Valkyria Chronicles (PS3)

...a treat. Because simply put, Valkyria Chronicles is one of the very best video games of this generation.

=== Narrative ===

The game begins with a short narration explaining the details of a war that has broken out on the fictional continent of Europa. Yes, it is loosely based off the real world, but the similarities essentially stop there. The two great superpowers, the Empire in the east and the Atlantic Federation in the ...
..."Ragnite", which in the Valkyria universe is used for pretty much everything. Gallia is a small, neutral nation that finds itself with too much Ragnite for the Empire to resist, and so they are invaded. The player assumes the role of Welkin Gunther, a university student studying biology who, together with a member of his home town's watch named Alicia Melchiott, fights off an Imperial attack with his father's old tank, and is subsequently ... more

A Japanese strategy role-play game that looks like an animé? That was never going to sell well in the west, and indeed just weeks after release the price had been dropped in thousands of stores nationwide. But this is good news for anybody who hasn't played this game yet, because they'll be paying pre owned money for a game that is worth twice it's regular retail price. If you're the sort of person who has never liked RPGs like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, or Tactical RPGs like Front Mission, then you don't have to go any further: this game will not be for you. If on the other hand tactics and role playing are right up your alley, then you are in for a treat. Because simply put, Valkyria Chronicles is one of the very best video games of this generation.

Narrative

The game begins with a short narration explaining the details of a war that has broken out on the fictional continent of Europa. Yes, it is loosely based off the real world, but the similarities essentially stop there. The two great superpowers, the Empire in the east and the Atlantic Federation in the west, have begun warring over resources of the precious mineral "Ragnite", which in the Valkyria universe is used for pretty much everything. Gallia is a small, neutral nation that finds itself with too much Ragnite for the Empire to resist, and so they are invaded. The player assumes the role of Welkin Gunther, a university student studying biology who, together with a member of his home town's watch named Alicia Melchiott, fights off an Imperial attack with his father's old tank, and is subsequently drafted into the national militia. From then onwards, Welkin takes control of the 3rd Regiment's "Squad 7" and the real struggle against the Empire begins.

The plot of Valkyria Chronicles manages to stay fresh and engaging throughout, with interesting twists and turns that, as a general rule, do a good job of staying unpredictable, although there are one or two moments where players will see what's coming a good two hours before the story gets around to it. The best narrative aspect without a doubt however is the character development and relationships. Whilst Welkin and Alicia are the main protagonists, there are over ten other extremely detailed characters that play big roles, many of which players will find themselves becoming attached to. Even the individual grunts of Squad 7 are given detailed biographies and varied personalities, which makes them feel much more like real people then most other games of this type.

Gameplay

When the actual point of playing the game comes along, Valkyria Chronicles is split into two distinctive sections, "Book Mode" and "Battle Mode". Book Mode is the main menu screen, in the form of a book. From here the player selects cutscenes to view, which chapter to play, and can edit details of their squad, abilities, and equipment. From this mode players can also view character biographies, back story, and select optional "Skirmish" missions to take part in. The "Headquarters" section of Book Mode allows players to change members of their squad, spend EXP (Experience Points) levelling up units, spending money on upgrading equipment and various others. Units are split up into different categories, each with their own pros and cons in battle. Scouts have a large movement range, Shocktroopers have machine guns for dealing with infantry, Lancers are anti-armour specialists, Engineers can repair tanks and remove mines, and Snipers support from long range. Upon winning battles and gaining EXP, each class of unit must be levelled up and thus made stronger separately, meaning players will have to make decisions about where to prioritise, and the system is similar when upgrading equipment.

Book mode is functional enough, and when players want to use it for upgrading equipment or viewing character profiles it works well. Unfortunately the developers have made it so after each cut scene players are taken back to book mode and have to manually select the next cut scene (which will have just become unlocked), even if there is no gameplay in between, which will usually be the case as there are around five cut scenes for every one battle. You do get used to it as the game goes on, but it does break up the immersion from time to time. Fortunately there is also a new game plus feature included, so once you have played the game once you can play again with all your upgraded equipment remaining, and you don't have to worry about unlocking everything again.

When it comes to a battle, the first thing players do is select the positioning of their units on the map. Depending on the map will depend on the number of units the player can place, so out of a squad of 30 members each battle will generally consist of 8-10 units plus Welkin's tank, which is in almost every fight. The fight then progresses in turns, with the "Player Phase" and "Enemy Phase". At the start of the each Player Phase, the player is given a certain number of "Command Points". One command point spent allows one unit to be moved. The player selects which unit to control from a map view, and then the camera zooms in to a third person perspective and the player takes direct control of the chosen character. From here, the unit can be moved a certain distance, based on the amount of "Action Points" they have left, and this is determined by the unit's class. In addition to movement, the unit also gets one attack per Command Point spent on them. The player presses the aim button and the character stops moving and takes aim, when they aim at an enemy the amount of shots the player will take and the amount of hits needed to destroy the enemy are displayed. Headshots do extra damage, there is a chance depending on range to target and other factors that shots will miss, and certain units are ineffective against particular enemy types. When the player has spent all his Command Points, control shifts to the AI who does the same.

It is a seemingly complex system with a lot of depth, but when you actually play it the system becomes second nature very quickly, even during the very first battle you fight. This lets the player focus on the subtleties of the game and planning their moves carefully, rather than trying to get to grips with the system. There are many more features that add depth, including character personalities, the environment, and orders from a commander, so there is much to consider and never just one way to complete a mission.

There is no multiplayer function, which is a little unfortunate as the AI can, on occasion, do something rather stupid, but for the most part players wont miss the chance to duke it out against other humans, especially when the narrative is so engrossing.

Presentation

The art style is a breath of fresh air in a world full of grey slabs claiming "realism", with beautifully cell shaded characters and environments with lots of bright colours that are a constant pleasure on the eyes. Battles can sometimes take a bit of a comical effect, with machine gun fire producing a visual "ra-ta-ta-ta-ta" to accompany and emphasize the sound effect. When I first read about this before buying the game I thought it would ruin the experience, but if anything it adds to it, helping to set the style apart from other similar looking titles such as Eternal Sonata. Valkyria Chronicles is a treat on the ears as well, with a soundtrack composed by Final Fantasy XII veteran Hitoshi Sakimoto. Almost all the pieces work well as background music, even if some aren't as memorable as they perhaps should be. But having said that, whilst this may not pound for pound be one of the best video game soundtracks ever made, it does contain some of the best pieces, notable "Main Theme" and "A Love Passed On". The game comes with both an English and Japanese dub, with subtitles also available, and the voice actors in both perform admirably. SEGA were able to lure quite a few accomplished names into their English cast, including Hedy Burress (Yuna - Final Fantasy X), Quinton Flynn (Raiden - Metal Gear Solid), Laura Bailey (Lust - Full Metal Alchemist), and Fred Tatasciore (Various).

Conclusion

So, what verdict can be reached on Valkyria Chronicles? Well, quite simply it is a masterpiece. Deep gameplay, beautiful presentation, and extra downloadable content to bring you even closer to some of the characters, this is a title to bring out laughter and tears out of even the most hardened video game enthusiast. If you have even a passing interest in the genre, Valkyria Chronicles is a game that just cannot be missed.

Game Information

Players: 1
Min HDD Space: 4411KB
HD: 720p
Playstation Network Compatible: Yes (Downloadable Content only)
PEGI Age Rating: 16+

Official Website: http://www.sega.com/valkyria/us/ 

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