[ENG] Valkyria Chronicles™ - Review

(I think I don't have to tell this but - review contains my feelings and thoughts about the game, and after reading this - reader should decide if the game sounds cool or not really)

(Minor spoilers ahead, any major will be marked)

Valkyria Chronicles™ was released originally in 2008 only on PlayStation 3, but it was re-released again in 2014 this time on PCs and PlayStation 4 (It was also released once more on Nintendo Switch not so long ago). It was both produced and released by Sega. The first part gave birth to number of sequels, spin-offs - even to manga and anime. Although only Valkyria Chronicles 1 and 4 are available on PC as parts 2 and 3 were released solely on PlayStation Portable. When I bought this game, I expected a war-shooter in a climatic setting... I received much more than that...

(I know that the game has a Europe and European on it, but it was either glitch in my version or a typo, but I had a Europa and Europan instead of proper names)

The game shows an alternate history path, mainly focused on Europe (which is called Europa in this game, not Europe). For example instead of World Wars, in this universe you have First and Second Europan War (again - Europan, not European). The two sides of conflict are - Atlantic Federation and East Europan Imperial Alliance (I will refer to them as The Empire for short).

Between both sides is a small, independent country called Gallia - and as you have probably guessed - the action of the game takes place in a war-torn Gallia. Europa is a place filled with racism and prejudice, as well as greed and desperation which serves as a strong story-telling tool.

The whole universe of this game revolves around a material called Ragnite - it's used everywhere - weapons, meds, fuel - you name it! And it's the same Ragnite that forces Gallia to go to war. Enormous stacks of this material beneath draw unwanted attention. That's mostly how the story starts without head-diving into a bigger spoiler area

Main character of the story is Lieutenant Welkin Gunther, Commander of Squad 7, Regiment 3 of Gallian Militia. Although he's the main character, you play as the entirety of Squad 7. You can choose soldiers from five different classes - Scouts, Shocktroopers, Lancers, Engineers and Snipers. Each class has their own set of advantages and disadvantages. For example Lancers are great at taking down tanks, but they aren't very mobile whereas Scouts are the most mobile class, but the weakest in the terms of weaponry (which doesn't mean they can't pack a punch).

Soldiers have a lot of perks - both positive and negative. For example some of them can be allergic to different things, but at the same time have various bonuses when being next to a squad-mate. Some of them will perform better alone and will feel stressed with people around. There are a lot of combinations and I don't want to dive in them too deep. There are also hidden perks, which often are really powerful but you need to perform few successful missions with certain soldier to unlock it's hidden 'potential' (potential is a totally different thing in this game, it's often used as a positive-perk term).

There are a lot of combinations and synergies which - when combined in a clever way, should give you a nice boost on a mission. 

And very often you will need at least one soldier from each class on a mission, but not always.

There is a main cast of Squad 7 next to Welkin. These soldiers cannot die, instead of dying they just retreat. In most cases death of Welkin equals failed mission. And the main cast is simply beautiful. They argue between themselves, joke around, flatter - but in the end, they stand united, they fight and care for each other and we often witness both heartbreaking and heartwarming moments through the course of the story thanks to them. Although the game shows the flames of war, main cast shows that there can be humanity between enemies. Even in middle of war. The story throws a lot of plot twists at you (although I admit that some of theme are quite predictable, but some of them are just amazing).

Valkyria Chronicles™ could be called a 'Third-person XCOM' but it would be a huge understatement. It's a tactical game combined with third-person shooter. The game is divided into Command Mode and Action Mode. In first one the game shows you a map of the area, your soldiers and visible enemy units. You choose the soldier and then game goes into Action Mode. In AM, the game turns into a third-person mode, a soldier can walk a certain amount of distance (depending on class), use his weapon, grenade or healing item etc. Once all APs are used, you go back into Command Mode and so on until you run out of Command Points (which represent how many 'Actions' you can take in a single turn). Some units cost 2 CPs for example tanks. Wise management of CPs and clever usage of your soldiers' APs is key to victory and success. The same formula of fight applies to your enemies (which often have a lot more CPs than you so you have to plan your moves carefully and accordingly)

Shooting is another interesting mechanic in the game, each weapon has a certain amount of shots - 7, 20, 1 for example. If you aim at the enemy you see how many bullets you have and how many is necessary to kill the target. For example you need 3 bullets to kill an enemy, but you have 7 in magazine. There's a high chance he'll be dead. Keyword - chance. If you're unlucky you may miss most of the shots. Some weapons like sniper rifles have limited ammo that can be replenished with time or with the help of Engineers.

When in Action Mode, game happens 'in real time'. I mean - if you will run in front of a tank or enemy encampment in Action Mode - there's a very high chance your soldier will be mowed down before doing anything. So as I said, planning here is the key. I know that it sounds a bit complicated, but trust me - you would get a grip after maybe 10-15 minutes if I gave you the game.

There is a hell lot of a lore in this game, every location you pass through, every soldier you meet or recruit, even every single weapon has a piece of lore attached to it. Plus the game itself gives you something called 'raports' to play. Raports are just optional chapters which aren't necessary to progress through the story, but they help you see the different side of certain characters. (And very often they are helpful at unlocking hidden potential in your main squad). Whenever a new turn starts, there is a small excerpt of each nation's anthem - be it Empire, Federation or Gallia - each one of them has a small piece of anthem to it which is in my opinion really beautiful.

(Following HQ is taken from Valkyria Chronicles 4, but it only changes the background so no worries!)

There is something you will be visiting a lot in Valkyria Chronicles™. Headquarters. There you can level up your classes with EXP, recruit and dismiss soldiers, change their equipment, spend Ducats on research (which... if you want to keep with the game's slowly increasing difficulty, you should regurarly upgrade your EQ, visit the Cemetery of your fallen soldiers etc.) and much more! (EXP and Ducats [game's currency] are earned through the missions)

I really like how the game slowly becomes more difficult as the story progresses. First missions are really simple, but even these in middle of the story can be quite tough and long (The longest mission took me something like 2 hours from start to finish, mainly because you can't skip enemies' turns which take eternity to wait through). But excluding very few instances like boss fights, there are no sudden difficulty spikes.

After missions you are graded depending on how fast you have completed it. I don't really like it, it doesn't take into account how many soldiers have you killed, how many of your soldiers have fallen - only the speed. It forces you to rush instead of taking things slowly and methodically if you want the best ranks. D-rank only gives you basic mission reward, without bonus EXP or Ducats whereas B or A gives you a lot of it, allowing you to develop new weapons and level soldiers quicker.

Some small notes just to tie rest of things up.

Valkyria Chronicles™ has (as probably you have already noticed) an anime-like, watercolor graphics which I personally really liked and in my opinion it gave a story a lot more power, but I know it can be unbearable to some people.

Since the game is anime-stylized, I played in with japenese dubbing which was amazing, filled with emotions and dedication (okay, maybe I am making this image a bit too colorful, but that doesn't change the fact that I liked it)!

Of course I haven't told about every single thing here, but I covered the most basics (I think I did) and in my opinion, I think everyone should discover everything the game has to offer by him/herself!

The game doesn't have an auto-save system so you better save often to avoid repeating huge chunks of the game (I discovered about half-way in the game that you can save in middle of a mission and... This system is abusable, but I tried to not abuse it very often - and... I admit, I have abused this system in 4 maybe 5 missions because I didn't want to repeat everything from the start)

There is something called 'Orders', you can treat them as your 'Items' in jRPGs - you can boost someone's attack or defense, heal someone or the entire Squad etc. etc. - just keep in mind that Orders also cost you CP in Command Mode so use them when you are sure of what you want to do

Valkyria Chronicles™ is an amazing combination of a tactical game and a third-person shooter. It mixes the hardships of war and defending your homeland as well as warm relations between Squad 7's main cast members. I can't remember a game in a last month or two in which I got so engaged in the story and characters. I am looking forward to play Valkyria Chronicles 4 somewhere in the future. An interesting combat mechanic combined with amazing (and so uncommon) visuals.

I truly recommend for everyone to play this game (although you have to find the time for it as the main story takes at least 25 hours).

"Should fate hand us defeat, still we cannot stay our march. For it is neither fate nor glory which we fight, but for the freedom to exist"

Kind Regards,

Wing.