A solid enjoyable RPG with an endearing set of characters and a highly strategic, interesting combat system
Instead, you take control of Welkins Gunther, son of a famous war hero of EWI, and currently a student in the independent country of Gallia. Rich in a mineral called Ragnite (read: Oil), Gallia gets invaded by the Empire seeking to claim those resources.
So much for the start of the story. While it does borrow heavily from WW2, it eventually comes into its own, once the Valkyria, a legendary race of warriors, gets involved, though the game is about half over by the time these fantasy elements come into play.
Story: While not the most unique story and not possessed with the most 3-dimensional characters, the Valkyria Chronicles is very earnest and heart-warming. While I felt that they approached the horrors of war with a bit too much lightness, there are some surprisingly realistic and tragic moments, both in and out of the scripted elements: your squad consists of some 25-30 unique individuals who, should they fall in battle and not be rescued in time, will permanently die.
Gameplay: The gameplay is simply excellent. Gone are the days of the JRPG, where magic and attacks are selected via menu and movement plays no role at all. That simply does not cut it these days anymore (if it ever really did).
In Valkyria Chronicles, the battles are a combination of third-person shooter and tactical RPG. Taking turns with your enemy, you will start with a top-down map marked with circles that represent your units (usually 5-10) and your bases. Your goal: protect your own base while capturing the enemy's or assassinating a particular enemy. When you select a unit, the game then zooms down into the fully 3d world and you then control that single unit, much as in a third person shooter (excepting that you are allowed one action per selection of the unit). Though it sometimes varies, you'll get to make about 10 moves per turn.
As I said, this gameplay is excellent. There is definite strategy involved here: no button mashing or min/maxing nonsense. Though I felt the battles tended toward being overly easy, a ranking system based on the speed with which you wins battles adds enough pressure to make you try and succeed. So if you want to get that elusive Rank A for the battle, you're going to have to treat it much as you would a real battle, using tanks for cover from machine-gun fire and protecting the tanks weak rear armor and sometimes throwing up smoke grenades.
Graphics / Sound / Music / Voice-acting: The voice-acting was surprisingly good, considering that the script sometimes borders very close to cheesy. However, it never goes over. I am supremely critical of scripts, and I never felt like rolling my eyes, so that is fairly high praise from me. Just in general, the writing is solid. It didn't blow my mind, but it was always well done. The music and sound were also solid, but again, they didn't blow my mind.
The graphics on the other hand were just good. I vastly prefer style over sheer shininess, and this game apparently shares my sentiments. It possesses a sort of faded combination chalk/watercolor style that fits just perfect with the simple, endearing tone of the story and its characters.
If you read my review to find out whether you think you would enjoy this game or not, then you can stop here. If you like RPGs, especially tactical RPGs, then this is a no brainer: get it.
With that said, I feel like sometimes people check out reviews to help organize their own thoughts on a game, especially on its negatives. If that is your goal, then rejoice! for I am a harsh critic. Let me now write of the negatives:
*This game is very light on progression, customization, and character development (in terms of gameplay, not story). While you do buy upgrades for your weapons, it's largely pointless: there's only one path for at least half of the game. When branching paths do open up, there's clearly a better path to choose. For example, sniper rifles can be upgraded to improve damage, to improve accuracy, or to add a debuff effect, but at that point, you're going to be killing everyone in a single headshot anyway, so only accuracy makes any sense. I really could have used some more options here.
*The game was sometimes not balanced. While I did use every class (and every class will be necessary), certain maps very highly favor certain classes. For example, snipers are very useless early on because their accuracy simply isn't good enough. Scouts, on the other hand, due to their high movement, are fabulous throughout.
*Exacerbated by the above point, scoring Rank A in maps requires a lot of inelegant trial and error. For example, when you initially deploy units you're only looking at a broad map lacking in details. You can try to guess what to bring where, but if you want Rank A, you'll almost always have to end up reloading and changing your deployment because certain classes just HAVE to be in certain places and make certain moves.
*Inaccuracy of weapons is effin killer. This is especially problematic because you can save at any point in battle. This causes an almost irresistible temptation to save before making any critical attack and simply reloading if you miss. This is especially bad early on because weapons start out as wildly inaccurate.
I think that just about covers it. With all of the positives, however, these few nitpicky details are easily ignored. Valkyria Chronicles is a solid, enjoyable RPG that you should play.