Valkyria Chronicles is a video game made by Sega. Not so much the Sega
responsible for the recently released Sonic and the Black Knight,
which I have yet to play. This Sega is more like the one that
developed for the Dreamcast, the Sega that wasn't afraid to take a
silly idea and really run with it, like jet-powered roller skates,
flying pirates ships or intergalactic-retro-future space journalism.
Valkyria Chronicles is the story of a boy and a girl and their
struggle to protect their homeland from the Imperial Alliance
attempting to forcefully unify their fantasy version of World War
II-era Europe.
Japan has been fetishizing and transforming the ultra-idyllic European
countryside since before Studio Ghibli's Castle in the Sky, and
Valkyria Chronicles' story is definitely Miyazaki-esque, as it is
ultimately about how love between normal young people can change the
course of history, and it's actually rather sweet, if predictable. The
smart localization and for-the-most-part-really-good voice acting help
light a fire under what could be a cliche script. Just check out the
opening cinematic on YouTube. It's like an HBO drama. Band of
Brothers: The Anime: The RPG. You can tell there are real human
emotions at play here. As well as a winged pig wearing a red bow. But
don't worry about that.
Valkyria Chronicles is a tactical RPG, probably the first tactical RPG
in a decade to successfully break the mold set by Final Fantasy
Tactics. You can move any unit in your command whenever you want,
multiple times even. And when you do issue a command, you then take
control of your unit and move them across the battlefield, minding
your surroundings and looking for cover, and rather than issuing and
order to attack, you line the shot up for yourself and pull the
trigger. Careful positioning and forethought are still important, but
because there is no preset turn order and your characters are not
locked into a grid, battles rely less on numbers and more on your
knowledge of your troops and your surroundings. It's more about
experience rather than just experience points.
I mean, there are still experience points, but rather than grinding to
level all of your units up, you can level up each unit class as you
see fit. You can customize your squad to suit your style, whether
you're the type of commander who likes to march your shocktroopers
head on with no regard for their welfare, or if you look to lure out
the more dangerous units for your snipers to dispatch. It's good to
keep things balanced, but the game never forces you to do so. Both my
little brother and I have completed missions in totally different
ways. It's a good feeling to have your own signature style as a
commander.
If I have any issues with Valkyria Chronicles as a game, it's its idea
of what "difficulty" is. There were times in battle when I've screwed
up, and the enemy should've had me dead to rights. Except, for some
reason, it just decides not to finish me off. Maybe out of some sense
of honor, like the way the British marched in straight lines during
the Revolutionary War? It's just weird when the enemy will be way open
and I can just walk in with a single scout and pop off a number of
guys at once. It makes me feel silly.
But THEN there are missions with really vague objectives that you go
into, not really sure of what to do. And then after you've wasted time
and resources figuring it out, something will happen and the
objectives will change, and enemy reinforcements come out of nowhere.
I mean, hey, it does happen, and I know you can't win 'em all, but it
still sucks to play a mission for an hour and then have to start over
because of something you had no way of knowing about.
The main thing about Valkyria Chronicles, though, is that as far as I
know, there isn't any other tactical-third-person-shooter-RPG
like it. And if there is, I don't think it's as neatly packaged as
Valkyria Chronicles. The storybook motif, the episodic nature of each
mission and the importance of each goofy individual unit makes it feel
like you're part of a really charming and thoughtfully put together
anime. If that sounds good to you, then please get it for your
Playstation 3.
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