat their fill of the nightly-resurrecting beast Sæhrímnir, and are brought their fill of mead by valkyries. The einherjar prepare daily for the events of Ragnarök, when they will advance for an immense battle at the field of Vígríðr.