Yo, not long ago I came into the possession of two of the three games in the Valkyrie Profile series. Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth and Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria. As you may have guessed, the subtitles are the names of the Battle Maidens the stories focus on.
Anyway, I've played a lot of RPGs in my time, but these were really unique and broke the mold from popular RPZG staples. For example, very few RPGs explore what happens after death and death happens so muchin your standard fantasy adventure that its lost all meaning, but in this one a character *has* to be dead before he or she can even join the main party.
Here's the plot: Odin, the Norse King of the Gods and spiritual father to all has forseen that Ragarrok (the end of all existance) is near at hand and Heaven (called Valhalla in this) needs warriors. SO he sends our main heroine, Lenneth Valkyrie, to Midgard (earth) to collect the spirits of slain heroes and train them up to fight against the Vanir (fire giants who live in the Antartic. Yeah, I don't get it, either).
You spend the first part of the game doing just this, but then, of course, there are a number of plot twists and our heroine is forced to make quite a few decisions that directly inpact the outcome. There are three endings. Depending on which route you take, you will get a different primary villain of the story to deal with. Its quite interesting.
I can't tell you too much if you haven't played the games so as not to spoil them for you.
The second game follows the exploits of Silmeria, in a game that is a prequel and sequel all at once. (Long story.)
The gameplay is unique, as are the levels and characters. The art work is to die for and the stories are overall, surprisingly well written for games. I'd recommend these to anyone who wants to play a unique RPG experience.
I'd also like to discuss these games with anyone who has played them.
