I know it has been done over and over again, even with a review on this very site, but I just couldn't help myself :)
After my patience was being tested for over a week (dang slow British mailing service), I now know the absolute joy that is Valkyria Chronicles.
That should say it all concerning my feelings towards this game, but I guess I should elaborate a bit.
There are several things that could be said in favour of this game. I could talk about the graphical engine, but not much needs to be said, just that it fits. It is the perfect wrapper for this treat.
The real pearl of this jewel of a game is its immersion.
It's been a while since I enjoyed an RPG, since many seemed a bit generic and didn't persuade me to put the effort into researching it and giving it a try.
While the game works on the mechanic of "son of known hero becomes hero himself", it never comes across as such. It comes across as one fluent stream. Displaying it as a book, where you read the chapters and perform the battles as part of the chapters may have something to do with it. The prologue sets the picture, with a typical book-ish "memorable quote" as the grand ending that pulls you into the story.
But then the actual marvel only starts to shine through, as if it's merely allowing you to gander occasionally at its shimmer so that you can get used to its brilliance before it reveals itself entirely. But when it does: oh boy, there's so many sides to it, you won't know where to look first.
battles
The battles in itself are interesting, with a balance of classes that shouldn't overwhelm anyone, but given the limited amount of chars that you can use in a battle, it does give you a good amount to consider. Add in the limited amount of moves that you can make and the possible ambushes, unseen enemies, and wrong decisions, and you could be in a world of pain before you know it (which has bigger consequences in this game than in most).
Finishing the battle fast will get you a higher rank (A / B / C / ..) The higher the rank is, the more xp and money you will get.
You need XP to do certain things (will mention later) and the money goes towards upgrades and such (will mention more later too).
classes
Juggling the classes usually doesn't pose that big of a problem in most games, since it's rather clear what each class can do (scout / shocktrooper (machine gunner) / lancer (fires a rocket) / engineer / sniper) and that's final. However, Valkyria Chronicles says 'We can do better than that', and.... the game comes through on its promise by blowing you away.
Here's the simple bit: Each class has its advantages and disadvantages. A scout can run for quite a bit, but only has limited shots (5), and isn't exactly tough. A shocktrooper can't run that long, but fires 20 rounds, but can't shoot as far either. A lancer only fires one shot, but is incredibly potent against tanks. A sniper... well... does what a sniper does, and so does an engineer (aside from repairing and resupplying ammo, it can also clear mines and build small sandbag barriers).
Now here comes the first genious bit:
Classes can be trained, giving additional assets to each person within that class. I can see you thinking "So what? Not that big of a deal in an RPG. However, in most RPGs, you train a specific char and not the entire class.
Aside from that, the training also unlocks certain potentials, which are not merely class-specific but also character-specific.
Person A of the 'Scout' Class may have the potential "Pollen Allergy", but Person Y from the 'Scout' Class may actually get "Undodgeable Shot". It adds variety and it adds uniqueness to it all.
To top it off, training to a certain point, gives you a new order. As the leader of the squad, you can shout out orders that affect specific characters or your entire squad (like "heal unit", or "increase accuracy"). These orders cannot only be granted through training, but an old war hero also gives you the possibility to learn some through him (by giving him XP in return to show your worthiness).
Story
I'm not going to divulge anything on the story, because that's something everyone should discover for themselves. Like I said earlier, it is told in book-form, as if you were reading and "living" the chapters and battles. The coolest part about all this, is that just going through the main story is easy and straightforward, but the game offers you TONS of extra information, should you require it. You can "buy" additional chapters from a reporter (who did some research on your squad and then offers to give it to you in return for money), giving you more background on some chars and also additional battles.
You also have a glossary for all the terms, and detailed history on EACH character.
Wow, "each character"... most RPGs have a limited set of chars, so that's not even so hard to do.
That may be true, but Valkyria talks about every character that could possibly join your team (The squad is maxed out at 20, with a pool of possible recruits ever-increasing throughout the game and quite a number of chars you do not get to use but do encounter in the game). And it doesn't stop there. New information gets added every now and again and news articles on the full scale of the war can be read frequently (at your own time and if you so please). Add in pages on every weapon, area, some flowers, animals and such, and you can see that a lot of love and passion has been poured into this game.
Characters
Every RPG has its main characters and this one isn't any different. A story needs focus, so it wouldn't make sense to just talk about everyone and everything without some sense of direction. So, here we have Welkin, Alicia and squad 7, trying to help their home land to resist invasion. Even though some games (FF, Baldur's Gate, ...) have a bigger list of "main" characters to choose from, Valkyria Chronicles basically refuses to do that in the beginning. You get those two and pretty much "unnamed one" and "unnamed two" in the first battles. Lame, huh?
That's just another example of its "get ready for a view of brilliance"-method. As you advance in the storyline, more and more people join the militia, and as leader of squad 7, you get to choose those people that suit you the best for the upcoming mission. You can include 20 people into your squad - including yourself.
Yay, we get unnamed 3 through 20... sigh
Slap yourself in the face, because if that's what you thought after having read up to this point (congrats btw), then you are mistaken. Every character gets its own introduction, its own entry in the history-part of the book, its own voice, its own taunts, its own potentials (both positive and negative), and its own likes (which other chars they like to be around).
Choosing between those characters may seem easy, but each mission is different and you may want to switch up your team depending on the conditions (and they may get a potential later on that you do not wish to see, leading to their resignation from your team).
So, it's not choosing some random dude or dudette, it's choosing a personality with its own flaws and perks, and whatever attraction you may have towards certain chars (because they have funny taunts, because they act cool and such), can end up in the death of the character if they are not fit for the mission and they get killed.
Mostly, getting some random character killed in a RPG didn't mean much, as long as your main chars survive. Same thing in Valkyria Chronicles...........somewhat.
If they get shot and have no more health left, they fall down and utter some phrase about being hurt. You then get three rounds to get there and before the enemy too. If not, you lose that character for good in your game.
Big deal...
Actually, it is a big deal. It may not sound like it, but you actually start to care about the "filler" characters because of all the additional stuff they have granted them with. They are not just some unnamed people running around in the village, but people that serve and fight for the same cause, creating a bond. Seeing one of them go down and realizing it's going to be a pain to get that tank-killing, enemy-taunting, girly-mannered gay dude back (not kidding, there's such a char, and he's cool :p), is actually a huge credit to this game and its design.
XP and money
Finishing a battle will get you both xp and money. The xp can be pointed towards the earlier mentioned class training or the order acquisition. The better a battle goes, the more you get to distribute.
The money goes towards other goals:
- You buy upgrades for your weapons (rifle, machine gun, lance, grenade, sniper, armour, <another thing that slipped my mind>) or for your tank (three categories of upgrades).
- you buy personalized chapters from a reporter so that you can play some more episodes and perhaps an additional battle, and get more background information on certain characters.
Upgrading may seem obvious, but it's rather immersive as well. In the beginning (just like with the characters), you only get to upgrade in a "get this, then get that"-way but after a while, you get different branches. For example, the rifle can get accuracy-oriented upgrades, power-oriented ones and status-oriented (can cause "lower defense" for example). All these upgrades result in a new specific type of rifle, with its own background and glossary entry. Because of their specific qualities, it may actually become rather hard to choose because they can be rather pricey.
It goes to show that Valkyria Chronicles pulls out all the stops to immerse you into its world. After typing all this, I still haven't mentioned many tidbits that just add to it all - like the radio banter and tactical advice you constantly hear throughout a battle, unlocking a skirmish battle (and realizing that whatever you do in a skirmish battle remains in the main story as well, like deaths and gained money / xp).
The game just plays like a breeze, putting you right there, leading and caring for your squad, making sure that they perform their best. Looking for cover, putting them at different angles, making sure that they are looking a specific way so that they can put a few rounds into a passing enemy, creating team-based attacks where a second char shouts that he will back you up and he then fires his gun into the same target you were aiming for.
Valkyria Chronicles looks like a charm and with its beautiful storytelling and immersive gameplay, it makes you feel like the real leader of a squad in war, caring for each member, wanting them all to survive. A game like this only comes once in a blue moon, and is a pinnacle achievement of the genre. Trophies would've been nice though, and I definitely hope that the rumoured extra content for the re-release is available as DLC to the group that already owns this gem.
Seeing as how it's an exclusive, I can easily say that this game is "must have" as a PS3 owner. Even if you do not like the genre, you are a lousy gamer if you do not give this one a try. Rent it, or better yet, buy it, and fall in love with it.
And Sega: if sales keep drudging along like this, PORT IT! This game is way too good to suffer rather abysmal sales (sorry, compared to sales of certain other games, this game deserves several millions, AT LEAST).
And you, why are you still here, you should've been heading towards the store after my second sentence, to order this game.
DO IT NOW, you will never regret it.
(there, tremble, I said I would do some sort of review ;) :p)
