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 Image created by DeviFoxx. Character & Logo owned by NAMCO ®.
  As I have said many times before, "Valkyrie" shares a sort of mutual relationship with the "Druaga" franchise. Valkyrie is the "little sister" of Druaga. Even so, she frequently makes many cross cameos in other NAMCO franchises--and occasionally in fan-related works outside of the NAMCO universe.
All images, in-game screenshots, and artwork are owned by, and property of NAMCO of Japan Co. Ltd. and their respective artist(s) unless stated otherwise.


Official Strategy guide for "Valkyrie no Bouken: Toki no Kagi Densetsu"
(Click for Enlargement)

   Valkyrie's first game, "Valkyrie no Bouken: Toki no Kagi Densetsu" was quite difficult [obviously], and there was little to no information on the game. Hence, the release of a complete strategy guide on the game, including a map in full color.

  Even with the existence of a strategy guide, to this day, information remains seemingly obscure [part of the reason I wrote this article to begin with].

  One of my biggest gripes is the fact that while NAMCO is a good video game company that does produce quality games, they haven't had a good localization department outside of Japanese territories. This has been the case for quite some time, it seems.

  Case in point, NAMCO frequently uses characters from the "Valkyrie" and "Druaga" franchises. They make cameos in more modern, next-generation games. It is these "extra appearances" that I hope to explain to the reader.
  Whether or not there is a true "sequel" that takes place after "The Legend of Valkyrie" is debatable.  However, there has been another "kind" of game released after the series by the name of ワルキューレの伝説外伝：ローザの冒険「WARUKYURE no Densetsu Gaiden: ROSA no Bouken」。"The Legend of Valkyrie Side-story: The Adventure of Rosa".

  It was released for Windows PC in Japan, and is advertised as a "digital comic book" from certain sources. It does have voice actors, I have confirmed. Because in certain searches, I've turned up resumes of the Japanese voice actors who have this "game" credited to their list of roles.

  Other than that, this entry in the series is particularly difficult to locate and leaves many questions unanswered. There is an appearance of a "Black Valkyrie" in both "Namco X Capcom" and "Druaga Online: The Story of Aon". Information on both her, and this game are quire obscure at best--perhaps there is a link of some kind between the character and the games?

  Who knows... Anyway, moving right along.
 
  Speaking of "Druaga Online: The Story of Aon", Valkyrie is prominently featured in the game alongside Gilgamesh, Young Ki, and Xeovalga [a new character created for the game] as one of the game's four heroic protagonists and playable characters.

  Druaga Online: The Story of Aon is not actually an "Online RPG" in the traditional sense of the word [games like Final Fantasy XI, World of Warcraft, Everquest, etc.] as the title would lead you to believe. Its actually a four-person multiplayer arcade RPG. A genre that is seldom explored in the RPG world and usually is specific only to games like "Gauntlet Legends".

  Of course, just about every typical character class is in this game. The Swordsman or "Knight" role is played by Gilgamesh. The Priest / Priestess is played by "Young Ki" [why she's "Young Ki" and not just "Ki" is explained in the "Druaga Online: The Story of Aon" article]. "Xeovalga", an ancient robotic creature of some type is the "Brawler" class of the game. While in an odd choice, Valkyrie is the "Archer" character. This makes little sense, considering the fact that Valkyrie--like all Valkyries of folklore and legend--is supposed to be a shield maiden.
 
  In this picture, Valkyrie makes an appearance in another NAMCO arcade game, ワールドステジアム’９９「World Stadium '99」 as a part of her own baseball team. Comically wielding her sword as the baseball bat.

  Valkyrie makes cameos in other games such as "Mach Breakers", "Marvel Land", and the "Mr. Driller" game franchise.

  Additionally, she seems to have a fairly "cemented" spot in NAMCO's Tales of... RPG series [see link].

  Along with Gilgamesh from "Tower of Druaga", not only are there theme dungeons, but occasional armor pieces for storyline characters to wear in each game.
  The picture to the left is from the Japanese-only Gameboy Advance game "Mr. Driller Ace: Strange Bacteria" [with Kurino Sandra as he appears in "Sandra no Daibouken: Valkyrie to no Deai" as a reference piece to compare and contrast].

  In the Mr. Driller franchise in general, it is commonplace in story mode to come across "theme dungeons" after a certain point of completion in each game.

  Theme Dungeons are usually represented by a statue marker on the world map [in this case, Kurino Sandra] for the player to identify.
  The game that most non-Japanese gamers would readily identify Valkyrie from is the famous Soul Calibur fighting game series.

  The first time Valkyrie made an appearance in the game was as a third alternate costume for the character "Cassandra" in Soul Calibur 2. If you were diligent enough to search out the weapon, she came complete with her notable sword and round shield.

  Respectively, Cassandra's older sister, Sophitia featured "Ki" from "Tower of Druaga" as her third alternate costume. The weapon that went along with it was Gilgamesh's "Blue Line Shield" and the legendary Blue Crystal Rod.

  Offhand, if I can recall, these were the only two characters from other NAMCO franchises that made a cameo in Soul Calibur 2. That would change however in Soul Calibur 3 for the Sony PlayStation.

  Soul Calibur 3 featured a "Create a Soul" mode. In which the player is allowed to use various pieces and parts of armor to forge your own playable character to fight through the game with.

  As Easter eggs, NAMCO included the "pieces" to create not only Valkyrie, but Gilgamesh from "Tower of Druaga", KOS-MOS from "Xenosaga", and Taira-no-Kagekiyo from "Genpei Toumaden".

  As an added bonus, I'll share with you the requirements [including color coordinates] necessary to create "Valkyrie" in Soul Calibur 3.

  Make sure you've played a decent amount of time in the campaign mode and have more than enough money to purchase the parts needed to create Valkyrie, as they can be quite expensive in the game's shop.

  • Sex: Female
  • Job: Sage
  • Name: VALKYRIE
  • Face: 03
  • Eyebrows: 10,19
  • Lips: 03,18
  • Eyes: 23,20
  • Skin: 04,15
  • Underwear: 01,18
  • Voice: Girl 2
  • Head: Goddess Helm, [04,23]
  • Hair: Long Hair (Tied), [10,19 & 02,20]
  • Mask: N/A
  • Chin: Blush, [03,18]
  • Lower Torso: Bronze Brassiere, [12,05]
  • Mid Torso: Spy Robe, [01,15]
  • Upper Torso: Goddess Armor, [14,21]
  • Arms: Spy Gauntlets, [14,21]
  • Shoulders: Barbarian Pads, [14,21]
  • Neck: Enchanted Cape, [02,19]
  • Waist: Crimson Sash, [02,19]
  • Lower Legs: Barbarian Underwear, [36,15]
  • Upper Legs: Heavenly Dress, [01,13 & 02,22]
  • Shins: Cloth Leggings, [09,13]
  • Socks: Short Socks, [01,13]
  • Feet: Taped Boots, [07,20]

  Pictures of the end results are shown below.
 

  In the game Namco X Capcom, Valkyrie, Kurino Sandra, and Sabine have a fairly prominent role. Kurino is seen wearing the armor he acquired from "The Legend of Valkyrie". Sabine has a higher role this time and is Kurino's partner character.

  Valkyrie does not meet with Kurino and Sabine until much later in the game. She was originally going to go on a journey to investigate the disturbances that occur throughout the course of Namco X Capcom and not tell Kurino about it.

  Her reasoning behind this was that Kurino has lead a hard life enough as it is. The two of them are dear friends, and she was concerned about his well-being. She felt he was enjoying a peaceful life with his family back in Sandland, and that she did not want to take that happiness away from him.

  Kurino felt a bit insulted at the notion that Valkyrie did not contact him during such a dire time as this. In fact, he was a bit angry with Valkyrie [which is probably what is being conveyed in the picture].

  They patched things up, however and fought against evil, side by side.
 
  Valkyrie will probably still continue to appear in NAMCO video games for a long time to come--as long as NAMCO continues to produce video games [I guess I should call them NAMCO-Bandai now, huh?].

  However, the question is will NAMCO realize that they have some great games on their hands? If only they bothered to bring a few more of them outside of Japan, they could really shine! Look what it did for the Tales of... series.

  In any case, I hope this article has answered many questions for you, the reader. Keep on reading, and take care!


 

Article written by DeviFoxx on 05/05/2007 05:51:43 PM

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