As some here know I am not a fan of anime style art. It has a tendency to pull me out of games, but...

... I recently became very interested in Granblue Fantasy Re-link because its combat and bestiary reminded me somewhat of those in Dragon's Dogma. From Granblue Fantasy Re-link...

... I got interested in Tales of Arise (mainly because I found it for $5) and the ability to tweak the combat behaviors of your party (also somewhat like Dragon's Dogma), and Tales of Arise led me to...

... Valkyrie Elysium.

(And yes, I'm a sucker for any fiction that uses Norse mythology as a springboard.)

There's something about the "grounded" art direction and combat that intrigues me. It may also be that I did a series of artwork based on the Valkyrie. Anyway...

... has anyone played Valkyrie Elysium? If so, what did you think?

(and yes, I know it's quite different than the earlier installments in the series.) ;)

Nah, i was not able to get the Steelbook on the PS5 way BEFORE launch; as there was just way to few of them in quantities... so i passed my preorder... which is their loss and not mine.

Especially because the best games from this series are most likely:

-Valkyrie Profile (PSX)
-Valkyrie Profile 2 (PS2)

Which is reflecting on the overall critics score too...

The newest "Valkyrie Elysium" is without a doubt the weakest title of the series and even graphically i was not impressed at all by checking out the videos. I would say the older titles was true "AAA"-games while the newest title is more of a AA-game if you would rate it... and most likely the lowest development cost too.

So, in my mind, either get it for very cheap but in general, if you enjoyed the old games a lot you may just keep those titles in your best memory and rather not wasting your time with the weakest title; it may just numb your "old love" for this series.

If you are a "die hard fan"... okay... at your own risk.. just do not cry if you may notice some quality-loss.

In general, if you enjoy this type of games there are simply more viable options out there, for example Tales of Arise, which is pretty good.

No clue about Granblue Fantasy: Relink, not released yet... but i can totally recommend Tales of Arise (i got it on PS5).

The style is not really Anime, more of a cel shading and sometimes a combo of it. Probably the reason it may not "freak you out" with this hybrid approach.

I'm playing through tales of arise at the moment too, next to other games but, i'm having trouble with keeping attention, everything, at least in the beginning of the game feels too shallow. The encounters, the way to fight, the story. I'll probably find my through or stall it for a later moment but i'm not really sure if i'd ever recommend this title to anyone else. There seems to be a large crowd though.

Personally i'd recommend something like Nier Automata (a must) or FF 12 remastered sooner

Story and Combat i do consider great but you definitely will need a JP-heart in order to feel connected to it.

"West-games" are different... they generally focus more on the "whole" picture... while JP games in general tends to be highly focused on actors and key-spots. You will rarely ever see a JP game with bad animations... because the characters play such a critical role. While on many "West-games" you could almost forget the character but the environment and some whole picture surely is in many cases well done.

Indeed, FF12 and Nier is more fit for the "Western-taste", because they got some different focus... simply more "western style".

I've found it at 50% discount. Having watched a lot more gameplay, I think I'd quite enjoy the second half of the game, but the first might be a slog. I have no history with the series so my enjoyment would all be based on the combat system and bestiary (especially since the environments are quite "one note."). I picked this up for $5.00 USD and will certainly give it a try. I tend to have a lot of immersion issues with anime-styled games, but if the gameplay is fun -- and I enjoy the bestiary -- (oh, and I tend to like team-based gameplay as opposed to lone protagonist) I'm sure it will work out.

If you have other ideas please let me know. ;) I'll have to play Nier Automata one day. I enjoyed the first Nier, but never got excited enough to play the sequel.

I have no experience with FF, but the last few games have looked interesting for action RPGs.

Oh really? man, like you really missed out on some gaming history here. I did not play every title but ever since FF 13 became available on PC i tried a couple of their titles. I and VI for example are also quite enjoyable. It is a shame GoG probably won't have access to those titles any time soon.

Did you enjoy the combat or just think it... meh?

I did, in a sorta mindless bash sorta way

Ah, ok... so that seems to put this to rest (for me) for now.

Thanks! I'm fine with modest graphics and AA games... even a bit of jank... but if the combat becomes "mindless" I tend to disengage, especially if there's very little story and few impressive environments. So between Valkyrie Elysium and Stranger of Paradise, I would guess I would tend toward Team Ninja's Stranger of Paradise.

SoP is a better title, sure, but i think it's also kinda mediocre lmao. Personally, i'd rather play any Platinum Games title or a newer DMC game, if i didn't already play them all

DMC is nice, i think i would rate that one higher then Nioh...... I have to return to Nioh though.. at least one more try and see if i can look past the ruse.

If we are on that level btw... for the op .....

How 'bout the jedi games from Respawn Entertainment? Or something exotic such as Guijan 3 ?

Sounds pretty wild... as those are completely different games.

If this comment is for me then... i like to add that i changed my point of origin to Stranger of Paradise for the Jedi games recommendation and naming Nioh and Guijan 3.

I know we started with Valkyrie, the allure of fighting with a Walkure, square enix type lore and enigma. I think respawn EA did a great job of introducing all sorts of mechanics and scenery in their Jedi titles. Nioh is of course another well received team ninja title and Guijan 3 is a pretty interesting action rpg which i think all in all these games would fall into the reasoning as presented in comment #10 from the OP.

I think that without the DMC comment i wouldn't went this far but.. all in all.. There are better games out there then a good part of Square Enix past years release list ;-)

Stranger of Paradise? I got this game on my PS5 and it was rather mediocre... it can not challenge a game like FF16 or Tales of Arise...

Nioh 1+2 is probably the best Koei Tecmo games, however, it can make your fingers hurt if you are not a Soulslike-Gamer and the best version is probably the PS5 version. It once was available as a affordable collection-box (1-2 inside the same case with 2 BDs) but they dropped it and now even the price has been increased.