Valkyria Chronicles is simply the most beautiful game available on the PlayStation 3.
Valkyria Chronicles is set in 1935, in a fictional country called Gallia, which is in Europa, presumably an alternate Europe. Valkyria Chronicles is a tale of the Second Europan war. The Empire is against the Federation, and the Empire are trying to invade Gallia, which is rich in an incredible mineral that can be refined into powerful fuel, ragnite ore. Welkin Gunther is the hero of the story, who's a 22 year old university student who's father was the famous hero of the First Europan War. After finding his hometown, Bruhl in flames, he, his 16 year old step-sister Isara and the female protagonist Alicia join the Gallia Militia. Welkin immediately becomes lieutenant of Squad 7. The story is great, with an interesting start and it evolves into a beautiful tale as you progress through. A lot of the later cutscenes are very touching and emotional. As far as I know, the story of Valkyria Chronicles is not related to the second World War.
I simply couldn't find any character that I disliked. They were all great! Welkin Gunther is a mature hero with bizarre interests, such as studying nature and insects. Alicia Melchiott is a baker, and is a very gentle character, which I haven't seen lately in RPGs. Isara Gunther is knowledgable on machines, and is the driver of Welkin's tank, the Edelweiss. Brigitte Stark, or simply known as Rosie was previously a singer at a bar, with a bad temper for Isara's kind, the Darcsens. Largo Potter is a lancer in Squad 7, and is obsessed with vegetables. Another main character to mention is Eleanor Varrot, who is the Captain of the Militia. These characters are all very likable, and they all have their good backstories. There are also many other characters from Squad 7 which are rather interesting. For all you Skies of Arcadia fans like myself, Vyse and Aika appear as playable characters (from blades to guns), and Fina appears as Squad 7's medic. These three characters have also had a massive High-Def upgrade since their last appearance back in the 6th-Gen. What a treat!! The antagonists also rock.
Gameplay is rather fascinating, and awesome in Valkyria Chronicles. Sega like to call it "BLiTZ" (Battle of Live Tactics). It is a Strategy RPG, and has a similar feeling to Fire Emblem. Before battles, you have to put your soldiers in the selected areas. This tells you where they will start, much like in any SRPG. The battle system is indeed tactical, but there just isn't any squares your characters walk through. There is a lot more freedom in battles, making it a bit more action-based. During your turn, you will be looking at an overhead view of the map, being able to select which soldier you want to move. When moving characters, they have a certain amount of AP (Action Points). When the AP reaches zero, the character moving is unable to move any further until their next turn, much like in Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter. Of course, you can shoot enemies if you can. There are five soldier classes, plus the tanks which you can also control. The first class are the Scouts, who may not have the best rifles, but they are by far the strongest in AP. The second class are the Shocktroopers, who have machine guns, and have a medium level of AP. The third class are the Lancers, who have Anti-Tank missiles, and have a slightly low level of AP. The fourth class are the Engineers, who are handy with tanks and can fix them. The fifth class are the Snipers, who obviously have the best range and are the most accurate, but have a very low level of AP. Missions vary from all sorts of objectives, such as capturing bases, destroying a certain enemy or thing, or simply getting to the other side of the map. But be careful, it's not as easy as you think.
Outside the brilliant tactical battles, the game is set out like a book. Every two pages is worth one chapter, and you'll find screenshots of cutscenes to click on to view the cutscenes. It's quite clever really. There are 18 chapters. On every chapter, you'll find one or two battles. You are also able to change tabs. The chapters count as one tab, and other tabs include the Headquarters, the Profiles of characters, the weaponry guide, the glossary and the skirmishes. Skirmishes count as the side-missions of the game, and can be played through over and over (main missions cannot) if you need extra experience or money. Back at HQ, you are able to recruit new allies, equip them with weaponry at the barracks, train your soldier classes with your earned EXP, upgrade weaponry with your earned cash, read articles from the funny reporter, Irene Elliot, and talk to an aged gentleman at a war memorial who teaches you orders for some EXP. Eventually, you will even be able to enter the audience chamber and win medals from the princess, Cordelia gi Randgriz.
The controls are pretty good. Everything is perfect, aside the Edelweiss which sometimes becomes a pain to control when turning around and squeezing through tight areas. AP can be wasted a fair bit, but this problem is minor and isn't really anything to complain about.
Strategy RPGs have always been known as very difficult. Final Fantasy Tactics is difficult. Fire Emblem is difficult. This one is no different. The starting missions go easy on you, but then later on, you're gonna get beaten a lot by the Empire. Sometimes, the AI is kind to you, but then sometimes turn into big bullies. Thank God for saving within battles. Battles take a fair bit of time, like in pretty much any SRPG. They vary however. Sometimes, it can take up to an hour to complete a tricky mission, if not more. The cutscenes also add to the hours of the game. There are quite a few cutscenes in this RPG, but they are all great cutscenes and are skippable for the impatient. It is a lengthy game, worth around 30 hours of satisfaction. But you'll probably be spending a lot more time than that for restarting missions and such. Valkyria Chronicles also offers a New Game Plus mode for players who have finished the story, so it's safe to say that you should be treated with over 40 hours of excellence.
You will most certainly be surprised with the beauty of Valkyria's graphics. Whether you have an HDTV or a regular TV, you shall prepare to be stunned, as Valkyria Chronicles has some of the best artistic graphics, if not the best. The game's visuals, which feature Sega's CANVAS graphics engine, have received a lot of attention - with CANVAS, the game's entire graphical style is built to resemble a watercolour painting in motion. Both the cinematics and the regular graphics are amazingly stunning, and some of the best i've seen so far this gen. The cinematics are jawdropping, and in my opinion come very close to the CGI in Vexille, an awesome Japanese film which I highly recommend. The artwork is fantastic too. In all honesty, Valkyria Chronicles has the best artistic graphics i've ever seen. Yes, they even top the brush strokes in Okami.
The soundtrack was composed by the man responsible for the soundtrack of RPGs like Breath of Fire V, Final Fantasy XII and Odin Sphere. Hitoshi Sakimoto. He did a pretty good job with Valkyria Chronicles. A lot of the songs are very catchy, and definitely suit the areas in the game. Along with the catchy battle tunes, there are also the touching songs in the emotional cutscenes. The voices are also great. Valkyria Chronicles offers both English and Japanese voices. Tried both, and to my surprise, I actually preferred the English. It seems i've finally come across another RPG with good English VA. Huzzah!!
Valkyria Chronicles is simply the most beautiful game available on the PlayStation 3. It is definitely one of the best reasons to buy a PS3, if you don't own one already. If you do own one, then make this epic SRPG your next purchase. With awesome gameplay, a beautiful story, stunning graphics and great music, you simply cannot go wrong. Of course, if you don't have the cash for it, you can play through the downloadable demo multiple times until you can afford the full game. It is one of the best Strategy RPGs of all time, if not the best. There is also upcoming downloadable content, so watch out for that. Squad 7, Move Out!