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Valkyria Chronicles |OT| Beautiful art meets genre-redefining gameplay
- Thread starter Durante
- Start date
Onto chapter 9 now. First part of chapter 8 was really trial and error, but I made it through. Fucking elite guy from hell who I hate.
Second part of chapter 8 was pretty easy though. At one point I only had three people on the battlefield, but unfortunately for the Empire, one of them was Welkin in a tank.
Second part of chapter 8 was pretty easy though. At one point I only had three people on the battlefield, but unfortunately for the Empire, one of them was Welkin in a tank.
Unknown Soldier
Member
Darkpen said:
I still don't understand why Sony hasn't implemented PSP sideways compatibility in PS3 yet. I mean, it's not as if you can haul your PS3 around and play it instead of a PSP, and there are many games on PSP which would look awesome on a PS3 at a resolution higher than 480x272. Sony would be helping the PSP's sales out if you could play your PSN-downloaded PSP games on a PS3, especially if you could sync your saved games between the PSP and the PS3 and continue where you left off at home or on the go.
Just picked this up on a whim from Gamestop, saw Anime on the cover and couldn't resist! On chapter 2 or 3 can't remember, enjoying the gameplay so far and the art style is amazing.
Fuck that tank though, one shotted my townsmen guy, I'm sure that's why I got a D on the first real battle :lol. Should I be playing the dlc before or after I beat the game?
Fuck that tank though, one shotted my townsmen guy, I'm sure that's why I got a D on the first real battle :lol. Should I be playing the dlc before or after I beat the game?
Jive Turkey
Unconfirmed Member
:lol I think I really only used about 3 people too. Oscar and Claudia killed like 90% of the enemies. Everybody else went like lemmings on the Edelweiss.AniHawk said:
I do have quite a few people on the battlefield, but a lot of them get to 0 HP near the end. It's a healthy mix of different classes, but usually Homer, Welkin, and Alicia are the only ones standing at the end (I make sure Homer shadows the Edelweiss very closely).
Team usually looks like:
Welkin
Alicia
Aika
Vyse
Rosie
Largo
Homer
Cezary
Marina
Yeah having two snipers on the team might be overkill, but they have different guns that are good for different things. My guys usually get killed immediately after recovering fallen comrades.
Team usually looks like:
Welkin
Alicia
Aika
Vyse
Rosie
Largo
Homer
Cezary
Marina
Yeah having two snipers on the team might be overkill, but they have different guns that are good for different things. My guys usually get killed immediately after recovering fallen comrades.
I'm really growing to love Aika and Vyse as characters in this game even though they don't appear in the story at all. I had Aika take out every fucking sniper AND two lancers AND A TANK in Chapter 10a all by herself. It was fucking awesome. I only wish Vyse could keep up with her.
radiantdreamer
Member
AniHawk said:
The cool thing about Vyse and Aika are that they have awesome potentials that match up to the main characters.
They're definitely always on my battlefields.
The production values for this game continue to stun me. I cannot get over that they went this far for a strategy RPG. It's amazing. The voice acting is probably my favorite thing about it. The story has been borderline on serious and cheesy, and there are some really awkward lines, but the voice acting saves most of it. Just got to the part where Rosie sang. Good stuff
The characters are pretty good, except Welkin. He's just a little too weird and unrealistic for my tastes. I liked Vyse in SOA, but Welkin being optimistic all the time feels out of place in a game about war. Going back to the voice acting, someone like Isara could have easily been a cringeworthy character, but the actor did a nice job with the delivery of even awkward dialogue. Doesn't hurt that the character can pull her own weight (driving a tank and defending her home at the beginning of the game).
On the game itself, I like the leveling up into Elites. Only my Lancers and Engineers aren't Elites yet, but they will be soon. I've been doing the skirmish in Fouzen and now with the smoke bomb, I can clear the level in two turns with just Aika.
although I knew Isara was gonna bite the dust
The characters are pretty good, except Welkin. He's just a little too weird and unrealistic for my tastes. I liked Vyse in SOA, but Welkin being optimistic all the time feels out of place in a game about war. Going back to the voice acting, someone like Isara could have easily been a cringeworthy character, but the actor did a nice job with the delivery of even awkward dialogue. Doesn't hurt that the character can pull her own weight (driving a tank and defending her home at the beginning of the game).
On the game itself, I like the leveling up into Elites. Only my Lancers and Engineers aren't Elites yet, but they will be soon. I've been doing the skirmish in Fouzen and now with the smoke bomb, I can clear the level in two turns with just Aika.
I love this game, but after playing until the stealthy mission with the broken leg, I kind of lost it... way too much scripted and too much trial and error. I play a lot of strategy game, but here I always feel like there is only one solution to a battle (like this big super tank mission). No way you can beat it on your first time, but because it is so heavy scripted you play it 3-4 times, then you know what's scripts are coming....
but I still love the setting, the style and gameplay. I don't like how the battles are played out ....
but I still love the setting, the style and gameplay. I don't like how the battles are played out ....
NewBrof said:
This only happened to me once, where I maneuvered my guys around where certain things would happen just so I could get out of the map. Otherwise it's a lot like Fire Emblem. The only thing is you can't see the full map and the only way to see the game world at all is to select a character and run with them. Usually I go with the Edelweiss to clear a path and have a scout run around and figure out the level, and then try and finish it using the rest of the team.
The giganto tank battle you're talking about only took me two tries, but it might as well have been one since I died really early on the first time. Even with all the twists, I managed to beat it without anyone dying.
The forest mission is the only mission I felt was scripted. Even then, when I fail it was not because I didn't expect something the game threw at me, but because I rushed out without thinking, or did not consider the possibilities properly before making a turn. I don't feel that there is a "single solution" to the missions at all. There are certain multiple ways you can successfully approach any mission, but of course there are ideal solutions and not so ideal solutions. The point about replaying a mission and knowing what to expect is something that exists in any game. If you fail and retry, you get better because you know what's coming at you, but that does not mean it is impossible to be successful the first time if you were well prepared and took certain things into account.
Shai-Tan
Banned
I think it's one of those levels where the player fails a few times and it causes the player to get frustrated and more likely to fail. I almost completed it the first time blind then died a few times trying to rush through. It also has the bad kind of repetition, just learning enemy placement. In other levels it's fun because you can try different strategies.
MomoPufflet
Member
I've put about 12 hours into VC so far since I started it on Sunday, which is more than I've played any JRPG since Dragon Quest VIII 4 years ago. I like that it has an anime charm without being excessively weaboo, and also that it manages to sidestep the majority of my JRPG pet peeves. The only problem I have with the game is that in the model viewer mode you cannot fully rotate the female characters to see up their skirts. Is this going to be patched at some point?
radiantdreamer
Member
the music gets me excited too!
I haven't gotten this nervous about making a mistake in a game since Silent Hill.. and this isn't even an action game!
I haven't gotten this nervous about making a mistake in a game since Silent Hill.. and this isn't even an action game!
MomoPufflet
Member
Yeah, you definitely can't rush into battles in this game. I kind of wish they gave you a better idea of the units you'll likely need during briefings, but I suppose I need to get better at using scouts and swapping units during the first turn. Part of it is that I'm not used to spending 2 hours on a battle, so devoting 20 minutes to troop movement at the beginning is something I'm still adjusting to.
MomoPufflet said:
This is actually a very common misconception about the game. From playing other strategy RPGs, players tend to have a habit of wanting to deploy the maximum allowed number of troops into the map right at the start. But you don't actually have to. For any given mission where you have to move troops, at the start of the mission you basically only need a scout or two. Since you can deploy units from any base you capture, it makes more sense to deploy slower units like shocktroopers, lancers and snipers later on in a base you capture, after you have a better understanding of the requirements of the mission.
The last thing you want to do is to deploy all your units at the start of the map, and then have to manually move each one across the map. What I personally do is to deploy only all the hero units which give extra CP, since that can be used multiple times by the scouts to move even faster early on.
Hcoregamer00
The 'H' stands for hentai.
MomoPufflet said:
:lol :lol
Too funny, I thought a more legitimate complaint is that they don't have more fully realized model viewer mode like lot of other games (like Tekken 6 or Soul Calibur)
Just finished the chapter 15 fight
First time ever using the Shamrock in a very meaningful way since the Edelweiss was hanging out at the western part of the map.
where you have to shoot Selvaria in the back and I had her pinned down with the Shamrock. Cezary comes back from far away and BAM! SHOT TO THE HEAD. SHE TURNS AROUND, HE DODGES EVERYTHING, and then KABLAM! ANTI-TANK ROUND TO THE BACK OF THE HEAD
First time ever using the Shamrock in a very meaningful way since the Edelweiss was hanging out at the western part of the map.
Unknown Soldier
Member
Darkpen said:How dare you call Catherine a jerkoff
I'm pretty sure he was calling the guy he used instead of Catherine a jerkoff. Cezary, no doubt, he's the only other sniper worth using besides Catherine and Marina.
paperheart
Banned
I'm currently on Chapter 10, and I have over 9 hours put into the game.
I'm thinking the characters in the game will start to like the Darcsens pretty soon. I mean, since one of the Darcsens is going to help them out in the battle that I will be starting on soon, it seems like they will change their minds about them. I really hope they do. The Darcsens get treated like scum, but from what I saw at the beginning of Chapter 10, they don't look like they are bad at all. Plus, Is is kind, so yeah. Haha, and I also laughed at how uptight the Princess is, then her stomach growled, and when she ate that cinnamon roll she was like, "It's agreeable." Ah, but she is kind, and I do believe in some way she is going to take Welkin's advice. Might be something that will happen later on in the game. I mean, if I was kidnapped, I wouldn't be the same way I was before, that's for sure.
paperheart
Banned
Oh my goodness. Are you just pulling my leg? Cause I accidentally read that. I thought you said Spoilers cause I had a spoilered a lot. Hmm... I think I'm going to stay away from this thread now till I'm done with the game.
paperheart
Banned
Look, I'm going to be nice to you, but if that indeed is what happens, that sucks major for me. I thought you said "spoilers!" cause you were talking about the part in the game that I was at. But, no, you were talking about a major point in the game that I didn't get to, that I didn't see coming at all. I was enjoying this game a lot, it was quickly becoming my second favorite RPG besides Final Fantasy, and now that I know what's coming when I didn't know about it before, it kind of ruins the experience. It's mainly my fault for reading it, but usually major spoilers are blacked out. I wouldn't have read it if it was blacked out like I blacked it out in your quote.AniHawk said:
paperheart
Banned
OMG, thank goodness. *phew*Geneijin said:
I was seriously, seriously, sad about that. Thank you for telling me he was joking. I'm sorry AniHawk.
The Frankman
Banned
...
HAHHAHHHHAHAHHAHAHAAHAHAHAH
you're a fucking asshole
HAHHAHHHHAHAHHAHAHAAHAHAHAH
you're a fucking asshole
radiantdreamer
Member
Pandaman said:
I did not let a single one of my troops die. They were always being supported by others around, and strategically placed so that a death would never occur. And that's what adds to the excitement, trying to keep your team alive!
You like mature women?Seda said:
Marina FTW. Snipers are cool.
How did she die anyway? I thought snipers typically stay AWAY from the action.
AniHawk said:
lastinline said:
AniHawk said:
Ha ha :lol
This thread becomes entertaining once in a while.
I certainly hope lastline was simply playing along.
paperheart
Banned
It's quite alright.AniHawk said:
So I just finished it. At nearly 40 hours, I still haven't done everything there is to do in the game, but I did beat the story mode once. I'm going to try and keep this as concise and to the point as possible, but there's a lot to talk about, and knowing me I tend to ramble on with long sentences and grammar errors. Needless to say, there will be spoilers, so if you don't want to read them, turn back now.
The first thing I keep coming back to and the first thing I noticed was that this was a gorgeous looking game. When I first saw it... two or three years ago, I thought it looked fantastic. This is a game that, like The Wind Waker and other games that boast style over realism, will age very slowly. The sketchy painting look is something I would love to see in a future Zelda title, and it's good to see something like what I wanted done here.
Then there's the actual game part, which really feels a lot like Fire Emblem and (Advance) Wars meets Skies of Arcadia. It's a great mesh of the two series but very much its own thing. I love that selecting units on a map takes you down to that actual unit and you get to move it around. Through 40 hours of gameplay, it never got old. Actually, I wasn't expecting it in the first place, so seeing it happen once was so cool that I don't think the surprise ever wore off. The presentation of the game is simply fantastic, and there's so much to do. Character bios are actually fun to read, especially for characters I wound up using a lot. Making it into a book and having episodes selectable so you can always view the cutscenes was a smart and classy choice.
Of course, this game just screams production values, and it does it in a way few others I play ever do. The music plays into that too. However, only the main theme (or whatever Rosie sings) is the one that sticks with me. I've played Grandia III, so I can appreciate when a game has at least decent music. Fortunately, VC's soundtrack is better than decent, if not forgettable for the most part.
Onto the story:
What really pulls off the story is the voice acting. And I was surprised at some of the actors. Laura Bailey and Dave Wittenberg sound different from what I remembered. I couldn't even tell Colleen O'Shasheeny (I don't know how it's spelled) was Alicia. Everyone did a real good job staying away from a cartoon voice, except maybe John DiMaggio, and the direction was spot-on. The acting played a huge part in turning some cringeworthy lines and cliched moments into ones that were at the very least tolerable.
What's really telling is how good the minor bits are. I had Vyse and Aika on my team the whole time, and it was pretty great seeing their personalities translated perfectly from Skies into very short lines.
And that about brings me to the actual game part. The game itself was so good. So very good. I loved the variation of the levels and objectives, and that there were extra chapters to unlock. It's safe to say this wasn't a game I wanted to be over with (as opposed to A Boy and his Blob or Splosion Man, where I was glad to be done).
I can't believe this came out of Sega. It's really, really good. And it's really, really good at everything it does. It really felt like Skies for a new generation, and I'm glad to see the team work again on something else. One thing I have to ask: Who's working on Valkyria Chronicles 2? Is it most of the main team? Some extra talent like what with Bioware did with KOTOR 2?
This was one of the main reasons I wanted to get a PS3. If I only knew how good this would have been, it would've been the one reason I wanted to get a PS3. Fantastic stuff, and easily top 3 material for GOTY 2008.
The first thing I keep coming back to and the first thing I noticed was that this was a gorgeous looking game. When I first saw it... two or three years ago, I thought it looked fantastic. This is a game that, like The Wind Waker and other games that boast style over realism, will age very slowly. The sketchy painting look is something I would love to see in a future Zelda title, and it's good to see something like what I wanted done here.
Then there's the actual game part, which really feels a lot like Fire Emblem and (Advance) Wars meets Skies of Arcadia. It's a great mesh of the two series but very much its own thing. I love that selecting units on a map takes you down to that actual unit and you get to move it around. Through 40 hours of gameplay, it never got old. Actually, I wasn't expecting it in the first place, so seeing it happen once was so cool that I don't think the surprise ever wore off. The presentation of the game is simply fantastic, and there's so much to do. Character bios are actually fun to read, especially for characters I wound up using a lot. Making it into a book and having episodes selectable so you can always view the cutscenes was a smart and classy choice.
Of course, this game just screams production values, and it does it in a way few others I play ever do. The music plays into that too. However, only the main theme (or whatever Rosie sings) is the one that sticks with me. I've played Grandia III, so I can appreciate when a game has at least decent music. Fortunately, VC's soundtrack is better than decent, if not forgettable for the most part.
Onto the story:
Oh man, it's a mixed bag. On one hand, there are some fantastic characters. I liked Largo, Alicia, Isara, and to a lesser extent, Rosie, a lot. On the other hand, the main character is sort of flaky. He's not flawed in any way and it's hard to sympathize with him because he's a weirdo and square. What does he do when his buddy shoots his girlfriend? He opens the door, asks him if he shot his girlfriend, and then punches him in the face. Uh, the dude already read Faldio's journal where Faldio confessed the entire thing. A better scene would have been Welkin bursting into the room, walking up to Faldio, and punching him in the face. You know, something to show he's a little human or something, that he can be ruled by emotion at some point. The guy's so logical and comes up with the best plans so many times he's boring to watch.
The other major thing I didn't like was how rushed the Alicia/Valkyria stuff and the Welkin/Alicia love stuff was. For the first part, Alicia finds out she's Valkyria, so she... mopes about it? How about a scene where she's in control and knows exactly what she's doing before she gets freaked out by it? Going from being unconscious and having no recollection of what transpired to knowing how to kill herself in a way that would blow the shit up out of Maximilian seemed rushed. It didn't seem forced. I believe that's the sort of thing she'd probably do, but it felt like there was a big scene missing.
For the second part, Welkin and Alicia's love for each other grew really slowly and it only felt like one of them really liked the other and I couldn't see why. Why does Alicia like him? I don't like him. I don't see why he's likable. He's just this really dopey guy. At the beginning of the game, Alicia is clearly the one in charge, but she becomes the damsel later on with Welkin saying he'd protect her and all that. It really reminds me of Eureka Seven more than anything, except even this was better than Eureka Seven. In Skies of Arcadia, I totally bought that Aika had secretly liked Vyse, and their relationship seemed pretty natural. In Valkyria Chronicles, it felt rushed- again, like there was a scene missing- but almost forced.
The other main problem with the story is how Selvaria gets treated. That sucker went nuclear and that was it. I was hoping there would be more to her, since she seemed to be a good person, but nothing ever came of it. It actually made me dislike Maximilian because he was just a dick. He didn't become a "love to hate him" villain until the end of the game when he was trying to force Cordelia to marry him.
Otherwise, I really liked the story of the war and how it played out. The leads were a little shaky, but the supporting cast was great. I think I could have done without the magic powers stuff too.
The other major thing I didn't like was how rushed the Alicia/Valkyria stuff and the Welkin/Alicia love stuff was. For the first part, Alicia finds out she's Valkyria, so she... mopes about it? How about a scene where she's in control and knows exactly what she's doing before she gets freaked out by it? Going from being unconscious and having no recollection of what transpired to knowing how to kill herself in a way that would blow the shit up out of Maximilian seemed rushed. It didn't seem forced. I believe that's the sort of thing she'd probably do, but it felt like there was a big scene missing.
For the second part, Welkin and Alicia's love for each other grew really slowly and it only felt like one of them really liked the other and I couldn't see why. Why does Alicia like him? I don't like him. I don't see why he's likable. He's just this really dopey guy. At the beginning of the game, Alicia is clearly the one in charge, but she becomes the damsel later on with Welkin saying he'd protect her and all that. It really reminds me of Eureka Seven more than anything, except even this was better than Eureka Seven. In Skies of Arcadia, I totally bought that Aika had secretly liked Vyse, and their relationship seemed pretty natural. In Valkyria Chronicles, it felt rushed- again, like there was a scene missing- but almost forced.
The other main problem with the story is how Selvaria gets treated. That sucker went nuclear and that was it. I was hoping there would be more to her, since she seemed to be a good person, but nothing ever came of it. It actually made me dislike Maximilian because he was just a dick. He didn't become a "love to hate him" villain until the end of the game when he was trying to force Cordelia to marry him.
Otherwise, I really liked the story of the war and how it played out. The leads were a little shaky, but the supporting cast was great. I think I could have done without the magic powers stuff too.
What really pulls off the story is the voice acting. And I was surprised at some of the actors. Laura Bailey and Dave Wittenberg sound different from what I remembered. I couldn't even tell Colleen O'Shasheeny (I don't know how it's spelled) was Alicia. Everyone did a real good job staying away from a cartoon voice, except maybe John DiMaggio, and the direction was spot-on. The acting played a huge part in turning some cringeworthy lines and cliched moments into ones that were at the very least tolerable.
I was especially glad that Isara and Alicia sound like real people and not like whatever the fuck Stephenie Sheh was doing for Eureka from Eureka Seven. I was ready to mute the TV when Rosie started singing, but was pleasantly surprised that the voice actor did a damn good job with it.
And that about brings me to the actual game part. The game itself was so good. So very good. I loved the variation of the levels and objectives, and that there were extra chapters to unlock. It's safe to say this wasn't a game I wanted to be over with (as opposed to A Boy and his Blob or Splosion Man, where I was glad to be done).
I can't believe this came out of Sega. It's really, really good. And it's really, really good at everything it does. It really felt like Skies for a new generation, and I'm glad to see the team work again on something else. One thing I have to ask: Who's working on Valkyria Chronicles 2? Is it most of the main team? Some extra talent like what with Bioware did with KOTOR 2?
Because not only do Vyse, Aika, and Fina leave at the end of the game, they do it with a guy named Bird, which feels like it would be perfect for a sequel to a game with sky pirates. Just seemed weird for them to put that in there for no reason, like how Nintendo would have a Sin & Punishment character in Brawl when they eventually made a sequel to that game. I'm just wondering if the main team could be working on another PS3 title while the PSP game gets made.
Oh yeah- I totally had Vyse murderize the final boss. Gave him the Attack Weak Spot order and then ran up to Maximilian's face to blow it off. He and Aika were great to have on my team, and usually my go-to guys since I was worried about losing CP with the others.
Oh yeah- I totally had Vyse murderize the final boss. Gave him the Attack Weak Spot order and then ran up to Maximilian's face to blow it off. He and Aika were great to have on my team, and usually my go-to guys since I was worried about losing CP with the others.
This was one of the main reasons I wanted to get a PS3. If I only knew how good this would have been, it would've been the one reason I wanted to get a PS3. Fantastic stuff, and easily top 3 material for GOTY 2008.
bernardobri
Steve, the dog with no powers that we let hang out with us all for some reason
Both english and japanese VO departments are really great.
Got a pleasant surprise when I realized that Drill Instructor is voiced on the english version by
. One of my favourite talents on the industry. :lol
The general English cast is spot on, aside a few minor forced reactions. Japanese cast was so-so, didn't like Eleanor Varrot's japanese performance (Tanaka has better performances). Sayaka Ohara as Selvaria was awesome, and so April Stewart (her english counterpart)
Got a pleasant surprise when I realized that Drill Instructor is voiced on the english version by
Nolan North
The general English cast is spot on, aside a few minor forced reactions. Japanese cast was so-so, didn't like Eleanor Varrot's japanese performance (Tanaka has better performances). Sayaka Ohara as Selvaria was awesome, and so April Stewart (her english counterpart)
Unknown Soldier
Member
That drill instructor is awesome in both English and Japanese.
"You're now one level closer to human!" :lol
"You're now one level closer to human!" :lol
adversesolutions
Member
Art book releases Wednesday in Japan, don't forget!
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