If Final Fantasy XII weren't due out any day now, this would already have my vote for RPG of the year.
The game looks and sounds awesome. Character design is pretty and has an appropriate amount of mideval drab, but the game really lights up when you unleash the character's powerful finishing moves. The sound is good, though not memorable... you've heard x million sweeping RPG soundtracks before, and this one is no different. The outdoor areas can be a little plain, but the cities and dungeons are all pretty and have cool maps for battles. The 2D elements and puzzles in the dungeons can be pretty fun... I thought VP2 executed better here than the original did.
The story is pretty good, and the voice acting is very acceptable. The story kindof bogs down in the middle, complicated even moreso by the absurd amount of grinding you will have to do. Each dungeon you visit seems to afford you an extra character or two for your party, and the experience rolls in slowly. The extra characters don't contribute much to the story, but if you level them up you can release them, earning you reward items and the chance to go visit them later.
The game does force you to micro-manage a lot, as each monster you kill generally will award you a new piece of equipment or an item, which later can be bought, sold, or crafted into even more items at stores. Equipment affects your skill set too, which must be trained via battle. This, combined with managing your character's movement and attack scheme in battle, makes it feel like a TRPG sometimes. My only complaint is that most of the enemie's attack animations are very slow... sometimes a battle can drag on for a few minutes, which wouldn't be a problem in a TRPG, but this game forces you to battle a lot.
The Verdict:
If you're a fan of RPGs, this one is one of the better ones released this year. I bought it to keep myself occupied until FFXII gets here, and I must say that it did the job nicely.
Not too much about this game is novel or original... it's your typical fantasy fare with a Norse twist. It carries over some of the elements from the original, but some of the more left-field elements were abandoned for a more conventional approach. This may turn off VP fans, but I still think this game succeeds.
I really can't recommend this game to non-RPG fans... if you are looking for an introduction to the genre, this one may not be for you. It's a somewhat complicated game. There are other PS2 RPGs I would play before this one.
PS2 has been around a long time now, and there are many many RPGs for the console. If you consider the whole of the system's lifespan, VP2 might get lost in the RPG shuffle. It's not the best RPG ever on PS2, but if you've run through the list of favorites already, this would serve nicely to satiate your RPG hunger.
+Great Graphics
+Solid story and voice acting
+Deep and challenging
+Keeps some of the novel gameplay elements of the original
-In the end, it's still just another fantasy RPG