Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria is a prequel to Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth and, like its predecessor, blends 2D platforming with deeper platforming, combat, and character progression systems. Its mature, bleak world-building draws from Norse mythology, featuring conflicts between gods, Valkyries, einherjar, and the undead.
This time, the story is told more cohesively and places stronger focus on the protagonists. Cutscenes push the narrative forward more frequently, and the main character — who has a split personality — is more engaging than Lenneth was in the first game who was often sidelined in favor of side character stories. That said, the pacing and cutscene quality dip somewhat in the middle, and the plot never reaches the thematic depth of its predecessor. Silmeria offers a large cast of recruitable party members (einherjar), but unlike the first game's memorable recruitment stories, they are now recruited without fanfare, which feels underwhelming in comparison.
Voice acting is strong and helps each character's distinct personality shine through. The dialogues seem natural thanks to the well-timed and refreshing pauses between sentences. The world-building and the early party tensions due to mutual distrust are well done. Townsfolk are not voiced but sometimes share useful hints. Visually, the game is impressive for a PlayStation 2 title, though facial animations are stiff and depth-of-field effects occasionally blur the wrong layers. The music is atmospheric and high quality, but not particularly melodic.
Exploration works similarly to the first game: you visit towns, solve platforming puzzles in dungeons, and fight roaming enemies. The photon ability lets you freeze enemies or bounce shots off walls to switch places, adding variety to puzzles. The controls are also more responsive than in the first game, making traversal more enjoyable. However, there is some backtracking through already visited places which can be tedious.
While the difficulty spikes noticeably in the middle of the game (particularly at the Palace of the Venerated Dragon), it becomes more manageable towards the end of the main game. Once you have finished the main story, you can explore the Seraphic Gate, a challenging dungeon offering great rewards.
Enemy variety remains strong until the late game, where some repetition starts to show. As enemies have different resistances, healing abilities, and elemental weaknesses, they require different tactics. Each enemy also has breakable body parts that disable certain attacks or can even decapitate them for an instant kill. Breaking parts also provides crafting materials for better gear and skills.
Your characters level up by collecting experience points during combat. Each character also learns new attacks at certain levels (making each character unique). Each character can also use up to three attacks depending on the equipped weapon. Each attack has unique action point costs and effects like elemental damage or knockback.
New skills are learned like in Final Fantasy IX: wearing the right items during battles unlocks them. In addition, placing items of the same color next to each other grants bonus effects; unfortunately, the game does not display these effects. Unfortunately, the clunky UI makes managing equipment tedious: skill requirements are hidden in submenus, item descriptions are split into multiple pages with no actual damage numbers, and bonus effects of combined items are not displayed. You will constantly find yourself scrolling through the skill and item list as well as manually re-equipping your party members. Some items (needed for new skills) can only be obtained from certain enemies. Some merchants also sell you special items, but only after you have sold them a bunch of special items. In order to buy a special item, you have to sell each requested item manually first which is tedious; an automatic option would be much more convenient. Nevertheless, since you need certain items for better equipment and skills, you are inclined to go monster hunting to collect them, however, it is not necessary to complete the main game.
In addition to improving your party members, you can also collect seal stones, which grant global passive effects that influence exploration or combat, affecting both your party and enemies.
A major twist to combat is the new spatial movement: you position your party on the battlefield before launching an attack. And flanking matters, as attacking from behind or the side ignores blocks and dodges, and enemies can do the same to you. Sometimes you want to attack from certain angles to break certain body parts. Furthermore, you can split your party into two groups to increase your tactical options. This feature is somewhat cumbersome and is rarely necessary for common fights, however, can be useful in boss fights.
Time only moves forward when you act during combat, letting you plan without pressure. You regain action points by moving or when enemies attack. Dashing is a key mechanic because it lets you leap forward without moving time, perfect for repositioning behind enemies. You can also spend action points to cast support or damage (menu) spells. Boss fights can be tough, though some arena layouts can be exploited to make them easier than intended. The tactical depth is satisfying, but the added positioning system slows down encounters compared to the first game. My main complaint is the lack of varied arena layouts, which tend to repeat quickly.
Attack combos work like before: each of your four characters launches an attack after pressing the assigned button, and timing matters. Some attacks break armor, others push enemies. Random button mashing will not work for long: bad timing can push an enemy out of range or cancel an attack entirely. Chaining attacks also fills a gauge for powerful special attacks, which can now (finally!) be skipped but still play out too long even when skipped (and you always have to press a button to skip it). Other games with similar combat mechanics are Indivisible and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.
Unfortunately, the game does not explain its combat intricacies well. It hides many effects and does not provide feedback to the player — only basic text tutorials are provided via books found in towns or dungeons. To fully understand the mechanics, I recommend external guides like the FAQ by triAce_Fanboy.
All in all, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria builds on the atmospheric, mature world of its predecessor, with visuals that still hold up well today. It adds a deeper mix of platforming, tactical combat, and character progression that feels unique. Despite some tedious menus and a story that does not quite reach the depth of Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth, it remains a rewarding experience for players willing to master its intricate systems.