A port of the PSOne cult classic Valkyrie Profile, Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth bucks this trend. Okay, so it's not a completely original experience for the PSP. In fact, the only significant change is the new CG sequences scattered throughout the game. But in this case, that's okay. The PSOne original was so under printed that demand still causes used copies to sell for an average of two-to-three times their initial retail price on eBay. And, it just so happens, that in the process of making this game readily available to an entirely new audience, Square Enix has also brought the PSP its first great role-playing game.

Part of what makes Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth so great is that, outside of some shoddy voice acting, it doesn’t feel dated, tired, or well-worn like most other PSP RPGs. There aren't any crappy fetch quests, the battles aren't mindless turn-based dribble, and the plot isn't exactly what one could consider standard. We've all played as the unlikely hero, the shy teen who sets out on a grand adventure and, against all odds, saves the world. But how many times have we, the gaming public, instead embraced the end of the world and sought out the warriors to fight for the gods during the final battle?

Steeped in Norse mythology, Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth puts players in charge of the Valkyrie Lenneth, who has been tasked with recruiting fallen warriors and training them to be soldiers of the Aesir. Lenneth only has a set amount of time to find and prepare these warriors before the world ends. And this isn't just some cute device to provide motivation, there's literally a timer in the corner, growing smaller with each action.

Here's how it all works out. The game is split into several chapters. Each chapter provides the player with a number of periods in which they can carry out their actions, each with its own cost. Visiting a town will consume one period, while entering spiritual concentration or exploring a dungeon will both consume two periods. Spiritual concentration is an important part of the game, as it will reveal the opportunities a player has available to them, marking the dungeon or town that should be visited next. And after a set amount of periods, the chapter, and eventually the game, ends.

But here's another area where Valkyrie Profile is unique. After the initial tutorial dungeon, players don't have to do much of anything. If they don't want to travel to a town and recruit a new character, they're free to ignore that quest. Likewise, the dungeons can be ignored. Everything is optional, and the story will progress regardless of the player's actions. In fact, the entire game can be beat within hours if a player chooses simply to do nothing but rest until the world ends. Of course, this will net the worst of the three possible endings, but that's the price of apathy.

Assuming a player follows the whims of the spiritual concentration, they will soon amass a number of warrior souls, known as Einherjar. Through battle, these Einherjar will level up, growing in power and ability. Unfortunately, Lenneth's mission isn't to train a handful of warriors, but rather to send as many capable warriors to Valhalla as possible. At the end of each chapter, Lenneth will be informed of the qualities Valhalla needs in a warrior. And unless a warrior that meets these requirements is periodically sent up, the Aesir won't have a capable army, and well, the worst ending pops up again. Thankfully, the game won't randomly drop a game over on a player out of the blue. A ranking known as the Evaluation Score is displayed in the Status Menu, and only when this ranking drops dangerously low is the game in danger of ending.

Einherjar aren't all Lenneth has to worry about sending up to Valhalla either. At times, she will come across numerous artifacts that belong to her boss, Odin. Players can opt to either keep these items, which tend to be extremely powerful and useful, or do the right thing and send them back. Again, a numerical value, this time known as the Seal Rating, indicates how worthwhile it may be to keep these items.

Towns and dungeons are yet another area where Valkyrie Profile defies convention. Movement is restricted to a 2D plane, so Lenneth can only move left, right, or jump. At points, a pop-up will appear to inform the player they can move deeper into the foreground or background, which will bring with it a new screen. It's a cool design for multiple reasons, but chief among them is the elimination of the confusion regarding where one can and cannot go.

Another benefit is that the dungeons play out like 2D platformers. These dungeons, it must be noted, are filled with enemies that are displayed on-screen. If Lenneth touches one of these enemies, they enter battle. But while in dungeons, Lenneth is also capable of firing an ice crystal that will temporarily freeze an enemy. So instead of fighting them, Lenneth can freeze and enemy, push the ice crystal next to a wall, and use this as a means to reach an otherwise inaccessible platform. Or she can use the ice crystals to create a series of ledges running vertically along a tall wall. Puzzles like this are littered throughout Valkyrie Profile's dungeons, and while most are not required in order to proceed, they do tend to reward the player with some pretty nice items.

As for the battle system, it's a mix of turn-based and real-time that works pretty well. In battle, each of the four characters are mapped to one of PSP's face buttons, and hitting that button causes them to execute their attack. The trick is to time these attacks for maximum damage.

For example, one character's attack might take a few seconds to charge, but will throw an enemy into the air. Once in the air, another character's barrage of arrows will keep the enemy airborne for a bit longer, and since his attack doesn't require any prep time, one would hit that character's button as the enemy was launched into the air. Then as it's falling back down to the ground, activating the other two characters would ensure a devastating combo. Each opponent then gets their turn to act, and then the player is back in control of their characters. Further options, such as magic, equipment and item use, can be pulled up in battle by pressing the select button.

Despite how fresh the experience may be, Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth isn't without its problems. Like most RPGs, different enemies have different techniques they're vulnerable against, and like most RPGs, the whole process of going through the motions over and over again and watching the same attack over and over again can get tedious, especially when one type of enemy dominates a dungeon. As this battle system really hasn't appeared anywhere else, it's nowhere near as tedious as, say, the Final Fantasy-style of turn-based battles that appear in almost every turn-based game, but it's still tedious nonetheless. Oh, and the voice-acting is pretty hokey at times, but given the era this game hails from, that's to be expected.

Also, it'd be neat if there was a way to see the properties of an artifact before deciding to send it up or hold on to it. Without any way to tell how useful an artifact may or may not be when the game prompts the player to make the decision, it's hard to tell how many useful objects I've unknowingly let slip through my fingers.

And I'm not quite sure the PSP's portable nature is the perfect fit for Valkyrie Profile's emphasis on cinematics and cutscenes. I mean, the game's introduction sequence is over forty-five minutes long, and some dungeons only have one or two save points. The PSP's sleep mode helps to balance this out somewhat, but I wouldn't recommend Valkyrie Profile for those seeking a good game to play on the ride to school or work. One should expect their gameplay sessions here to be measured in terms of hours, not mere minutes.

Lastly, unless armed with the strategy guide or an FAQ, Valkyrie Profile can get pretty tough at points, especially for newcomers. There's a lot of meat to the game, assigning new abilities and spells to characters, but despite the long tutorial, everything's not as clearly explained as it could be. And, just as a warning, getting the best ending essentially necessitates a strategy guide or FAQ. It's actually not all the complicated in execution, but without the knowledge of what exactly must be done, the best ending is practically impossible to achieve.

That’s not to say Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth is a bad game, far from it. There’s a lot to love about Valkyrie Profile. Years after its initial debut, the battle system is still quite fresh, and stands in sharp contrast to the multitude of generic turn-based battle systems featured in countless games since. Likewise, the freedom afforded to the player, not to mention the story, would be impressive coming from a recent RPG, but we’re talking about a game that’s over half a decade old. Sure, it may not be the most portable game on the system, and sure, it may be a port, but that doesn’t stop Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth from being one of the best role-playing games on the PSP.