Let's Play: The Temple of Elemental Evil

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¿Qué es "The Temple Of Elemental Evil"? (From Wikipedia)

The Temple of Elemental Evil is a 2003 role-playing video game by now-defunct Troika Games. It is a re-creation of the classic Dungeons & Dragons adventure of the same name using the 3.5 edition rules. This is the only video game to take place in the Greyhawk campaign setting and the first video game to implement the 3.5 edition rule set.^[3] The game was published by Atari, who then held the interactive rights of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise.^[4] The Temple of Elemental Evil was released in autumn of 2003.
The release was criticized for stability issues and other bugs.^[5] The turn-based tactical combat, however, was generally thought to be implemented well, and is arguably the most faithful representation of the then-current tabletop role-playing game ("3.5e") rules in a video game. This game still has a very active fanbase, with many improvements and bugfixes added.^[6]

Contents

• 1 Storyline
  • 1.1 Plot
• 2 Gameplay
  • 2.1 Differences with 3.5
• 3 History
• 4 Reception
  • 4.1 Controversy
• 5 References
• 6 External links

Storyline

Thirteen years before the start of the game, Hommlet was a peaceful town. Due to low taxes and safe roads, the area became prosperous, and the village flourished. This prosperity drew the attention of evil forces, who began slowly trickling into the area. It is not known where these forces came from, but the Dyvers of Nyr Dyv and the inhabitants of the forestlands of the Wild Coast were the chief suspects. As the presence of bandits, kobolds, and goblins increased, a local militia led by Waldgraf of Ostverk was raised to defend Hommlet. This only served to check the evil forces, however.
Six miles from Hommlet, a group of hovels formed a center for the evil activity. The locals ignored this threat since it was in the marshes, and Nulb began growing. A small chapel built to an evil god grew into a stone structure as the evil forces pillaged and robbed the lands around Hommlet. For three years the Temple of Elemental Evil served as a center for the swarms of vile creatures who plagued Hommlet. As the evil grew in power, the land around the Temple suffered from pestilence, famine, and a lack of commerce.
The leaders of the Temple grew too power-hungry, and they were defeated in open combat after challenging the kingdoms of the north. The evil forces were slaughtered, and their mighty Temple was destroyed and sealed with magic and blessings. In the years that followed, Hommlet became a destination for adventurers, who brought wealth to the city and returned the area to its peaceful origins. Eventually, adventurers stopped coming, and the village went back to life as usual. A year before the start of the game, however, bandits once again began trickling into the region, and the villagers appealed to the Lord the Viscount of Verbobonc for aid. He responded by providing funds for Burne and Rufus, two well-known adventurers from the area, to build a keep just outside of Hommlet.^[7]

Plot

The game begins with an opening vignette that is determined by the alignment of the party. All of these require the player to start in the town of Hommlet. After arriving in town and completing minor quests for the townsfolk, the player is directed to the moathouse, a small, fortified outpost to the east. The moathouse is home to bandits, and the player is asked to clear them out. However, in the dungeons of the moathouse, the player encounters a large force of bugbears led by an ogre named Lubash and a priest of the Temple of Elemental Evil, Lareth the Beautiful.
After defeating Lareth, the player can then go to either the Temple itself, or to Nulb, a town in the swamplands nearby. If the player goes to Nulb, many of the citizens will talk of the Temple. Spies for the Temple are living in the town, and the player can gain passage into the heart of the Temple by pretending to be interested in joining.
The Temple is divided into four factions: Earth, Air, Water, and Fire Temples. Each Temple is at war with the other three in a perpetual struggle for supremacy. The player is asked by all four to provide assistance, and can gain access to Hedrak, the leader of the Temple of Elemental Evil, by performing quests for the sub-Temples. Most of the sub-Temples require the player to kill a leader of an opposing Temple to gain access to Hedrak.
Upon meeting Hedrak, the player has two options: kill him, or accept his quest. If the player accepts the quest, which is to kill Scoorp the Hill giant, Hedrak will make the player a part of the Temple of Elemental Evil, thus ending the game. If the player kills Hedrak, the way to four nodes of elemental power will be available. Inside each of these nodes is a gem. These gems can be inserted into the Orb of Golden Death, which is hidden inside the Temple, to form a powerful artifact.
Deep inside the Temple, the player must then deal with Zuggtmoy, the Demoness Lady of fungi. The player can, based on choices made, fight Zuggtmoy, fight a weaker version of Zuggtmoy, or avoid a fight altogether. This can lead to one of three endings if the player succeeds: Zuggtmoy is banished for 66 years, Zuggtmoy is destroyed permanently, or Zuggtmoy lives on, but the player is well rewarded.

Gameplay

A radial menu is used for choosing a character's actions.

The game focuses on a party of up to five player-controlled characters. These characters can be created by the player or can be one of the pre-made characters that come with the game. All, however, must be within one step of a party alignment. Any player-made characters are created in a 13-step process; there is, however, an option to let the game deal with most aspects of character creation for the player.^[8] At any time, the party can have up to three NPC followers, and all player characters can have a familiar and/or animal companion as allowed by class.
All characters have a screen that shows information pertaining to them. Five tabs—inventory, skills, feats, spells, and abilities—allow the player to manage equipment, change spell configurations, and compare character attributes. This screen also appears when the party is bartering with an NPC or looting a body, but clicking out of the inventory tab will eject the player from the interaction. Additionally, small portraits of the characters appear on the bottom of the screen, along with a small red bar showing remaining health and icons depicting any status conditions, such as level drain, blessings, or paralysis.
The characters are controlled via radial menus. After selecting a character, the player right clicks to open a circular menu. From there, hovering over wedges brings out more options, such as specific spells, actions, or inventory items. The main radial menu, which encircles a picture of the character selected, has up to six sections, the number being based on class abilities. Specific actions are color-coded based on the type of action they are.

Targeting a spell that has a circular area of effect.

Characters can use their skills throughout the game by selecting them on the radial menu. If a player wanted to pick another character's pocket, he or she would select a character with the Sleight of Hand skill, left-click on the skill from the radial menu, and left click on the victim. Dialog skills, such as Intimidate and Gather Information, appear as options in dialog with an icon denoting the skill being used. Skills are increased every level at a rate derived from the character's class and Intelligence.

The yellow circle indicates the reach of the demon's attacks.

Combat is turn-based, with characters going individually based on their initiative. Each character can make five types of actions: free, no, full-round, move, and standard. Characters can take a move action and a standard action each turn. Full-round actions count as a use of both actions. Free actions take a negligible amount of time to perform, so they count as neither actions. No actions also count for neither actions, but they require special circumstances in order to be performed. Characters can choose special attacks to perform or spells to cast, and they can also choose to attack or cast in specific ways. Defensive casting and fighting, dealing non-lethal damage, tripping an opponent, and coup de graces are examples of particular actions in combat. Characters have a set yet semi-random number of hit points based on their level, class, and Constitution score. Upon being reduced to zero hit points, a character is staggered, and a full round action will cost him or her one hit point. A creature with hit points between -1 and -9 is unconscious, and loses one hit point a round. The character has a 10% chance of stabilizing, which will stop the loss of hit points but will keep the character unconscious. Other characters can stop this loss of life through a successful heal check. If a character or creature reaches -10 hit points, it dies.

Differences with 3.5

Although most of the main rules from 3.5 edition of Dungeons and Dragons are implemented, there are several exceptions. Some of them, such as applying a bonus to AC from the Dodge feat, are simplified to streamline play. Others, such as not letting prone characters attack, are implemented to reduce the amount of required animations. The structure of the engine is also utilized, allowing encumbered characters to move at 3/4 their maximum rate, even if the resulting speed is not a whole number. Certain abilities, including Barbarian Rage, are modified to better flow with the game. A hybridization of some rules also occurred; the spell Doom is modified to reflect the first printing of the Player's Handbook, and weapon sizes are a blend of 3 and 3.5 editions.^[9] The game also has two difficulty levels, Normal and Ironman, with the latter intended to more closely mimic the paper-and-pencil game.^[10]

History

The Temple of Elemental Evil was intended as re-creation of the classic Dungeons & Dragons adventure of the same name. Publisher was Atari, who then held the interactive rights of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise.^[4] The developer was Troika Games who should develop the game in two years, but effectively Troika finished the game after twenty month work.^[11] The development started on February 1, 2002 with a development team of 14 people. The game was first announced on January 9, 2003 under the title Greyhawk: The Temple of Elemental Evil.^[12] Originally designed with the Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition rule set in mind, this was changed in-development to the 3.5 edition rule set. For the required adaptions Atari gave Troika additional two month development time until August 1, but completion was delayed until August 30.^[13] The game went gold on September 4, 2003, 19 days before it was originally intended to be shipped.^[14]
As the release version of the game had many bugs,^[5] Troika released successively three patches which addressed some of the problems. After the closure of the developer and the end of the official support the game community took up the patching efforts with community-made patches.^[6]
The game was re-released by the digital distributor gog.com on October 13, 2010.^[15]

Reception

[hide]The Temple of Elemental Evil
Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings 71%[16] Metacritic 71/100[5] Review scores Publication Score GameSpot 7.9/10[3] IGN 7.5/10[17] PC Gamer US 79%[18]

The Temple of Elemental Evil was mostly well received by critics. PC Gamer gave the game a 79%, saying "Greyhawk is a game by D&D fans and for D&D fans, and it provides all RPG fans with the opportunity to experience one of the genre’s classic adventures."^[18] GameSpot echoed those sentiments; it gave the game a 7.9 out of 10, calling the game "one of the most authentic PC Dungeons & Dragons experiences of the past few years."^[3] A Gamespy reviewer gave the game four out of five stars, but he made note of a lack of multiplayer options.^[1] IGN gave it a 7.5, saying "ToEE isn't perfect, but it's certainly not a stinker."^[17] GameZone gave an 8.4 out of 10, saying it "is a game that those who are serious about D&D-based RPGs should have in their library."^[19] John Breeden II of the Washington Post complimented the game's graphics, particularly the animated scenery, and also said that "[m]onsters appear suitably gruesome".^[8]
According to GameSpy, "players who persevered were rewarded with an ultimately fun and satisfying experience -- just not the mind-blowing one they had hoped for".^[20]

Controversy

Upon its release, The Temple of Elemental Evil created a small stir due to the availability of the option for a male character to enter a same-sex marriage. In the town of Nulb, a pirate named Bertram begins flirting with male characters in the party and offers a lifetime of love and happiness in exchange for his freedom.^[21] This relationship was noted as another example of video games "pushing the boundaries" by Guardian Unlimited.^[22] Game developers and publishers generally did not object to the inclusion of a homosexual story option.^[22] Criticism of the relationship came primarily from gamers who felt that gay characters should not be included in video games.^[21] Industry observer Matthew D. Barton commented on the irony of so-called "geeky gamers", subject to stereotyping themselves, stereotyping gays in their opposition.^[21] Producer Tom Decker defended the move, saying in an interview with RPG Vault:

I particularly felt strongly that since we had several heterosexual marriages available in Hommlet, we should include at least one homosexual encounter in the game and not to make it a stereotyped, over the top situation, but on par with the other relationships available in the game.^[23]

Bertram was named #6 on GayGamer.net's Top 20 Gayest Video Game Characters.^[24] Bertram was not to be the only possible gay marriage in the game; another was planned in a brothel that was later removed from the game.^[23]

References

1. Madigan, Jamie. "Greyhawk Adventures: The Temple of Elemental Evil". Gamespy. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
2. "ATARI INTRODUCES 'GREYHAWK: THE TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL'". Atari. 2003-01-08. Retrieved 2007-04-04. "`Greyhawk: The Temple of Elemental Evil' will return players to D&D's roots with the genre-defining adventure that started it all while taking full advantage of the popular 3rd Edition rule set, party-based adventuring and tactical turn-based combat."
3. Kasavin, Greg. "The Temple of Elemental Evil". Gamespot. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
4. "Hasbro Reacquires Digital Gaming Rights From Infogrames For $65 Million Infogrames Granted Licenses To 10 Hasbro Franchises". Infogrames And Hasbro Announcement. Atari. 2005-06-09. Retrieved 2006-09-26.
5. "Temple of Elemental Evil: A Classic Greyhawk Adventure, The". Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-07-11.
6. Rose, Alan (2006-10-06). "D&D fans fix Temple of Elemental Evil". Joystiq. Retrieved 2012-12-04. "A group of dedicated Dungeons & Dragons role-playing fans have managed to accomplish something Atari and Troika failed to do three years ago -- fix most of the bugs in The Temple of Elemental Evil."
7. Gygax, Gary; Mentzer, Frank (1987). The Temple of Elemental Evil. Lake Geneva: TSR, Inc. ISBN 0-88038-018-7.
8. Breeden, John II (October 26, 2003). "Reviews: The Temple of Elemental Evil: A Classic Greyhawk Adventure". Washington Post.  – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)
9. Temple of Elemental Evil manual. 2003.
10. Shaw, Ryan (January 1, 2004). "The Temple of Elemental Evil". PCWorld (Australia). Retrieved September 6, 2012. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)
11. "Temple Of Elemental Evil - Developer Interview". Worthplaying. 2003-09-04. Retrieved 2012-11-28.
12. Calvert, Justin (2003-01-09). "Greyhawk: The Temple of Elemental Evil announced". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2012-11-28.
13. Decker, Thomas R. (2003-11-25). "The Temple of Elemental Evil Wrap Report". IGN. News Corp. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
14. Adams, David (2003-09-04). "Temple of Elemental Evil is Gold". IGN. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
15. Temple of Elemental Evil storms GoG on RPGamer.com (October 14, 2010)
16. "The Temple of Elemental Evil". GameRankings. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
17. Blevins, Tal (2003-09-22). "Dungeons & Dragons: The Temple of Elemental Evil -- A Classic Greyhawk Adventure Review". IGN. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
18. Desslock. "Greyhawk: The Temple of Elemental Evil". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
19. Lafferty, Michael (2003-09-16). "The Temple of Elemental Evil Review - PC". GameZone. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
20. Rausch, Allen (2004-08-19). "A History of D&D Video Games - Part V". GameSpy. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
21. Matthew D. Barton. "Gay Characters in Videogames". Armchair Arcade. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
22. Krotoski, Aleks (2005-01-19). "Homosexuality and Gaming" (Blog post). Gamesblog. Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
23. "The Temple of Elemental Evil Wrap Report" (Interview). RPG Vault. 2003-11-25. p. 4. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
24. "Top 20 Gayest Video Game Characters". GayGamer.net. Retrieved 2007-02-14.

External links

• Archive of the official website
• The Temple of Elemental Evil at MobyGames
• A Wrap Report by the game's producer Tom Decker at IGN
• Review at mania.com

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Emperor advanced by chasestone

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http://chasestone.deviantart.com/art/Emperor-advanced-448657579

Dibujo:

Fuente:

http://www.dotpod.com.ar/13-superheroes-medievales-por-ronan-toulhoat/

Información:

13 Superhéroes medievales por Ronan Toulhoat

3 de mayo de 2012, Lucas Vilchez, Deja un comentario

 Llama mucho la atención el poder que tiene el cine para promocionar mundialmente una historia, cómic o sea lo que sea que se llevó a la pantalla grande. Ello se puede ver constantemente en internet, y por citar un ejemplo cercano, The Avengers nos viene como anllo al dedo.

Antes de que se promocionara la idea de lanzar la película de esta liga de Marvel (que se presumía desde la primera Iron Man con la aparición final de Nick Fury), la mayoría de las personas ajenas a los comics jamás pensarían en un superhéroe como Thor o Hawkeye. En cambio ahora es difícil no toparse con ellos y reconocerlos al instante.

Los Vengadores y otros superhéroes más figuran entonces entre el listado de un artista como Ronan Toulhoat, un francés que decidió crear estas excelentes versiones de superhéroes en la época medieval. Entre ellos también encontramos a Batman, Wolverine, las Tortugas Ninja, HellBoy, Superman, entre otros.

Están ilustrados de una manera muy personal, con un diseño corporal que le da un buen toque retro, así como lo hacen también sus tonos oscuros y sus detalles de la época. Geniales son GhostRider, Batman, Wolverine y Black Widow, aunque claro, los otros no se quedan atras en “cools” ;).

Enlace | Ronan Toulhoat en Facebook
Vía | Geek-art

Valkyrie Profile Capitulo 1 (Español)

Texto adjunto:

Actualizado el 17/7/2011

Después de mucho esfuerzo finalmente se pudo terminar este gran proyecto; el de adaptar este gran juego: Valkyrie Profile Lenneth, a una serie que consta de 14 capítulos. Como novedad se han agregado e integrado perfectamente extras. Se introdujeron las animaciones CG de la versión de psp y se adaptaron perfectamente con la historia original, tambien he agregado los artwork originales para cada personaje y un opening tomado de la versión de Valkyrie profile: Covernant the plume de NDS. Hay que destacar que esto no hubiese sido posible sin el roomhacking de sky y sus amigos que me ahorraron muchísimo tiempo en traducción. Los Capítulos ya están todos terminados por lo que el estado del proyecto esta finalizado en un 100 %. Espero que todos puedan disfrutar de esta magnifica historia. Saludos y gracias por apoyar mi trabajo.

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Valkyrie Profile Capitulo 0 (Español)

Valkyrie Profile - Wikipedia en Inglés

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Información:

Valkyrie Profile

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[hide]This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. This article is incomplete. (June 2013) This article's lead section may not adequately summarize key points of its contents. (September 2013) This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2008) This article possibly contains original research. (December 2008)

Valkyrie Profile
North American official cover art.
Developer(s)	tri-Ace tri-Crescendo (sound work) TOSE (PSP port)
Publisher(s)	PlayStation JP Enix NA Enix America PlayStation Portable Square Enix
Designer(s)	Yoshinori Yamagishi Yoshiharu Gotanda Masaki Norimoto
Writer(s)	Masaki Norimoto
Composer(s)	Motoi Sakuraba
Series	Valkyrie Profile
Platform(s)	PlayStation,PlayStation Portable
Release date(s)	PlayStation JP December 22, 1999 NA August 29, 2000 PlayStation Portable JP March 2, 2006 NA July 18, 2006 EU April 27, 2007 AUS May 3, 2007[1]
Genre(s)	Role-playing video game
Mode(s)	Single-player
Distribution	2 × CD-ROMs or 1 UMD

Valkyrie Profile (ヴァルキリープロファイル Varukiri Purofairu^?) is a role-playing video game developed by tri-Ace and published byEnix (now Square Enix) for the PlayStation. It was released on December 22, 1999 in Japan and on August 29, 2000 in North America. An enhanced port of the game was later released for the PlayStation Portable under the name Valkyrie Profile: Lennethon March 2, 2006 in Japan, July 18, 2006 in North America, and April 27, 2007 in Europe.

The game is loosely based on Norse mythology, where players assume the role of a valkyrie who recruits and prepares the souls of fallen warriors (Einherjar) before sending them to Valhalla for a final apocalyptic battle between the Æsir and Vanir: Ragnarok. Along the way, she uncovers the tragic events of her own hidden past.

The game was both a commercial and critical success, spawning a few related titles on different consoles. A PlayStation 2 sequel, titled Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, was released in 2006 in Japan and North America, and 2007 in Europe. Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume for the Nintendo DS was released in Japan in 2008, March 17, 2009 in North America and on April 3, 2009 in all PAL regions.

Contents

  [hide] 

• 1 Gameplay
  • 1.1 Combat
  • 1.2 Equipment
• 2 Plot
  • 2.1 Setting
  • 2.2 Characters
    • 2.2.1 Japanese version
    • 2.2.2 English version
  • 2.3 Story
• 3 Release
  • 3.1 Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth
• 4 Reception
• 5 References
• 6 External links

Gameplay[edit]

This section may need to be rewritten entirely to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards.You can help. The discussion page may contain suggestions. (May 2013)

Dungeon exploration plays more like a platform game than a traditional RPG, with Lenneth Valkyrie the only visible character and capable of jumping, sliding, swinging her sword, and shooting ice crystals. Ice crystals can make temporary steps and freeze enemies and are used for solving many puzzles. Upon contact with an unfrozen enemy, an RPG-style battle begins. Enemies are visible and attacking them gives Lenneth a first attack advantage in combat. Lenneth can also engage an enemy in battle by coming into contact with them; in this case, there is a 50% chance that the enemy will have the first attack.

3D world map

Travel on the world map occurs in a 3D third-person perspective, with Lenneth flying in the skies over Midgard. Pressing the Start button allows her to perform a "Spiritual Concentration," which reveals new dungeons, cities and towns, and recruitable einherjar. When entering a city or town, the game switches to a 2D profile view and Lenneth will disguise herself as a human, allowing her to interact with inhabitants without drawing attention to herself.

Much of the game consists of Lenneth locating and recruiting new einherjar (with cut-scenes of the circumstances of their deaths), training them, and determining if and when to send them to Valhalla to fight alongside with the Æsir. Character development for most of Einherjar consists of their "death scenes," which are often dramatic and highly emotional and often steeped in symbolism and metaphors, and dialogue between them and the Gods while in Valhalla. Each einherjar has a Hero Value, a number representing their usefulness in Valhalla, and Lenneth must send einherjar with the proper hero values and skills to survive in Valhalla and keep Odin and Freya satisfied.

The game is divided into eight chapters, each with different quests, dungeons, and items available. Each chapter is further divided into periods, depending on the difficulty (16 in Easy, 24 in Normal, and 28 in Hard). Visiting towns, dungeons, and recruiting einherjar use up periods, requiring that the player budget their available time. Once the periods in a chapter are up, the Sacred Phase begins, in which Lenneth returns to Asgard and Freya updates her on the status of the war with the Vanir and the fate of her einherjar in Valhalla.

It also has a group experience system: battle experience is divided among the active party members, but experience points obtained from dungeon exploration such as solving puzzles and completing dungeons are banked for division among party members at the player's discretion.

There are three difficulty levels: Easy, Normal, and Hard, with different available einherjar, dungeons, quests, as well as three different endings. The "B" and "C" endings can be achieved in any difficulty level, while the "A" ending, which completes the entire story, is only available with the completion of certain tasks in the normal and hard difficulties. Also, the Seraphic Gate is only fully accessible in Hard.

Combat[edit]

The battle system

Valkyrie Profile has a unique turn-based battle system. The two sides wage battle during alternate turns, with the whole party sharing one turn and able to attack simultaneously during that turn. Each enemy is given their own turn and do not combine attacks with one another. Each of the party members is assigned to one of the buttons on the controller (Square, Triangle, Circle, or Cross). Pressing the corresponding button on the player's turn orders that character to attack. Fighters have three character-specific attacks each turn, though weapons can limit how many they can use. Mages cast their preset offensive spells, which builds up their CT (Charge Time). Charge Time replaces MP, decreases slowly on its own, and prevents casting spells when above 0. While a mage's CT decreases, they cannot perform any actions, though there are skills that allow exceptions to this.

Stringing attacks together produces combos that prevent a target from defending or recovering, yield Magic Crystals and Fire Gems that increase experience and reduce CT, and add to the Hit Gauge. When the Hit Gauge reaches 100% in one turn, a character that participated in the combo that filled the Hit Gauge may perform a special attack ("Purify Weird Soul") that causes great damage and refills the Hit Gauge, possibly allowing another character to use their Purify Weird Soul. Using a Purify Weird Soul causes CT to rise, so characters must wait several turns before they can perform another one. Fighters have unique Purify Weird Souls. Mages use either multi-hit versions of their selected spells or Great Magic, elaborate versions of their selected spells that strike all enemies. Only certain scepters allow the use of Great Magic; human-forged Great Magic-capable scepters have a high chance of breaking with such use, and unbreakable ether-coated ones are extremely rare. Damage is not capped so the party may attack an enemy until they no longer have any available moves rather than being limited to the total HP (health points) of the target.

At the beginning of each battle, Lenneth summons her einherjar to combat. As she is needed to keep them materialized, if Lenneth is defeated in combat, she must be revived within three turns or the party will be defeated. Lenneth is also the only character who cannot be voluntarily removed from the party at any point in the game.

Equipment[edit]

There is no currency or shopping in Valkyrie Profile. At the beginning of each chapter, Lenneth receives a certain number of materialize points from Freya based on her previous performance. Materialize points can be transmutated into items and equipment and vice versa.

Six weapon types are present: Light Sword, Heavy Sword, Katana, Lance, Bow, and Staff, corresponding to the six types of characters: light warrior, heavy warrior, samurai, lancer, archer, and mage. Most characters will only be able to equip their specified type of weapon (though some swords can be used by light and heavy warriors and samurai) and only certain weapons allow them to perform all three of their attacks (or Great Magic in the case of mages). Lenneth is the exception; she can equip both swords and bows and her Purify Weird Soul, Nibelung Valesti, changes accordingly. Some weapons run the risk of breaking with each use.

Plot[edit]

Setting[edit]

Valkyrie Profile draws heavily from Norse mythology, though it takes artistic liberty with the source material and does deviate from it significantly.

The nine realms of the world are connected by the roots of the world tree, Yggdrasil. Three of the strongest roots contain the five realms significant to Valkyrie Profile:

• Asgard, the home of the Æsir and Vanir, and Alfheim, realm of the elves, exist on the highest root. The only way to enter from Midgard is to cross the rainbow bridge Bifrost. It is home to the Hall of Valhalla, where warriors who died heroically are brought by Valkyries to fight alongside the gods.
• Midgard, the realm of humans, and Jotunheim, the home of the giants, exist on the middle root. Midgard is a war torn land, separated from the snowy land of Jotunheim by tall mountains and vast oceans.
• Niflheim, the realm of the dead, exists on the lowest root. It is a dark, fog-covered land neglected by the other gods, where those who died ignominious deaths were condemned to an eternity of torment and suffering by the death goddess Queen Hel.

Four powerful artifacts ("the Four Great Treasures") ensure the stability and peace of each realm:

• Asgard - Gungnir, Odin's spear.
• Alfheim - the Sylvan Bow, which Odin tries to acquire during the game.
• Midgard - the Dragon Orb. Once located in Midgard in the Palace of the Dragon, but Odin has stolen it as of Valkyrie Profile to prepare for the coming of Ragnarok.
• Niflheim - the demon sword Levantine. It was eaten by the dragon Bloodbane.

Valkyrie Profile takes place mostly in Midgard during the war between the Æsir and Vanir. Midgard consists of a several smaller islands surrounding a large continent where the majority of humans live. The kingdom of Villnore, which includes the village of Coriander and the Weeping Lily Meadow, are in the northwest. The kingdom of Gerabellum, including the village of Lassen, occupy the southwestern portion of the continent. The militaristic Crell Monferaigne controls most of the eastern half of the continent. The small kingdom of Artolia and village of Camille, located centrally, are often caught in wars between their three larger neighbors. The monarchy of Flenceburg, known for its magical academy, lies on a peninsula in the southeast. The rest of the continent is covered by mountains, forests, swamps, and ancient ruins. The land of Hai-Lan lies on the island of Yamato to the southwest while the Lost City of Dipan (featured in Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria) is on an island to the north. The Forest of Spirits, home of the elves in Midgard, lies on a large island to the south-east of Flenceburg. The Palace of the Dragon lies on a small island to the east. The castle of Brahms, lord of the undead, floats over an island to the west. Finally, the final part of the game brings Lenneth to either Jotunheim Palace, home of the Vanir, or Asgard Hill, home of the Æsir, depending on which ending is achieved.

Characters[edit]

There are 24 playable characters in Valkyrie Profile. However, some of them can only be obtained in hard mode.

Lenneth is the primary protagonist of Valkyrie Profile, a recently awakened warrior-maiden and servant of Odin, who has been tasked with recruiting einherjar, the souls of deceased warriors, to fight with the Æsir in their war against the Vanir and prevent the destruction of Asgard in Ragnarok. Lenneth is one of the three goddesses of fate (the other two being her sisters, Hrist and Silmeria) the three apparently share the same body, though only one is awake at any given time and can be distinguished by their hair color and armor.

Loki is revealed to be the final antagonist of Valkyrie Profile. He is half Æsir and half Vanir by blood. Although he has been accepted by the Æsir, he is not completely trusted by either side. Odin and Freya sealed his power so that he remains a young version of himself. He seeks the power of the Four Treasures, which will give him the power to challenge Odin.

Japanese version[edit]

• Yumi Touma: Lenneth Valkyrie/Platina
• Kikuko Inoue: Ahly, Liseria
• Kenji Nomura: Bloodbane, Brahms
• Maria Kawamura: Frey
• Kae Araki: Freya, Geraldo
• Mitsuaki Madono: Loki
• Shūichi Ikeda: Barbarossa, Odin
• Mitsuaki Hoshino: Badluck, Surt
• Ai Orikasa: Aimi, Genevieve
• Hiroki Tōchi: Aluze
• Kazuhiro Nakata: Belenus
• Mugihito: Ganosa
• Tatsuya Nagatomo: Grey, Gabriel Celeste
• Norio Wakamoto: Jakelinus
• Urara Takano: Jayle, Iseria Queen
• Masaya Onosaka: Jung
• Tetsuya Iwanaga: Kashell
• Atsushi Naito: Lawfa
• Daisuke Sakaguchi: Lawry
• Takehito Koyasu: Lezard Valeth
• Nozomu Sasaki: Lucio
• Wakana Yamazaki: Meltina
• Natsumi Yanase: Nanami
• Naoko Kouda: Rolenta
• Yuri Shiratori: Shiho
• Akimitsu Takase: Suo
• Hiroko Emori: Yumel

English version[edit]

The voiceover studio and voice actor stock used for the English version was TAJ Productions in New York and directed by Jeremy Blaustein.

• Megan Hollingshead: Lenneth Valkyrie/Platina, Hrist Valkyrie, Lorenta
• Veronica Taylor: Freya, Aelia, Jayle, Fuyuki
• Tara Jayne: Llewelyn, Nanami, Shiho, Yumei
• Addie Blaustein: Arngrim, Barbarossa, Gabriel Celeste, Lawfer, Lezard Valeth
• Rachael Lillis: Jelanda, Lyseria, Mystina
• Eric Stuart: Grey, Lucian
• Jimmy Zoppi: Badrach, Kashell
• Ed Paul: Belenus, Gandar, Loki, Suo
• Scottie Ray: Janus, Jun, Surt
• Ken Gates: Akhetamen, Brahms, Odin
• Kayzie Rogers: Frei, Iseria Queen

Story[edit]

In the village of Coriander, a 14-year old girl named Platina lives with her cruel parents. The village falls upon hard times and her friend Lucian finds out that her parents are going to sell her into slavery. The two run away, but accidentally wander into the Weeping Lily Meadow. There, Platina inhales the toxic pollen and dies in Lucian's arms.^[2]

Lenneth Valkyrie awakens in Asgard and is tasked by the god Odin and goddess Freya with recruiting Einherjar for their war with the Vanir and the coming of Ragnarok. Her first recruits are the princess Jelanda and mercenary Arngrim. After the arrogant Arngrim inadvertently embarrasses her father, Jelanda plots revenge but is kidnapped by a traitorous court minister and transformed into a monster. Lenneth helps Arngrim kill the monster and claims Jelanda as an Einherjar. Arngrim, having unknowingly aided Jelanda's captors, kills the man responsible but commits suicide rather than be arrested. At Jelanda's request, Lenneth makes Arngrim an Einherjar but Odin and Freya find him lacking the qualities of an Einherjar and refuse to accept him into Valhalla so Arngrim remains at Lenneth's side.^[2]

During Lenneth's travels, she meets Brahms, lord of the undead and enemy of Odin, who possesses her sister Silmeria (due to circumstances explained in Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria); and the necromancer Lezard Valeth, who lures her to his tower. Lenneth learns that Lezard has been experimenting with half-elven homunculi to use as vessels to attain godhood. Lezard wants Lenneth for himself, but she refuses to cooperate and destroys his experiments. The sorceress Mystina, one of Lezard's rivals, discovers what he has been doing and takes his last remaining homunculus. When he discovers her theft, Lezard freezes her body while she is spirit walking, effectively killing her. Lenneth recruits her, though Odin and Freya refuse to accept Mystina into Valhalla and, like Arngrim, she remains with Lenneth.^[2]

Lenneth eventually meets Lucian, who grew up to become a poor thief in Gerabellum. He notices that Lenneth resembles the silver-haired Platina, though Lenneth does not know who Platina is. Lucian later becomes an Einherjar when he is killed by soldiers cleaning up the slums. Before he is sent to Valhalla, Lucian takes Lenneth to Coriander and the Weeping Lily Meadow, telling her he still loves Platina. Lenneth tells him to forget about her and kisses him before she sends him to Valhalla, but Lucian continues to brood upon Lenneth and Platina. Although Lenneth laments that love between mortals and gods is not possible after his departure, she states that she hopes he lives so they may meet again.^[2]

Lenneth's travels bring her to the Lost City of Dipan. Discovering a time machine within the city, she accidentally travels into the past and witnesses her sister Hrist execute King Barbarossa and destroy the city for defying the gods and building the time machine. Returning to her own time, Lenneth helps Barbarossa's soul find peace by defeating the three Magi haunting Dipan.^[2]

Meanwhile, in Valhalla, Lucian learns that Valkyries "sleep" in Midgard, reincarnating in Asgard upon their human deaths. However, Odin and Freya seal their memories, as they might interfere with their Valkyrie duties. The Æsir Loki tells Lucian that the Water Mirror can be used to contact the Valkyrie, though it is forbidden for anyone besides Odin to use. Lucian does so anyway and gives Lenneth an earring, telling her she will know where to find its match, but Lenneth is angry at him for his disobedience. Loki uses the distraction to steal the Dragon Orb and kills Lucian, using him as a scapegoat to cover his theft. When Lenneth returns to Asgard, Freya tells her of the Dragon Orb's theft and Lucian's death.^[2]

Lenneth finds the other earring at Platina's grave in the Weeping Lily Meadow, and her memories as Platina return. Sensing that the seal is broken, Odin performs the Sovereign's Rite, transmigrating Lenneth's soul and summoning Hrist. Hrist takes control of the Valkyrie's body and tries to destroy Arngrim and Mystina, who refuse to serve her, but Lenneth intervenes. The blast shatters Lenneth's soul and Mystina crystallizes the fragments to prevent them from dissipating. Lezard Valeth appears and tells them of a way to save her. After temporarily transferring Lenneth's soul into Lezard's homunculus, Arngrim, Mystina, and Lezard confront Hrist in Brahms' castle, where she has gone to retrieve Silmeria. With Brahms' unexpected help, they defeat her and reclaim the Valkyrie's body. Back in Mystina's workshop, the elven homunculus is fused with the Valkyrie's body and Lenneth is reborn. Her memories of Lucian and Platina intact, Lenneth is disgusted with how the gods manipulate humans and the suffering they cause.^[2]

Ragnarok occurs and Loki, with the power of the Dragon Orb, takes his adult form. He makes an offer to Surt, but when Surt declines Loki kills him. He then turns his attention to the Æsir, engaging Odin in battle. As one never truly accepted by the Æsir or the Vanir, Loki seeks to destroy everything. Though Odin is armed with Gungnir, one of the Four Treasures, he is forced to divide its power to protect Freya. With the power divided between two, Loki overpowers and kills him.^[2]

Returning to Asgard, Lenneth slays Fenrir and Bloodbane before confronting Loki. Lenneth obtains the Demon Sword "Levantine," another one of the Four Treasures, from Bloodbane and uses it in her battle with Loki. However, Loki reveals that she cannot utilize all the power of a Divine Treasure unless she is willing to sacrifice her friends (as dividing a Treasure's power is exactly what Odin did to save Freya, and died because of it). Loki unleashes the full power of the Dragon Orb, killing all of Lenneth's Einherjar and destroying both Asgard and Midgard. However, the fusion of the Valkyrie's body and the half-elven homunculus allows Lenneth's divine powers to grow. Her compassion for mankind and love for Lucian allows her to acquire the power of creation. Lenneth undoes Loki's destruction and kills him, becoming the new Lord of Creation. She then turns to see Lucian, who has been reborn, and the two are reunited.^[2] Having recreated both Asgard and Midgard, and revived Midgard's humans who were killed, all of humanity has become Lenneth's Einherjar. The only exception is Lezard Valeth, who sacrificed the Philosopher's Stone to evade destruction (as revealed in Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria).

Release[edit]

Several improvements were made to the English release of Valkyrie Profile, including more cinematics and the ability to adjust all characters' armor instead of just the active party as well as being informed when changing Lenneth's weapon from sword to bow. Some editing occurred during translation, but visible blood, drinking, and sexual comments remain. Badrach's smoking was cut out but the animation of him smoking after a successful battle remains, minus the cigarette. Lezard Valeth's teleportation circle was changed from a pink pentagram to a purple circle though this was left unchanged in the PlayStation Portable version. The names of Frei, the elder sister, and Freya, the younger, were reversed from Norse mythology and from the Japanese version (though in the former, Frei is the elder brother).

Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth[edit]

North American cover art featuring the valkyrie Lenneth

Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth is the PlayStation Portable (PSP) port of the original Valkyrie Profile. According to Electronic Gaming Monthly, the port ofLenneth was developed by the Japanese developer TOSE and published by Square Enix. The port is of the Japanese PlayStation version and does not have any of the gameplay improvements or changes made to the original English version, though the additional cinematics included in the English version are intact. Full motion video has been added to story events in the game and replaces all original anime scenes.

The English version of Lenneth uses an enhanced version of the original game's localization and reuses the original English voiceover track. Square Enix cleaned up the original game's English script and additional voice over dialogue for the CG movies was recorded by New Generation Pictures, rather than the original company, TAJ Productions.

Reception[edit]

As of September 2005, the PlayStation version of Valkyrie Profile has sold over 709,000 copies worldwide of which 636,000 units were sold in Japan alone.^[3] Japan-GameCharts reports that 168,515 copies of Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth have been sold in Japan as of November 2008.^[4]Square Enix lists that the PSP re-release has sold 60,000 copies abroad as of November 2007.^[5]

Valkyrie Profile was well received by critics, with an 84% rating at Game Rankings and 81/100 rating at Metacritic.^[6][7] GameSpot gave the game a 7.0/10, citing that it was "a complex, ambitious, and gorgeous title" with "beautiful aesthetics, an entertaining battle system, engaging characters, and a creatively balanced 'dual' scenario" but criticized the game for its "Draconian pacing," which made it a "nonlinear RPG that discourages exploration or even freedom of choice" and that "you'll rarely have time to enjoy the surrounding splendor."^[8] Japanese gaming publication Famitsu gave the game a 35 out of 40,^[9] including it in its top 120 scoring PlayStation games of all time in 2000.^[10] That same year, the magazine's staff voted the game number 30 on its top 100 PlayStation games of all time.^[11] In a 2006 reader's poll conducted by Famitsu, Valkyrie Profile was voted the 27th best video game of all time.^[12]Due to the positive review scores and relative rarity of the game used copies of Valkyrie Profile sell for $90,^[13] which is more than its initial retail price.

The PSP re-release, Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth, was also well received by critics, with an 81% rating at Game Rankings and 80/100 rating at Metacritic.^[14][15] GameSpot gave it a 7.5/10, saying that the graphics were "just about as good as...on the original" with the "fantastic music" being "one of the highlights of the game", but criticized the game for its "very noticeable" load times and a manual that "doesn't provide much information" into its non-standard game mechanics. They also acknowledged that it "isn't exactly a great on-the-go game" due to its "lengthy story sequences, few save points, and steep learning curve" and the pre-rendered FMVs "look nice but don't bring much to the game."^[16]Lenneth received IGN's award for Best PSP RPG of 2006.^[17]

References[edit]

1. Jump up^ "Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth for PSP". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-07-10.
2. ^ Jump up to:^{a b c d e f g h i} Tri-Ace, Tri-Crescendo (29 August 2000). Valkyrie Profile. PlayStation.Enix.
3. Jump up^ "Sales Record - tri-Ace Corporation". tri-Ace.co.jp. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
4. Jump up^ "Sony PSP Japanese Ranking". Japan-GameCharts.com. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
5. Jump up^ "FY2007 First-Half Period Results Briefing Session". Square-Enix.com. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
6. Jump up^ "Valkyrie Profile Reviews". GameRankings.com. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
7. Jump up^ "Valkyrie Profile (psx: 2000): Reviews". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
8. Jump up^ Valkyrie Profile for PlayStation Review - PlayStation Valkyrie Profile Review
9. Jump up^ プレイステーション - ヴァルキリープロファイル. Weekly Famitsu. No.915 Pt.2. Pg.15. 30 June 2006.
10. Jump up^ Chinn, Marty (June 23, 2000). "Famitsu Top 120 PlayStation games". Gaming-Age.com. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
11. Jump up^ IGN staff (November 20, 2000). "IGN: Famitsu Weekly PlayStation Top 100".IGN.com. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
12. Jump up^ Edge staff (March 3, 2006). "Japan Votes on All Time Top 100". Edge-Online.com. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
13. Jump up^ "VideoGamePriceCharts.com". Retrieved 2008-04-16.
14. Jump up^ "Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth Reviews". GameRankings.com. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
15. Jump up^ "Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth (psp: 2006): Reviews". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
16. Jump up^ Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth for PSP Review - PSP Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth Review
17. Jump up^ IGN.com presents The Best of 2006

External links[edit]

	1990s portal
	Video games portal

• Official website (North America) (PSX) (archived from the original)
• Official website (North America) (PSP) ^{[dead link]}
• Official website (PSP) (Japanese)

[show] v t e Valkyrie Profile series

Categories:

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• Valkyrie Profile