Another school semester has come to an end, and I’ve gained a short respite from the drudgery of essays and tests. Instead of catching up on animu like I planned to though, something else has occupied my attention. That something would be the sheer gaming ecstasy known as Valkyria Chronicles. It has utterly consumed me. I’ve pushed aside everything on my watchlist to play this incredible game, including Clannad which I so dearly love and religiously watch. Sorry Clannad, I’ll get around to you… Eventually. At any rate, let’s talk about Valkyria for a bit.

It’s not often that a game utterly drains my time like this. The usual suspects are Mario and Zelda when those are released, plus it’s been a long time since a JRPG has stirred something inside me. I believe the last JRPG I played that I loved this much was Final Fantasy Tactics back in 2002. Over the years I became jaded to the JRPG genre as it interested me less and less with each new game released. Nippon Ichi can release sequels that are essentially the same as their predecessors in every way and no one cares (CoughDisgaeaCough). Final Fantasy is not something I particularly love either besides the aforementioned Tactics and FFVI.

That brings me to Valkyria Chronicles. I absolutely love everything about this game. Great presentation with watercolor visuals and a story that unfolds like chapters in a history book (in a good way). The story opens in a fictional 1930’s Europe as an empire that bears more than a passing resemblance to WWII Germany invades a peaceful, neutral country called Gallia. A young man named Welkin Gunther is drawn into the conflict and soon joins the local militia to repel the invasion.

The gameplay is stellar with turn based strategy that lets you manuever units and fight from a third person perspective. It really sucks you into the battlefield as you scramble for cover behind sandbags or dive into the safety of a trench in a hail of gunfire. Turn based RPGs are usually far from frantic but Valkyria dares to challenge that standard. The centerpiece of the gameplay is getting to drive the tank, and the thing is a beast on the battlefield. Of course the tanks are toned down for the sake of gameplay, and it’s odd that enemy infantry can take a tank shell to the chest and live albeit with low HP.

The cast is fleshed out and convincing in portraying their motivations for fighting. The main characters grow over time and their personalities are dynamic and interesting. The villains are… Villainy. They do villain stuff well and you’ll love to hate them. Even the generic units are lively and have plenty to say, although their role in the story is non existant.

Valkyria is the best game Sega has produced in a long time and almost makes me forget about the recent Sonic games and the travesty we call Shining Tears. The only downside I can think of is that the story can be a bit preachy and formulaic. I expect JRPGs centering on war to be varying amounts of preachy. After all, the publishers would get bombarded if they featured a story that condones war. At least Valkyria handles these matters tactfully without ever being too forced. Formulaic isn’t necessarily bad though as the story is told well.

I just wanted to briefly talk about the game but it turned into a mini review. If you have a PS3 and haven’t played Valkyria Chronicles yet, do yourself a favor and get it or I’ll Bright Slap you into tomorrow.

PS: A Valkyria Chronicles anime is slated for Spring 2009. It’s earned a place on my watchlist and should also earn a place on yours.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 at 4:27 pm and is filed under Games, PS3, Rants.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.