Valkyria Chronicle the game was released way back in 2008 and one of the reason that attract me to ps3, but due to the lack of any other interesting title, I decided not to buy a ps3 until early this year. Later in Spring 2009, the game was adapted into the anime of the same title. At first I was planning to play the game first before the anime was aired (Spring 2009), but since I decided not to buy a ps3 at that time, I then proceed with the anime - which eventually I vote to be one of the best series I watched in 2009. Having watched the anime, I have to say I am quite impressed with the overall setting and graphic used, hence making me quite curious about the game. Though, it was not until a few weeks ago that I finally managed to try the game.
Valkyria Chronicles, known in Japan as Battlefield Valkyria: Gallian Chronicles (戦場のヴァルキュリア -Gallian Chronicles-, Senjō no Varukyuria -Gallian Chronicles-), is a tactical role-playing game published by Sega, developed by their Sega WOW division exclusively for the PlayStation 3. It was released in Japan on April 24, 2008. A European version was then released on October 31, 2008, followed by a North American version released on November 4, 2008. The success of the game spawned multiple manga titles, a televised anime series, and most recently the development of a sequel, Valkyria Chronicles 2.
The game is set in Europa, a fictional version of World War II Europe, in 1935. Because of its abundance of Ragnite ore, which can be refined into a powerful fuel, the neutral nation of Gallia comes under attack from the East Europan Imperial Alliance, which is itself engaged in a war with the Atlantic Federation. Players take control of a militia squad of Gallian nationals, dedicated to repelling the invasion. The game's visuals, which utilize SEGA's CANVAS graphics engine, resemble a watercolor painting in motion.
Developers: SEGA WOW
Platform: PlayStation 3
Genre: RPG
Release date: April 2008
Hence, here's my impression toward the game so far:
I am currently at about chapter 7, when Welkin and squad 7 proceed to the desert and investigate the remaining of the Valkyria ruin. Since I've watched the anime, most of the plot so far doesn't surprise me because almost all of the scenes I saw so far were covered in the anime, except a few little journalistic mini-chapters from the Ellie. But yeah, overall I love the plot of Valkyria Chronicle, and its good to see that the anime plot remained faithful to the game.
The gameplay - Valkyria Chronicle employed a mix of tactical strategy with turned based action, what they called BLiTZ (Battle of Live Tactical Zones) system. To simplify, we are the commander of Squad 7 - Welkin Gunther in battle. Battles were divided into player and enemy phase, and during each phase, we are given limited amount of action, which we can use to move our units around the field. Sometimes we can take up to 9 units to the battlefield. Once we pick a unit, the game switched to 'Target Mode" where we specifically control the character's movement and actions, again, limited by AP (Action points). Then the rest is simple, relatively speaking - kill all enemies, capture the base. I could say that the basic of the gameplay was similar to Eternal Sonata or Resonance of Fate, except the strategical department. There are many specialised units to be picked, from the fragile but mobile Scout (Alicia and Welkin are in this category), the heavily armed Shocktrooper (Rosy), tank killer Lancer (Largo), Engineer who can repair the tank (no, not Isara though), and long range Sniper. It's all up to you to decide who to take in each mission, as each class have their pros and cons. Overall, I would say that the gameplay was pretty fun, albeit can be challenging.
As for battle difficulty, I personally thought the battle wasn't hard, but to get an A rank is a pain. Most of the time, you really need to prepare what kind of approach you want to take heading into the battle. Taking a sniper for example is risky because at low level they have a high chance of missing a headshot. Some classes also have limited mobility, so if you want to raid huge battlefield, they often lag behind if you bring them in the first place. Hence, it's quite normal to get a B or C rank in most of the story mission, and to get an A rank, you almost certainly need to skip killing many enemies and head straight to the checkpoint.
Initially we only have Welkin, Alicia, Rosie and Largo as the main crews in Squad 7 (Isara participate as Edelweiss driver, just like in the anime), then we have to go to the headquarter to recruit more, up to 20 units in the squad. I personally tried to recruit so that I have the exact same characters as in the anime, unfortunately some of the characters weren't available until middle/late in the game. Yes, I'm talking about you, Edy Nelson :/
Outside of battle, there aren't many things you can do. The plot proceed as a chapters, so its mostly graphical scene of characters with dialogue. Oh talking about the graphic, did I mention that it was amazing? It was very artistic with the way they make it looked like some animated water color paintings. The characters were also nicely designed. The european WWI setting was also appealing and easy to watch, featuring classical war machinery and weapons. Other things outside of battle - visiting the headquarters for training, go to cemetery or upgrade weapons, and skirmish which increase your outcome/experience outside of plot-based battles.
oh, there's also the bit about Valkyriur, but I guess at this point where I'm at in the game, it only matters in the anime :3 Looking forward to how they're actually involved in the battle.
The gameplay - Valkyria Chronicle employed a mix of tactical strategy with turned based action, what they called BLiTZ (Battle of Live Tactical Zones) system. To simplify, we are the commander of Squad 7 - Welkin Gunther in battle. Battles were divided into player and enemy phase, and during each phase, we are given limited amount of action, which we can use to move our units around the field. Sometimes we can take up to 9 units to the battlefield. Once we pick a unit, the game switched to 'Target Mode" where we specifically control the character's movement and actions, again, limited by AP (Action points). Then the rest is simple, relatively speaking - kill all enemies, capture the base. I could say that the basic of the gameplay was similar to Eternal Sonata or Resonance of Fate, except the strategical department. There are many specialised units to be picked, from the fragile but mobile Scout (Alicia and Welkin are in this category), the heavily armed Shocktrooper (Rosy), tank killer Lancer (Largo), Engineer who can repair the tank (no, not Isara though), and long range Sniper. It's all up to you to decide who to take in each mission, as each class have their pros and cons. Overall, I would say that the gameplay was pretty fun, albeit can be challenging.
demo of how the gameplay looks like. We can also switch the voice into Japanese or English version :3
As for battle difficulty, I personally thought the battle wasn't hard, but to get an A rank is a pain. Most of the time, you really need to prepare what kind of approach you want to take heading into the battle. Taking a sniper for example is risky because at low level they have a high chance of missing a headshot. Some classes also have limited mobility, so if you want to raid huge battlefield, they often lag behind if you bring them in the first place. Hence, it's quite normal to get a B or C rank in most of the story mission, and to get an A rank, you almost certainly need to skip killing many enemies and head straight to the checkpoint.
Initially we only have Welkin, Alicia, Rosie and Largo as the main crews in Squad 7 (Isara participate as Edelweiss driver, just like in the anime), then we have to go to the headquarter to recruit more, up to 20 units in the squad. I personally tried to recruit so that I have the exact same characters as in the anime, unfortunately some of the characters weren't available until middle/late in the game. Yes, I'm talking about you, Edy Nelson :/
Outside of battle, there aren't many things you can do. The plot proceed as a chapters, so its mostly graphical scene of characters with dialogue. Oh talking about the graphic, did I mention that it was amazing? It was very artistic with the way they make it looked like some animated water color paintings. The characters were also nicely designed. The european WWI setting was also appealing and easy to watch, featuring classical war machinery and weapons. Other things outside of battle - visiting the headquarters for training, go to cemetery or upgrade weapons, and skirmish which increase your outcome/experience outside of plot-based battles.
oh, there's also the bit about Valkyriur, but I guess at this point where I'm at in the game, it only matters in the anime :3 Looking forward to how they're actually involved in the battle.
Overall, I thought Valkyria Chronicle is quite a fun game to play with they way the game was presented - neat graphic, good blend of strategy-real time rpg, interesting characters and plot. The whole concept of the game remind me to the old days of playing eroge like Utawarerumono and Tears to Tiara. For now, finishing this game takes priority in my list before I continue with others like Demon's Soul or WKC.
*listening to Kanashimi Rensa~
Tales of Grace F
Warrior Orochi 3
FFXIII-2
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