Valkyria Chronicles.... Best game since FF7

ok please tell me it isnt only instance after instance... i mean there is a chance to explore and find stuff and wonder around right? not just page after page of instance after instance? i really dont like how you cant do anything but play the movies or enter a fight sequence. i just got the tank on ch2 so there is time but if the entire game is like i am going to flip it and move on.
 
It's fairly linear. At times there will be side episodes, but aside from the managing things on the HQ side it's going to be cutscenes or missions.
 
i like the battle system and strategy aspect but it feels empty other then that. i will sleep on it and play a little more. thanks for the input.

btw i loved Star Ocean, Blue Dragon, and Tales of Vesperia. i like just wondering around if i want to.
 
i like the battle system and strategy aspect but it feels empty other then that. i will sleep on it and play a little more. thanks for the input.

btw i loved Star Ocean, Blue Dragon, and Tales of Vesperia. i like just wondering around if i want to.

Have you tried Lost Odyssey? Blue Dragon was good but I thought LO was better.
 
I am a few hours into it, and it's a great experience.
VC is more like a book (well yeah, there's a the book mode). It's really not about the battles, it's about immersing yourself into the story, getting to know the characters, read up about them, follow their character development. The battles are imho just there so that you can then actually do something with the characters you got to know and love.

There's still plenty for the "spreadsheet types"; you can figure out which characters work best together in which situations. For example, firing teams are pretty awesome once you know how to set them up. Getting Rank A is damn hard, but not necessary unless it's a matter of personal pride (which it is for some folks).

Considering the entertainment value one gets from this title it is money well spent.
 
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So I kept hearing how good this was, and I rented it through Gamefly. Unfortunately, I didn't like it at all.

I started it, and honestly, I didn't like the way the story unfolds with the book thing, and the different chapters. I also didn't like that you'd get through 3-4 scenes in a row before even getting to play the game. Each 'chapter' had about 5-6 parts to it, and 3 or 4 of them were just cutscenes.

I kept forcing myself to play, because I heard so many good things about it. I got through a few chapters, and honestly, the gameplay was frustrating. It took too many turns to move your units, most of them had REALLY short move distances, and enemies were REALLY far away. Maybe its more strategic that way, but I don't know. It felt like I'd waste a whole turn just moving most of my guys, and not firing a single shot. Then some of my teammates would get left behind.

The last mission I played (Relatively early into the game), there was a battle that took a LONG time to play. About 30-45 minutes. Which is cool. But right near the end, the enemy spawns a 'boss' tank out of no where. It happened at the end of my turn. The 'boss' tank was able to kill my tank in one hit. From full armor. And I had already spent some 'points' on upgrading my tanks armor. You auto-fail the mission for getting your tank blown up.

This happened 3 times. I had to restart the whole mission from scratch each time.

It was at that point I realized the game just wasn't for me.

It LOOKS like it might be really fun for some people, and I WAS starting to get attached to the characters, but its just not what I was personally looking for.
 
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So I kept hearing how good this was, and I rented it through Gamefly. Unfortunately, I didn't like it at all.
Yup, this is probably an either-or title, there's little middle ground.

II got through a few chapters, and honestly, the gameplay was frustrating. It took too many turns to move your units, most of them had REALLY short move distances, and enemies were REALLY far away. Maybe its more strategic that way, but I don't know. It felt like I'd waste a whole turn just moving most of my guys, and not firing a single shot. Then some of my teammates would get left behind.
There are very few maps where you can't at least squeeze off a few rounds in the first turn. The key to that is to have a couple scouts and snipers. Snipers can make the long shots, and scouts can move in, shoot, and move out. Once all units are engaged in close combat you can pull the snipers out and put some stormtroopers up.

The last mission I played (Relatively early into the game), there was a battle that took a LONG time to play. About 30-45 minutes. Which is cool. But right near the end, the enemy spawns a 'boss' tank out of no where. It happened at the end of my turn. The 'boss' tank was able to kill my tank in one hit. From full armor.
In that mission I didn't use my tank at all, I just left it right where it started and did everything with infantry. I generally feel I get more bang for the buck to not use the tank but move/use two infantry units instead. In the missions where I do use the tank it's mainly to get across open areas to provide cover for my troops.

But either way, if you just don't like the gameplay and story presentation, then there's no arguing that. Good call on renting it instead of buying.
 
So after putting some 30 hours into the game and never getting anything better than C-Rank I finally broke down and went over to Gamefaqs to see what's up with my ranking. I thought I was doing everything right yet would never ever get A-Rank.

Imagine the disappointment that struck me ... :(
All that matters for A-Rank is how quickly you complete the map. Tactics, dealing damage, avoiding damage, are completely irrelevant. Playing the game "right" actually substantially lowers your score. Taking a Scout and running past all enemies, completely ignoring them, just to capture the enemies camp is what gets one A-Rank.

This makes me a sad panda and really puts a big damper on an otherwise excellent game. It's almost as if the rank conditions were coded last. The were out of dev time and decided to release it with this totally out-of-character linear victory condition. Sigh. Now I really wish I hadn't read up on that. Screw A-Rank, I paid for tactics, I enjoy tactics, that's what I am going to use!
 
So after putting some 30 hours into the game and never getting anything better than C-Rank I finally broke down and went over to Gamefaqs to see what's up with my ranking. I thought I was doing everything right yet would never ever get A-Rank.

Imagine the disappointment that struck me ... :(
All that matters for A-Rank is how quickly you complete the map. Tactics, dealing damage, avoiding damage, are completely irrelevant. Playing the game "right" actually substantially lowers your score. Taking a Scout and running past all enemies, completely ignoring them, just to capture the enemies camp is what gets one A-Rank.

This makes me a sad panda and really puts a big damper on an otherwise excellent game. It's almost as if the rank conditions were coded last. The were out of dev time and decided to release it with this totally out-of-character linear victory condition. Sigh. Now I really wish I hadn't read up on that. Screw A-Rank, I paid for tactics, I enjoy tactics, that's what I am going to use!

I like how you try to justify taking your time as more tactical then completing the mission with as few moves as possible. That is what I really liked about the game to try and find the most efficient path to complete the mission as quick as possible. It makes you try and pull some risky tactics to see if they work in your favor. Then you can load up the skirmish and try to be even more efficient then the last time you played the mission. I mean hell taking your time to me seems like it would make the game easier and not much of a challenge.
 
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I like how you try to justify taking your time as more tactical then completing the mission with as few moves as possible.

Heh, I see what you did there. ;)

I guess my main complaint is that; It's just not realistic!
Yeah yeah ..., neither is the whole setting or any other number of things, but still ...

Perhaps I should rephrase and say that my main complaint is that every other aspect of the game suggests that rushing to the flag is not the way to go. In fact, if you follow the advice (tutorial) you get in the very first mission, you will never ever get A-Rank (which is why I didn't get it).

Why have different units if most of them are not used? Why have affinity if you will never move your trooper in a team with your lancer? Why have firing teams if the winning condition essentially mandates that you go Rambo solo instead? Why have the ability to tag enemies when they are down if that has no bearing on anything (in the US version)? Why to go through all this effort to code those things into the game if it was indeed clear from the beginning that they are meaningless?

The only conclusion I can come up with that makes any sense to me is that the game was released unfinished, and that "rush the flag" was a last ditch effort to get the game out the door.
 
Absolutely my favorite PS3 exclusive. Art style, game mechanic, story, loved it all. The added difficulty of getting higher ranks was fun as well. I guess my biggest complaint was the randomness of some shots (especially anti-tank) which led to a lot of save/loading.
 
Glad people are still talking about this game. Actually I havent played since I june because I picked up WoW again. Sigh.

I am going to play this weekend. Such a good game. Sure like others have said its not perfect, but its a good game. :)
 
My solution to the A-Rank dilemma is that I just play a few skirmishes "Upper Fouzen" to get A-Rank on those and some exp and cash, and then go back to the normal missions and play them the way I think the game ought to be played, ending up with C or D-Rank. ;)

Looking forward to more games like this, hopefully there will be some.
Someone else posted some titles but those were all X360 ones, although some of them will apparently be released for PS3 in 2010.
 
Heh, I see what you did there. ;)

I guess my main complaint is that; It's just not realistic!
Yeah yeah ..., neither is the whole setting or any other number of things, but still ...

Perhaps I should rephrase and say that my main complaint is that every other aspect of the game suggests that rushing to the flag is not the way to go. In fact, if you follow the advice (tutorial) you get in the very first mission, you will never ever get A-Rank (which is why I didn't get it).

Why have different units if most of them are not used? Why have affinity if you will never move your trooper in a team with your lancer? Why have firing teams if the winning condition essentially mandates that you go Rambo solo instead? Why have the ability to tag enemies when they are down if that has no bearing on anything (in the US version)? Why to go through all this effort to code those things into the game if it was indeed clear from the beginning that they are meaningless?

The only conclusion I can come up with that makes any sense to me is that the game was released unfinished, and that "rush the flag" was a last ditch effort to get the game out the door.

I can agree with your point. It would have been nice to see some variety for each mission to get the A rank and it told you what it was. Like take out all tanks in X amount of turns, don't let anybody die, etc. but I am also ok with the way the game was now but it wouldn't hurt to change it up on the next PS3 version. My biggest complaint with the game was the enemy AI was just awful. You could literally just sit back on some sandbags and just watch the enemy run straight at you to just die.
 
Sorry to necro bump, but I'm near the end. And even though I'm loving the characters and story, it's a little lacking in gameplay depth to me. You have very little troop and equipment micromanaging, leveling all squad types members really takes away from worrying about members dying.

I'm not hating it by any means, but IMO it shouldn't have been in D-Toids top 10 games of the century IMO. If anything, I would have replaced it with Skies of Arcadia, which this game is REALLY making me miss.

Up to Ch 16 now, that's almost the end right?
 
Sorry to necro bump, but I'm near the end. And even though I'm loving the characters and story, it's a little lacking in gameplay depth to me. You have very little troop and equipment micromanaging, leveling all squad types members really takes away from worrying about members dying.

I'm not hating it by any means, but IMO it shouldn't have been in D-Toids top 10 games of the century IMO. If anything, I would have replaced it with Skies of Arcadia, which this game is REALLY making me miss.

Up to Ch 16 now, that's almost the end right?

I tend to agree. I enjoy the game, but it hasn't kept me addicted enough to beat it yet. I've had it since Xmas last year too. I would probably rate the game a 80/100. Its good no doubt, but I think it got a bit more praise than it deserved because it sold poorly at least initially and few knew about it.
 
Just got it for $24 shipped and read most of this thread.... seems like it's mostly positive.
 
Thanks for posting this, got the last copy from my local Gamestop for $19.99.
 
Put the review on favourites, something to consider playing after I'm done Fallout 3 (which I bought nearly 2 years ago and haven't finished the whole thing yet :eek: ).
 
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