Table of Contents

Valkyria Chronicles

戦場(せんじょう)のヴァルキュリア(Valkyria Chronicles) is a Sega franchise focused around turn-based tactical games. The world is a faux-Europe that is about to experience World W- I mean…the Second Europan War. Planes don’t exist, because they don’t understand how flying works.
Besides the games there is, of course, other media: anime and manga…I think?

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Reviews

Valkyria Chronicles

I um…should really fix my bad habits, ‘cause I’m not sure how to go about this.
Anyhow…the story here is alright. It serves its purpose as a motivator to keep going through the campaign, though it’s beyond easy to tell when things were going to happen. The most egregious example that I remember is Isara’s death, which is just…I mean the chapter she dies in also happens to be the chapter that focuses a lot on her character? The setup is so obvious I can’t even. There are apparently some asspulls as well…but…I don’t remember what those are. Damn past me for not specifying. Though I can tell I didn’t enjoy the story that much, since I don’t remember it, though I know it gives me ‘vibes’ which are neutral to bad.
The gameplay helps elevate whatever bad the story gives. However, there’s a disconnect between how the game wants you to play it versus how most people actually play it. The last thing my notes note is that the final boss is terrible. Yeah, I resorted to using Cheat Engine to beat the boss because I just didn’t want to bother…hilariously, I remember this negative experience very well. The boss is overpowered and, due to that, the fight is extremely tedious.

Anime

My notes elaborated a little more this time, thankfully.
The anime adapts the first game’s story and…it’s a significant improvement. Actually, I’m annoyed that the anime’s story is seen as generally inferior to the game’s…but, like, this is one of the few examples of an adaptation that improves the story. Why? Well‥
First, the story is more cohesive overall, though that’s all my notes say so I can’t remember exactly what’s up. After briefly digging into my own memory…I think it’s because the chapters in the game were kinda disconnected from each-other at times…more like a collection of small stories than one cohesive story. The anime actually transitions from chapter to chapter in a reasonable way. Also, the side-missions are (sometimes) integrated into the main storyline, at least I think so?
Next, when it comes to setup, the anime is much better at it. No longer is the setup completely obvious: now you can actually be surprised. However, my memory and notes only refer to two things: Isara and Alicia. Where the set-ups for both of those are handled far better than in the game.
There’s a character in the game called Oswald the Iron, who is an elite unit you will face. In the DLC, he’s a main character who interacts with Selvaria. In the anime, he’s promoted to a major character. He’s the character we primarily follow whenever we look at the Imperial side of the story. His presence is a major improvement to the story. The Imperial side is just interesting in general.
This is where my notes said ‘there were a few more things, but I can’t remember them’ so I’ll leave it there.
Might re-watch and re-play later to check it out.

Gameplay

The gampeplay notes I made here only apply to the first game. This is ‘cause I’ve only played that one from beginning to end.
The one thing I will note (heh) about the other games is that the tactics aren’t 100% the same, though scouts are still overpowered…though not as much.

Tactics

The best and most effective way to play the game is to go slow-and-steady. This means that you move forward carefully, picking off enemies one-by-one and taking extra care to make sure you’re never left open.
This is in contrast to how the game wants you to play it…where it expects you to rush through everything, with the express purpose of finishing in as few turns as possible. This is why you keep getting bad ranks on levels, by the way.
The problem is that the latter style means you’re relegated to using scouts only. I’d recommend playing the former style first, particularly if you’re new, because it’s more challenging and more fun.

Scouts

Scouts are the best unit class in the game. There is nothing better than them.
They are over-powered to a ridiculous degree…especially late-game.
Scouts are intended to be light infantry units that achieve objectives fast, can deal with lighter enemies and then run away. In practice, however…Scouts are insane killing machines that can quickly run behind enemies and shoot them in the back.
Their main downside is their (lack) of accuracy. This is similar to Snipers, where early on they are really bad for accuracy. That’s not a problem though, because they’re so fast that they can run right up to the enemy…point their gun point-blank at their head and…well.
However, you can upgrade the accuracy of their guns…or pick up enemy weapons, but why would you do that? By late-game, their accuracy is good enough that you don’t have to run up to the enemy anymore…but I did that anyway, because it was funny.
Of course, there are two issues with the Scout. First, you might find yourself stuck behind enemy lines, where you’re in danger. Though that’s easy to overcome: just be good.
Second, the tactic of running right up to the enemy to shoot them in the face works as long as you don’t run up too quickly, because then the gun might clip through their face and you’ll miss.

Tank

The tank is most useful as a shield for your units. Here’s what you do: move the tank forward, keeping your units huddled behind it. Then, peek out with them to shoot at the enemy, then hide behind the tank again. The enemy won’t be able to hit you…if they approach, the tank and your units start auto-shooting. Plus, from the front, the tank is practically invincible.
Oh yeah, combine the tank with Engineers and you don’t even have to worry about anti-tank shots. And since your units are huddled behind the tank where, y’know, the weakpoint is…
Unless you’re using the anti-personnel grenade or firing at another tank, don’t worry about using the tank for fighting.

Firing Lines

Firing Lines are a mechanic in the game where units that are nearby will join in an attack with whatever unit you just ordered to fire. Due to this mechanic, it’s effective to place all your units near each-other, or place them into lines.
You have not experienced this game until you have 6 Scouts and Shocktroops lined up together annihilating any enemy that dares walk in front of them.
I actually discovered through this mechanic that the AI can just…give up. There was a point in the story where I positioned my units perfectly, guaranteeing the death of all the units that were within my line-of-sight and…when it was the AI’s turn…it just skipped the turn without making a move.
There were also times where the AI attempted to outsmart me. Since taking two steps guaranteed death at times, the AI decided to either not make a move (mentioned above) or make their units take one step. The AI in this game is so weird, I swear.