Vallkyria Chronicles 4 is a mostly enjoyable experience for returning fans of the VC series.
In terms of gamplay, the mechanics are just as satisfying as in VC1 and the new additions (sometimes) add a nice new layer of strategy to the mix. However, it remains very easy to cheese these mechanics and avoid most of the challenges the levels put forth through the use of orders (which remain broken) and the APC. If the scoring system was different, this would be no problem since you would be punished for using such a strategy. Unfortunately, the game actively rewards these strategies by basing the ranking on turns to completion alone. In addition, some mid-battle objective changes or enemy appearances can make planning for a battle feel like a waste of time.
When it comes to story, there is also not much here that is very engaging. It is a very run of the mill plot that acts to ferry the player from battle to battle which, in principle, is fine for this type of game. The main problem is that the characters here are generally very flat or, in the case of Raz, incredibly misogynistic. Despite this, the game doesn't really address these flaws and somtimes seems to actively encourage them which can make for an uncomfortable play experience.
In spite of of these flaws, the core mechanics of VC4 (when you ignore the scoring system) are still quite fun to engage with. I just wished the game wasn't trying to discourage me from doing so for the majority of my playthrough.
In terms of gamplay, the mechanics are just as satisfying as in VC1 and the new additions (sometimes) add a nice new layer of strategy to the mix. However, it remains very easy to cheese these mechanics and avoid most of the challenges the levels put forth through the use of orders (which remain broken) and the APC. If the scoring system was different, this would be no problem since you would be punished for using such a strategy. Unfortunately, the game actively rewards these strategies by basing the ranking on turns to completion alone. In addition, some mid-battle objective changes or enemy appearances can make planning for a battle feel like a waste of time.
When it comes to story, there is also not much here that is very engaging. It is a very run of the mill plot that acts to ferry the player from battle to battle which, in principle, is fine for this type of game. The main problem is that the characters here are generally very flat or, in the case of Raz, incredibly misogynistic. Despite this, the game doesn't really address these flaws and somtimes seems to actively encourage them which can make for an uncomfortable play experience.
In spite of of these flaws, the core mechanics of VC4 (when you ignore the scoring system) are still quite fun to engage with. I just wished the game wasn't trying to discourage me from doing so for the majority of my playthrough.