Don't let Valkyria Chronicles sink into the abyss of great games that nobody's played.
-Very fun, strategic, rewarding hybrid gameplay that stands up to repeat playthroughs
-Great artwork and style
-Likable cast of characters
-Solid story, good soundtrack
-Solid value; the game can take anywhere from 25-50 hours to complete and is fun enough to play through more than once, plus new things are unlocked upon completion
The Not-So-Good:
-Story and dialogue can be wildly inconsistent in quality, sometimes top-notch but other times very questionable and even silly
-A little more class balance would have been nice
-Enemy AI sometimes seems very dumb, which might make you feel like you got away with mistakes you shouldn't have
-Intro cinematic is too spolierish
Gaming history is filled with excellent games that unfortunately find themselves lost in vast ocean of first-person shooters, sequels, and rip-offs of much better titles because they for whatever reason can't find an audience. It's getting to the point where you can spot such a game before it even gets released.
One such game is Sega's Valkyria Chronicles, a fun hybrid of turn-based strategy/tactics, JRPG, and third-person shooter. The game is one of the best to be released in 2008 and possibly the best RPG out of Japan in this console generation. But, alas, few people outside of Japan seem to be too interested in the game, which is a shame since they are missing out on a unique experience and a good time.
The setting has a very similar feel to World War II. The game is set in a fictional land called Europa, set in 1935 during a time of conflict between two warring factions: the East Eurpoan Alliance (who seem similar to the Nazis) and the Atlantic Federation. Caught in the middle is the neutral nation of Gallia, who finds themselves invaded by the Alliance for their bountiful natural resources. The player finds themselves behind the controls of Squad 7, a group of militia soldiers fighting to defend Gallia from the invasion. Squad 7 is led by the game's main character, the young lieutenant Welkin Gunther.
The story is told in a very unique way as cutscenes are split up into bits and pieces and scattered throughout a storybook, through which you proceed through as you advance through the game, unlocking battles and new scenes along the way. The player can page back through the storybook at any time to view any previously-viewed cinematic. The story is an odd bird as it sometimes can be as sweeping, epic, and emotional as a video game gets but can other times make you roll your eyes. The good outweighs the bad though, and the good moments from this story will stick with you for a long time to come. A word of advice though: as pretty as it is, try to avoid the game's intro cinematic that appears upon loading the game as it contains a couple spoilers to many.
Battles consist of a main map screen, from which you can formulate your strategy and select which troop you want to move. After selecting a soldier, the screen switches to a third-person perspective where you navigate the character over the terrain and engage in combat with the enemy and position them for the next turn. A turn can consist of 12 moves or more, and players must choose their moves strategically as each soldier has a limited amount of ground they can cover with each move and can only make one combat maneuver, whether it is attacking another enemy or healing yourself. The battles can take anywhere from a few minutes to a couple hours, and players can save their game at any time during their turn.
Players assemble their team of soldiers from a list of characters, each one with their own unique and sometimes humorous personality. The soldiers come in six classes -- Tanks/Tank Commander, Scouts, Shocktroopers, Lancers, Engineers, and Snipers. Tanks cost two moves to use but can do the most damage, while Scouts can move over the largest amount of ground but are easy to kill if unprotected. Shocktroopers specialize in close quarters combat while dealing a good amount of damage, while Lancers specialize in combating enemy tanks. Engineers are similar to Scouts in their offensive abilities but can also fix tanks, barriers and disable mines, while Snipers can of course take out an enemy in a single shot but can only cover very little ground.
Each class has their purpose, but as the game progresses, you may find yourself using Scouts almost exclusively given how much ground they can cover. The lower amount of turns you can win a battle in, the higher the reward will be, which is why Scouts come in so handy. Classes are leveled up as a whole as you gain experience points, and as the scouts grow more powerful, they become the backbone of your attack. You may find yourself wanting to use other classes and characters, but Scouts are so instrumental in winning a battle quickly that it may keep you from doing that. For that reason, giving the other classes a bit more oomph might have been nice.
The game is always great to look at as it comes off looking like a watercolor painting with a comic book style. The cast of characters is likable and the villains are charismatic. The mostly symphonic soundtrack is of very good quality and fits in well with the game.
Valkyria Chronicles does plenty of things right and not a whole lot wrong, but more than anything, the game's just flat-out fun to play. Even if you don't like JRPGs, you should give Valkyria Chronicles a try as it delivers a different flavor of gameplay than what you've seen in the past. This is a game that deserves to be played, so if you're bored with the same ol' stuff and looking for something different, give it a try.