Valkyrie Profile series has always been innovative - and the Covenant of the Plume no exception. Becoming a TRPG, she retained a familiar battle system, and even brought to the nonlinearity of the script - but, alas, become really good game it did not help.
The plot of Covenant of the Plume is puzzling. The story is not about graceful Valkyries, and the simple village guy Wilfred, whose father died in battle and was drafted into the einherjes. Some would consider it a great honor, but not Pitchfork. Deprived of the head of the family of our hero slowly unraveled: a younger sister died of starvation, and her mother could not stand the grief has gone crazy. In all of its losses Wilfred accused Valkyrie - they say that it was she, the goddess of death, stole his father and destroyed his family. And he decided to avenge the Valkyries. Here's a fool, eh?
Fools, however, are lucky - is absurd dying from the clutches of the monster, Wil comes into the world of the dead to Hel, and she was glad about his determination, gives the guy a second chance. Wilfred concludes with Hel contract, and that makes the pen Valkyries, remaining in character for the memory of the deceased father, in a miraculous feather fate. Using Found artifact Pitchfork gave his friend an inhuman strength and victory in the difficult battle, but with the end of the battle will terminate and life companion. So, napityvaya Perot bloodshed, Bel saves dark force for a decisive battle with the valkyrie.
 | |  | Use a pen. After the battle, a young archer daddy did not shed one tear over her body | | View from space on the planet in the game based on Norse mythology - the top tastelessness. Where Yggdrasil? |
Vila difficult to empathize. His tragedy is understandable, but the behavior is puzzling. Throughout the game, young men driven by a banal revenge, and facing completely the wrong address. Problems with motivation observed in the majority of the characters, to Wilfred accession. And they all - without exception - as low, empty, and repulsive, like the protagonist. Traitors, liars, murderers, possessed by revenge and madmen - one of the other beautiful. Screenwriter Covenant of the Plume took care of that in it there was not a uniquely positive character.
Maybe it's a little easier conscience of those who meet the same used in the battles Perot - that is to sacrifice the lives of brothers in arms for the sake of an easy victory. Unlike the vast majority of JRPG, Covenant of the Plume gives players a choice. And the choice of this plot is important. All in game five chapters, and from the second, in any battle we are free to feed the bloodthirsty ruler of the underworld capita gift of one of the wards.Our solution - a solution Wilfred - not only affects the outcome, but also radically changes its fate for the remaining chapters. Thus, renouncing the use of Pera, Bel refuses to avenge the Valkyries and try to prevent the impending civil war. But if we take numerous cold-blooded murder of friends in the name of vendetta, Bel, by contrast, will join to the thirsty bloodshed prince. All in game three ways, and once turned off the "good", you can forget about it forever - the dead do not return. Ironically, it was "Dobryakov" waiting for the titanic of the boss, no comparison is not going to all other adversaries.
One passage of Covenant of the Plume takes quite a bit, 10-12 hours. But the fact of the matter is that without going through all three scenarios, you can not tell who was behind these or other events that could not make out in the actions of many heroes, not seeing the fact in the story turns. But using a pen, Bel change not only your destiny! Return to the Covenant of the Plume - is like watching "The Butterfly Effect": like and the characters are the same, and the events happening to them quite different. Just passing along all three roads of history and collecting puzzle together, we can note the good side script. But every single passage is short, unsaturated, not fun. Compared with some classic JRPG, any of the "stories» Covenant of the Plume looks poor.
Valkyrie Profile series until now consisted only of two games, but their stories are so intertwined, and the denouement is so ultimate that continue to invent stories, completed in "Silmerii" is simply impossible. Therefore, the Covenant of the Plume - a prequel to the first part, which tells about the times when Lennet faithfully served the Lord Odin and Ragnarok have not loomed on the horizon. The events of the two games share a few decades - which can be determined by age Gandara, villnorskogo magician, a former Lenneth very old, and in the Covenant of the Plume appears in the prime of life. More familiar characters (not counting the fleeting appearances of some of the gods), alas, the "Pere" is not seen. Of the three options for the finals, by the way, Canonical should consider ending the "B", for which ever game you want to apply Perot only one companion (friend Vila, surely dying in eyeballs, do not count). That it explains why at the beginning of the first part of Lennet was deprived of memories of mundane life - let alone what came of it, we all know very well.
 | |  | Enemy swordsmen use magic, and our can not. The game as it mocks us | | Variety of enemies there were far fewer than in the previous parts |
Were not so hot and battles: for TRPG a Covenant of the Plume too little depth. Get at least to the obscene insignificant number of controlled characters in battle - four.However, the cunning tactical maneuvers here and do not need: all fights are about the same scheme. Our goal - to ensure that the enemy is in range of attack for all characters (that is, take a closer swordsmen and archers take away), and then attacked by at least one of them - all others will join automatically, and begin the typical for Valkyrie Profile battle on separate screen. Each of the four main buttons DS is responsible for attacking a specific soldier, and to remember which of them throw the enemy up, and which push away, that no strike is not passed the goal. If the line was able to recruit Soul Crush, those heroes whose weapon such permits, will apply to superatake - and this is usually enough to kill almost any enemy twice.
Why twice? All the fault of an agreement with Khel, binding of Vila to feed pen, if not the souls of his comrades, at least, immense ferocity in battle. Before each scene hassle Vil receives a request for a certain number of "sin" that you want to get beat enemies after their HP reach zero. If you do not comply with its terms, Hel unleashed by Wilfred opponents far more powerful than before. If the mistress of Niflheim to play along, then she will reward with gifts, and exceeded the plan, we can expect even more great prizes.
The need to fill in the line of "sin" prevails over the battles and commits to use the tactics described above simultaneous attack all the characters - without it simply does not fill the scale. The team with decreased, most likely not pick up on Soul Crush, and without it will beat the foe in a few visits, getting after each attempt to respond cuffs. By the way, the opponents also have a habit of bucket all in a heap, if possible - so it's always important to keep in mind the location of the enemy, and the range of the weapon.
 | |  | |  | As usual, you need to accurately calculate the sequence of attacks, so they do not care "in milk" | | If you surround the enemy, the scale of Soul Crush will be filled soon | | The magic created by the DS hardware and looks very decent |
Too many battles far-fetched, since not backed by anything except the need to extend infinitely short game. And often have to pass through two or three levels without the possibility of sustained, that the right word, the mind boggles. Yes, the game will feature Quicksave, but the temporary storage is erased as soon as it is loaded, and this means that blundered at the end of long chains of fighting, have to start all over again. Yes, and the need to continuously kicking the corpses of the enemies makes combat much more monotonous and boring.
As for the graphic design game, on the one hand, from the DS a lot and not worth the wait, but on the other, Valkyrie Profile has always surprise us. Versions for the PS one, PS2 and it was possible without a twinge of conscience to call an incredibly beautiful, in the case of the DS, this epithet stuck more innovative The World Ends with You or a tech Metroid Prime Hunters.A Covenant of the Plume - so, nothing special. Decorations sulfur and not remembered exactly nothing too special characters sprites not delighted. Cool screensavers for Soul Crush-abilities of wizards, as in the first part, no. However, it is understandable - not enough memory, because for the Covenant of the PlumeSquare Enix used a gigabit cartridge - while for Suikoden Tierkreis Konami become generous to twice as much, where appropriate and commercials, and voiceovers. But the miser pays twice: Square Enix took so did the English version of "Pera" dumb. Yes, yes, much of the dialogue in the Japanese release was announced, and we got a stripped-down game where all the actors' lines are limited martial shouts. Completes the picture by the fact that almost the entire soundtrack of Covenant of the Plume make melodies from the first Valkyrie Profile. Shame and disgrace.
As a result, Covenant of the Plume can be called unless a curious - but not a genius, unlike the previous two. It does not spoil the episode, did not violate its canons, as happened with Suikoden Tierkreis, but almost did not add anything. And for those who are a fan of Valkyrie Profile is not she - just an extraordinary story in the shell of mediocrity TRPG.
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