Beating up God in Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth

My latest is up at Nightmare Mode :D

So, apparently this game isn’t as well-loved as I thought it was? That’s kind of understandable, actually.

Valkyrie Profile asks a lot of the player. There’s a strict time limit, a complex battle system, and tri-Ace have the gall to trick you into playing the game a very specific way when you actually have a lot of freedom. Valkyrie Profile is a little too clever for its own good. No wonder it didn’t stick with a lot of people.

You need to get in the right frame of mine to play it. Valkyrie Profile is melancholic. You’re not met with congratulations for mastering these systems. You spend the entire game recruiting dead people and watching their last moments on Earth.

And, similar to Majora’s Mask, the narrative is remarkably understated. You don’t recognise just how oppressive the game is until you’ve let it rest a little bit after your first play.

It’s not a happy game, there’s little room for humour. But there’s a sense of cohesiveness here rare in video games. A unified vision. It’s pretty short, too!

We need more short games.

(Thanks, as always, to TimeCowboy for the wonderful art)

After Pressing Start: Animal Crossing

Animal Crossing never quite gets the attention it deserves. Like a lot of great games, it defies categorisation, appeals to the young and old, and players of all sorts.

But have you ever tried to explain it to somebody? More often than not you’ll be met with a curious stare and questions as to what makes it so enjoyable. Or -even worse- why you would play a game like that when you can simply go outside and do the same thing.

In building mechanics around fishing, eating, writing, catching bugs, moving future, and generally living a normal (well, let’s say “country”) life, Animal Crossing makes the mundane as exciting as blowing up a Grunt in Halo. It’s a charming simulacrum of reality that fills you with FEELINGS each time you boot the game up.

Animal Crossing is real life through a filter of pure happiness.

(The art accompanying this post was done by a Mr. Jake Lawrence of TimeCowboy fame. You should check out his other stuff!)