Inspired by Norse mythology, Valkyrie Profile follows the titular valkyrie, Lenneth, as she travels through Midgard, collecting the souls of slain heroes to serve either as einherjar or her personal companions for Ragnarok - the battle to decide the fate of all creation - and trains them by fighting monsters and performing additional quests.

[2] Dungeon exploration plays more like a platform game than a traditional RPG, with Lenneth Valkyrie the only visible character and capable of jumping, sliding, swinging her sword, and shooting ice crystals.

Pressing the Start button allows her to perform a "Spiritual Concentration", which reveals new dungeons, cities and towns, and recruitable einherjar, the souls of deceased warriors.

When entering a city or town, the game switches to a 2D profile view and Lenneth will disguise herself as a human, allowing her to interact with inhabitants without drawing attention to herself.

Much of the game consists of Lenneth locating and recruiting new einherjar (with cut-scenes of the circumstances of their deaths), training them, and determining if and when to send them to Valhalla to fight alongside the Æsir.

Character development for most of einherjar consists of their "death scenes", which are often dramatic and highly emotional and often steeped in symbolism and metaphors, and dialogue between them and the Gods while in Valhalla.

Once the periods in a chapter are up, the Sacred Phase begins, in which Lenneth returns to Asgard and Freya updates her on the status of the war with the Vanir and the fate of her einherjar in Valhalla.

Conversely, offering artifacts instead of keeping them and sending Einherjar that meet or exceed the chapter's requirements awards a number of bonuses.

Second, to increases the number of Materialize Points that Freya grants during the Sacred Phase, which are analogous to money, as they can be transmutated into items and equipment and vice versa.

Stringing attacks together produces combos that prevent a target from defending or recovering, yield Magic Crystals and Fire Gems that increase experience and reduce CT, and add to the Hit Gauge.

Damage is not capped so the party may attack an enemy until they no longer have any available moves rather than being limited to the total HP (health points) of the target.

Lenneth is the primary protagonist of Valkyrie Profile, a recently awakened warrior-maiden and servant of Odin, who has been tasked with recruiting the einherjar to fight with the Æsir in their war against the Vanir and prevent the destruction of Asgard in Ragnarok.

Lenneth is one of the three goddesses of fate (the other two being her sisters, Hrist and Silmeria) the three apparently share the same body, though only one is awake at any given time and can be distinguished by their hair color and armor.

The two run away, but Platina inhales the toxic pollen of poisonous flowers in a nearby field and dies in Lucian's arms.

[3] Lenneth Valkyrie awakens in Asgard and is tasked by the god Odin and goddess Freya with recruiting the einherjar for their war with the Vanir and the coming of Ragnarok.

After the arrogant Arngrim inadvertently embarrasses her father, Jelanda plots revenge but is kidnapped by a traitorous court minister and transformed into a monster.

When he is struck down, the Æsir prevail and the eternal reign of Odin and the Asgardians is assured as Freya puts Lenneth to sleep until she is needed again.

Considered the true ending of the game[citation needed], it fully explores the story and Lenneth's origins.

Sensing that the seal is broken, Odin performs the Sovereign's Rite, transmigrating Lenneth's soul and summoning Hrist.

Hrist takes control of the valkyrie's body and tries to destroy her companions Arngrim and Mystina, who refuse to serve her, but Lenneth intervenes.

To fully restore Lenneth's soul requires fusing it to valkyrie's original body whom Hrist is occupying.

Hrist's challenges the Vampire King, Brahms, to a duel on behalf of Odin's long ongoing war against the undead whom consume, desecrate, and defile the natural order of the living.

Loki unleashes the full power of the Dragon Orb, killing all of Lenneth's companions and destroying both Asgard and Midgard.

Lenneth undergoes the process of fusing her soul back together with the valkyrie and homunculus body which allows her divine powers to grow.

Several improvements were made to the English release of Valkyrie Profile, including more cinematics and the ability to adjust all characters' armor instead of just the active party as well as being informed when changing Lenneth's weapon from sword to bow.

Full motion video has been added to story events in the game and replaces all original anime scenes.

In 2018, Lenneth was ported to the mobile platforms iOS and Android featuring enhanced graphics such as character portraits, text, and UI elements, the option to skip cutscenes, in-app purchases to unlock collectibles, as well as automating each combat encounter.

[8] Due to the positive review scores and relative rarity of the game, used copies of Valkyrie Profile have sold for $300,[19] which is more than its initial retail price.

Eric Bratcher for Next Generation gave it three stars out of five, and called it an ambitious game with a compelling combat system, great open-ended character customization, and a unique setting, but thought that it is more artistic than a modern, less management-oriented titles.

They criticized the game for its "Draconian pacing", which made it a "nonlinear RPG that discourages exploration or even freedom of choice" and that the players will "rarely have time to enjoy the surrounding splendor", and also for its "very noticeable" load times and a manual that "doesn't provide much information" into its non-standard game mechanics.