Does the name “Valhalla Knights” conjure images of big, hairy viking guys pillaging villages in fur loincloths? Well, if you're like me, you wish it did. Instead, it probably conjures painful memories of the grindfest that was the original Valhalla Knights.
The first game's potential for fun was obstructed by a laundry list of problems: button mashing combat, poor performance, bad camera movement, having to walk long distances again and again and of course, spending many tedious hours bashing weak little enemies in order to level. Not exactly a recipe for sequel success, eh? Even so, publishers Marvelous Entertainment USA and XSeed are keeping the faith by bringing us Valhalla Knights 2 which they claim to be—in the poetic words of Daft Punk—“harder, better, faster, stronger”.
Like it's predecessor, Valhalla Knights 2 is a fantasy action RPG with all the classic elements of that genre: tons of character customization, combat-centric gameplay, weapons and armor galore, a UI more complex than the flight deck of a 747... Japanese developers K2 have high hopes that working directly from community feedback, they've removed all barriers to fun and will win back the gamers VK 1 may have cost them. So what exactly makes VK 2 new-and-improved?
Firstly, the game isn't a specific sequel to the first; it has its own unique storyline wherein a grouchy goddess arrives every 1000 years just for the purpose of smiting everything that moves. Naturally, those being smitten aren't thrilled with this arrangement and eventually one of them, a Crystal Witch, decides enough is enough. She manages to injure the goddess enough to prevent her escape and send her into hiding. Your mission (should you choose to accept it) as a young warrior, is to find and do away with the goddess before she comes back and delivers another celestial smackdown.
The guiding principle of VK 2 seems to be “more is more”. VK 2 is twice the game VK 1 was—literally. It doubles the original title's 40 quests, adding up to 60 more hours of gameplay, if you complete every side quest. In addition to more quests, there's more “stuff”. The game world features two new towns for a total of three different trade centers in which to recruit, train and shop for things like brass knuckles and electric guitars. As you can imagine, more shops mean more weapon and armor types, which in turn means “we're gonna need a bigger bag”. Your bag now carries 100 items instead of 77 so when you see those 161 new weapons and armor pieces, feel free to go nuts.
Enabling our upgrade addiction is cool and all, but K2 knows the one thing that's true about all RPG-ers is, they always want to be someone else. VK 2 listened to the people and now as well as the original five races: Human, Elf, Dwarf, Halfling and Machine, they feature two new ones: Canine and Akatoki. Canine is pretty self-explanatory but Akatoki? It sounds like a sushi appetizer. Turns out the Akatoki are a race of unarmed, close-combat specialists ready and willing to serve up a one-inch punch to all comers.
Players can choose from the eight original job types: Fighter, Mage, Priest, Thief, Anchor, Knight, Samurai and Ninja, as well as three new ones: Monk, Enchanter and Guard (which is exclusive to the Canine race). As in the original game, characters will be able to simultaneously hold one main job and two sub-jobs, retaining the benefit of the skills gained from all three. And with 10,000 possible armor and weapons combinations and six different faces and hairstyles for each race and gender, you'll be able to customize your party until your family stages an intervention.
So far, the improvements seem to be mostly content, rather than mechanics. What has K2 done to minimize the frustration of the previous game?
Firstly, there are no random battles. If you want to, you can avoid battle entirely by crouch-sneaking around your enemies. If the new system works, it's certainly a welcome change, since nothing messes with the pacing of a game more than being constantly thrown into battle without being allowed to take a breather. Going hand-in-hand with the elimination of random battles is an improvement in both allied and enemy AI. VK 2 is said to give the player more control over party AI parameters, making for a more easily controlled battle. Lastly, but not leastly, that unruly third-person camera has been beaten into submission. You can actually see where you're going! Wheeee!
It would be easy to get all a-tingle about these changes but it might be a good idea to stay cautiously optimistic. Along with the changes are a number of things left over from the original game. You still take quests from the tavern keeper (let's hope this time he's decided to be a little more forthcoming with the details of the quests). You still need to go to town to resurrect party members, buy weapons and recruit new party members. You can still have up to six party members versus up to six enemies in battle and you can still control one character at a time and swap characters on the fly. Enemies' levels rise in proportion to your level and you still gain an advantage if you initiate battle from behind your enemy.
These core elements, if done well, could make the game work. What's worrisome is the legacy of VK 1 regarding the amount of in-game travel, the one-button combat system and the shallow multi-player . K2 doesn't seem to have a good answer to the problem of dying and having to walk long distances to re-engage the enemy. They also appear to be sticking to the over-simple “one-button attack/build up and release a special” way of doing things which was ultimately unsatisfying for a lot of gamers. Multi-player in VK 1 seemed like an afterthought and considering VK 2 only has a Wi-Fi 2v2 ad hoc versus mode and a limited co-op quest mode, things don't seem to have changed much.
We RPG fans are always looking for that brilliant title we'll gleefully give 100 hours of our lives to. K2 has done a lot to make the improvements the public demanded but it's still up in the air whether Valhalla Knights 2 is worth that kind of time. It's an iffy proposition, but hey, I'm a gambler. If you're willing to bet on it too, you can check it out on the PSP, October 1 of this year.
