Video Game Reviews: Valkyria Chronicles Remastered

Developer Sega
Publisher Sega
Where we got our copy Ster Kinekor
Genre Action-adventure, Adventure, RPG, Strategy
Game modes Single Player
Reviewed on Playstation 4

Available on Playstation 4

Zakeroph

Published May 20, 2016

Briefing!

As remasters go, Valkyria Chronicles delivers in the least but best possible way. They included the original dlc with the game (which seems to be a standard for a remaster) and an expert difficulty. Something that really stands out is the graphical bump up to 1080p at 60fps. Beyond that though you aren’t going to be getting anything different from the original release. This however does not lessen the value I think a new player could get out of the game.

The game revolves around the lead character of Welkin Gunther, university plant and animal nerd, who steps up to the plate and commands squad 7 on various missions. At the start of the game he is returning to his hometown of Bruhl in the neutral land of Gallia. Unfortunately for Gallia they are rich in much needed resources and are dragged into a terrible war. Due to some circumstances Welkin gets his grubby little hands on a tank and when he joins the militia this seems to be enough to get him promoted to squad leader.

After some missions and internal conflict he proves himself to be a great tactician and leader, resolving fights between the main characters and retaking strategic points, even blowing up a tank that is roughly 100 times the size of his own (some joke about male genitalia here) . He rises to become the hero of his country just like his dear old dad.

The game consists of missions, rpg elements and cutscenes, lots and lots of cutscenes. The animation is on point even if the voice acting really feels put on at during some scenes. To progress your squad and strengthen the troops you can head over to the headquarters, once there you can go to the training grounds to increase the level of the troop types, all your soldiers share levels grouped by their type and the soldiers you left unchosen and gain the same experience as the soldiers you choose to take into the field. This means you never have to be worried about swapping out those scouts you really love for farm more attractive ones.

Gear gets bought through the R&D department, working in a similar fashion to the experience, once you purchase a gun upgrade it is shared by all classes that use that weapon. The R&D department is also used to upgrade your tank, there are blanket upgrades that are automatically applied to the tank, other upgrades are equipped and the takes on the view of an inventory, each upgrade taking up a certain number of squares which means these upgrades are limited by the space inside the tank itself.

The missions come in two parts, one is the strategic view, which is comprised by a bare bones map that shows the position of all your troops as well as any enemies that your troops can see. As you could expect from a map, all forms of elevation are not completely visible which can cause some line of sight issues if you are a terrible planner like me. The second phase takes place after you spend a command point on a soldier allowing you to take action control of it. Each troop class has a limited action bar which is only used for movement and can take one equipment action, this is mostly used for shooting. Tanks take 2 command points to control, I like to think of it that one point is used for the driver and one is used for the spotter. (This is my own personal justification). The last thing you can spend command points on are orders, this can provide different status effects like increased attack or defense of a single soldier or even the entire squad for a turn.

During movement your soldiers can come under fire if they run through an enemy’s sight, attacks of opportunity can really benefit you if you position your soldiers carefully during your turn. Once in position you can enter a shooting phase, time pretty much freezes, except if a shot of opportunity is already in progress. You can then take your time, line up that shot and pew pew those filthy imperials.

If you start struggling with any story mission you also have the opportunity to play through skirmishes, essentially replaying a story mission but with your current squad, this can help you build up cash and exp to give your soldiers that little boost they might need to get through a tough mission.

Wounds!

Occasionally while controlling the characters during movement and aiming it wasnt as precise as I’d like, more than once this caused one of my nameless soldiers (that’s a lie I love them all) to be stuck in the middle of nowhere with no way to get to cover. Trying to move the aim cursor to get that precise headshot also took way longer than it should have. That might say more about me than about the game.

Briefing! As remasters go, Valkyria Chronicles delivers in the least but best possible way. They included the original dlc with the game (which seems to be a standard for a remaster) and an expert difficulty. Something that really stands out is the graphical bump up to 1080p at 60fps. Beyond that though you aren’t going to be getting anything different from the original release. This however does not lessen the value I think a new player could get out of the game. The game revolves around the lead character of Welkin Gunther, university plant and animal nerd, who steps up to the plate and commands squad 7 on various missions. At the start of the game he is returning to his hometown of Bruhl in the neutral land of Gallia. Unfortunately for Gallia they are rich in much needed resources and are dragged into a terrible war. Due to some circumstances Welkin gets his grubby little hands on a tank and when he joins the militia this seems to be enough to get him promoted to squad leader. After some missions and internal conflict he proves himself to be a great tactician and leader, resolving fights between the main characters and retaking strategic points, even blowing up a tank that is roughly 100 times the size of his own (some joke about male genitalia here) . He rises to become the hero of his country just like his dear old dad. The game consists of missions, rpg elements and cutscenes, lots and lots of cutscenes. The animation is on point even if the voice acting really feels put on at during some scenes. To progress your squad and strengthen the troops you can head over to the headquarters, once there you can go to the training grounds to increase the level of the troop types, all your soldiers share levels grouped by their type and the soldiers you left unchosen and gain the same experience as the soldiers you choose to take into the field. This means you never have to be worried about swapping out those scouts you really love for farm more attractive ones. Gear gets bought through the R&D department, working in a similar fashion to the experience, once you purchase a gun upgrade it is shared by all classes that use that weapon. The R&D department is also used to upgrade your tank, there are blanket upgrades that are automatically applied to the tank, other upgrades are equipped and the takes on the view of an inventory, each upgrade taking up a certain number of squares which means these upgrades are limited by the space inside the tank itself. The missions come in two parts, one is the strategic view, which is comprised by a bare bones map that shows the position of all your troops as well as any enemies that your troops can see. As you could expect from a map, all forms of elevation are not completely visible which can cause some line…

Video Game Reviews: Valkyria Chronicles Remastered

2016-05-20

Zakeroph

Final Node

Total - 7.9

79 7.9

No matter which way I look at it I had a very rewarding experience playing this remaster. It looked gorgeous and addictive game play made me lose half a day.

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