bahamut_zero's Profile

Valkyria Chronicles is set in a world not unlike ours, where two major regions are vying for power in the continent of Europa. Their purpose, apart from colonisation is the acquisition of "ragnite" a valuable material that is used for both fuel and medicine alike. Caught in the middle, is a neutral state called Gallia, where the story begins.

Due to their neutrality, Gallia's men are subject to conscription and military training. And so when the Imperial Empire invades from the West, all Gallian men are called to join the armed forces. One of them is Welkin Gunther, the son of a war hero and a university student who has a strange fascination with bugs. On his way to the capital however, he stops by Bruhl, his hometown, to make sure his sister Isara is safe to assist with her evacuation. THere he meets the enigmatic Alicia Melchiott, who also takes up arms in an effort to protect the town. Together they form part of Squad 7, along with Largo, Rosie, Isara and a few handpicked others. The brunt of the story therefore, follows Squad 7 in their exploits and endeavours during this war.

Valkyria Chronicles is a strategic, role playing game. Troops 'level up' and the story takes on a very RPG feel but the guts of the game is purely strategic. The soldiers in your squad will come from one of the five main classes - scouts, shocktroopers (machine gunners), lancers (anti-tank personnel), snipers and engineers. Tanks are also a class but unfortunately you will only have as many tanks as the game decides to give you. You are free however, to choose from the other classes. How you deploy them is up to you but each class comes with their own specific strengths and weaknesses. For example, Scouts can travel a great distance (they have high AP) but they don't have strong defense and will most likely die if confronted by a Shocktrooper. On the otherhand, Shocktroopers have good defense and attacks, but they do not have much AP. How far each soldier can travel, their relative defenses and the efficiency of their attacks is critical when determining how to proceed in each battle.

As the leader of Squad 7, Welkin dispatches troops according to how many CP(Command Points) is available. Command points are allocated to each story character. As such, if Alicia is deployed, she adds one CP, and so does Largo, if he too is used. When the battle starts, the player is presented with the Victory conditions. Usually, these pertain to the story and most of them have to be completed within 20 turns. After deployment, you can then select a character to perform various actions. Once selected, the character then consumes one CP (tanks consume 2) and proceeds towards their destination. Doing so consumes Action Points(AP) which is very different according to which class they belong to. Once the character has spotted an enemy, they can then switch to Target Mode and perform an attack, healing or hiding. Each character can only have one action per turn, so it is important to ensure he or she can successfully carry out your orders without wasting another CP by having to select them again. As with most strategy games, stealth is the key and approaching your enemy from the back has its advantages. Head shots will usually be fatal and attacks from the back means that the enemy can't evade. It is also important to note that should the enemy still be alive after the attack, they will counterattack and therefore your character's stance (whether they are taking cover) is another crucial element. Bear in mind too that your final positioning of each character can then invite the same conditions from an enemy attack, so if an enemy somehow gets behind you, they too can engage in head shots and critical hits.

The game gives you a variety of well balanced characters to choose from. They all have distinct personalities and personal likes or dislikes. These come through by way of 'potentials' which are unlocked as their class levels up. Potentials can either work to your advantage and/or detriment, depending on what they are. Some characters have 'pollen allergy' and so deploying them in forested areas will result in a reduction of their stats as they start to exhibit their dislike of the environment. However, deploying a "nature-lover" will have the opposite effect. This is yet another side to the overall strategy you need to employ. Be warned however, that when a non-story character dies in battle, they are effectively lost forever. You have are given several chances to save them but if an enemy unit reaches them first, they will be gone permanently. Bonuses are given at the end of each battle so it is important to ensure you don't 'sacrifice' characters needlessly.
Graphically, this game is gorgeous and very unlike games you've seen in the past. The animation takes the appearance of colour pencils and water colour sketches on canvas. The movement is fluid and smooth giving the overall impression of a beautifully pencil-sketched cartoon. In addition to this, the story unfolds like one told in a book and as you proceed you unlock more and more chapters. This gives the player the ability to go back and view previous chapters should they wish, or continue on with the story. The soundtrack is also amazing, featuring tracks that will have you ready for armed combat.

Eventhough, Valkyria Chronicles is a great game it is not entirely without its flaws. Units such as tanks can be hard to manouvre, consuming precious AP and creating a certain degree of frustration. Enemy mines are another thing that can frustrate especially when you are sure you're character is far from stepping on one. Apparently just walking around them can sometimes set them off. Another thing that has been noted is the AI of enemy units. A lot of them will sometimes perform actions that leave you wondering "what the..". On many occasions, they had the opportunity to finish me off but didn't. Sometimes tanks consume CP merely to move forward and then backwards again. Actions such as these can either frustrate you or leave you thanking your lucky stars, depending on how competitive you are. As for me, I was grateful that the enemy left me alone during those moments when they had more than ample opportunity to finish me off. Another important thing no note is Mission 7. I cannot and will not go into great detail about it but let me just say that Mission 7 will either make your break you. If you manage to survive, you will find the rest of the game a lot easier and very rewarding, so my advice is to stick with it, no matter how angry you get.

Lastly, the game rewards you at the end by allowing you to replay with all your levels, equipment and stats intact. You can also choose to play missions on different difficulty settings. As such, there is high replayability value. Valkyria Chronicles, is quite simply, one of the best games released on the PS3 and anyone who enjoys a challenging strategy game should definitely give it a try. Even if you feel that RPG's may not be your thing, give it a go anyway as it caters for a wide variety in tastes and is quite simply a very enjoyable experience.