The End of Days: Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria Review

Rule number 4 in Ernest Adams’ games manifesto “Dogma 2001” states: There shall be no knights, elves, dwarves, or dragons. In a 2001 Q&A, Adams said that the logic behind this decree is that European mythologies are played out in videogames as a whole (“That well's been sucked dry.”) It’s hard to disagree. While videogames started their life half a century ago mimicking sports and science fiction, swords and sorcery have been a mainstay across all genres in the medium. But one factor that has kept the motif charmingly fresh over the years is the predilection in Japanese RPG developers to co-opt an entire mythology from ancient Europe and completely ignore every facet of its real life tenets and structure. Mythology as set design. Tri-Ace’s 1999 RPG Valkyrie Profile was a classic example of this; a unique 2D sidescroller that blended platforming and role-playing and that was steeped in a strange pigeon-Nordic myth. While Valkyrie Profile wasn’t accurate in its portrayal of Norse traditions though, it became a fan favorite thanks to a rich combat system and gorgeous sprite based graphics. Seven years later, Square-Enix and Tri Ace have brought back that world with Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria and it is easily one of the Playstation 2’s most unique and well made RPGs.