Valkyria Chronicles...

[GhaleonOne]

So, I haven't played a new RPG in years. CTDS is the only RPG I've played in about 2 years, in fact. However, I happened to run across some mentioning of this game, and how it's one of those innovative quality Sega titles that come along once a while, and keep thinking about trying it out. It'd be a shame if I missed out on something as good as Skies of Arcadia was. Just curious if anyone else has tried it. I don't have much spare time on my hands, so I would probably wait a bit before buying it, but I am considering it.

[Alunissage]

We played the beginning of it (first couple of battles) with a friend and liked it enough to buy the game. Haven't gotten back to it yet though. It's a strategy game and it's not clear to me how much there is to do (as opposed to watch) besides battles, though.

[DevNall]

I still need to finish Skies of Arcadia Is it really that good?

[DragonmasterDan]

So, I haven't played a new RPG in years. CTDS is the only RPG I've played in about 2 years, in fact. However, I happened to run across some mentioning of this game, and how it's one of those innovative quality Sega titles that come along once a while, and keep thinking about trying it out. It'd be a shame if I missed out on something as good as Skies of Arcadia was. Just curious if anyone else has tried it. I don't have much spare time on my hands, so I would probably wait a bit before buying it, but I am considering it.

It's pretty decent, but it's not Skies of Arcadia level either.

Then again not many games are, besides Persona 4 and Dragon Quest VIII there haven't been any 90% aggregate gamerankings Japanese RPGs since Skies of Arcadia originally came out in Dreamcast.

Well besides those games that have had the name Final Fantasy in them and possibly some handheld games.

[Nobiyuki77]

The best way to describe Valkyria Chronicles thus far (I'm through Chapter 8) would be

Take Skies of Arcadia style characters and story-type + Sakura Taisen-esque battle system + WWII strategy/shooter.

The character design and archetypes really remind me of Skies of Arcadia a lot (and that's a good thing by the by). The story-telling style is similar to Sakura Taisen in that the story and action sequences are kept very very seperate from one another. The battle system is also similar to Sakura Taisen in that it's turn-based, and you have a bar on the bottom indicating how far you can move per turn. However it differs from ST in that you can only attack/heal/etc. once per movement, and you have to be careful because the enemy WILL attack you if you run past them (not to mention counter attack). So you can die a stupid death simply by running past an enemy. However the same works in reverse. If they stupidly run past your troops they'll shoot automatically and they can die in the same way.

What's disorienting at first is how it starts with a highup map (like a strategy map), then zooms into the action when you select a character to move, only to zoom all the way back up to the map once their movement is done. It can kind of be disorienting at times, but as I said you'll probably get used to it after a while.

Aiming does matter in this game, as head shots will do more damage than body shots. However just because you aim at the right spot doesn't mean it'll always hit. This has by far been the most frustrating aspect of the game for me. There was one time where I ran up to an enemy (I was feeling a bit reckless) and got damn right in front of them to get a clear head-shot. I aimed, selected fire, and MISSED every bloody shot!! I damn near threw the controller!

But all in all I really am enjoying this game quite a bit.

[Alex_Pwns_Hiro]

This game is amazing. The best Next-gen RPG out there right now. Pick it up for sure.

[Alunissage]

Just wanted to follow up on this, quite some time later. We've been playing this fairly intensely lately, with some not inconsiderable frustration when we lost a week due to needing to send the PS3 out for a warranty replacement. We're on the last chapter now. The voice acting is probably the best I've heard, and even with dozens of different characters and voices there are distinct personalities in even the most minor characters -- the latter are perhaps a bit stereotyped, but at least there's lots of variety. Though there's this Vyse guy who's visiting from some far land (must be really far off; the setting of this game doesn't even have airplanes yet) who has a rather disturbingly gleeful laugh when mowing people down with a machine gun; at least his friend Aika, also along, isn't quite so bloodthirsty.

Beautiful drawing style, very expressive faces. Good music. Nuanced characterization. Lots and lots of supporting background information to flesh things out. Good battle system, once you get into it. Fairly low level of sexism in the game itself, with only a couple of idiotic character design elements clearly pandering (Ghaleon and Xenobia combined into one character!). This is one of the most compelling games I've ever played.

[Nobiyuki77]

Valkyria Chronicles is an amazing game. Easily one of my favs this gen. ^_^

[brightshield]

I know I'm extremely late, but I just got this game recently. Nobiyuki77 and Alunissage are right, this is easily the best next gen RPG out there. FF13 is garbage in comparison(and I'm a pretty big FF fan).

[Vyse of Arcadia]

Oh hey, I haven't posted here yet.

I love Valkyria Chronicles just for all the Skies of Arcadia references. You can really tell it's by the same team. A group of enemy commanders with their own personal vehicles? Check. Mysterious silver-haired chick? Check. Vyse, Aika, and Fina? Check.

I haven't gotten very far, but the gameplay is a curious mix of frustrating and awesome. I absolutely love it, and it reminds me of Ogre Battle for some reason. Maybe it's the soundtrack. But any game with 30+ minute battles needs checkpoints. Game overs in VC are significantly more frustrating than game overs in almost every other game I've ever played.

[whitedragon_nall]

Guess I should weigh in on my love for this game. Best current gen RPG out there IMO and one of the most charming and quotable games ever. I think the characters are what really makes this game shine. Even those that aren't main characters have their own personalities, so you end up loving them just as much. Can't wait for the sequel.

[Alunissage]

But any game with 30+ minute battles needs checkpoints. Game overs in VC are significantly more frustrating than game overs in almost every other game I've ever played.

You can save in the middle of battles, though, so I'm not sure why you'd need checkpoints. Sometimes in really tight situations where we really needed someone's special trait to kick in we'd save before every move.

[Nobiyuki77]

But any game with 30+ minute battles needs checkpoints. Game overs in VC are significantly more frustrating than game overs in almost every other game I've ever played.

You can save in the middle of battles, though, so I'm not sure why you'd need checkpoints. Sometimes in really tight situations where we really needed someone's special trait to kick in we'd save before every move.

And it's especially useful if you're going for A rankings. "Well, that didn't work, let's try it again!"

[Vyse of Arcadia]

But any game with 30+ minute battles needs checkpoints. Game overs in VC are significantly more frustrating than game overs in almost every other game I've ever played.

You can save in the middle of battles

Wut.

How? How on earth did I miss the feature?! Oh god, I feel stupid.

Well, then, time to finish Valkyria Chronicles.

[Final Night]

Yeah, this is a great game. It was the first game I bought for my PS3. I'm agreeing with what everyone has said so far. Sometimes it can be difficult to find the right strategies and work through them, but it's very rewarding when you do.

Characters are cool and have this flair of not being stereotypical (at least not the primary stereotypes... if that makes sense).

Also since all of us have PSPs now (thanks to Lunar), we can pick up the sequel when it comes out this Summer!

[Silver Phoenix]

I've only played the demo, and I could only imagine how much better the actual game is. G1, you might as well buy the game because you can get it super cheap. There is also DLC with added story elements and new maps.

It would be amazing for the team to dream up Skies of Arcadia 2 for the PS3, but I'd prefer traditional style over cell-shading even though this game has a distinctly beautiful look.

[makingthingsup]

I only tried the demo which I played over and over several times. I really enjoy it, I hope to get the game soon.

[Alunissage]

But any game with 30+ minute battles needs checkpoints. Game overs in VC are significantly more frustrating than game overs in almost every other game I've ever played.

You can save in the middle of battles

Wut.

How? How on earth did I miss the feature?! Oh god, I feel stupid.

Well, then, time to finish Valkyria Chronicles.

Glad to help, sorry to make you feel dumb.

I should warn you that loading saves (and maybe the saving itself?) is quite time-consuming, so while I speak of saving before each move, you probably won't actually want to reload quite that often unless you're feeling really perfectionistic. But at least you CAN if you want.

[Lunar Eclipse]

Though there's this Vyse guy who's visiting from some far land (must be really far off; the setting of this game doesn't even have airplanes yet) who has a rather disturbingly gleeful laugh when mowing people down with a machine gun; at least his friend Aika, also along, isn't quite so bloodthirsty.

I know you posted this ages ago, but I thought I'd clarify that they (along with Fina) are cameo characters from Skies of Arcadia, which is probably why they didn't bother to make them too consistent with the existing game world. And if you already knew that and were being facetious in the original post, apologies for that as well. ^.^;

[Alunissage]

Yep, was totally being facetious there, since I knew several people here were very fond of Skies of Arcadia. ^_^ I haven't played Skies myself (although I bought the Eternal Arcadia soundtrack, for some reason) but I did know the names. I also wondered if Vyse is that bloodthirsty in his own game.