As much as mood is crucial to an RPG, it's hardly all there is here. The gameplay of Valkyrie Profile 2 stands a good chance of being even more compelling than the story or graphics, thankfully. Anyone who played Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (and that's a lot of you) knows that the developer, tri-Ace, soaks its games in all of the trappings of turn-based RPGs (enemy encounters, hit points, swords and sorcery, multi-character parties) but doesn't force you to wade through menus. The same holds true of Silmeria. Four characters form the party; each has his or her own specialty.
Each party character is mapped to one of the four PS2 buttons - circle, X, triangle and square. Hit the buttons and the characters wreck the enemies in an instant. If you run into a powerful enemy, you can build up enough hits and damage to launch a Soul Crush - an incredibly punishing special move. Some enemies have multiple limbs. According to Yamagishi, "Unlike a lot of the command-entering, turn-based RPGs this is a lot more action. It's the same as a fighting game - whatever you strike at is what hits. Each part, an arm or a head, has its own [health]. Once that is gone, it goes off, leading to more experience points [and items]."
