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Valkyria Chronicles |OT| Beautiful art meets genre-redefining gameplay

Didn't see this mentioned yet, but the Development Artworks book has something about the game originally being called Gallian Panzars I think. Also Alicia was a red head at some point...oh why did they change that...
 

bernardobri

Steve, the dog with no powers that we let hang out with us all for some reason
TSA said:
Didn't see this mentioned yet, but the Development Artworks book has something about the game originally being called Gallian Panzars I think. Also Alicia was a red head at some point...oh why did they change that...

I wish that book would be translated :(
 

Alucrid

Banned
Question. Is there any where I can buy the Development Artwork without having to pay ~$90? I'd probably be willing to do $60 shipped or so.
 

scotcheggz

Member
adversesolutions said:
What you can look forward to:

・Lots of optional missions that branch from the main story and can be undertaken whenever you want to.
・These missions are bite-sized and perfect for commuting and using a handheld.
・Game starts out really easy, but gets tougher about halfway in.
・The high school based storyline works pretty well, and there aren't any characters so far that I really take offense at.
・There are class changes like the last game.
・I have not used the shield bearer class yet, but I think I'll have to soon.
・So far, game is still pretty biased towards scouts, but again I think this is about to change. I'm only about an 1/4 of the way in.
・Anime scenes are pretty good.

Overall, I would have preferred if they just called this a Gaiden, but as is it's a very good game on its own and designed very much with the handheld gamer in mind.

Can engineers still repair walls? I picked up my engineer earlier to rebuild a wall my tank knocked over, but it looked like I couldn't get the option up. I was maybe just being stupid and possibly had my tank parked on the wall still. Just thought I'd ask here rather than waste another CP point in future.

Great game by the way. I think it holds up well as a handheld game, not gonna lie though, i think the school business feels a little empty compared to the awesome story of VC. I'm only on the 2nd day though and it still feels very much like the tutorial stages, so I'm hoping it will take off soon.
 

ZoddGutts

Member
Suzzopher said:
I do hope Valkyria Chronicles returns to PS3 with the third.

Agreed. And they better bring back Raita as the character designer. Shame he dind't do the character designs for VC2 oh well at least he's still doing doujins for me to enjoy. :D
 

scotcheggz

Member
ZoddGutts said:
Agreed. And they better bring back Raita as the character designer. Shame he dind't do the character designs for VC2 oh well at least he's still doing doujins for me to enjoy. :D

I think the characters look alright, pretty similair to me. I'm no connoisseur of this kind of artwork though so..

Edys sister is pretty close to how I remember Edy. I did think there was a lack of diversity and a little more cliche animu in this one though. I just assumed it was due to the anime in Japan. Did not know it was a different character designer.
 

Giolon

Member
TSA said:
Didn't see this mentioned yet, but the Development Artworks book has something about the game originally being called Gallian Panzars I think.
Then you didn't read my post on the previous page very closely - maybe you were too busy looking at all the pretty pictures? :lol

Alucrid said:
Question. Is there any where I can buy the Development Artwork without having to pay ~$90? I'd probably be willing to do $60 shipped or so.
I'm assuming you live in the US. If you live near a Kinokuniya, you should be able to have them order it and pick it up. That's how I got mine ($63.65). It might also be worth looking into how much they'd charge you to ship it to you. Alternatively, ordering from Amazon Japan should end with a price about $76.

1UP's RPG blog has an entry on VC2 and it has confirmed my worst fears: VC2 might as well be called Persona Chronicles. Ugh, I'm just not interested in that. The anger I feel at SEGA for doing this has me close to telling them to go fuck themselves with a rose bush. Close, but not quite. ;)
 

scotcheggz

Member
Giolon said:
1UP's RPG blog has an entry on VC2 and it has confirmed my worst fears: VC2 might as well be called Persona Chronicles. Ugh, I'm just not interested in that. The anger I feel at SEGA for doing this has me close to telling them to go fuck themselves with a rose bush. Close, but not quite. ;)

I think Persona is an overblown comparison. You do talk to your squad, but it is nowhere near the level of a Persona game. It is generally 2-5 little speech bubbles and done. he notes it as being less linear also, but that isn't really the case. The game has basically just squashed skirmishes and story battles into one menu, thus giving you the illusion that you have lots of choices. in reality, you either do "story" to see what happens next, or "free" to just have a skirmish.

I do agree with the preview and miss the storybook feel, I also felt that the characters were fleshed out perfectly with the character bios. I don't need daily little chats with them to make me like/dislike them more. Anyway, i just wanted to say that although I can see the link to Persona, I think it isn't quite how that previewer made it out, so don't lose faith just yet. the game is just as much fun as the first for me so far.
 

TTG

Member
Finally finished it today, most of the missions in the second half I got an A rank on. I think it got a little long towards the end, they could of easily cut 3-5 missions out of it... but that's not a big problem. My opinion from beginning to end hasn't changed much. A breath of fresh air as far as pacing, charming and allows plenty of room for creativity, cool game.

It seems like more and more games I play revolve around twitchy shooter mechanics and a non stop the-world-is-about-to-end tension so it was especially refreshing for me to explore the world of Valkyria Chronicles for a while. :D
 

Alucrid

Banned
Giolon said:
Then you didn't read my post on the previous page very closely - maybe you were too busy looking at all the pretty pictures? :lol


I'm assuming you live in the US. If you live near a Kinokuniya, you should be able to have them order it and pick it up. That's how I got mine ($63.65). It might also be worth looking into how much they'd charge you to ship it to you. Alternatively, ordering from Amazon Japan should end with a price about $76.

1UP's RPG blog has an entry on VC2 and it has confirmed my worst fears: VC2 might as well be called Persona Chronicles. Ugh, I'm just not interested in that. The anger I feel at SEGA for doing this has me close to telling them to go fuck themselves with a rose bush. Close, but not quite. ;)

Thanks for that link. If I can get it for around ~$70 shipped from kinokuniya I'll get it, otherwise I might end up going with amazon.jp.
 

Alex

Member
Giolon said:
1UP's RPG blog has an entry on VC2 and it has confirmed my worst fears: VC2 might as well be called Persona Chronicles. Ugh, I'm just not interested in that. The anger I feel at SEGA for doing this has me close to telling them to go fuck themselves with a rose bush. Close, but not quite. ;)


The original was notoriously difficult

I'm laughing at this, barring Arc the Lad 1 and Jeanne d'Arc, I cannot think of a more easy SRPG. Outside of a few moments of overwhelmed confusion (mixed with ENEMY TURN: 10 MINUTES rage) I steamrolled VC1 and I'm really not that good of a game player.

if VC2 is more challenging then thank god. I can tolerate replacing the not-so-offensive generic anime nonsense with somewhat offensive generic anime nonsense if they make the game challenging and hopefully more balanced though I have a feeling Scouts are still going to be the be all end all.
 

Giolon

Member
SHE'S HERE!



It's been nearly a year since I first saw her (~May 2009) and four months since she went up for pre-order, but the 1/6 Scale PVC Selvaria Bles figure by ebCraft is finally mine! Here's a selection of photos (clickable for higher res):
|
||
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I hope you enjoy the pics!
 

scotcheggz

Member
Alucrid said:
Figure looks good...I just spent $80 on the artbook. Better be worth it. :lol

Not really interested in figures, but I'd love to see some pics of the artbook when you get it. VC is such a beautiful game.
 

Giolon

Member
Hcoregamer00 said:
@_@

I want to ask how much that Selvaria Figure costs, but I know it is probably north of $100.
MSRP is ¥16800 on ebCraft's site. Given the current poor exchange rate, I paid a little bit less than that before shipping. She is by far the most expensive figure I own (nearly double any other). Absolutely worth it. XD I'll post some size comparison pics later tonight.

scotcheggz said:
Not really interested in figures, but I'd love to see some pics of the artbook when you get it. VC is such a beautiful game.
I posted some on the previous page. :D
 

scotcheggz

Member
Giolon said:
I posted some on the previous page. :D

Oh brilliant, thank you very much, dunno how I missed that. I wonder how much it would set me back to get that mailed to UK... I can pick it up on Amazon.jp for 3,990 yen which isn't so bad I guess.

BTW, that figure is being sold on amazon.jp for 300,000 yen in the used or new section :lol
 
Giolon said:
MSRP is ¥16800 on ebCraft's site. Given the current poor exchange rate, I paid a little bit less than that before shipping. She is by far the most expensive figure I own (nearly double any other). Absolutely worth it. XD I'll post some size comparison pics later tonight.

I posted some on the previous page. :D


16800 yen is A LOT for a 1:6 scale PVC figure!

It does look incredibly bad-ass though! Awesome stuff!

Off topic, but is there a thread somewhere on GAF to show off your anime figure purchases?
 

Duelist

Member
To my Canadian brethren, is purchasing this online the only way to get this game nowadays? I've heard so many good things, but no stores have it in stock anymore.
 
I thought Selvaria was a pretty good character, but ugh, her design was typically offensive videogame/comics/animu crap, what with the distractingly huge tits and all. Sometimes it's hard to like nerdy mediums when they do shit like that. It's more of a nitpick for me than anything (cause I LOVE this game) but it's bothersome whenever and wherever it happens.

It probably doesn't help that that Hcoregamer guy seems like a creepy stalker for a fictional character, either. >_>
 

Lain

Member
To this day I still find Selvaria to have an awesome design. She might not have needed the big boobs but, then again, I like boobs of all sizes, so I don't find myself offended by her bust size.
 

Brussels

Member
Duelist said:
To my Canadian brethren, is purchasing this online the only way to get this game nowadays? I've heard so many good things, but no stores have it in stock anymore.


I bought mine online through ebay, but I did see it in Edmonton region BB and FS around christmas, not sure if its still there.

I too had issues finding it in stores too when I did buy mine on ebay (early summer 09), i was going to just rent it from blockbuster, and then not return it and pay the restock fee of $40 i wanted it that badly. ha
 

CO_Andy

Member
My Valkyria art book just came from Kinokuniya today and... i got the anime art book instead :(

I specifically purchased the Development Works that everyone's flaunting in this thread, and now i'll have to contact customer support.
 

Hcoregamer00

The 'H' stands for hentai.
icarus-daedelus said:
I thought Selvaria was a pretty good character, but ugh, her design was typically offensive videogame/comics/animu crap, what with the distractingly huge tits and all. Sometimes it's hard to like nerdy mediums when they do shit like that. It's more of a nitpick for me than anything (cause I LOVE this game) but it's bothersome whenever and wherever it happens.

It probably doesn't help that that Hcoregamer guy seems like a creepy stalker for a fictional character, either. >_>

Ignoring your not-so-subtle jab, I will say that it comes with the territory. You like nerdy hobbies, they will make characters that appeal to nerds.

Lain said:
To this day I still find Selvaria to have an awesome design. She might not have needed the big boobs but, then again, I like boobs of all sizes, so I don't find myself offended by her bust size.

I personally like characters with long hair, the boobs were unnecessary. If anything, toning it down would have made her a better overall design.
 

AniHawk

Member
icarus-daedelus said:
I thought Selvaria was a pretty good character, but ugh, her design was typically offensive videogame/comics/animu crap, what with the distractingly huge tits and all. Sometimes it's hard to like nerdy mediums when they do shit like that. It's more of a nitpick for me than anything (cause I LOVE this game) but it's bothersome whenever and wherever it happens.

It probably doesn't help that that Hcoregamer guy seems like a creepy stalker for a fictional character, either. >_>

The only thing I kept wondering about Selvaria's design was whether she originated from Skies of Arcadia 2 or not.
 

crispyben

Member
Seeing this thread's title continuously bumped since release made me order the game even though I never played a single RPG in my life, not even the demo! I hope I'll like it.
 

Hcoregamer00

The 'H' stands for hentai.
crispyben said:
Seeing this thread's title continuously bumped since release made me order the game even though I never played a single RPG in my life, not even the demo! I hope I'll like it.

You will like it, the game is superb on many levels.

The music, to the variety of missions, to the inventive gameplay.
 
Brussels said:
I bought mine online through ebay, but I did see it in Edmonton region BB and FS around christmas, not sure if its still there.

I too had issues finding it in stores too when I did buy mine on ebay (early summer 09), i was going to just rent it from blockbuster, and then not return it and pay the restock fee of $40 i wanted it that badly. ha
I saw the game in BB in the Fall, I stupidly didn't buy the game then :(

Haven't seen it anywhere else since.
 

AniHawk

Member
Hcoregamer00 said:
You will like it, the game is superb on many levels.

The music, to the variety of missions, to the inventive gameplay.

The visual style, the VA, and especially main characters Vyse, Aika, and Fina.
 
Hcoregamer00 said:
The music, to the variety of missions, to the inventive gameplay.
I was really surprised at that aspect of it. Every mission felt pretty damn different, enough that I didn't even realize that one of the maps in the second half of the game takes place on almost the exact same map as one of the very first missions until I started replaying it.

Speaking of replaying, that's another one of my problems: game is not hard enough. I would kill for a hard mode. I'd become a vegetarian for a hard mode. I'd even pay money for a DLC hard mode for the main game. Game is so bitching, but going through NG+ just makes me feel incredibly overpowered.

AniHawk said:
The visual style, the VA, and especially main characters Vyse, Aika, and Fina.
:lol
 
crispyben said:
Seeing this thread's title continuously bumped since release made me order the game even though I never played a single RPG in my life, not even the demo! I hope I'll like it.


We'll see you on the other side. Most refreshing game I've played in the past 4 years. It starts slow but once you get into it that's all she wrote.
 

Giolon

Member
Hcoregamer00 said:
icarus-daedelus said:
I thought Selvaria was a pretty good character, but ugh, her design was typically offensive videogame/comics/animu crap, what with the distractingly huge tits and all. Sometimes it's hard to like nerdy mediums when they do shit like that. It's more of a nitpick for me than anything (cause I LOVE this game) but it's bothersome whenever and wherever it happens.
It probably doesn't help that that Hcoregamer guy seems like a creepy stalker for a fictional character, either. >_>
Ignoring your not-so-subtle jab, I will say that it comes with the territory. You like nerdy hobbies, they will make characters that appeal to nerds.
Lain said:
To this day I still find Selvaria to have an awesome design. She might not have needed the big boobs but, then again, I like boobs of all sizes, so I don't find myself offended by her bust size.
I personally like characters with long hair, the boobs were unnecessary. If anything, toning it down would have made her a better overall design.
I love Selvaria's design overall, along with most of the other characters in the game. Since there are a variety of body types represented throughout the cast, I don't find Selvaria's gigantic boobs to be offensive, even if they are a pandering element. Big boobs exist, even on thin women, both real and fake. They shouldn't be banned from characters just because you find them unsightly. With exception of perhaps a single cutscene, her boobs aren't focused on anyway. However, I agree with Hcoregamer00 that they were unnecessary and have said previously myself that toning them down by about half would have improved the character.

I also have to give the designers a lot of credit for giving her a sensible outfit. It looks like a legitimate military uniform rather than something you'd find in a strip joint. It's simultaneously practical (high heels perhaps notwithstanding), dressy (high heels do work for that though), and very official and ceremonial looking (particularly with the cape), and it fits in with the other two generals' uniforms. In most cases, she would've ended up with nothing but straps and string and gratuitous cleavage spilling out all over the place. Selvaria didn't even show up in the obligatory beach outing, which itself had a respectably conservative array of swimwear by contemporary standards.

Augemitbutter said:
think i need to get that artbook, just for rosie~

would love to buy a figure of her, somebody has to do one or i'll be severely disappointed.
I'd kill for a Rosie figure of the same quality as this Selvaria one. All of the Squad 7 primary cast and perhaps an Edelweiss too would be great (maybe with Alicia and Welkin on top!).
icarus-daedelus said:
Speaking of replaying, that's another one of my problems: game is not hard enough. I would kill for a hard mode. I'd become a vegetarian for a hard mode. I'd even pay money for a DLC hard mode for the main game. Game is so bitching, but going through NG+ just makes me feel incredibly overpowered.
:lol
Try out the EX Hard Mode skirmishes DLC?
crispyben said:
Seeing this thread's title continuously bumped since release made me order the game even though I never played a single RPG in my life, not even the demo! I hope I'll like it.
Congratulations, it's a great pick! I wish I could go back and experience it for the first time myself, but I'll have to be content with it remaining one of my favorite games of all time. Just be prepared for perhaps a slower paced game than you may be used to having not played an RPG before.
 

rykomatsu

Member
Alucrid said:
Thanks for that link. If I can get it for around ~$70 shipped from kinokuniya I'll get it, otherwise I might end up going with amazon.jp.

If you can navigate in japanese, try bk1.jp. It'll probably be around $50~55 shipped from Japan if you use SAL shipping (I think amazon defaults to DHL or something shit stupid expensive if I remember correctly). http://www.bk1.jp/product/03229424

I use them a few times a year and have found it to be the least expensive of the 3 I usually go through (Kinokuniya, amazon.co.jp, and bk1) for artbook type things. Kinokuniya starts to heavily discount older artbooks in their stores after a while, though.
 
Giolon said:
I love Selvaria's design overall, along with most of the other characters in the game. Since there are a variety of body types represented throughout the cast, I don't find Selvaria's gigantic boobs to be offensive, even if they are a pandering element. Big boobs exist, even on thin women, both real and fake. They shouldn't be banned from characters just because you find them unsightly. With exception of perhaps a single cutscene, her boobs aren't focused on anyway. However, I agree with Hcoregamer00 that they were unnecessary and have said previously myself that toning them down by about half would have improved the character.

I also have to give the designers a lot of credit for giving her a sensible outfit. It looks like a legitimate military uniform rather than something you'd find in a strip joint. It's simultaneously practical (high heels perhaps notwithstanding), dressy (high heels do work for that though), and very official and ceremonial looking (particularly with the cape), and it fits in with the other two generals' uniforms. In most cases, she would've ended up with nothing but straps and string and gratuitous cleavage spilling out all over the place. Selvaria didn't even show up in the obligatory beach outing, which itself had a respectably conservative array of swimwear by contemporary standards.
I agree with most of what you've said, and it's not really a big point. At all. It just stuck out a bit to me considering that the game largely avoids the kind of pandering that can get bothersome for me in video games and anime (especially the latter). After they started to flesh her character out a bit in the game I didn't even mind it, really. And I agree, I dig the uniform, although the high heels are pretty ridiculous. :lol You'd never see an actual female military officer wearing them, although of course I'm not gonna dock the game for not hewing to military realism.

Try out the EX Hard Mode skirmishes DLC?
I thought about this - wasn't sure if it was worth the money, but I figure since I paid so little for this game ($20 ;_; I'm so sorry, Sega) I ought to at least pick up all the DLC anyways. Are the new missions any good? (what a stupid question, of course they are, they must be since they are part of VC!)

Congratulations, it's a great pick! I wish I could go back and experience it for the first time myself, but I'll have to be content with it remaining one of my favorite games of all time. Just be prepared for perhaps a slower paced game than you may be used to having not played an RPG before.
Not a bad RPG to start with, though, considering that it's faster paced than many. Well, uh, it's not 70+ hours long, anyway. But it's definitely worth it no matter what, and I wish I would have paid full price for it because it's one of the few recent games I've played that actually earns it.
 

ronito

Member
Man I love this game. But it consistently just kicks my butt I just did the battle where
Welkin and Alicia are on one side of the map and the edelweiss is on the other and you have to get to the edelweiss
and while I was able to finish it in one try (though I'll admit it did take a long time, damn bridge being out), I had at least 3-5 people that I had to call the medic on. I didn't lose anyone (thank goodness) and I love the challenge but I wonder if it's more that I suck at the game instead of it being challenging.
 

Hcoregamer00

The 'H' stands for hentai.
Giolon said:
I love Selvaria's design overall, along with most of the other characters in the game. Since there are a variety of body types represented throughout the cast, I don't find Selvaria's gigantic boobs to be offensive, even if they are a pandering element. Big boobs exist, even on thin women, both real and fake. They shouldn't be banned from characters just because you find them unsightly. With exception of perhaps a single cutscene, her boobs aren't focused on anyway. However, I agree with Hcoregamer00 that they were unnecessary and have said previously myself that toning them down by about half would have improved the character.

I also have to give the designers a lot of credit for giving her a sensible outfit. It looks like a legitimate military uniform rather than something you'd find in a strip joint. It's simultaneously practical (high heels perhaps notwithstanding), dressy (high heels do work for that though), and very official and ceremonial looking (particularly with the cape), and it fits in with the other two generals' uniforms. In most cases, she would've ended up with nothing but straps and string and gratuitous cleavage spilling out all over the place. Selvaria didn't even show up in the obligatory beach outing, which itself had a respectably conservative array of swimwear by contemporary standards.

Agreed on all points, Selvaria's design may be a little excessive on the cleavage side, but at least they were very conservative in her uniform. It is for the most part, very regal and something that would fit a General. There are so many ways that they could have made the uniform pander to the gaming crowd by cutting clothes here and there and exposing more flesh.

Thankfully Valkyria Chronicles is tasteful in the uniform design, the entire cast looks great in uniform. Even the secondary cast looks great, Marina, Catherine, Edy, Susie, etc.
 
rykomatsu said:
If you can navigate in japanese, try bk1.jp. It'll probably be around $50~55 shipped from Japan if you use SAL shipping (I think amazon defaults to DHL or something shit stupid expensive if I remember correctly). http://www.bk1.jp/product/03229424

I use them a few times a year and have found it to be the least expensive of the 3 I usually go through (Kinokuniya, amazon.co.jp, and bk1) for artbook type things. Kinokuniya starts to heavily discount older artbooks in their stores after a while, though.

Oh I would so order from ANY of these places if I could read even a lick of Japanese.
 

mclem

Member
Alex said:
I'm laughing at this, barring Arc the Lad 1 and Jeanne d'Arc, I cannot think of a more easy SRPG. Outside of a few moments of overwhelmed confusion (mixed with ENEMY TURN: 10 MINUTES rage) I steamrolled VC1 and I'm really not that good of a game player.


Rhapsody?
 
Sega Blog

What better way to show your love this Valentine’s Day than by commanding a dedicated squad of militia-men to repel an evil enemy invasion from your beloved homeland. As an added perk, lieutenant, you might just have a sexy officer you can get romantically engaged with. Celebrate this ménage a trios of mission packs for Valkyria Chronicles for the low price of $9.99 – a savings of $5! Just remember, that Love conquers all.

I hope everyone picks it up if you haven't yet. It's a great price for plenty of content.
 
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