A beautiful and emotional ride.
Valkyria Chronicles was originally a PlayStation 3 game released in 2008. The original game has been remastered for a PlayStation 4 release with added trophy support, crisper visuals and all previously released downloadable content for less than £20. This is a steal for such an amazing title.
Although the story is very much it's own tale filled with it's own fantastical elements it draws heavy inspiration from world war II history for it's ideas and setting. In1930s Europa in the small kingdom of Gallia which is stuck in the middle of two superpowers, the Empire and the Federation. Unfortunately Gallia is home to a large source of Ragnite, a powerful fuel source which results in it being invaded. You play the role of Welkin Gunther, son of a former war hero who joins the militia to fight for Gallia's people and it's freedom.
The story is excellent, something I really didn't expect from a strategy role playing game. The core cast of characters are brilliantly fleshed out with their own personalities, their likes and dislikes and it brought some surprising emotional moments as the story progresses. I had tears in my eyes a couple of times to my utter surprise. The story is told from a book where you select different panels to watch story scenes in each chapter as well as engage in battles.
At the start of each battle you are given a birds eye view of a map, where your units start and how many you are allowed to take into battle. Each unit has a specific class which shows their general usefulness:
Scout - Large movement range, basic rifle.
Shocktrooper - Has a machinegun, medium movement range.
Sniper - Has a sniper rifle but has limited movement range.
Lancer - Has an anti tank weapon, limited ammo.
Engineer - Can repair tanks, refill troop ammo.
Depending on the map and your objective for each battle will depend on how many units you may want to take, as well as which type. To add to that each character has their own unique abilities as well as class abilities called "potentials" making every character in a class although the same, totally different. These abilities are not always positive and can often have a negative effect if say you bring a character allergic to pollen on a woodland map or a character that hates men with an otherwise all male squad etc. It's a really nice idea that makes you shift some of your squad around and even make some characters that get no story scene time feel like they have personalities.
The game is turn based with each side having command points that designate how many actions you can take on that turn. Every time you select a unit you lose a command point from your total, you can then move them if you wish attack with either one of their weapons or grenade and then continue to move them for the duration of their movement bar. The only exception is with Welkin and his tank the Edelweiss which takes two command points per action taken but is insanely powerful and immune to most gunfire though enemy lancers and tanks can still decimate it if you aren't careful. Command points can be saved from turn to turn if you have done all the actions you wish to take you can pass. The most interesting thing though is you can use the same unit multiple times, each time you select them after the first though their movement bar decreases as if their stamina is wearing down. It's an interesting feature (one the AI can and will use against you, though not unfairly) that can even allow you to complete battles in just a couple of turns with one unit if you know how.
Each battle has it's own objective to go along with the story, no two battles feel the same both because of this and the excellent variety of locations from small villages, forests, desert plains, cities and trenches. The art design to this game is superb and the graphics are simply gorgeous. It may be a PlayStation 3 port but thanks to it's canvas engine the game looks almost like a watercolor painting in motion so easily stands up to more technically proficient games designed for the PlayStation 4 in my opinion. The music matches the visual quality step by step with some outstanding pieces. There are some rousing orchestral tracks, especially the main theme but all of which have a distinct military flair to them to match the theme of the game.
There are 18 chapters to the main story of Valkyria Chronicles with some chapters having multiple battles. There are also skirmishes to play which take certain chapter maps you can free play and on harder difficulties they really mix up the enemies and starting locations for added challenge. My first time through took me around 25 hours, getting the platinum trophy, A ranking every battle and collecting every character profile took me about 36 hours so there is plenty of value to be had.
I can't recommend this unique game enough. It mixes third person shooting with strategy gameplay, a great cast of characters and an engaging story. It's such a good price that even if you aren't sure it's really worth the risk.
+ Enjoyable plot filled with interesting characters and emotional moments.
+ Unique potentials are a nice idea, separates characters in the same class and gives them personality.
+ Each battle feels fresh objective and location wise.
+ Beautiful art style and visuals.
Valkyria Chronicles was originally a PlayStation 3 game released in 2008. The original game has been remastered for a PlayStation 4 release with added trophy support, crisper visuals and all previously released downloadable content for less than £20. This is a steal for such an amazing title.
Although the story is very much it's own tale filled with it's own fantastical elements it draws heavy inspiration from world war II history for it's ideas and setting. In1930s Europa in the small kingdom of Gallia which is stuck in the middle of two superpowers, the Empire and the Federation. Unfortunately Gallia is home to a large source of Ragnite, a powerful fuel source which results in it being invaded. You play the role of Welkin Gunther, son of a former war hero who joins the militia to fight for Gallia's people and it's freedom.
The story is excellent, something I really didn't expect from a strategy role playing game. The core cast of characters are brilliantly fleshed out with their own personalities, their likes and dislikes and it brought some surprising emotional moments as the story progresses. I had tears in my eyes a couple of times to my utter surprise. The story is told from a book where you select different panels to watch story scenes in each chapter as well as engage in battles.
At the start of each battle you are given a birds eye view of a map, where your units start and how many you are allowed to take into battle. Each unit has a specific class which shows their general usefulness:
Scout - Large movement range, basic rifle.
Shocktrooper - Has a machinegun, medium movement range.
Sniper - Has a sniper rifle but has limited movement range.
Lancer - Has an anti tank weapon, limited ammo.
Engineer - Can repair tanks, refill troop ammo.
Depending on the map and your objective for each battle will depend on how many units you may want to take, as well as which type. To add to that each character has their own unique abilities as well as class abilities called "potentials" making every character in a class although the same, totally different. These abilities are not always positive and can often have a negative effect if say you bring a character allergic to pollen on a woodland map or a character that hates men with an otherwise all male squad etc. It's a really nice idea that makes you shift some of your squad around and even make some characters that get no story scene time feel like they have personalities.
The game is turn based with each side having command points that designate how many actions you can take on that turn. Every time you select a unit you lose a command point from your total, you can then move them if you wish attack with either one of their weapons or grenade and then continue to move them for the duration of their movement bar. The only exception is with Welkin and his tank the Edelweiss which takes two command points per action taken but is insanely powerful and immune to most gunfire though enemy lancers and tanks can still decimate it if you aren't careful. Command points can be saved from turn to turn if you have done all the actions you wish to take you can pass. The most interesting thing though is you can use the same unit multiple times, each time you select them after the first though their movement bar decreases as if their stamina is wearing down. It's an interesting feature (one the AI can and will use against you, though not unfairly) that can even allow you to complete battles in just a couple of turns with one unit if you know how.
Each battle has it's own objective to go along with the story, no two battles feel the same both because of this and the excellent variety of locations from small villages, forests, desert plains, cities and trenches. The art design to this game is superb and the graphics are simply gorgeous. It may be a PlayStation 3 port but thanks to it's canvas engine the game looks almost like a watercolor painting in motion so easily stands up to more technically proficient games designed for the PlayStation 4 in my opinion. The music matches the visual quality step by step with some outstanding pieces. There are some rousing orchestral tracks, especially the main theme but all of which have a distinct military flair to them to match the theme of the game.
There are 18 chapters to the main story of Valkyria Chronicles with some chapters having multiple battles. There are also skirmishes to play which take certain chapter maps you can free play and on harder difficulties they really mix up the enemies and starting locations for added challenge. My first time through took me around 25 hours, getting the platinum trophy, A ranking every battle and collecting every character profile took me about 36 hours so there is plenty of value to be had.
I can't recommend this unique game enough. It mixes third person shooting with strategy gameplay, a great cast of characters and an engaging story. It's such a good price that even if you aren't sure it's really worth the risk.
+ Enjoyable plot filled with interesting characters and emotional moments.
+ Unique potentials are a nice idea, separates characters in the same class and gives them personality.
+ Each battle feels fresh objective and location wise.
+ Beautiful art style and visuals.