Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth review

A voice cries out in pain and fear. Close your eyes; you can hear it. You descend from the skies towards the ground, arriving just in time to see a young woman brutally slain. Instead of investigating, or taking revenge on her behalf, you simply do your duty: you recruit her ghost as a warrior on behalf of the gods. Now, she joins the fighting - to stave off an inevitable Armageddon.

Sounds a bit more interesting than your average group of clueless kids on a field trip from one miserable little shrine to another, doesn't it? Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth turns your expectations for RPGs directly on their heads.

The main character is a mature, self-assured - and fully-clothed - woman. Her party is a diverse group drawn from different cultures and brought together not because they want to save the world but because they have lost their lives, and have no choice.

Wrapped around this dark and haunting story is gameplay that the rest of the tepid role players on the PSP can't even hope to touch. The battles are a truly unique blend of tactics and action - each character has his or her own attack style, and it's up you to both arrange their moves (between battles, you can tweak any and every attack) and execute with split-second precision. It's a demanding battle system, requiring you to think ahead and then act with grace, but it's addictive exactly because it places these two different demands on the player.