I remember when this game came out and I was incredibly hyped. A story focusing on a man's desire for revenge against the goddess of fate that we'd played before? Sign me up! So I preordered this game, expecting a top tier game that truly enthralled me. Storywise, it did the job, even if the main character was rather one dimensional. (He was basically grr hate the valkyrie and that was his personality.) It took a strong premise and built from a new angle which I approved of. To reflect that, the gameplay changed as well, allowing you to fight in a more SRPG focused system. Also great. The last excellent details are the top notch (for DS) graphics and the soundtrack. If there was so much that was great, why a 3/5 then? Quite simply? Many very painful gameplay decisions. For example, due to your character hunting the valkyrie, you must fill a 'sin' gauge during every battle. This is done either by sacrificing one of your crucial allies or by overkilling foes. While gaining the skills from sacrifice is handy, losing them for a single victory is incredibly wasteful. Unfortunately, that leaves you with option b. Overkilling. This is messier than it sounds as enemies have substantial pools of health to draw on so what ends up happening is you gang up on an enemy until they're nearly dead and end your turn, forcing you to take serious damage with each and every enemy. Then, the next turn is wasted killing that single enemy with a beatdown of excessive force. Rinse and repeat. The gameplay is SRPG but it lacks the depth of traditional SRPGs as it's confusingly tied to the RPG battle system of VP. (Not entirely unwelcome but limits gameplay far too much sadly.) So, the gameplay tries to strike a middle road of RPG and SRPG and fails to do either side justice. Worse yet, this game is one that encourages heavy grinding to work with your characters and leaves little opportunity (read none) to do so. This means your team will always feel far weaker than it should. Add in lackluster spellcasting/bows/etc and other hinderances that force you to play in a very specific way and it does serious damage to what could have been an incredible game.

In a quick summary of the full essay length review that I could write about this game pretty much is that's it's amazing. I mean, at the start it could possibly be a bit confusing if you've never played a game like that before, but once you get used to it it's wicked fun. It's probably one of my top favorite games ever. The story is bloody brilliant and ect. I could go on and on about it, but that wouldn't even help me get anywhere close to my love towards this game. So yeah, if you're looking for something new, buy this game! :D

This takes off after the second game, and even though you can see many ties to VP:2, there are mentions of the Valkyrie that rebelled against Odin, and you sort of know the fate of the characters. If you get far enough in the game, and unlock all endings to the game, you get to have a few of the characters from VP:2. Neat, right? This game involves a young boy, who's father was a warrior. It is known the Valkyrie comes to the slain, and will take their souls to Odin. The child feels anger that the Valkyrie claimed his father, and wants revenge. He finds it in the form of another dark god that gives him a dark plume. This black needs sin to gain its true potential, and the power to fight the Valkyrie. As you play, you can get sin through over killing an enemy, or even killing your own guys. Killing your own guys sounds brutal, but it is something that makes your character all most indestructible, but in the end, kills them. I didn't like how there was so many endings to the story, but I want another game in the series, And soon. :)

This was the first Valkyrie Profile game in the series that I have played. Overall, I would say it's a good gaming experience for me.The thing I hated the most is that, the interface didnt make use of the touch screen/stylus ability of the DS. Controls, are always thumb-mashing. Making me think."Geez, this could've been made for the GBA." I personally think that the experience would be better if the interface made use of the DS's touch screen capabilities.The Challenge of the game can be easy, or real hard. It really depends. Personally most of the "Rescue Missions" are almost impossible to complete if you dont have "Gleipnir's Bonds" under your sleeve. I had to restart because I was so ticked off. For the most part, the Challenge of the entire game is nothing to be afraid of. One thing I found challenging though is the addition of the "Sin" system, which I should say is a great addition.For Overkilling enemies you get sin points. Battles following the story requires a specific amount of sin. Meet, them you get rewarded. Double the required Sin, you get awesome items and even equips! Failure to meet the required sin offers you punishment. Some players might find this amusing, others, annoying.The game offers a 3-path storyline. with 3 different endings. All depending on how many allies you sacrifice.The shortness of a single playthrough makes up for it if you play it multiple times. Getting all 3 endings unlocks the Seraphic gate, a bonus dungeon which is entirely separate from the actual game. And so, This game are for those hardcore gamers that wish for that extra challenge.Sound, Graphics/Animation and Character Customization are nothing really worth mentioning but still lives up to someone's expectations of a typical RPG.Overall, Valkyrie Profile Covenant of the Plume is a game that has to be played multiple times to get its "full value". Another great addition to Square's game library.

I have played Valkyrie Profile Silmeria and thought it was a great game and really loved the battle system and well this game continues in the same way and the story line and the characters are great and it almost makes you feel bad for them because you have to sacrifice them sometime or another and the new addition of the sin point system also makes you really think about how you want to strategize your battle so you can make the most of your attacks with specials to at least make the required sin points to later be rewarded with really good items. Free roam is non existent but this game still offers a very compelling story, a fantastic almost tactic style combo battle system and pretty big variety of supporting characters you can use at your disposal. This is definitely a game I recommend to any role playing game fan!