Cognition Dissemination: Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth’s Mobile Port, and the Chances for a New Game

The eyes of several longtime Japanese RPG fans opened in surprise when Square Enix teased an announcement related to Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth. It featured the logo for the title that released for PSP in 2006, a slightly updated port of the original PSOne title that arrived before Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, whose games were named after the Valkyrie protagonists in both games. There were several possibilities for what could have been teased here, ranging from a port for some or multiple platforms to a full-blown remake — though the former was more likely. They were treating it as a significant development, since it was teased alongside the launch of a Twitter account dedicated to the game.

As it turns out, this was yet another tease from Square Enix where fans questioned whether it was worth it. It was confirmed to be for a simple port of the first game for mobile platforms a week afterward. It was reminiscent of the announcement for The World Ends with You: Final Mix years ago, whose week-long tease also implied it was for a significant development. In fairness, least this one didn’t let anyone guess that it could be for a brand-new game, and was lower-key in comparison. Despite the backlash they’ve received every time they’ve done it, these teases draw a lot of attention.

The announcement nonetheless raises questions. Again, Lenneth was originally released on PSP to prepare players for Silmeria, a successor-though-canonical prequel on PS2. So, there’s a chance they could be using this opportunity to prepare fans for a new installment, especially if a port of Silmeria follows. The fact that they teased this for a week and gave it a Twitter account means they’re treating this with more importance than some of their other mobile ports. Of course, this could be another misread of their plans.

For as surprised as some were with a reemergence of Valkyrie Profile with the teaser, Square Enix never really forgot about the series. It’s been less than two years since they released Valkyrie Anatomia: The Origin, a free-to-play mobile title which served as an immediate prequel to the original game. It was also a departure from the old games in terms of presentation, as original developer tri-Ace wasn’t involved, the main artist was changed from the duo of Koh and Yoh Yoshinari to Hideo Minaba, and every character was recast with a new voice actor. Motoi Sakuraba did return for the music, however.

It’s a reportedly solid mobile RPG that’s received several updates in its nearly-two years of life, to the point that it surpassed two million downloads less than a year after its launch. That doesn’t mean everyone who downloaded it spent money on microtransactions, but mobile games often don’t need many players to spend money in order for the ventures to be profitable. It’s safe to say it did well.

Square Enix tends to listen to their fans more these days, which is why this port of Lenneth could be taken as a hint that a new title could at least be considered if it’s not already in development. As shown with Lenneth’s original release, they don’t mind releasing a port and a successor for different platforms, though that’s not to say this is a good habit. tri-Ace was busy at the time Anatomia was being developed, as they’d finished working on Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness and the Valkyrie Profile-esque Exist Archive: The Other Side of the Sky. But they’re currently updating mobile title Star Ocean: Anamnesis. Unless they’re working on something else in secret, there’s a good chance they have enough staff available for a big game.

The Valkyrie Profile franchise’s most ardent fans have been asking for a game focused on Hrist for years. These titles tend to focus on the origin stories of one Valkyrie, and what’s happening in the world and other figures of Norse mythology around them. That doesn’t apply to spinoffs like the aforementioned Anatomia or DS strategy/RPG Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume, the latter of which’s protagonist wasn’t a Valkyrie at all. Hrist was one of the more popular characters in both games, and didn’t get enough screen time in either of them, so it’s no surprise fans want her to have a game of her own.

As intriguing as it sounds, you shouldn’t count on this happening. Square Enix might find the idea of a new Valkyrie Profile game for consoles too risky in the current climate, even though it’s looking friendlier for B-tier titles with successes like NieR: Automata. There’s also the chance that this could be yet another mobile experience, and the fact that tri-Ace is owned by mobile company Nepro Japan now could exacerbate the chance of this being for phones. Not all mobile experiences are bad, but they have to know which format their fanbase prefers.

In any case, it would be nice if they ported Lenneth to other platforms after its mobile release, similar to how Romancing SaGa 2 was made available on everything. It’s also noteworthy that The World Ends with You: Final Mix is being ported to Switch this year. But before that, let’s hope this gets released in English, since the original is too difficult to obtain legally than it should be.