Simply put, Valkyria Chronicles is unlike anything you’ve ever played before. A strange blend of third-person shooter and Japanese tactical role-playing game, SEGA’s Playstation 3 exclusive offers a unique experience for fans of both genres. It’s not a perfect fit, but Valkyria’s Chronicles‘ undeniable charm and style more than make up for its shortcomings.
Set in a fictional version of 1930’s Europe, called Europa, Valkyria Chronicles documents the struggles of a neutral country known as Gallia. When a conflict erupts between the East Europan Imperial Alliance and the Atlantic Federation over a precious fuel source called Ragnite, Gallia and it’s people are caught in the middle. With its borders threatened, the Gallian government enacts an order of Universal Conscription, drafting all able-bodied civilians into the military and preparing for war. One such civilian is Welkin Gunther, a 22-year old university student and son of the late Belgen Gunther, a hero from the First Europan War. The main plot of the game revolves around Welkin’s experiences and those of his ragtag platoon – Squad 7.
The structure of the game is as unique as it’s concept – with the entirety of the game being contained within a fictional book entitled “On the Gallian Front,” by Irene Koller. The book acts as an interface for players to access all aspects of the game, with pre-defined bookmarks allowing for quick navigation. When the player wishes to advance the story, simply turning the page will reveal new cutscenes and battles in place of paragraphs – all of which can be initiated, or ‘read’, at your leisure. Even visiting a town, where you may purchase and research new equipment, train your characters and recruit new ones, is handled through this book interface. It seems Mrs.Koller saw fit to document even the most mundane of Squad 7’s activities, but it makes for a good read.
The combat in Valkyria Chronicles, as mentioned above, is made up of a mix of third-person shooter and tactical RPG elements. When combat begins, you are greeted with an overhead, tactical map of the battlefield, and may place any of your units in pre-determined locations. Each type of unit has its own strength and weaknesses, so finding the most effective formations can be a bit of a challenge. Once your units are in place, you are given Command Points to control them. Each unit takes one or more Command Points to activate, but is capable of moving and attacking with each activation. A single unit can be activated multiple times, but will become less effective with each successive action. When a unit is activated, the game will zoom into a third-person view of that character, giving you full freedom of movement. If the unit were to encounter an enemy while moving, pressing R1 will pause the action and place the unit in Aim Mode. When in Aim Mode, a cross-hair will appear at the center of the screen, allowing you to manually target the nearby enemy. Aiming for the head can result in a more lethal attack, but depending on the skill of your unit, the head shot could easily miss. Command Points can also be used to issue Orders during combat, enabling units to perform special actions or benefit from increased stats.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of variety to the combat, as most of the battles only require you to capture an enemy fortification. This is particularly surprising because the few battles that differed from this formula are, without a doubt, the most memorable. The enemy AI is also known to make questionable decisions from time to time, which can take the excitement out of a close battle. These failings aside, I found the combat to be both fun and engaging straight through to the end.
Graphically, Valkyria Chronicles is a work of art – and could easily pass as just that. Using SEGA’s new CANVAS engine, the entire game is rendered to resemble an animated watercolour painting. Soft brush strokes breathe life into the characters and their surroundings, giving the game a very surreal and whimsical style. While watercolours may seem like an odd choice for a game based on war, it’s a perfect fit for the over-arching, storybook motif. The visual charm is further accentuated during battle with the inclusion of comic book-inspired onomatopoeia seen during action events. “Rat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat!” “Kaboom!”
The sound design, while not as great as the visuals, still benefits from high production values and solid localization. The English-speaking cast do their job well, but not flawlessly, and can be replaced by the original, Japanese cast if that is your preference. Common sound effects, like gunfire and explosions, sound good, if not a little repetitive, and the musical score is generally subdued, but charming. You’ll find yourself humming along with the odd tune while you play, but the music isn’t quite as memorable as some of the greatest in the genre.
Valkyria Chronicles is a breath of fresh air in a stagnating genre. It’s intelligent, charming, and most importantly, different from anything that came before it. With hours of gameplay found within the game’s rich campaign mode, secret story chapters and skirmish battles, it’s hard not to recommend this game to any RPG fan. The story, characters and visual design are very charming, and while the game may fall victim to a few of the genre’s cliches, it separates itself from the pack with little effort.
