An interesting side story, but not exactly what I'd like to see out of a Valkyrie Profile game.
I didn't really get into Valkyrie Profile until the second one came out on PS2, which I loved, so I retroactively sought out the first title, but never wanted to pay the hefty second-hand price for it. When the PSP game came out though, I ate that up, and definitely enjoyed it, even if I felt like it was a pretty large departure from the second title (which I think improved upon some of the aspects from the first).
I wasn't sure what to expect out of this game though, Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume, since they were going to change up the game type into a strategy RPG instead of the more standard Action RPG setting the previous games had, and it seemed like the series was going to ape another Square Enix franchise, Final Fantasy Tactics, more than anything.
And really, Covenant of the Plume does seem to follow that formula, as far as the battles, map, movement, and equipment/town set-up goes. It's really comparable to a lot of other SRPG's on the market, and in those avenues it doesn't really innovate or do anything new, which is disappointing. However, the combat is definitely different, making use of some of the standard Tri-Ace mechanics we've seen in their other titles, along with keeping in the spirit of Valkyrie Profile, for the most part.
When the game begins we're introduced to the main character, a young man who's just joined up with a group of Mercs along with his friend. We come to find out that this guy lost his dad when he was a kid, and his mother decided to blame the Valkyrie for taking her husband away (which doesn't make a ton of sense, but whatever). Anyways, flash forward to now, and the kid has a serious grudge against the Valkyrie, with the hope of one day being able to kill them, or at least one of them.
During a fight, your character is mortally wounded, and while he's slipping away into death he makes a pact with the goddess Hel, wherein she brings him back to life if he'll go around and collect enough Sin to fill up a Destiny Plume. This is one of the major mechanics of the game, at least when it comes to combat. Using the Destiny Plume on the battlefield allows you to select a fellow party member, who becomes empowered for the remainder of the battle, gaining super strength and defense, making them nearly unstoppable. At the end of the battle though, they die, and they're permanently gone from your party. They do leave behind a skill for your main character to gain, and it's definitely an interesting take on a similar system that existed in both VP 1 and 2.
For those of you that think RPG tales can get a little generic, at least with this one your main character isn't exactly a likeable guy. He gets involved with some dubious individuals, causes the death of a few seemingly innocent people, and all together he's a pretty far cry from a hero. Of course, the world he lives in isn't all that great either, and most of the people that surround him are far from pure. If there's one aspect I like from Covenant of the Plume, is that the fantasy world presented feels a bit realistic, and not nearly as black and white as other videogame fantasy titles tend to portray. It's hard to side up with one person in particular, as most of the characters are deeply flawed in one way or another. It's an interesting take on the genre at least, and the dialogue has a really solid translation to help things along.
The visuals aren't particularly great though, mostly because they look a little inconsistent with the sprites. The battlefields are detailed well enough, but the sprites are kind of clunky looking, and when they zoom in to perform a special attack they take on this really distorted, low-resolution look that's puts you off a bit.
Combat is fun, but you realize that the game has to cheat a bit to make it work. The idea is that you can set-up formations by surrounding an enemy with your units, of which you can have four in play at a time. Depending on the set up, you'll get a bonus to your attack, and an increase in item drops, allowing you to chain together a number of hits from each character, taking down an enemy at once. This also allows you to generate Sin, and you'll have a certain amount required at the end of each battle. This is done by performing overkill on an enemy, meaning that you continue to pummel them even after their life bar has extinguished. However, since the combat relies so heavily on this team-up strategy, it seems like the AI knows that it could easily overpower your team, since each battle typically has far more enemies on the field, outnumbering your little group. Because of this, the enemies won't react unless you get close enough, which in turn makes the combat feel a little too easy since you can simply surround one enemy at a time with little danger to yourself. It really eliminates the need for strategy most of the time, and takes away from what would be an otherwise entertaining fight.
Still, I enjoyed Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume despite its flaws. I think the story is actually really strong, and worth playing the game for. The combat does have some neat ideas, and the use of the Plume in killing teammates for your personal gain is certainly unique, but there are still too many flaws that keep this game from being excellent. It serves as a nice side story, but I have a hard time with the idea of this being an actual sequel to the series so far. The Valkyrie characters from the other games take a back seat to the humans too, which contributes to the side story aspect for me. Still, if you enjoy strategy RPG's, at least give this one a rent, it definitely does some things right. I'd hesitate to pick it up at full price though, so you might want to wait for a price drop or two.
