Valkyrie Profile Silmeria sets its own standards for graphics, combat and storytelling.
The first thing you'll notice is that the game appears to be two dimensional. Even though the characters and settings are beautifully rendered in 3D, the screen is displayed as a regular 2D game. This 2D view is used in exploration of cities and dungeons. NPC's and monsters are also visible and it's up to the player to face or to avoid combat altogether. If you choose to attack an enemy, the screen changes to a 3D combat setting.
Combat is a mixture of turn based and real time strategy. You control your party of up to four people in the battlefield with the analog stick. If you choose to carefully build your strategy before moving, your enemies will kindly wait for you. On the moment you start moving, they'll do the same. Stop at any time and your enemies will also halt. This combination of real-time and turn-based system allows you to carefully place your team behind enemies, avoiding their attack range, split your team not to be crushed by a powerful attack, run away from the enemy and heal without fear of retaliation, in the middle of the fight. It's very different form the standard turn based combat where range is of minor importance.
Attacking an enemy is done by pressing the X, square, circle and triangle buttons - one button for each party member - and the number and type of attacks depends on your weapon and strategy choice. It's possible to launch an enemy in the air with a fencer, hit him before he touches the ground with an archer and then finish the job by summoning a fire pillar once his body falls. There are numerous attacks patterns and ways to break an enemy defense. The whole combat is so smooth that it does feel like a fighting game, specially in the end when all of your party members can use up to 3 attacks each.
A typical party is composed of a fencer, a warrior, an archer and a wizard. You can use the main characters of the story or develop one of the einharjar, spirits that can be summoned to aid you. Each character has its own set of attacks and its own special move that deals an insane amount of damage. You're equipment will play an important role in Valkyrie Profile, Silmeria. Even though you can purchase it on stores throughout the world, the best equipment is gained in battles, by breaking enemy body parts and weapons. Those parts can be used to craft über powerful weapons that make store bought items look like child toys.
Each piece of equipment bears a rune that grants a minor bonus such as protection from fire or a boost to your magical attacks. The combination of those runes can yield special results and, ultimately, let your learn skills. Combining the correct gear and skills is the key to beat the game.
Valkyrie Profile is a tough game. If you walk into a boss battle without the proper defense, chances are you'll have to repeat the battle. It is possible to grind your way into the game and not to care much about strategy but if you don't like to spend your time exploring the same dungeons over and over to advance, you'll have to stop and consider the best character, items and skills to bring to each battle.
The character design of this game is awesome. It's highly detailed and there's no silly or comic characters nor creatures like Chocobos (Final Fantasy) or Owl Ninjas (Disgaea). The relation between party members is tense - not everyone is there to save the world from the baddies - and the story does a nice job of keeping you entertained through frequent cut-scenes.
Beating Valkyrie Profile will take you at least 40 hours. If you want to collect the best items and complete all side quests, you'll easily find yourself playing it for over 100 hours. After beating it for the first time, you can resume play with a higher difficulty setting - it can be done ad nauseam - or face the ultimate challenge, which is a tower with unique über monsters, items and bosses.
It's highly recommended if you want to try a strategic RPG with a deep combat system, interesting plot and amazing graphics and sound.