Valkyria Chronicles

[Tomodachi]

This fantastic game is brought to you by SEGA. Now none of you know this but I am a huge fucking SEGA fan-boy. I've played all the Sakura Taisen series (including the original saturn relases and the PS2 remakes), loved it to death. Even though I had no idea what the fuck anyone was saying half the time. I got more than half the LIPS system questions wrong and took me over 20 times to finish each game, but god dammit... I did it... with out a translation faq to boot! To me, that's an accomplishment. I also played a lot of Segagaga, but that discussion is for another point in time. Yet, I digress... back to Valkyria Chronicles.

This is a game about war... Plain and simple. I could go into the actual story but it's boring as hell and doesn't make for a very good anime. (Thanks Aniplex's A-1 Pictures!) If you really wanna know the story of VC... fucking wiki it. What makes this game fantastic is it's very different take on strategy RPGs. Since it's virtually by the same staff that did Sakura Taisen. It uses the same free form grid-less battle engine they use in the Sakura Taisen games yet, it has a 3rd person shooter twist to it. This is really what makes the game.

The game is played out as if you were reading a book. You go through different story sequences until you get to your main objective a.k.a. battle sequence. So, you go through these story sequences that give you more insight on what the game is all about, then you fight! Simple, right? Now, this is a very story driven game, if you hate dialogue then you will loathe this game. Also, to fully enjoy this game before even starting the game go to options and set the voice acting to JP... The English dub is so fucking bad, you'll thank me.

This game, like Sakura Taisen, is very grind lite. You really don't need to do a heavy grind in this game ever. They do give to a sad excuse of a grind called 'skirmishes'. They're just battles you've previously completed in the game that you can do over and over for extra exp and money. They're really boring and get very tedious... very quickly. Really, this game is about it's main battles. Before we talk battles let's talk about your teammates.

So basically, you have 5 classes and 1 tank. Classes include:

Scout, your 'general' class. They say that they're good at covering ground. In the beginning they are pretty useless. They die very quickly and the damage they deal is very small. I never really used this class. Maybe I'm not 'skilled' enough to use them effectively... Hey, I'm just looking to kill some mother fuckers not search the area.

Shocktrooper, your front line. These guys are most likely going to be what your militia going to consists of... at least for the start of the game. They take very little damage from other bullet welding enemies and their damage output is very high. I use these guys mostly for a 'run-n-gun' tactic. Just run up on the other side of a sandbag barricade, aim, shoot, kill. Pretty easy shit, very fun to use.

Sniper, your long-range tanks. These guys, used in the right places. Can get you out of a lot tough situations. Like regular snipers a head shot is one a hit kill, so if a shock trooper or lancer is giving you a hard time, use a sniper to take care of them. The down side to snipers is that they are weak and their movement is shit so it takes awhile to get them in the spot you want them to be in.

Lancer, your tank destroyers. These guys are great for taking tanks down, I usually have 2 in my party just to make sure I can take out tanks effectively and quickly. That's really all they're good for. With smaller targets they really don't do great on damage, and they usually miss.

Engineer, your 'fixes everything' guy. These guys give your militia ammunition when they need it, they fix your tank up in battle, and have awesome movement. I usually keep two in play at all times one for the tank and another for everyone else.

Tank, your uhhh... well... tank! The tank is a very versatile vehicle, takes very little damage and has turret for other tanks and and machine gun for ground troops. Really useful in the begging, I tried not to use it too much though.

Well now that you know a little about the classes, let's talk about the battle system. Like I said before, it's a grid-less, free from, strategy 3rd person shooter. It's war, you have to think of your plan ahead of time also, think on your toes when things don't go as planned. Being that this is war, if you sit there the enemy will still fire at you. If you take your sweet ass time thinking of what to do next on the spot, prepare to end up fucking dead.

Here's a screen shot of the battle screen,

Before you select a person to move:

After:

So this is probably one of the fastest slow SRPGs (lol, like they aren't all slow as shit) I've played. Hell, I can almost say it's not a RPG... with the 3rd person shooter aspect n' all. At times, it totally took me out of that RPG element. It held my attention, kept my brain on it's feet, and frustrated the living hell out of me! All at the same time! I'd go through every one of those stupid story sections just to get to the next battle, anticipating it. Like, that's what I had to look forward to in the morning... Hard as fuck Strategy 3PS battles.

The art of this game is beautiful. Great cell-shaded animation, they made it so everything looks hand drawn. The character design is wonderful. It's moonland animation which is off-putting to some, I really liked it.

They made the characters very emotive, which gave them their own personality. It made you connect with the individual charters really well. As if you knew that struggle they were going through, or at least it did for me. The overall style of this game attracted me to it as well as the battle system.

Overall, this is a great game. Very story driven, a great, unique battle system, and awesome overall style and cell-shaded animation. So if you like SRPGs and are looking for something new, or are like me and love seeing SEGA Japan give their awesome imported games US releases. This game is for you. If I could I'd make everyone of my friends play this game, I enjoyed every second of it.

[Shalashaska]

It seems simple enough - war RPG.

I'm tired of watching JRPGs where heroes run around the battlefield with a sword and they're shot a hundred times, but they go on slashing the baddies.

Do you get to level up your team? Are there moments when you unleash super attacks that wipe out the entire field or is that just crazy talk?

[Tomodachi]

Originally Posted by Shalashaska

It seems simple enough - war RPG.

I'm tired of watching JRPGs where heroes run around the battlefield with a sword and they're shot a hundred times, but they go on slashing the baddies.

Do you get to level up your team? Are there moments when you unleash super attacks that wipe out the entire field or is that just crazy talk?

You do get to level your team. The levels are based on class and not on the individual character. After every battle you get a set amount of exp. and with that exp. you get to distribute it thought out the 5 classes.

You kinda get a 'special attack' of sorts. The individual characters have people they like. If you are next to that character(s) you preform a kind of special attack.

[ZombieG]

Originally Posted by Gwen Nightsin

You do get to level your team. The levels are based on class and not on the individual character. After every battle you get a set amount of exp. and with that exp. you get to distribute it thought out the 5 classes.

You kinda get a 'special attack' of sorts. The individual characters have people they like. If you are next to that character(s) you preform a kind of special attack.

Understating it just a little.

Some characters get power-ups for being lesbians and conveniently located next to impressionable young lasses.

It's magical.

[Tomodachi]

Originally Posted by ZombieG

Understating it just a little.

Some characters get power-ups for being lesbians and conveniently located next to impressionable young lasses.

It's magical.

Basically yeah, I think the combined attack is virtually useless though. I hardly ever use it, I usually just run n gun with the shock troopers, don't give a fuck.

[Walkerman]

There's this fucking part where your the main character and you have to get back to your tank. The fun part is that your squad is being barraged by an artillery strike, 3 fucking tanks, and a couple Lancers and Shocktroopers.

It doesn't help that you can't control your tank until the main character gets in it.

It gets hard.

[pariah]

I didn't think the story was that bad. :c

[Delve]

This is game is a lot like a combination of advance wars and xenosaga. The game play is tactical war game that is turn based, and the look of it is like xenosaga---and the cut scenes are just as long. I like it, except for the fact that the story is weak, and I wasn't too excited about a woman giving birth inside a tank--like come on.

Its worth renting it, or playing over a friend's house.

Also, the aim on that red handkerchief girl sucks, I make her a meat shield in my decisions.

I forget their names because I played it with Japanese voice over, the English voice over is horrific.

[Walkerman]

Originally Posted by Delve

Also, the aim on that red handkerchief girl sucks, I make her a meat shield in my decisions.

Alicia was one of the more broken characters in the game!

She's one of the leaders in the game, so she automatically comes with an extra CP, and in this game you need all the CP you can get. (Heh heh)

Most of the time, I would just put Alicia in my party, have her run 'n gun her way to a base, capture it, and use my remaining CP to call in reinforcements.

Solves the problem of having to waste CP moving individual characters.

Once you upgrade her weapon in the accuracy department, she becomes a sure-shoted wonder.

If that's not enough, the fact that she's a scout means her grid map walking distance is the largest of any other class. Her natural abilities are extremely helpful in skirmishes as well.

Not to mention scouts get the Grenade Launcher upgrade which only further cements her status as "cheap."