Welcome to our review of Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth, one of the highest rated PSP games that finally got its spotlight on a modern console!
Long ago, the worlds were forged: Midgard, the domain of mortals, and Asgard, the realm of celestial beings—elves, giants, and gods.
By Odin’s command the battle maiden descends from Valhalla, surveying the chaos of Midgard, seeking the souls of the worthy.
She is the Chooser of the Slain.
She is the Hand of Destiny.
She is the Valkyrie.
As war ravages Asgard above and Ragnarok threatens the world’s end, she must learn her own story, and discover her own destiny. From the heavens on high to the world down below, the battle for the souls of gods and men begins. TO MY SIDE, MY NOBLE EINHERJAR! An intricate and evocative tale of fates woven by gods and mortals, steeped in Norse mythology, punctuated by groundbreaking combat, and brought to life by a soundtrack considered among gaming’s greatest. Behold the origin of the VALKYRIE franchise for yourself.
When I think about the Valkyrie Profile franchise, the Lenneth game is usually not the one that comes to mind first, despite its high metacritic average of 80+. It is just one of those more obscure entries on the PSP. You know, the console with those weird UMD discs that got replaced by the Vita eventually. Well, Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth got a well-deserved port to both the PS4 and PS5 and while it is a direct port (not a remake or remaster, so expect those big pixels on your giant tv), it shows its greatness all the time.
In all its glory, you would almost forget this game is from 1999, but that will become clear while playing as I am not here to discuss the age itself, but I do want to mention some parts of the game mechanics. Not being able to skip some conversations or even get faster reading options at first, those things are gladly all present in modern games, I am an above-average speed reader due to so many RPGs in my life and well, it is something I really missed. I could have done some more easy game mechanics/tutorials too. Stuff like picking up items is surprisingly confusing if you do not realize how they work at first, admittedly just a minor inconvenience, but all present at first and that does shape your initial impression of the game.
If you had asked me to rate the game after a single hour, I would easily have said it was wonky at best and given it somewhere between a 6 and 7. Luckily I did play a lot more and well, let us be honest here, despite not going into details about storylines as per my usual modus operandi, I do consider the metacritic rating to be pretty spot on, though I would be a personal 8/10 right now, not having finished the full game at the time of writing.
In conclusion, Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth is one of those games you never knew you needed in your collection. The entire atmosphere of the game just does it for me, I just felt absorbed into the story and it is very clear why this is considered a hidden gem/classic on the PSP.
