The 3rd is the best although i haven't played the 4th yet, gonna play it on my (ready to hack) switch or when its cheap on steam down the line i'm sure.

Aha, what timing! I just beat Valkyria Chronicles 4 yesterday and was looking for an excuse to talk about it. Woo hoo!

I've only played 1 and 4. I've never owned a PSP legally, and the spinoff never looking that appealing to me (though I wouldn't completely write it off either). Both are some of my favorite RPG/Strategy games, so it's a tough choice, but I'd say 4 edges out 1 in a number of areas. 

Characters: 4 features an ensemble cast of childhood friends with their own backstories, while 1 is more focused on Welkin's zero-to-hero story and the people he meets along the way. Overall I thought the characters in 4 were more interesting. Claude (MC in 4) is his own character with an established backstory, while Welkin comes across as a bit of an insert (though not nearly as much as some other MCs in this genre). Riley (FMC in 4) and Alicia are both awesome heroines, though I'd give Riley the edge for the same reason as Claude, in that the established backstory fleshes out her character more. Oh and bonus points for being blonde of course.

The rest of the cast in 4 is also a lot more interesting than their analogs in 1, and benefit from added exposure. The side cast of random soldiers also benefits from Squad Stories, which are bonus missions that develop some of the otherwise forgettable characters.

I would say I prefer Selvaria to Crymaria (new enemy Valkyria character)...but the two characters are quite a bit different.

Story: 1 focuses on a militia unit fending off an enemy invasion, while 4 focuses on an elite team heading an operation to end the entire war. I found the increase in scope in 4 to be a lot more epic, but this is just personal preference. Both games have their share of levity, but aren't afraid to get very heavy when the story calls for it. I'd say 4 gets a bit heavier in some areas that I'd rather not spoil, but one scene in particular absolutely shocked me.

One thing I'd detract from 4 is that there's a true/extended ending that requires a few hours of post-game content to unlock...though it's not a huge deal either.

Romance (yeah I gotta add this): 4 handled the romantic relationships a lot better overall. Not to say I didn't like Welkin/Alicia, but Claude/Riley had a lot more development, and their dynamic was a lot more fun and heartwarming. The side pairings also felt natural and not just tacked on at the last minute.

Gameplay: Both are awesome. 4 introduces a new combat class, grenadier/mortar technician, that essentially functions like a sniper with explosives. 4 also doesn't force you to use a Lancer this time for the CP boost, and the game introduces a few new features, namely Commanding and the APC, to add a new layer of strategy to the gameplay. It also makes mission rushing a bit easier...which can be a good or a bad thing depending on what you want from the game.

Content: It took me about 55 hours to finish 4, and 30 hours to finish 1, so definitely a win for 4 here. The story missions are a lot meatier, and 4 also adds more side missions to play in the middle, so you'll get more bang for your buck here.

Aesthetic: Again, both are awesome, really cool visuals with a storybook style. However, the two games also look really similar, despite a 10 year difference between them...so maybe this is an edge for 1. 

Overall, I loved both games, but 4 is definitely the one I prefer. Still...if you're new to the series, you can't go wrong with playing either game, as the stories run in parallel so your enjoyment isn't really impacted by playing one over the other.

Great thread by the way!

Which one has my waifu Selvaria in it? There you go. lol

Do Kingdom Hearts soon... like the week before KH3 releases.

I was about to say the same  thing. 4 tries to add a twist to a lot of levels, which takes what would have been a decent retread, and makes it really interesting. On the other hand, I like the original game's story better. Parts of 4's story are a little hard to accept at times, and really requires a suspension of disbelief. Anyway, both games will be sharing the same spot in my top 50 list this year. 

The first one because it's the only one I ever played. But I'm looking forward to buying VC4 at some point.

Pretty sure they all have a clone of Selvaria in it. Raita (the character designer) loves to recycle designs for his favorite (read: extremely busty) girls, so she's in all of them IIRC, just under a different name each time.

I felt the same way after playing the demo, but I found their long-term viability a bit more limited. They require buffs to take out shocktroopers in one turn, and enemies generally aren’t placed in close proximity so you’ll just be picking off one at a time. Later game also allows snipers to counterattack on the player turn, and enemy grenadiers almost always have longer range, so you need to careful or their long prep time will spell disaster. They do work well after a certain mission that unlocks anti-tank grenades, however it also requires several turns to actually take them out, and player grenadiers have lousy accuracy on enemy phase. 

Overall, they can be very effective units if you’re smart, but I found other classes were able to achieve most of the same results without the drawbacks, so I rarely used more than Riley on missions. 

I've only played about 20 hours of 4, so far, but I think it's slightly better than the first game (which is a lot better than 2 and 3, though those are still good games in their own right).

The first one is probably my favorite, but I do love both Valkyria II and IV. I own a JP copy of VC3, but I pray for the day that it gets localized.

Uh.  Nhhh.  That's concerning.  VC1 made me stop playing for three whole days after a certain event.  I didn't even want to look at my PS3.  

Now I'm sad just thinking about it.