Valkyrie Anatomia The Origin
I'm a big fan of the Valkyrie Profile series, played both the original game and Covenant of the Plume and enjoyed both immensely. So I was excited when I heard there was a mobile VP game coming out. I've been playing the English language version for a few months now and my verdict is: get it if you like the VP series. It works (I think) as a standalone game, but the more you know the characters and lore from the rest of the series, the more you will enjoy it.
The only issues I've had is there is a steep learning curve at the beginning since there is a lot of complexity to how it works. There is a tutorial but some things I had to figure out on my own by trial and error. It doesn't help that the inventory screen does not display the names of the items or what they do.
My intention is to share what I know about the game and encourage others to try it.
1) First of this is a Gacha game, where you get weapons randomly by spending gems that you can get through normal gameplay or by purchasing through the App store. While that sounds an awful lot like loot boxes, in this game you can progress normally without buying gems. I only bought gems because I wanted to support the game. The difficulty has been reduced compared to Japanese version so you're not forced to buy them to progress.
2) Secondly there are several currencies that all are used for different things:
a) Gems are used to Divine weapons. You can pay for them, but you also get them by completing missions, unlocking achievements, or given as gifts from the game makers when there are glitches that have to be fixed or you participate in some events.
b) Gold is used to pay for upgrading weapons (offense) and orbs (defense). You can win gold from battles, or by selling inventory.
c) AP are used to play through missions. Each level of a dungeon has an associated AP cost. You start out with only 27 AP, but by gaining experience you can gain levels to add 3 AP the total every level up. This is where patience comes in, since they regenerate at the rate of one AP every three minutes. You can regenerate them using potions or by spending gems. I recommend the potions once you start amassing them. You can also regenerate them to full once a day by clicking on the AP gauge to open a link to Facebook.
d) Special Mission Tokens are acquired only by playing through special event missions. The tokens vary in appearance and name but are only tradeable to get items in the exchange booth for that special event. Some weapons that you can divine in conjunction with that mission boost how many tokens you get.
e) Tickets allow you to divine weapons without spending gems. There are different types that let you acquire different levels of weapons.
3) Characters fall into groups:
a) Storyline characters are acquired by playing through the story mode. Usually, you get them by completing missions. Except for Lenneth, they are original to this game. They will form the core of your party early on until you decide to acquire bonus characters.
b) Bonus characters are completely optional. Some you can get by completing limited stories (which are time sensitive). Others you can only get by getting an iconic weapon associated with that character and then sacrificing it to Odin as tribute. You lose the weapon and get the character. You can get these weapons mostly by divining them by spending gems. Since the weapon drops are random, it could take a lot of tries to get the weapon you need for that character. Bonus characters tend to be from the other VP games.
4) Equipment:
a) Weapons increase offensive stats. They range from 1-7 Stars, the higher numbers with more power. The highest you can normally get through divining is 6 Stars. You can specifically divine just 4 Stars, 5 Stars, or 6 Stars, or get a range of all three. You can upgrade any regular weapon with hammers and crystals. Under certain conditions you can upgrade a weapon to the next level, but the higher the level, the harder the conditions needed. I've got four level seven weapons, primarily because you can occasionally purchase upgrading items for Gems.
b) Orbs boost defensive stats and HP. They also range from 1-7 Stars. Some unique orbs are character-specific, most can be equipped by anyone. Also they are color coded by category and characters have three areas they can boost, so sometimes an orb won't boost stats unless the colors of the orbs and characters match.
c) Costumes and Accessories are purely aesthetic, they merely change how the character looks, not any stats or abilities. Typically are themed on holidays or beachwear and the like. Costumes can only be applied to a specific character while Accessories can be worn by anyone.
You can equip up to three weapons and three orbs at a time to any character. The primary weapon has to match the character class (sword, heavy sword, bow, staff), but the other two can be any type. Except for character-specific orbs, any orb can be equipped on any character.
TBC
