I was in until I read
this:
This game has slow-down. There is slow-down in this game. At points in the game, the action will slow-down. I can't possibly use the word slow-down enough. This game — this treasured gem of cult Playstation gaming — is not capable of running at its original frame-rate on a far more powerful machine. Square-Enix was unable to create a software emulator powerful enough, or to optimize the code well enough, to prevent this slow-down. Thus, the very beauty of the battle system — the speed and grace with which it is carried out — is ruined.
Your ability to properly time attacks and combos can and will be hindered. This is, my friends, a 2D game with slow-down. And that ruins it.
Before you get all jumpy, allow me to explain. I understand the technical reasons for why this slow-down has occurred. Sony systems have always had a problem with 2D games: the low system memory cache on all their machines makes it hard for sprite-based games to operate properly; because the animations, character models and backgrounds are all being read in as sprites, the animations must be stored in the cache, and this is something the Sony-branded machines did not focus on. However, the fact that the developers — Enix when Enix was stand-alone - had originally solved the problem and now a port to a more powerful platform has issues that weren't present in the original infuriates me. There could not be a clearer illustration of how lazy developers are when it comes to the PSP.
But alas, I could ramble on and on. To put it simply, the game has technical issues that are specific to this "new and improved" version. I haven't even mentioned that
the load times are also eons longer than they were in the original, nor have I touched upon the fact that the
sprites have been washed out via anti-alias, just like Tales of Eternia, but I think I've got across my point: they've actually made the game worse.
Ultimately, Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth proves to be yet another port marred by problems. Though the original game — the game that is present at the very bottom-most layer of this production — is still in relative tact and has everything that made the original great, the new technical issues brought about by the port have had a detrimental affect on the original game.