After a couple dozen battles that invariably begin with Valkyrie saying, "To my side, my noble Einherjar!" you'll be wishing for a mute button; that's a shame, because aside from the minor annoyance of repetitive dialogue, there's hardly a thing to dislike about Square Enix's remake of the PlayStation's cult hit. The original storyline and unique gameplay are still unlike any other RPGs out there, and fleshing this already solid title out with some incredible new CGI just sweetens the deal.

In Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth, you follow the titular battle maiden as she uses her divine powers to find mortals on the verge of shuffling off their coils. After a short interlude where somebody bites it, Valkyrie recruits them into her army of "Einherjar" that she must train and then transfer to Asgard, the realm of the gods, when she deems them ready for sacred duty in a vicious holy war. The human world of Midgard is divided into towns and dungeons; in the dungeons both Valkyrie and her recruited souls can level up and earn points used towards learning new skills. The dearly departed also possess both positive and negative traits that affect their overall "Hero Value," which must reach a certain number if they're going to be effective in battle in Asgard. There are people who are selfish, foolish, naive, worrywarts, cold, and so on, although some redeeming traits like realism, beauty, and love of family can balance the ledgers a bit. Most of the Einherjar have a long way to go before attaining a decent Hero Value--proof that on earth as it is in heaven, a good man (or woman) is hard to find.

Dungeons and towns are laid out in staggered 2D, so you can move forward or backwards along paths between areas. In dungeons, Valkyrie can perform basic actions like running and jumping, but her most useful skill is shooting crystals, which adhere to surfaces and can freeze enemies if you want to avoid battle. Frozen enemies can even be used as platforms. Battle is deceptively simple--Valkyrie and the Einherjar are mapped to face buttons, and pushing the corresponding face button will make them attack. However, depending on what weapon is equipped, you can attack multiple times, and depending on your timing, you can juggle an enemy by interlacing character attacks to create some elaborate combos. In addition, there is a hit gauge that fills up each time you hit one enemy. When it reaches 100, you can launch a phenomenal special attack--and if you fill the hit gauge to 100 again, you can repeat this process.

Most of the game is representative of this type of depth; the more you experiment with something (like shooting crystals or divining items) the more you will find you can do. Everything is layered, from the battle mechanics to the overarching story, which has three endings and difficulty settings.

• TIP: You can take it with you. After recruiting a soul, go back to the town where he or she lived and visit their homes. You'll usually find something useful, like a weapon or accessory.