VPDS - Just reached Chapter 4. Decided this was far enough in to start talking about the game. I didn't really want to because my reaction to the game was... not exactly a good one even from the start, but at this point it's pretty clear the game isn't going to recover and become something I heap praise on, so here goes!
Strange game. Good concepts, but the execution is... lackluster would be an understatement. Let's start with gameplay.
I like SRPGs! I like VP! Mixing them should give you something great, right? Apparently not. The SRPG half of the game is too primitive and sluggish to be of any real interest. The VP part is fine, though... the worst execution of it I've seen? Probably due to the graphics, VP comboing fluidity relies on this more than I realised. But beyond the fact that neither half of the system impresses alone, the real problem is they don't co-exist well. Part of this can be blamed on load times when transitioning between the battle screen and the SRPG screen (load times on the DS, guys?) but the VP part slows down the SRPG part too much for it to be enjoyable, and vice versa. I'd much rather have multi-round battles separated by stretches of puzzling platforming than single-round skirmishes separated by an uninspired SRPG.
Also a bother is the Sin system. VPDS is already a pretty poor SRPG, as mentioned - primitive and filled with enemies who just sit outside your range. Sin rewards inefficiency, where you want to spend as much time overkilling something as possible instead of efficiently handing it out to as many targets as possible. Further rewarding inefficiency is the AP regen system, where you can just sit outside the enemy range and regain it. Since they don't attack you for some reason. Soo yeah. After going from one SRPG (FE's bonus experience) to another (SRW's battle masteries) to another (XF's VP) that rewarded efficiency, I've come to expect it. One that rewards bad play like this is just baffling.
And then of course there's the fact that any hard battle has an instant win button. I'm not really too enamoured of this. Sadly it's not even a very good gameplay skip... the one battle I plumed someone in still took about 20 minutes to beat (there was never any chance at all I'd lose, mind). Because, as mentioned, the game is too slow.
Aesthetic concerns! The game is ugly. This isn't terrible, I don't really mind much, just I expect deliciously pretty out of VP. The character art is good, at least. Music... well, hearing all the old VP dungeon themes turned in to SRPG battle themes is amusing, at least.
Story concerns! Well, once again, interesting premise. Like with VP1 it tried something unique, this time featuring a main character who, in a wicked perversion of VP1, kills his followers to obtain his goals. Neat idea, needs excellent writing to pull off though. By nature, Wyl is detestable - crying at the sky about the valkyrie would be pathetic even if we didn't know Lenneth personally and thus, how wrong he is. Revenge is a shitty character motivation in general, KILLING YOUR ALLIES in order to accomplish revenge even worse. Wyl never seems to reflect or react to what he's doing, though. In fact, it's almost glossed over entirely, to the point where Wyl's darkness is enshrouded in a baffling cloud of apathetic stupor. Instead, the writers treat us to a boring tale of political intrigue in Artolia. What the fuck, guys? You have an idea like this, you stick with it, and you write it well. Wyl could have been one of the best main characters in an RPG; as is, he's among the worst. And like VP1, there uh isn't a consistent supporting cast. Storywise, the game is a chain of non sequiturs, perhaps owing to a poor implementation of its gameplay system. As an example, to start Chapter 4 I am suddenly fighting with a bunch of rebels in lava caves! This has nothing to do with what happend in Chapter 3, where I was a lone mercenary out to hunt down a thief who stole my dad's sword (I did reclaim it, granted)! I think I must have jumped story arcs.
Bleh. Still going to finish it, because I'm interested in the expansion of the VP universe and all that. And I'm a fan of Seraphic Gates... for all that this game's battle system doesn't lend itself to deep trekking in one. But... at this rate, the game isn't even going to equal VP2. Not what I was expecting at all.
