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Valkryie Profile: Lenneth
(Square-Enix, Teen, PSP)
When it was first released in 2000, Valkyrie Profile was a hit with PlayStation owners who loved its gorgeous 2-D graphics, inventive turn-based battle system, and Norse mythology-based tale. But supplies were limited, and if you really wanted a copy of the original you had to be willing to shell out up to $150 on eBay. Or, you could've waited six years to play the same game on the PSP.
Just as in the original game, you play as Lenneth, a valkyrie ordered by top-dog Odin to find fighters worthy of the battle-to-end-all-battles, Ragnarok. In-game activities — recruiting a warrior, exploring a dungeon, wading through Lenneth's backstory — are measured in segments of time called ''periods.'' There are 24 periods in each of the game's eight chapters, and at the end of each chapter, the goddess Freya presents a status report. Think of it as a performance evaluation on a cosmic scale.
If nothing else, this game proves that being a mythological figure is hard work. Completing a game can take 20 to 40 hours (of your puny mortal life), and a host of extras (as well as different endings and characters) guarantee great replay value. The only blemish marring Valkyrie's otherwise perfect PSP translation is load time: a 6-year-old game ''ported'' from a technologically inferior game system should not keep you waiting just to access the party menu screen. Even minor deities have better things to do with their time. A-
