VP2 follows the story of Silmeria Valkyrie, one of three goddesses of fate serving the Lord of Creation, Odin (god basically - read up on Norse Mythology). Due to her rebellious ways, she was to be reincarnated as a human but due to Odin messing up somehow (don't ask me how) Silmeria ended up sharing a soul with the human she was supposed to be reincarnated as, the Princess Alicia of Dipan. Cause of this, Alicia constantly hears voices (Silmeria and her Einherjar - bodyguard/soldiers/party members) which makes people think she's crazy. That and the fact that Silmeria can surface from time to time and her personality is WAY different from Alicia's... and also that she knows things a 5 year old shouldn't know. Like the affairs of gods. Or the birds and the bees. Yup you'd freak too. So she's locked away in a castle for a long time. Eventually Odin realises that he made a mistake in his spell and sends Silmeria's eldest sister to go kill Alicia so Silmeria's soul can return to Valhalla. Thus Alicia/Silmeria set out to escape Hrist and bring an end to Odin's rule.
The gameplay is really unique for a RPG. It utilises the Action Point system which is used to cast magic or perform attacks. Each character can have up to 3 attacks depending on their weapon. When you engage an enemy, all four characters can attack at the same time as long as you have enough action points. However simply mashing the buttons won't maximise the damage you deal; you'll need to time attacks carefully with that of your other characters. Also, you free to roam the battlefield as long as you don't walk into an enemy's range of attack. The ability to dash makes tactics and strategy really important at times. A complicated but refreshing system.
The graphics are top notch for a PS2 game and the environments and characters in VP2 are really well designed and breath taking. I felt the storyline was a little lacking however. The story was solid and all but the characters were so... typical and stereotyped. Also I can't stand the English voice overs, they piss me off. They make all the characters sound like bimbos. The score is good and suits the game well. If I remembered correctly they recycled some of the music from the first VP. Which is alright by me cause it was good as well. Not the best RPG of 2007 but definitely a good title which deserves to be played. If you can, in Japanese.
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