Valkyrie Elysium is the first home console game in the Valkyrie Profile series in over a decade and Screen Rant was granted the opportunity to play it in advance. For those acquainted with the franchise already, Valkyrie Elysium has many familiar elements - characters straight out of Norse mythology, combat that relies on using einherjar (recruitable heroes), and exploration that often involves solving puzzles. Based on this preview, it looks as if Valkyrie Elysium is staying fairly true to its roots while still moving the series forward to a more contemporary audience.
Valkyrie Elysium begins with Odin, the All-Father, calling a new Valkyrie forth. A typical tutorial follows, introducing players to the game's action RPG mechanics. Divine Arts, abilities that can eventually be found and unlocked in the main story, range from elemental attacks to healing. Einherjar, awakened fallen heroes who aid Valkyrie in battle, each offers unique abilities in combat while also offering help during exploration - like placing ice between a large gap so that Valkyrie can cross or breaking through large rocks in the path. New moves can be unlocked from finding new weapons and from weapon enhancement, which can be performed at save points (assuming players have the right materials).
The gameplay loop in Valkyrie Elysium will also seem familiar to longtime fans. The game is comprised of chapters, with Valkyrie fulfilling Odin's wish and aiding humans in the midst of Ragnarok as she attempts to revive and reawaken a dying world. Valkyrie is graded at the end of each run based on the number of enemies defeated, how long the run took, how many times the player died, and so on. Valhalla serves as the hub and players are free to return to an area via the Astral Globe in order to complete subquests.
The controls are intuitive - even if it's someone's first Valkyrie game, it won't take long to figure out how everything works. Combos, einherjar, Divine Arts, and multiple weapons all help to keep Valkyrie Elyisum's combat feeling active and engaging. Thankfully, it doesn't take too long to unlock most of these features within the main story. The game runs smoothly and transitions between combat and exploration feel fluid. Difficulty settings can also help appeal to newcomers who may be worried about trying Valkyrie Elysium out. The Skill Tree system is also easy to learn and ensures Valkyrie never falls behind in battle against bigger enemies.
Valkyrie Elysium should appeal to fans of the series and has plenty to entice newcomers as well. If it can find the right audience, it could be one of the biggest JRPGs of the year. For anyone on the fence about purchasing the game, the demo does an excellent job of showing what Valkyrie Elysium has to offer and is well worth the time.
Screen Rant was provided with a code for the Valkyrie Elysium demo for the purpose of this preview.
