2008 was a great year for games, the likes of Metal Gear
Solid 4, Grand Theft Auto IV, Super Smash Bros Brawl, and Command &
Conquer: Red Alert 3 were all getting my attention when I wasn’t at work or
sunning myself on the beaches of Crete, but one game that happened to slip
under my radar was Valkyria Chronicles. The title ticked all the buttons for something I should have
bought and liked, cell-shaded anime style artwork, turn-based tactical RPG
gameplay, and an awesome story featuring unique characters, guns and tanks, but
in the end the furthest I got was playing the demo and that was about it. Imagine my joy when I hear that Sega announce a remastered
version for new-gen systems, finally here was my opportunity to see what all
the fuss was about. Set in a region not to dissimilar to Europe during World War
II where a neutral nation named Galia has come under attack for its rich Ragnite
ore deposits, when a small town gets invaded this forces the son of a decorated
war-hero to stand up with the help of his friends and the tank his father used
to defend their land and way of life against the might of the East Europan
Imperial Alliance. The story literally unfolds as if coming from the pages of a
book, beautifully animated scenes tell the tale of Welkin Gunther as he
journeys from living his carefree life to joining the militia meeting new
people along the way and helping turn the tide of war, everything looks
hand-drawn and coloured using water-colour paints, the animation is silky
smooth and looks simply stunning. During battles everything maintains a comic-book style to
it, as most large sound effects each produce a “boom” or “vvvvrrrrrm” or “blam”
reminiscent of sixth generation FPS title XIII, and during moments when a
character is talking they’ll appear in a boxed window as if appearing in a
graphic novel. When it comes to the battles themselves you’re given an area
of map where you’re either assaulting an enemy base camp or defending your own
or even both simultaneously, you choose the squad you’re taking in with you,
being able to select from scouts, shock troopers, snipers, and even anti-tank
troops depending on the mission parameters, each having their own skills and
potentials, meaning a character who is a City Kid gains a boost in defence if
fighting on paved roads, Camp Defenders get a raise in evasion when defending
your base, or the Fancies Men trait means that if near any male squad members
you’ll get a boost in accuracy.
Initially you’ll take a turn and be able to use any of your
characters as long as they have enough Action Points, these determine the amount
of movement that can be made but only allow for one attack per go, the
different character classes all have varying amounts of AP, Scouts have the
most which makes them great for recon, anti-tank troops have very little but
pack a mean punch once in a good position. Anyone familiar with the X-Com games will notice the
similarities in the battle mechanic, minus the often unfair percentage
targeting system, once you’ve taken your allocated moves it is the computers
turn to do its thing, often moving its troops to try to flank your squad or
destroy objects you’re using as defence, the computer never seems to make any
stupid moves and it’s really imperative that you don’t find yourself making any
instead. As you progress you’ll gain experience points which can be
used in the Training Field to level up the troops, rewarding you with new unit
potentials, weapons, and of course stat increases, any money earned can be
pumped back into weapon or tank upgrades via the R&D Facility, raising
damage, increasing accuracy, or unlocking new weapon variants to equip your
team with and even the odds against the imperial forces. Increasing your units capabilities and strength is essential
as you progress through the game otherwise you’ll find your team getting wiped
out very quickly, especially true if you try to run into a battle all guns
blazing, take your time, work out a proper strategy and you’ll be rewarded,
rush your troop movements and attacks and you’ll be punished, as I found on
many an occasion when first starting out. Even on Normal the game seemed to be pretty tough so I
haven’t given any thought to attempting the Hard difficulty, included in this
remaster is even an Expert mode but I can imagine that being nigh on impossible
until you’ve put in some serious time with the game. More extra content comes in the form of 2 previous DLC
episodes focusing on alternative characters Edy, and Selvaria, as well as six
new skirmish battles titled “Challenges of the Edy Detachment”, all coming
together as a really nice package and great if you played the game previously
but never sampled the DLC first time round. As I’ve said, I didn’t play anything of the Valkyria
Chronicles when it was originally released so I’m unable to compare it with its
remastered counterpart but as a new-gen title on its own it looks beautiful,
the sketchbook style is silky smooth and lends itself really nicely to the
story’s subject matter. Regardless if you’ve experienced this title before eight
years ago or if you’re a newcomer and looking for something fresh and unique to
play amidst the sea of first person shooters we’re currently facing, Valkyria
Chronicles Remastered looks and sound great, contains tons of gameplay and
story, and can be picked up for less than £25, it literally gives you more bang
for your buck than anything out there right now and you’d be mad to miss it.