I want to give this game a perfect 10, but I just can't...
STORYLINE
Valkyria Chronicles's presents a very moving story to the player. The game is presented in a storybook fashion; the pages lead to a chapter while selecting the illustrations in the pages triggers a cutscene or a battle. The storybook opens by introducing the exposition. Basically, there is a war going on between two superpowers, the Federation and the Empire, over a resource called ragnite. Caught in between the two giants is a little itty-bitty neutral country named Gallia. The Empire invades Gallia because the country is loaded with ragnite. Gallia sucks at fighting, so the Empire is on the verge of pawning the whole country. However, the main character, a guy named Welkin Gunther, is not going to let that happen. He's your average nature freak with a war hero dad, and he gets arrested by a townguard named Alicia (yeah.... there is absolutely NO CHANCE of a love story going on *cough*cough*) while trying to help his sister get out of the town that is about to be invaded by the Empire. After some twist of events and the procuring of a tank, Welkin, his Darcen (A type of human race in this game that basically has dark hair as its only distinguishing figure) adopted sister, Isara, and Alicia all enlist into the Gallian militia (the one that sucks) in order to save their homeland. From there, the story introduces a well-developed cast of characters, such as Rosie, a Gallian soldier that harbors disdain for Darcens and Isara, and Largo, a big, lovable guy with a history in a previous war. At first, the squad does not get along because newbie Welkin is automatically the leader, but after a while everyone becomes close friends. There is a whole lot more going on in the story, such as the bad guys (they actually have reasons for kicking Gallia's butt), but explaining more could ruin the it.
BATTLE
Basically, Valkyria Chronicles is a tactics game. The overview system is turn-based. The player has to complete a certain objective before a set number of turns is over. They usually involve claiming a base with a foot soldier. These bases (like the ones the player has) bring reinforcements onto a map. Also, if Welkin's tank is destroyed or if the player's main base is taken, then the game is over. There are other game-over requirements that differ depending on the mission. There is a 2-D overview map in which the player chooses his or her units for action at the sacrifice of one command point per unit chosen. Command points can also be used to issue orders, which are stat raising effects that can be applied to a unit. Multiple command points can be applied to one unit so that the unit can move and take an action more than once, but the amount of movement a unit can take decreases for each successive action the unit does (basically, choosing a character on the same turn too much decreases their movement). This prevents a really strong unit from going Rambo on an army. When a unit is chosen, the map turns into a third person view of the character, like that of Dirge of Cerebus or that of Kingdom Hearts. The character moves at the cost of AP, which is a bar at the bottom of the screen. However, when moving, if an enemy unit sees you, it will fire at you until you end your unit's turn or take an action like shooting. To shoot, the unit aims their weapon (there are neither swords nor close-ranged weaponry) at a target with the press of the R1 button. When this action is taken, the screen switches to a shooting mode in which the analog stick moves the crosshairs onto the enemy unit and presses X to fire. Obviously, if the unit fired upon survives from gunshot wounds (don't ask how), then it will fire back at you. That's the basics. Even though that may seem basic, the game is very fun and challenging because of a few twists. For example, Valkyria Chronicles has 5 different types of human units to choose from (sniper, scout, lancer, engineer, and shocktrooper), each with their own strengths. For example, there are HUGE, MASSIVE tanks that are impervious to bullets. How can someone defeat them? Simple, a lancer, which is a slow, heavy type of unit that fires missile-like projectiles can dispatch a tank in about three shots. However, Welkin, the main character, is also driving a tank. So what can he do about lancers? Also simple, take a shocktrooper and fire his or her machine gun at the lancer and call it a day. These types of situations illustrate how complex a seemingly simple battle can become. There are minor problems, however. One noticeable problem is that there is lag when a unit travels through grass. It's a little distracting, but it does not happen often. Another problem is when a unit is just out of site of an enemy unit. This situation will make a person snicker because he or she will witness one of the troops practically standing right next to an enemy unit and nothing happening, which makes the game seem unnatural.
*One disagreement that directly pertains to the Gamespot review: it says that the AI is faulty because sometimes it makes its tanks go back and forth and take no action. To me, this is not a cause of fault. It is because the AI is scouting/looking for enemy units but just can't find any. Also, it states that sometimes scouters run straight into troops. I'm not sure about them, but that daring action gets me screwed and I end up having to rearrange my tactics to make sure they don't take my base. Of course, this is just a disagreement.
OUTSIDE THE FLAMES OF WAR
Outside of the battle, there are some optional sidequests that the player can unlock. However, most of the outside-of-battle menus supply options that help the player get ready to fly into the fray. This is not necessarily a negative aspect. The player has the option of leveling up his or her unit class (if a class levels up, then all the units that pertain to that class levels up too), or outfitting his or her units with weaponry, which can be upgrade to the player's liking. Another option is the choice to improve or outfit the tank. This is important because if the tank sucks, then it will get destroyed and lead to a game-over. One of the options that has nothing to do with battle but is still interesting is reading about almost anything that has to do with the game, such as characters, terms, and weapons. There is no trophy system, but there is a medal system that is built into the game. It involves accomplishing a feat, such as unlocking all of the chapters/episodes, and earning a medal for the accomplishment. The medals do nothing (you can't even show them off to the ladies), but they are nice and shiny.
VISUALS
The visuals are neat. They resemble a water-color painting scene and work well to go with the story. There are some scenes that are similar to CG scenes (they are better looking than the other scenes), but it is difficult to notice the difference, which is good. However, some visuals, such as leaves in a tree, overlap and lead to one of those situations where someone can see a patch of dark shade of green in the tree's light green leaves. These events do not occur often, but that is why they are noticeable. Also, some scenes feature characters talking, and the player has to press the X button to continue the conversation. This is not something to complain endlessly about, but when noting the visually stunning cutscenes, one would say that the quality of these conversation scenes fall out of place with the quality of the game.
AUDIO
The audio is smooth. The music matches the atmosphere, and there is a music player that can replay the themes, so that's a plus. The voice acting is great and matches the mouths perfectly. There are no noticeable faults with the audio, and I was actually looking for them.
CONCLUSION
Valkyria Chronicles is a great game that should be added to almost any PS3's collection. However, there are faults, which is natural of anything in this world. Fortunately, no one should care about them. The only people that would be nervous before trying this game are ones that love action games like Call of Duty and Halo and ones that love fighting games.