30. Valkyria Chronicles (PS3)
In the above picture, Welkin might as well be saying, "Stop! The PS3 has something to offer!" I was a very happy Xbox 360 owner, and the only thing that even remotely looked like it might help Sony sell me a piece of their foundering, overpriced, no-games-having hardware was this beauty. It was a true case of love at first sight. A strategy RPG with these graphics? Yes, please! As the object of my pinings for many months, and being almost single-handedly responsible for bringing me back into the Sony fold, Valkyria Chronicles had a lot to live up to. Happily, it succeeded on every single level. The gorgeous watercolor-looking graphics epitomize to me the term "Sega blue skies", and it's all in service of bringing to life a huge cast of very likeable characters and putting them through an exhaustingly multifacted depiction of war, sometimes cheery, sometimes bleak, but always very human. This whole artistically impressive enterprise is backed up by some top notch SRPG gameplay, making it one of the best games available for the PS3 to this day. And to think this was originally planned for the 360!
