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

Dear god let them announce VC3 soon. They have the engine, and now a larger fanbase because of the anime and PSP release. Put the damn thing on PS3 though!
 

CO_Andy

Member
If you haven't picked up the art book yet then i recommend doing so now as it is out of print.

The more notable online retailers such as Play-Asia no longer have it in stock, but you can still find it through obscure routes such as bk1 and 1999.co.jp
 

mclem

Member
Galvanise_ said:
Dear god let them announce VC3 soon. They have the engine, and now a larger fanbase because of the anime and PSP release. Put the damn thing on PS3 though!

They'll probably announce the third game for PSX. Just to *really* confuse everyone.
 
Joei said:
I'm enjoying this game. I mean really, really enjoying this game. For the most part the game has been pretty managable and I've been able to figure out battles pretty easily. The last few I've been that I've done I've been able to get an A or B ranking on the first try, but I just got to one where I'm totally stumped.
I'm in Chapter 15 at the second battle where you're inside the building. Selvaria says she'll fight it like a normal person or whatever, but o.m.g. I move a person and they just get gunned down by her like what the hell. I can barely make it up the steps that are on both sides of the starting point. I only tried once but my jaw was just on the floor the whole time. I'm kind of unsure on how to approach this. I tried smoke grenades but that didn't do much good, and I'm thinking I could try using some defense orders, but with those tanks on the first floor and that machine gunner, I have to be smart about how I use my CP since I'm only getting 12 a round.
Did anyone else have trouble with this battle? Now with SMG2 out, my time is getting pulled towards that so I don't want to spend hours and hours trying to figure out a smart tactic for this.

That Battle and the penultimate one are toughies.
You have to keep blasting Selveria with Smoke Rounds and get all your people into cover/out of her sight otherwise she'll gun them down. She herself should otherwise be ignored until you've more or less cleared the field and gotten your tank and soldiers up to the top floor. She has unbelievable evasion, defence and accuracy so don't even try shooting her normally until you've finished off most of the enemy and captured all the bases. For fun, you can make Alicia dual Selveria at the end by pumping Alicia full of orders and (hopefully) using her 'Undogeable Shot' potential to shoot Selveria normally, but this is difficult (Alicia died three times when I did it).

You can always look up strategies on GameFAQs too. >.>
 

Aru

Member
Joei said:
I'm enjoying this game. I mean really, really enjoying this game. For the most part the game has been pretty managable and I've been able to figure out battles pretty easily. The last few I've been that I've done I've been able to get an A or B ranking on the first try, but I just got to one where I'm totally stumped.
I'm in Chapter 15 at the second battle where you're inside the building. Selvaria says she'll fight it like a normal person or whatever, but o.m.g. I move a person and they just get gunned down by her like what the hell. I can barely make it up the steps that are on both sides of the starting point. I only tried once but my jaw was just on the floor the whole time. I'm kind of unsure on how to approach this. I tried smoke grenades but that didn't do much good, and I'm thinking I could try using some defense orders, but with those tanks on the first floor and that machine gunner, I have to be smart about how I use my CP since I'm only getting 12 a round.
Did anyone else have trouble with this battle? Now with SMG2 out, my time is getting pulled towards that so I don't want to spend hours and hours trying to figure out a smart tactic for this.

I did a few trial and error games before winning this one.
In the end I got a B rank or so, and I beat the boss with 1 load of machine gun or 2 IIRC.
 

RurouniZel

Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
Joei said:
I'm enjoying this game. I mean really, really enjoying this game. For the most part the game has been pretty managable and I've been able to figure out battles pretty easily. The last few I've been that I've done I've been able to get an A or B ranking on the first try, but I just got to one where I'm totally stumped.
I'm in Chapter 15 at the second battle where you're inside the building. Selvaria says she'll fight it like a normal person or whatever, but o.m.g. I move a person and they just get gunned down by her like what the hell. I can barely make it up the steps that are on both sides of the starting point. I only tried once but my jaw was just on the floor the whole time. I'm kind of unsure on how to approach this. I tried smoke grenades but that didn't do much good, and I'm thinking I could try using some defense orders, but with those tanks on the first floor and that machine gunner, I have to be smart about how I use my CP since I'm only getting 12 a round.
Did anyone else have trouble with this battle? Now with SMG2 out, my time is getting pulled towards that so I don't want to spend hours and hours trying to figure out a smart tactic for this.

I had trouble most of the time until I finally beat it. And THEN, after my 2nd playthrough I was told of a super cheap method of winning. I'd encourage you to continue trying to win the standard way, but if all else fails or if time doesn't allot, use the below.

Super Cheap Method:

Enter the battle with 3 Snipers. Move the Eldeweiss slightly to give people the ability to move just between it and the starting baracade. Use 2 CP to fire a smoke grenade pretty much right in front. Use an order to increase accuracy. Use 1 CP to move a sniper through the smoke in the front, trying to get as close to the edge as possible without going too far (if you go too far, Selvaria will spot you!). Aim at head and shoot. It'll take about 3-4 headshots, but DON'T USE THE SAME SNIPER TWICE IN A ROW!! She'll dodge if you do. Use the other two snipers in a similar fashion. End battle.
 

Bebpo

Banned
Progress-wise I'm up to Chapter 11 now. I can only do about 1 chapter a day since a single map takes me 2-3 hours.

I wish the loading was better. That's my #1 complaint since I do a lot of trial & error attempts where I save, try something, fail, reload, sit through a min of loading, try something different.

I also feel like I'm playing it wrong. Like the stages are setup to have this epic giant battles, but instead I'm breaking the system and dodging it all to get the objective in a few turns and my S/A ranking.

For instance on the 2nd map of Ch.10 with the train, this is how I did it:

Turn 1
-Spawn 2 Scouts (1 being Alicia), Rosy, Largo at start for maximum CP
-1 no-name scout runs to the west bridge, and grenades the barricade to the train
-Alicia runs to the train, takes it. Next turn ORDER DEF buff for Alicia, then she activates elevator, goes down and while getting shot by 2 dudes + tank, uses rifle grenade to shoot out northwest bridge from the right side of the tank and then still has enough CP to run back to the elevator and take it up.

Turn 2
-ORDER DEF buff for first scout who is still on the first west bridge. Have him run below and then across the bridge past the tank and activate the elevator, takes it up.

Turn 3
-ORDER DEF buff on Rosey, she goes down the elevator, up the northern one, runs to the flag base and murders all the guys along with help of ORDER BOMB STUFF since I have tons of CP at this point. Then she takes the flag and evacuates so the tank at that point won't hurt her.
-Then I spawn a random shocktrooper

-Between turns, all human enemies are dead so they can't take flag back, enemy tank does nothing since no people at the flag.

Turn 4
-Shocktrooper spawns, ORDER DEF buff on him, have him run by the tank, up the final elevator, over to the bridge, shoot the bomb with train above. Mission Complete. S rank.

It'd be even more broke if I had not missed the EVACUATE NEAR-DEATH ALLIES order at the start of the game :( Then I could do kamikaze runs for switches or switch like events, and evacuate them through an order.

I mean pulling that off is really satisfying and it took a lot of save/reloads (2-3 hours on that map) to make that final plan after coming into the map having no idea what it's like and what scripted events will happen. But at the same time, I'm hardly fighting anyone. I'm mainly running by tanks and enemies and it feels like the maps are made to fight these guys. But I want my S-rank xp so I'm not willing to stick around and fight!

I've never played an srpg like this, but then I've never played an srpg that gives xp based on turns and not kills.
 

Hcoregamer00

The 'H' stands for hentai.
CO_Andy said:
If you haven't picked up the art book yet then i recommend doing so now as it is out of print.

The more notable online retailers such as Play-Asia no longer have it in stock, but you can still find it through obscure routes such as bk1 and 1999.co.jp

Whoa, I got something rare, that is unexpected.

Ponn01 said:
Is VC2 going to be a Gamestop exclusive in the U.S.?? Amazon refuses to list it.

It better not be, I use only amazon as my main gaming store.

Gamestop is dead to me >_>
 
Bebpo said:
I wish the loading was better. That's my #1 complaint since I do a lot of trial & error attempts where I save, try something, fail, reload, sit through a min of loading, try something different.
For instance on the 2nd map of Ch.10 with the train, this is how I did it:

You don't have to save/reload a lot to get A ranks, or use any orders. People have beaten the game with all kinds of restrictions like no leveling or upgrades, not taking any damage, no orders, no save/reloading, etc. If you want to see two different strategies for Ch 10b, look here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/ValChronification#p/c/B6A95B2F08646A46/0/PMd4-mRA6r4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlN2BA4cmcU

Once again my VC guide with videos can be found here.
 

Bebpo

Banned
mjemirzian said:
You don't have to save/reload a lot to get A ranks, or use any orders. People have beaten the game with all kinds of restrictions like no leveling or upgrades, not taking any damage, no orders, no save/reloading, etc.

Yeah, and I'd wager all those people weren't playing the game for their first time :p

My experience is the first time you do a map, without having seen any guides or anything, requires at least a few reloads to get the top rank on your first try because unless you are psychic you have no idea what scripted events will occur later on in the map or what the enemy layout is. You might run for a flag with a scout thinking it'll be guarded by 1 enemy and it turns out there's 6 shocktroopers in it. That will change your plans pretty drastically.

mjemirzian said:
If you want to see two different strategies for Ch 10b, look here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/ValChronification#p/c/B6A95B2F08646A46/0/PMd4-mRA6r4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlN2BA4cmcU

Once again my VC guide with videos can be found here.

I dunno, when I watch those videos or read some strategies on the map's I've cleared all I see is wasted CP. For example I watched the first few mins of that first video and
1. Why use a tank to destroy that barricade for 2cp when you can use a generic scout's grenade for 1cp?
2. Why bother killing that guy near the barricade. Unless you plan to end a turn with a human standing around that section, he can't harm anyone.

I just don't see any point in killing non-red enemies if they aren't in a position to hurt you. If you can run by white enemies as a person, I figure you might as well keep running instead of wasting your shot on shooting them and if you are a tank, why kill anything besides lancers & enemy tanks? It's not like they can touch you.

I generally avoid wasting any CP on fighting that I can, and then that gives me tons of CP all the time which I find useful on orders.
 
Bebpo said:
Yeah, and I'd wager all those people weren't playing the game for their first time :p

It depends on your level of experience and skill with the strategy genre. I got all A ranks on every mission my first time through the game.. and took down every leader, tank, and ace, and didn't use orders or save/reload abuse. And wrote a full guide with video at the same time.

Bebpo said:
My experience is the first time you do a map, without having seen any guides or anything, requires at least a few reloads to get the top rank on your first try because unless you are psychic you have no idea what scripted events will occur later on in the map or what the enemy layout is.

That's not true. It's pretty foolproof to get an A rank on most maps on the first try by loading a scout up with orders and rushing. The game is very imbalanced if you don't restrict yourself. Now if you want an A rank while not using orders, or not save/reload abusing, or whatnot, you might have to restart a mission once or twice depending on its difficulty and your skill.

Bebpo said:
I dunno, when I watch those videos or read some strategies on the map's I've cleared all I see is wasted CP.

That first vid is a challenge run of "100% kill, no enemy shots fired, A-grade (4 turns), no R&D or Training field at HQ." according to the playlist info. That's why he used a tank, because it doesn't take damage from gunfire.

Bebpo said:
I just don't see any point in killing non-red enemies if they aren't in a position to hurt you. If you can run by white enemies as a person, I figure you might as well keep running instead of wasting your shot on shooting them and if you are a tank, why kill anything besides lancers & enemy tanks?

Depends if you want to do a 100% kills challenge or not.
 

jonabbey

Member
Am late to this party, but wow. Just, wow.

Do people tend to re-play the battles to get their grade up, or just plow through the story? I'm just about to do the operation in Chapter 7.. :D
 

darkwing

Member
jonabbey said:
Am late to this party, but wow. Just, wow.

Do people tend to re-play the battles to get their grade up, or just plow through the story? I'm just about to do the operation in Chapter 7.. :D

just enjoy the story and plow it, then re-play to grade up :D
 

Giolon

Member
Looks like we may finally be getting a decent Alicia figure:

135044965.jpg


Unfortunately, it looks like it's styled after the anime (especially when you look at Hans), but I'm hoping it'll look good once it's painted.
 
jonabbey said:
Am late to this party, but wow. Just, wow.

Do people tend to re-play the battles to get their grade up, or just plow through the story? I'm just about to do the operation in Chapter 7.. :D

Most people ignore the scoring system, or go back to it when they are lv 20 with full upgrades to make it easier.
 

Koralsky

Member
I've finally played the demo of PS3 version, and wow - such an amazing experience. I'm trying to buy the full version, but it's quite hard to find it in Bulgaria :/

Other than that, thanks SEGA, you are not die completely in my heart, yet.
 

RurouniZel

Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
Giolon said:
Looks like we may finally be getting a decent Alicia figure:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v507/wcloudx/figure4/135044965.jpg[IMG]

Unfortunately, it looks like it's styled after the anime (especially when you look at Hans), but I'm hoping it'll look good once it's painted.[/QUOTE]

That looks rather nice. I'll have to keep an eye out.
 

Stahsky

A passionate embrace, a beautiful memory lingers.
Shit. I forgot I never beat this game.


Hmm, think I'll start from scratch and bust on through soon.
 

leng jai

Member
CO_Andy said:
If you haven't picked up the art book yet then i recommend doing so now as it is out of print.

The more notable online retailers such as Play-Asia no longer have it in stock, but you can still find it through obscure routes such as bk1 and 1999.co.jp

Is it hardcover? Got pics?
 

Lain

Member
Giolon said:
Looks like we may finally be getting a decent Alicia figure:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v507/wcloudx/figure4/135044965.jpg

Unfortunately, it looks like it's styled after the anime (especially when you look at Hans), but I'm hoping it'll look good once it's painted.

I hope it wont come out soon, I already had to give up on the Selvaria one because I didn't have enough money to spend on it, and just a couple days ago pre ordered a Pleinair one which will come out at the end of October.
It does look really nice.
 
I'm at the end of my second play through on this game. I love this game so much, i know ive said this before, but i never played a strategy game before picking this up. But ive been addicted for about a little over a year now. Also, i love games with New Game + modes. It makes the second play through so much fun.
 

Lain

Member
leng jai said:
Is it hardcover? Got pics?

No hardcover. I can't provide pics, but it is a beautiful artbook (and I'd love to know Japanese to be able to read all the things written about the characters and stuff).
 

Aeana

Member
I've just started playing this. I'm up to chapter 4 and it's really surprised me. I've been really down on SRPGs lately -- a genre I used to really love, and it contained probably my favorite game of all time -- and I was kind of cautious about diving into this since I thought that would affect my enjoyment of it. I was pretty wrong about that. The game is so different from just about everything I've played before, save Resonance of Fate... and it actually feels like what I expected Resonance of Fate to be. That game, while good, definitely ended up differently from what I imagined. I really like how this game feels like a tactical shooter that's turn-based, bringing in the advantages such a setup can bring to the table. I've always kind of wanted something like this, but wasn't sure it would ever get made.

I don't have much else to say at the moment, since I'm still early on, but aside from the above, I also like how I don't have to worry about leveling individual units, and can instead focus on their potential traits and the environment/setup of the battle to determine which to deploy. I'm looking forward to see how things develop as I delve deeper.

Oh, and it sure is pretty.
 

Geneijin

Member
Aeana said:
The game is so different from just about everything I've played before, save Resonance of Fate... and it actually feels like what I expected Resonance of Fate to be. That game, while good, definitely ended up differently from what I imagined.

You haven't played Valkyrie Profile Silmeria before? If you didn't, I could see why.

Just one word of advice I didn't find out until I was about to finish the game. When you're using the analog (L3) to select a unit, use the d-pad if the distance is large. It instantly moves, not slowly when using the analog.

Glad you're enjoying the game.
 

Bebpo

Banned
Aeana said:
I've just started playing this. I'm up to chapter 4 and it's really surprised me. I've been really down on SRPGs lately -- a genre I used to really love, and it contained probably my favorite game of all time -- and I was kind of cautious about diving into this since I thought that would affect my enjoyment of it. I was pretty wrong about that. The game is so different from just about everything I've played before, save Resonance of Fate... and it actually feels like what I expected Resonance of Fate to be. That game, while good, definitely ended up differently from what I imagined. I really like how this game feels like a tactical shooter that's turn-based, bringing in the advantages such a setup can bring to the table. I've always kind of wanted something like this, but wasn't sure it would ever get made.

I don't have much else to say at the moment, since I'm still early on, but aside from the above, I also like how I don't have to worry about leveling individual units, and can instead focus on their potential traits and the environment/setup of the battle to determine which to deploy. I'm looking forward to see how things develop as I delve deeper.

Oh, and it sure is pretty.

Will be interesting to see what you think of it by the end.

I'm still working through it and as a big srpg/jrpg/wrpg/strategy game fan I'm actually not a big fan of the game. I enjoy it, but I feel like there's so many things broken balance-wise that if you play it efficiently, you feel like you're cheating and not playing it the way it was intended. I think there are definitely a lot of questionable design choices, and from what I've heard about Valkyria 2 it seems like they've fixed a lot of my problems with the game so I think it'll probably be what I wanted from Valkyria 1.

Still, it's fun enough that I picked up all the DLC packs the other night and plan on doing them after I finish the game in a couple of days. But I don't get the huge praise. Then again I never understood the huge praise for Sakura Taisen either (thought it was an average srpg dressed up in a pretty visual novel).

OTOH, I loved RoF. But RoF was a pretty typical jrpg.
 
They did balance VC2 better, yes. There's no mid-battle reloading, the potentials aren't as ridiculous (no invincible, etc.), orders cost more, and you can no longer scout rush.

Unfortunately to compensate they made most of the VC2 game content very easy. But that won't bother most players I imagine.
 

Bebpo

Banned
mjemirzian said:
They did balance VC2 better, yes. There's no mid-battle reloading, the potentials aren't as ridiculous (no invincible, etc.), orders cost more, and you can no longer scout rush.

Unfortunately to compensate they made most of the VC2 game content very easy. But that won't bother most players I imagine.

Can you still save middle battle?

It doesn't make any sense releasing a strategy game on a portable without the ability to save anywhere.
 
Bebpo said:
Can you still save middle battle?

It doesn't make any sense releasing a strategy game on a portable without the ability to save anywhere.

You can suspend and resume, but no multiple reloads. That means no reload abuse for potential procs and getting unlikely hits to land.
 

Aeana

Member
LOVE & TRUTH said:
Don't give up on Chapter
7
, Aeana! :)
Just finished that one. It took me 2 hours or so... it was definitely tough, but I liked it. It was a nice change of pace from "capture the enemy base" in the earlier ones.
 

Hcoregamer00

The 'H' stands for hentai.
Yazuka said:
Selvaria looks really good. One of the better ones I've seen.
Ikkarus said:
Selvaria looks good.

She is the only Selvaria I have seen, and I attend many Anime Conventions in California.

Thankfully the first General Selvaria cosplayer I meet happens to be one of the best cosplayers in the SoCal Convention circuit.
 

Larsen B

Member
I bought this before I even got my PS3 because it was £15 and I was so sure I'd love it.

When I finally played it, I was a little disappointed and in fact stopped playing just after Chapter 7 (which I didn't actually find that hard). When I thought about starting it up again, my heart sank and I really had no interest in it.

This weekend just gone, I decided I would finally go back to it and see if I could find the game everyone raves about. 2 solid days of playing later, I am on the final mission
aboard the Marmota
and I have been completely converted.

Although sometimes the story parts go on far too long and some of the dialogue is pretty horrible (to me at least), there's enough depth in the characters to make the journey worthwhile and I have kept using the same team because I've got little stories with all of them.

Now I've pre-ordered VC2 (something I wouldn't have done even as soon as last week) and am itching to get back to it. What a lovely game.
 

Aeana

Member
I finished the game this morning and I really loved the whole thing. I definitely feel it to be one of the best strategy RPG experiences I've had in a long time. I didn't expect to like it so much. So much about the game suits my tastes exactly.
 
Aurarian said:
Your VC guide was spectacular when I played through the game. I cannot wait for VC2 so much so that I finally acquired a PSP in order to play it with.

Thanks. I might do a VC2 video guide, but if the game is super easy like I've been hearing, I may just only cover the difficult post-game content.
 

Hcoregamer00

The 'H' stands for hentai.
Aeana said:
I finished the game this morning and I really loved the whole thing. I definitely feel it to be one of the best strategy RPG experiences I've had in a long time. I didn't expect to like it so much. So much about the game suits my tastes exactly.

Nice, you did in a short time what took me a year to do :)
 
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