#5
Valkyria Chronicles (PS3)
YoY: =
To this day, there have been exactly two games that have impacted me emotionally to such an extent that I've had to walk away from the game for a little while, and this is one of them. For that reason alone Valkyria Chronicles deserves a spot on my list. Everything else besides that are why it's so high on it. The first thing I noticed about the game were obviously its visual, and specifically how they looked in motion. Once I actually got to play the game I fell in love with its tactical gameplay, story, and characters.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the numerous allusions to real-world history. The game is set in an alternate version of Europe and during that world's version of WW2. It's genuinely fun to realize how specific events and places are represented in the game's fictional world. The way the game conveys character is also really clever. Each of the characters has specific potentials that can activate during combat, and they're all related to them as people. Some of them might feel uncomfortable in specific environments, prefer certain people in the squad, or be otherwise influenced by some other events in combat. It's a great, subtle way to tell players about the characters in the game without having to spell everything out.
Valkyria Chronicles is one of the genuine hidden gems of the 7th console generation, and as far as I'm concerned, the second best game of the whole generation. The best game of the generation is up next.
