The game Valkyrie Profile follows Lenneth, a Valkyrie, as she descends into the lower world to gather souls for Ragnarok. Odin commands her to gather fallen heroes to serve in the battle between the gods. The player controls Lenneth, gathering soldiers and training them to fight.
The gameplay involves exploring 2D locations like dungeons, mansions, and swamps, while running, jumping, shooting ice crystals, pushing and pulling objects to solve puzzles. Enemies are on-screen and can usually be avoided, similar to games like Chrono Cross and SaGaFrontier 2 . The battle system is turn-based, with up to three characters fighting alongside Lenneth.
The game consists of chapters, each made up of a set number of periods. The player must transfer heroes to Valhalla within a limited time frame in each chapter, where they can improve their statistics before permanently losing them. Along the way, Lenneth uses spiritual concentration to discover dungeon locations and ingame-engine cutscenes reveal character histories.