sorcerer with knowledge and magic skills far beyond his years. Initially engaged in research in Dipan's capital, he joins the adventurers' quest when he rescues Alicia and her party from a dangerous predicament. As revealed in Valkyrie Profile, Lezard harbors an obsession with the valkyrie Lenneth, Silmeria's sister. This is not the Lezard of the game's time period, but from an alternate future, the one seen in Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth. His involvement leads to the events in Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria, changing the timeline. Lezard is also the main villain in Valkyrie Profile 2. Lenneth herself is the valkyrie of Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth, the original Valkyrie Profile. She also appears near the game's finale and joins the party, having learned of Lezard's plot. As with Lezard, she appears as she does following the events of Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth, as the Lord of Creation. Development and release The game's development for the PlayStation 2 was revealed along with another entry for the PlayStation Portable titled Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth. The game was designed to have a similar battle system to the original Valkyrie Profile, but allow players to move their characters around during combat to create more strategy. The game's music is composed by Motoi Sakuraba of Star Ocean. It has two original soundtracks, Alicia and Silmeria. Each soundtrack is divided into two discs totaling 70 songs from the game. Prior to the release, a special artifact box was released which included a copy of the game, ten musical tracks, a keychain, and a figurine. In 2012, characters Rufus and Alicia were added to the Square Enix card game Lord of Vermillion Re: 2. Reception Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria was the top-selling game during the week of its release in Japan, selling 281,510 copies. It sold over 400,000 copies in Japan by the end of 2006. The game was well received by critics, with an 84/100 rating at Metacritic. Famitsu scored the game a 34 out of 40. GameSpot gave it an 8.0/10, calling it a "refreshingly different and very challenging example of a Japanese RPG" that "looks great", with a "fun and exciting" combat system. They praised the game for its depth and variety but found the skills and equipment interface convoluted and noted that its high difficulty "hampers the pacing of the storyline". IGN was highly complimentary of the game, citing its beautiful graphics and 3D combat as standout features, while