If you're a DS owner who likes turn-based strategy games, you probably feel pretty blessed. The genre is very well represented on the handheld with fantastic games like Final Fantasy Tactics A2, Advance Wars, Fire Emblem, and Disgaea. Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume is another to add to your collection. This is a unique strategy role-playing game (SRPG) that really stands out among the many great selections on the portable. It plays differently than the previous Valkyrie Profile games on PlayStation platforms, but the spirit of the series is retained.
It is a very deep and intelligent in how it tells the story. You start off as Wyl a young boy who's father has been taken by the Valkyrie when he was young. Soon after his father died he suffered as he watched his sister Elsie grow weaker and weaker each day until she finally dies. His mother driven mad with grief no longer thinks of Wyl as her son but as Wyl's father who had died and was taken. In her madness she drove Wyl away from home. He then embarks on a quest to become strong enough to get his revenge against the Valkyrie. He travels to a keep where mercenaries are up for hire and how much you kill is how much you are paid. He is accompanied by his childhood friend Ancel who was worried about him and decided to come along.
For months Wyl train there with his friend Ancel until finally they were called to collect a bounty. They were accompanied by Huegoe and Gwendal, their superiors. After they got their mark Huegoe and Gwendal went back inside the keep. Ancel stood beside the demon that they had just slain and boasted about how the two of them were going to make it big in the world. Ancel too busy gloating didn't noticed that the demon was still alive. Wyl who was standing in front of him did notice and jumped in front of the demon before it could slash Ancel. The demon slashed Wyl across the chest and threw him off to the side. Ancel pierces the demon through the heart and them weeps over Wyl's unconscious body. This was when Wyl met Mistress Hel, Ruler of Niflheim which is also known as hell. He makes a deal with Hel in order to live again and thus the true story unfolds.
The battle system is fairly easy to learn. There are only linear battles though and little to none grinding. This means that you will have to conserve the resources that the game gives you. This game puts a heavy emphasis on getting sin though. Sin is the amount of damage you deal after the enemy has died. Simply put, it is overkilling the enemy. If the sin gauge fills to max when the enemy dies you will wrought 100 sin. There is another way to get sin but it's a little more drastic. Each battle will give you a set amount of sin that you will need to achieve. If you want the rarest items in the game. You must sin double the amount that it tells you to.
You will gain allies throughout the story to aid you in your quest. However unlike some other SRPG these allies do have meaning attached to them. The game gives you a chance to understand allies before they join your party.
Soul crushes! The second best part of the game other than the story. Soul Crushes are your specials. They deal ridiculous amounts of damage have no cost whatsoever and you can chain each allies' soul crushes in a row for maximum damage. They do have one fault though. Some weapons grant the ability to use soul crushes some don't. You usually start out with no soul crushes. You also need the hit gauge to reach 100 before it can activate. Most soul crushes have flashy animations but they did add a skip function.
This is the last thing I want talk about. The plume that Hel gives Wyl. At first he uses it on Ancel to save himself from an onslaught of attacking demons. I will explain in depth what the plume actually does.
When using the plume on an ally their stats will sky rocket through the roof. They gain massive amounts of hp. They become resistant to every element. Evasion Rate goes to 100%. Blocking rate 100%. Everything does 50% damage to them. The sin gauge for that battle will fill up to the amount you need. Finally they can immunity to every status change effect. Also Wyl will gain a plume tactic and I will talk about that later. This may seem like a sweet deal correct? Nope, not all at. Lemme explain why. After you win the battle with a plumed ally they will die in the real game.
They will get a death scene and everything. Death scenes are dependent on the allies in your stock of allies. Some will only happen when another ally is in your stock. The point is they WILL get a death scene. You will also lose the true ending to the game if you plume even once but you will get the intended B ending. If you plume more then once you will get the bad ending which is C. If you plume more then four times before chapter 4 then Freya will come and game over you. After chapter 4 is fine though. Also you will fight the allies that you plumed in the final battle in the C ending.
Plume tactics are tactics that Wyl can use in battle to help him fight. They are usually map wide and have effects like render all attacks crits for 3 turns or paralyze all non-leader units for 3 turns. Those kinds of effects are very useful and only cost Wyl's AP. The plume tactic effect that you get will be dependent on the ally that you sacrificed. When using the plume it will tell you the plume tactic that you will get and a short poem verse to go with it and a warning after that.
This is all I have to say about this game and I hope I've convinced you to at least try it.
