If you are reading this and do not own this game please do the following. Log off, start car, go to store, buy game.
As in the first entry into the series you control a Valkyrie who is sharing a body with a mortal on the human plane. Just like in the past you are able to free warriors who have ascended into Valhalla. This is a fresh concept that they happily stayed with through the first entry of the series up til now. Having these warriors is a double edged sword though. When they are in your party once they attain a certain level they can be freed and their body's restored to life. While you may say that you would never cut loose one of your beloved warrior's there is a large positive to setting them free. For each warrior you free, you receive several items that are used to upgrade the stats of other members permanently.
The downside of this aspect of the game is one that is foreign to me having played the first Valkyrie Profile. In the first game, each of these warrior's had a huge story unto themselves that you could see during side quests. It would explain how they ended up where they are and what happened to bring them to you.
This is no longer the case in VP2 there is only a tiny bit of information regarding any of the warrior's you come across. Overall it does not affect the gameplay, but it is a very sleight disappointment that they overlooked the small things like that in the sequel.
Another very interesting concept is the item creation system. Every enemy in the game drops items that can be equipped or synthesized into stronger weapons or armor. It's extremely fulfilling to finally get that one last part that you need to make that amazing sword. The downside of this game is also a large part of it's positives. The length of the game is monolithic, but the problem is that most of that time you will spend doing hour upon hours of repetitive battles to level your characters. I am currently forty five hours into the game currently and I have spent at least half of that time leveling my group up to where they do not get blown out of the water by powerful enemies.
This is a beautifully written game that will essentially suck you into it from the word go. For all the negatives that are in this game there are many more positives. If you are a fan of the original series you will not be disappointed by this game in the least. Play it and enjoy it, I know I have.