So I bought this game on a whim to check out. I wasn't to crazy about the last two games so I hoped that third's time the charm. Unfortunately it seems that the developers had no knowledge on the Vita's capabilities and gave a lackluster game.
Let's start with the story and setting. With the concept of a prison full of thieves, a giant sprawling city full entertainment and danger at every corner sounds really interesting, except Valhalla Knights executes it really poorly. The layout of said prison is very linear, all the stores aren't spread out as they could have been and the sense of "danger" that the characters mention at the beginning of the game is non-existent. In addition we are introduce to several characters that are sentenced to the prison with the player, however they are so bland and uninteresting that they are almost forgettable. For example, one of the characters is killed on arrival at the prison in a hilariously bad combat scene and they try to make it emotionally sad. Since we have no idea who the hell he is and why he was there make the scene absolutely pointless.
Once you get into the combat you'll soon find out that it is extremely clunky. The animations of the weapons is so slow and the hit detection is severely lacking so it will take several long swings to make your mark. Also the players equipped weapon is never worn on the character, it just disappears from his hands along with any characters that you have with you.
Another problem is the technical and art side of the game. The first issue is that there is not facial movements in any character except for blinking, I understand that not every game needs voice actors but it would have been so much better for them to maker their mouths and faces move. There is also very little character movements in the game, the way each character gestures while speaking is stiff and awkward. Even the walking cycle they have for the characters is so bad you can see that it's just a looping animation as they glide across the floor, there is no immersion that they are actually alive. Tie that in with the lack of facial emotions leads to the dialogue being dead and otherwise not interesting. Any sense of character development and quirky traits they try to force on the characters never work because it doesn't reflect on their models.
Valhalla Knights 3 feels like a half-baked attempt at making a quick game to fill the Vita's small library, and the system doesn't need this filler crap. It seems like the developers had no idea how to make a game on the Vita to even know the amazing things that have been accomplished on it already and try to push the envelope. The graphics are almost PSP quality, when other RPGs on the Vita have clearly demonstrated that they can be done so much better. Do yourself a favour and don't buy this game, I would suggest getting Soul Sacrifice or Persona 4 Golden for a better alternative to an RPG. If the developers made no effort to make a quality game don't make the effort to support them for this crap.
Pros:
+ I got to write a review to tell people not to buy it
Cons:
-Poorly executed concept
-Horrendous level design
-Emotionally dead characters and plot
-Clumsy combat
-Technical aspects are revolting (i.e. animation and graphics)