http://valkyria.jp/
http://www.sega.com/valkyria/us/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valkyrie_of_the_Battlefield
What I like:
- Beautiful, watercolor style art. Everything is wonderfully done. Also, there is a cool option to view all the game models (with plenty of background info to read about). The designs for all the uniforms, weapons, and vehicles are fantastic. The characters themselves are deceptively simple, and surprisingly expressive.
- Original Japanese dialogue. It's a shame so many companies leave this out of localized titles... there are many games I've wanted to play, but have not simply for this reason. It's always fun to hear voice actors/actresses from anime lending their voices to games. The subtitles aren't always very accurate, and are tailored for western audiences, but at least it's an option.
- Story. It plays like watching an anime television series. Plenty of nicely done cut scenes, and you can tell that a lot of work was done to flesh out the setting and the inhabitants of this fictional world.
The game is set in a fictional version of Europe in 1930, in the country of Gallia. Because of its abundance of ragnite ore—which can be refined into a powerful fuel—it has come under attack from the East European Imperial Alliance, which itself is engaged in war with the Atlantic Federation. Players take control of an uprising of Gallian nationals, dedicated to repelling the invasion.
I've never been a fan of turn-based strategy games, but I bought Valkyria Chronicles after trying out the demo. It was surprisingly engaging, and I loved the way the game looked even though I'm not usually fond of war/military games.Instead of beating the player over the head with controversial politics, the game thankfully takes place in a fictional setting, and the story plays out more like a human drama with war as the backdrop. Despite the nature of the game play, the story takes special care to reinforce that war is no trivial matter, and emphasizes some nice values in life that I really appreciate. It's not a mindless killing spree as so many other games have devolved into.
Generally speaking, the characters are numerous and likable, developing as the story progresses. They all have their own personality quirks and it's interesting to see how these play out on the battlefield. They often adhere to conventional character archetypes, but it's well executed, and I think way better than what typically passes for character development in games.
I like the many cut scenes and dynamic relationships between your squad members although it does mean a lot of "downtime" between battles. The battles themselves often last at least an hour once past the initial tutorial battles (or maybe I just suck), but fortunately being turn-based means that you have plenty of time to put the game down if you need to and come back later (however, you can only save your progress outside of battle). The game is not what I'd call easy, but it's rewarding when a strategy works out and you start to get a feel for what's possible.
The options you have for customizing your battles is kind of overwhelming at first, but the game does a great job of easing players into the experience, and in many cases you don't have to get too deep into the obscure options unless you're really trying to get the best scores (your performance is graded after each battle).
I'm sad to hear that the game hasn't been selling particularly well in the United States despite the positive reviews it has received. I'm sure both the game play style and art style have limited its appeal, but I hope anyone out there who likes either will give it a shot. At least try out the demo. It's a very well crafted game and something that I recommend highly.
