Valkyria Chronicles is a game that I didn't expect to like at first. I was worried it was going to be too silly, that it was going to be over-the-top. It had been a while since I had really enjoyed a Japanese RPG style game as much as I had done in the late 90s. But this one surprised me.
First, I'll mention some of the negatives. There's this one character who always has one eye closed and it really bugs me. There is a supporting character that is a small pig with wings. There's some fan service bits. It's occasionally very difficult. It's unplayable and ridiculously cheesy with the English voice acting (in my estimation).
There are many positives. I like any game that enables me to form a team of distinct people from a large number of options (in this sense, it scratched my Genso Suikoden itch). It means that, while there are some characters that aren't to my tastes, unless they are part of the main cast, I don't need to suffer them. The characters I put in my team become heroes in my own mind, as I recall times in which they've saved me from almost certainly having to start a level from the beginning again. There is an extensive cast of female characters, with a diverse range of personalities and appearances. It's also worth mentioning that there are quite a few LGBT characters in the game, but they aren't particularly well represented in some cases. The game does have an anime style, but it's very subdued--everything from the colour palatte to the behaviour of the characters is mostly just a bit less in your face than what I've come to expect from modern anime things. The combat system is fairly intuitive and it can be very satisfying when you've developed a strategy for defeating a level with little to no casualties. The psuedo-European setting is a pull for anyone with an interest in historical things. All the details about guns and tanks will no doubt be of interest to people with certain inclinations. The story isn't amazing, but it's simple, and it's effective (and sometimes affecting). It touches on some delicate issues such as racism and slavery, and isn't too tacky about it. Soundtrack is also very nice.
I was so involved in this game for a few months, I went to a themed cafe when the remaster came out on PS4 and there are really chunky art books to buy that flesh out the story, characters and development process. It was a good time. If you enjoy the characters in this game, many of them also make appearances in the sequels on the PSP--so it's worth getting invested in!
First, I'll mention some of the negatives. There's this one character who always has one eye closed and it really bugs me. There is a supporting character that is a small pig with wings. There's some fan service bits. It's occasionally very difficult. It's unplayable and ridiculously cheesy with the English voice acting (in my estimation).
There are many positives. I like any game that enables me to form a team of distinct people from a large number of options (in this sense, it scratched my Genso Suikoden itch). It means that, while there are some characters that aren't to my tastes, unless they are part of the main cast, I don't need to suffer them. The characters I put in my team become heroes in my own mind, as I recall times in which they've saved me from almost certainly having to start a level from the beginning again. There is an extensive cast of female characters, with a diverse range of personalities and appearances. It's also worth mentioning that there are quite a few LGBT characters in the game, but they aren't particularly well represented in some cases. The game does have an anime style, but it's very subdued--everything from the colour palatte to the behaviour of the characters is mostly just a bit less in your face than what I've come to expect from modern anime things. The combat system is fairly intuitive and it can be very satisfying when you've developed a strategy for defeating a level with little to no casualties. The psuedo-European setting is a pull for anyone with an interest in historical things. All the details about guns and tanks will no doubt be of interest to people with certain inclinations. The story isn't amazing, but it's simple, and it's effective (and sometimes affecting). It touches on some delicate issues such as racism and slavery, and isn't too tacky about it. Soundtrack is also very nice.
I was so involved in this game for a few months, I went to a themed cafe when the remaster came out on PS4 and there are really chunky art books to buy that flesh out the story, characters and development process. It was a good time. If you enjoy the characters in this game, many of them also make appearances in the sequels on the PSP--so it's worth getting invested in!