Tech-Gaming: "While at E3 in 2006, I spoke to a number of journalists who raved about Monster Hunter; Capcom's RPG that had an enormous amount of depth for the patient fan. They had sunk hours into the Japanese version, and were eagerly awaiting the U.S. translation. I purchased Monster Hunter at release, and was mystified at the kudos it had received. Although I could appreciate the depth and attention to minutia, I didn't enjoy playing the game. I loved Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and Disgaea for the intricate worlds these titles created, but Monster Hunter's fundamentals seemed deficient- combat was clunky, and the game's story moved at a snail's pace. Whereas Bethesda's interpretation of the role-playing fundamentals engaged me, Capcom's construction choices merely left me perplexed.
So with a minor amount of trepidation, I approached Valhalla Knight 2, a RPG for the PSP that has been frequently compared to Monster Hunter for both its depth and its MMO-like aesthetics. As the opening cinema played, with a level of CGI that rivaled Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, my outlook slowly began to improve."
This series is destined to be quickly forgotten in the west (it actually has a strong niche in Japan), which is a pity, because there’s a lot to like about these games. They're not for everyone, but JRPG fans looking for something a little different would do well to try these out.
Original-Gamer writes: "With Final Fantasy XIII just under a month away, I decided to keep my time occupied with another RPG to take up that time until then. The game is Valhalla Knights 2 by XSEED Games. Now I've played a couple of games from the PS2 era that XSEED has developed, some good some not that great. But with nothing really hot out for the PSP at the moment, I decided to give it a try."
Marvelous Entertainment published some new screenshots and artwork from Valhalla Knights 2.
