Prepare yourself for war, in a way you never thought it could be.
Graphics: 10/10
Let us start of with the best part of Valkryia Chronicles; it's graphics. Anime lovers rejoice, this water painted world looks incredible. From normal speech scenes, to full on cut scenes the animation is incredible with practically no hitch at all. They have everything down to the nearest detail. From sandy deserts, destroyed towns/cities, beaches, and thick forest. It will always look amazing.
Sound: 9/10
The sounds in Valkryia Chronicles was surprisingly good. Every character (about 50 of them) have their own catch phrases and sayings, and their voices will usually change, depending on their position, health, or attitude. Explosions, gunfire, even the just having a character run all just sound right. There were some hit and miss moments in speech scenes. But they never really subtracted from the scenes attitude. Finally the music, is great and a clear "A+". The opera and orchestra music always found a way to match the feel of the scene or battle.
Story: 9/10
Firstly Valkyria Chronicles main strength, is it's ability to tell a story. In fact all of the events you watch and play are actually the written records (book) of a war. The story in this game is your traditional Japanese romance/fantasy story. You can see most of it coming, but there are some good plot twists. One of them (all though not a major one) actually made me go "Holy S****!". Another thing this story does well in is it's ability to capture the feeling of war. We've all seen the story were there are bad guys are holding hostages , and the good guys come stop the bad guys and save the hostages. That doesn't always happen in this game. Innocent people can and will die, and the game does a good job of making you care about that. Other cool things are the smaller stories
in the background. In fact each character (including non-major ones) has their own small story to their lives before, during, and after the war.
Game play: 9/10
This is were things get interesting or weird depending on your opinion. Valkyria Chronicles is probably the most interesting game I've played in awhile. It is a mixture of a TPS (Third Person Shooter), turn based strategy game, and a RPG (Role Playing Game). The way it works is, you start of looking at a map of the area and given a objective (capturing a base, killing a commander, etc.) You then choose who you want in the battle (some people will automatically be there),then at the beginning of each turn you get a number of command points. You use these points to take control of a character. At that point it becomes a TPS in which you control the character and have he or she preform whatever task needed. There are 6 types of units you can control in this game.
Scouts: The backbone of most battles. They are able to go into enemy lines,destroy ambushes, and capture bases and comeback most of the time. They use rifles, have medium defense, and can go far distances.
Shocktrooper: The muscle for battles. They are equipped with machine guns and have the higher defense then scouts. Although they can't go as far, they have the ability to wipe out enemies very easily, and best at defending bases.
Lancer: The anti-tank personnel. They are equipped with lances (bazookas) that are very helpful in taking out enemy tanks and destroying enemy cover. They have very high defense, and only problems are they have no crossfire ability or counterattack and can't move too far.
Snipers: The eagle eyes. Snipers have the lowest defense and lowest movement. They also can't do crossfire or counterattack. But are extremely helpful in certain battles. Having sniper towers or building roofs (with access to them) make snipers one of the deadliest units on the map. They have the ability to take down moving units before they get too close.
Engineers: The unsung heroes. Engineers are like scouts with less defense and movement. They make up for it with other abilities. They can disarm mines, repair certain types of cover, re-supply other units, fix tanks, and still fire at enemies.
Tanks: Is there anything really to explain? These are some of the most important assets to battle. They can wipe out anyone on the field with tank rounds, mortar, and machine guns.
One thing I really enjoy is the feel of the game. How it feels different for each character you use. Some will have crap aim, or have better evade. Either way you will see and feel it for each character. Also these missions, feel like they are straight out of shooter games. Crazy stuff will happen when things appear to easy, and be prepared to get cheap shots when there is a lot of enemies. But the feel you get after completing makes it worth it.
The RPG factor to the game comes in as well. You can buy and unlock different types of guns that you can equip to your soldiers. This goes from different machine guns, to special platting for your tanks. Another RPG factor is your ability to level up your soldiers. Some of you are wondering "With so many characters, how can I level them all up?". The answer is a very simple idea, that should be used in more RPGs. Instead of leveling up specific soldiers, you level up their class. Meaning if you lose one scout, other scouts you have will be the same level (even if you never use them). One more important thing is the death of characters. Characters (except major ones) can die in this game. When you are in battle and the character's life reaches zero, you have three turns to get to them or win. If you don't or a enemy unit touches them, they die (FOREVER).
Lasting Appeal: 9/10
This game has a great lasting appeal. Firstly once you beat the game you unlock hard mode. Another thing you can do is start over a new game with all the weapons and upgraded units from the old game. They are no trophies for Valkryia Chronicles but there are in-game medals for you to unlock. There are reports (side stories), training your troops, reading up on the news of the war, and many other things to keep you busy.
Overall:9.5/10
Valkyria Chronicles is probably the best next gen RPG game I've played for the PS3. Sega keep up the good work, and future RPGs should look back on this one for inspiration. Now I warn some gamers. If you like anime, turn based strategy and TPS; this game is definitely for you. Also be prepared to put on your thinking caps. Some of the harder missions in this game require you to think to the point of a headache. If you don't I promise that this game can and will kick your a**.