Valkyrie Profile

Valkyrie Profile is one of the most distinctive JRPGs ever released on PlayStation, as it combines Norse mythology with platformer-style exploration and a unique combat system rarely seen in the genre before or since. The player takes on the role of the valkyrie Lenneth, whose task is to gather the souls of fallen heroes called Einherjar and prepare them for the gods' final battle, Ragnarök, with each character having their own tragic fate and story. The game's structure is divided into chapters that run concurrently with the individual Einherjar's stories, and the player must carefully choose which characters to send to Valhalla and when, since this affects one of several possible endings as well as the overall tone of the story.

The combat system is built around assigning individual controller buttons to specific characters, allowing the player to chain attacks into flashy combos and create devastating combinations with precise timing, which also determines the effectiveness of finishing blows. Outside of combat, the player moves through 2D platforming levels full of hidden treasures and puzzles that make use of physics and each character's abilities, an unusual genre mashup for a JRPG of its time. Visually, the game dazzled with hand-drawn sprites and backgrounds, while the music by Motoi Sakuraba lent the story an appropriately grave and melancholic atmosphere fitting its themes of death, sacrifice, and Norse legend.

At release, Valkyrie Profile was prized mainly by players looking for something different from mainstream JRPGs, but due to its difficulty and unconventional, nonlinear structure, it did not win mass popularity right away. Over the years it earned a reputation as a cult classic and is still mentioned today as one of the most original titles the PlayStation ever had in its catalog, both in terms of mechanics and of its storytelling and musical score.

Why play: If you're looking for something different from mainstream JRPGs, you'll appreciate the nonlinear structure and originality that earned the game its reputation as a cult classic.