Dark Rose Valkyrie
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for Dark Rose Valkyrie
An interesting product if you are looking for a more classical turn-based fight style, out of the musou-typical japanese games, but also a boring experiencie that becomes too long unless you are a big fan of the "Tales of" characters.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Despite the promising names behind the title, Dark Rose Valkyrie stumbles over its own ambitions. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the parts of the game that were the responsibility of the Tales series veterans, the art and the writing, were the most successful, but where other collaborations have been able to balance each party's strengths an diminish their weaknesses, that's not the case here. Rather than find collaborators who could help balance Compile's consistently lukewarm gameplay design, this joint effort substitutes Helvetica for Times New Roman instead of fixing 10 pages of typos.
Even though Compile Heart had a couple interesting ideas with this game, its execution failed to bring out its true potential. And despite having two Tales of series members on board, their involvement couldn't stop Dark Rose Valkyrie from wasting people's valuable time. At least Fujishima's character designs continue to look gorgeous.
Dark Rose Valkyrie is an unexpected experience and could be the best game from Compile Hearts yet. An undeniable mixed bag, the game provides deep and complex combat and character progression systems as well as a unique narrative and objective that's somewhat held down by its repetitive and tedious missions as well as its dated 3D graphics. Fans of JRPGs, especially those by Compile Heart, that are able to forgive some of the game's shortcomings will definitely appreciate and overly enjoy the game and the amount of depth and complexity it can provide.
There is a decent story, complex combat system, plot twist with the traitor and interrogations, as well as well-designed and beautifully-drawn characters, including sexy b**ches and girls who think they are boys. But outdated graphics and lack of explanations, recurring quests and a huge amount of grinding only cause a persistent irritation. After Persona 5 you can play it only with a huge amount of spare time. Which is a pity because Dark Rose Valkyrie could've been a decent JRPG or at least a very good visual novel.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Dark Rose Valkyrie offers opportunity for excitement, but ultimately fails to deliver. Weak concepts and a suite of poorly crafted gameplay systems sink an otherwise semi-interesting premise. This is a frustrating and slow slog all the way to the end.
Dark Rose Valkyrie doesn't blow the doors off the hinges, but it does serve as a much improved JRPG over what has been a largely tepid series of releases from Compile Heart and others. The story is fine, the battle system is fun and unique, and exploration is a large part of the adventure. While there are some cliches and rehashed elements throughout, Dark Rose Valkyrie represents what a top end-formulaic JRPG can be.
