The fine people at Square Enix allowed us to sit down with some of tri-Ace's key staff members to discuss Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth for PSP and Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria for PS2.

The former is a port of the original Valkyrie Profile for PlayStation. However, it is not a straight port; new movies and story sequences have been added, particularly storyline related to the upcoming PS2 title. Also, the sound has been entirely remastered, and the game went through the standard dimension reformatting of 16x9 to fit the PSP screen.

As for Silmeria, well, there's plenty to be said. While the game is animated in full 3D, much of the game takes place in a 2D side-scrolling environment. Like the "crystal" system of the previous title, the PS2 incarnation now uses the "photon" system. The standard ability to freeze enemies and use the frozen block to push and jump upon still exists. However, one can now shoot a second photon on the frozen monster to switch places with it. Doing this will allow the player to essentially pass through gated-off areas and gain access to other "hard-to-reach" areas. This adds to the puzzle and strategy element of exploration.

Battles will take place in a fully 3D environment. The battle system is extremely intricate, and as such, there are many ways to complete a battle. The team demonstrated so much of the battle's detailed system that we could provide pages of information. For fans of the previous title, much of the system is the same (such as button assignment to each character in the party).

The advanced AP system allows the players to dash across the enemies line of sight without allowing the enemy to move. However, AP recharges through the player's movement on the field, which also allows the enemy to move. If you enter the enemy's line of sight, you will be attacked. The players are able to destroy "parts" of the monster (arms, legs, etc.) to receive items. Killing the "leader" of an enemy party will end the battle, but players can feel free to kill all the enemies before the leader or simply go for the throat.

The party is also able to split into two groups in battle mode to corner the enemy and do special combo attacks.

In other words, the battle system is lookin' good.

As was previously announced, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria is chronologically a prequel and will unveil new details to the world and plotline of the series.

When asked to confirm whether or not Motoi Sakuraba was the music composer for this title, the tri-Ace staff gave the answer "yes" and went on to say that they consider Sakuraba a key player in the development of the series, and if they were to create a third Valkyrie Profile title, they would prefer to have Sakuraba on the team again.

Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth for the PSP will be released on July 18. Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria is currently slated for a September release in the US.