“For those who have embraced the arms of death! Now, get ready for a true fight!” -Lenneth Valkyrie

Valkyrie Profile

IGN’s Rating: 9.1/10

In this game, everybody dies… but don’t worry, that’s kind of the point. In Valkyrie Profile, you play as Lenneth, a valkyrie instructed to gather the souls of warriors (otherwise known as Einherjar) and bring them back to Odin so they may assist him in fighting a war against the Vanir (yes, this game is heavily influenced by Norse mythology). To put it simply, you get to see the backstory behind various worthy warriors and then wait for them to die so you may send them to Valhalla to fight your war. 

IGN wasn’t kidding when they rated this a 9.1 out of 10. This game is phenomenal. There are 24 playable characters (some of which you can’t attain unless you’re in hard mode) and once you have their souls in your possession, you are given the option to either send them to Valhalla to fight while you continue to search for more, or keep them in your party to fight alongsideyou. Here’s a little piece of advice: make sure the character is a decent level before sending them up to your boss, because at the end of every section, you are given a progress report on the warrior you sent up. If they are too under-leveled when you send them, they might get slain in battle; and then you’re in trouble. The progress report not only informs you how the character is doing, but how the war in general is going. The amount of properly-trained warriors you give to Odin greatly affects the outcome of the war, which in turn will affect how your game might end, so make your decisions wisely.

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Enter: The Regions. This is a solar system consisting of many different planets that each harbor their own technology and magic. Within The Regions lie seven protagonists, each searching for the answer to a question uniquely-tuned to their individual storylines.

I give you, Saga Frontier.

Saga Frontier

IGN’s Rating: 7 out of 10

Saga Frontier is an RPG that was sent to America in 1998. The battles are turn-based and the game offers up a nice little change from your standard RPGs: the free-scenario system. In blatant terms, this means there is little restriction regarding what you do or how you do it almost right from the beginning. The game is extremely non-linear, and I love it.

There are 31 recruitable characters (not including the seven main protagonists, which you can also recruit in certain scenarios) and you are allotted to enlist 15 of them in your party. Your party divides your inducted members into three teams of five, and once you run into an enemy, you get to choose which team will fight it. You don’t have to worry about healing after every fight, for your HP is restored to full health when a battle ends; your JP and WP, however, (essentially your magic points and your physical attack points) tend to suffer afterwards. Those cannot be healed unless you rest at an inn.

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