Global mobile
Kinda hot, the V-Phone from Vonage. Dunno what the rates are, but …man, that’s pretty awesome given the amount of people I know everywhere these days. Makes it as simple to call next door as it is to Malaysia!
Mythological mashing
So on to the gaming…
Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth is what I’m playing currently on the PSP, after finishing Phoenix Wright a couple weeks back on the DS.
Lenneth is the re-release of the original Playstation game (2000) that didn’t actually sell that well, but ended up attaining a cult following that saw prices on ebay soar to $100 for an original copy.
With the more affordable and portable out, I took the opportunity to check out what made Valkyrie Profile so popular.
VP:L gives you 2D platform-style dungeon crawl before you hit the traditional RPG turn-based battleground, all wrapped up in Norse mythology.
For someone who put in 240 hours of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, notions of restarting the game at about 45 hours isn’t so far-fetched. While I’ve read that it is more difficult to win on easy-mode than the other two available modes, I felt that it’s nice that I get to see the effects of my allocated points a little more readily, since harder modes are stingier on exp.
The learning curve here is a little bit steep at first. At about 10 hours, I hadn’t yet figured out how to buy weapons and armor upgrades, so I caved in and read the booklet. By about 35 hours, I got the hang of the battle system and item drops, (finally).
The background stories for all the characters you enlist are really quite good and the over-arcing story is pretty cohesive. Really quite enjoying it so far. The Squeenix rep keeps bugging me about playing Dirge of Cerberus, but I’m all about the portable gaming these days. I don’t have time to sit down at home to play as much as I used to. Or more likely, I don’t have the urge to do so while the sun still shines late in the day. There’s enough time for ensconcing myself under blankets in the basement to while away a winter evening.
