worldoflucky | Valkyria Chronicles Remastered (Reply)

Youtube LP Playlist: Valkyria Chronicles LP
Systems: PS4, PS3, Microsoft Windows

Valkyria Chronicles Remastered is a facelift on the PS3 Valkyria Chronicles where you follow a plucky group of soldiers in Squad 7 as they try to fight off one of two large Empires that wish control over the resources of the small country of Gallia.

You play Gunther Welkin, a peaceful scholar who only wants to be a teacher. The problem is he is the son of a famous general and he presents a conundrum for those who know of his father but not him.

The other members of Squad 7 include Gunther's sister, Isara, a Darcsen (the stand in for Jewish people during World War II). Alicia the apprentice baker and possible love interest. Largo, a large old school soldier and Rosie the racists bar singer who hates Darcsen.

The story unfolds as Squad 7 is formed and they fight back the overwhelming Eastern Imperial empire. The game utilizes a visual novel format with a few cutscenes in a very linear fashion. The big "attraction" to this game is that each chapter has a tactical battle where you command different types of units that you can build up as you go. The game even involves a couple of traditional JRPG type creatures.

Overall the story I liked a lot. Its set in a World War II type era. It involves big personalities, romance, a weird pig thing. The story itself can get very adult and very dark, ranging from racism, concentration camps, death, despair. I was caught off guard by it, and I do have to say onions were cut during the game (that means possible tears). There was some inner meaning on war and what it does to people. I wasn't expecting that at all.

Oh, as a side note, the cell shading style of the game was unusual and I enjoyed it a lot. I wouldn't like it for all my games, but it served its purpose well here.

What I was disappointed with was the actual tactical combat. I play a lot of tactical and strategic war games, so I do have a skewed point of view. I seek out realistic combat that feels like a professional war-game. These were not bad battles, but they were much more simplified then I was used to.

Some of the missions were not satisfactory for me when playing. I also was disappointed that while you can replay the visual novel/cutscenes at any time, you could not replay the battles. I also disliked the experience points and research. It felt like it was similar to Xcom, but not in the good ways, when building your troops there was no specialization other than any individual weapons you may have found. The combat wasn't horrible, but it was far more basic then what I seek out.

Pros: Very intriguing story. I want to know more about the world.
Cons: The tactical combat was not what I was looking for.