Valkyria Chronicles Image
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86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 60 Critic Reviews What's this?

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8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 503 Ratings

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  • Summary: Valkyria Chronicles is set in a fictitious continent reminiscent of 1930s Europe, divided in two and ruled by the Empire and the Federation. The Empire has set its sights on invading a small neutral country called Gallia, which is situated in the middle of the two great empires. The gameValkyria Chronicles is set in a fictitious continent reminiscent of 1930s Europe, divided in two and ruled by the Empire and the Federation. The Empire has set its sights on invading a small neutral country called Gallia, which is situated in the middle of the two great empires. The game follows a hero named Welkin and his fellow soldiers of the Federation's 7th Platoon that are fighting against the Empire, who are intent on unifying the continent under its power. The Federation discovers that the Empire possesses a secret weapon, known as the "Valkyria" - an ancient race with special powers thought to exist only in legends. With this new discovery, the fate of the Federation's ability to win the war and a hope for a better future hangs in the balance. [Sega] Expand
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Senjou no Valkyria Gameplay Movie 1
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 59 out of 60
  2. Negative: 0 out of 60
  1. We've been through years and years of Final Fantasy Tactics lookalikes and play-alikes, many of which I've enjoyed and will continue to enjoy. Valkyria Chronicles, though, is truly a much needed step forward for the genre. It proves that SRPGs can look great and can even further push the envelope of human tactics in a video game. Hands down, this is the best RPGs on the PS3, one of the best of the entire genre, and one of the best games this generation.
  2. Sega’s done an admiral job in updating the strategy RPG clichés to better fit the gameplay expectations brought on by the games of this generation so far for Valkyria Chronicles.
  3. 90
    With such a robust collection of extras to back up an already impressive mission roster and gripping story, Valkyria Chronicles comes highly recommended.
  4. 86
    Visually and aurally it's a real tour de force, the plot pretty much stays the right side of the crazy line and on the whole combat feels fresh and well designed. There are a few hiccups and they do take the gloss off things more than the rest of the game deserves, but they shouldn't be enough to put you off.
  5. Valkyria Chronicles is a visual feast. It maintains a high level of difficulty in a new and rather innovative renewal of the tactical genre that provides enough of a challenge to entice fans of the genre, but is not so stuck in its ways as to keep normally averse gamers away.
  6. The vast-majority rest of the time, Valkyria Chronicles offers a unique take on RPG-strategy, a truly involving story, endearing characters, and a chance to reflect upon—or wonderfully, hopelessly anachronize— whatever sense of real-world history you may still have in your head.
  7. Edge Magazine
    70
    Simple and elegant, it takes influences such as Konami’s Ring Of Red and even Pandemic’s Full Spectrum Warrior and elaborates on them to create something unique and interesting. [Christmas 2008, p.100]

See all 60 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 77 out of 88
  2. Negative: 3 out of 88
  1. SAMA
    Nov 14, 2009
    10
    This is one game I keep coming back to for more. Charming story, lovable characters (even the secondary ones, such as Jane and Walter), and This is one game I keep coming back to for more. Charming story, lovable characters (even the secondary ones, such as Jane and Walter), and overall tragically beautiful setup. I'd think that everybody who had any intention of getting it would have done so by now, but if you haven't and you have a PS3, you'd do well to get it. Expand
  2. StaticN
    Jan 29, 2009
    10
    Hands down fantastic title. Not once did I feel bored or not challenged enough. Once you get the handle on the mechanics the game is aHands down fantastic title. Not once did I feel bored or not challenged enough. Once you get the handle on the mechanics the game is a rewarding experience as you try to solve problems and maneuver to make sure you always have the highest possibility for success.

    From beginning to end this has really been one of the best games I have played in this generation,
    Expand
  3. Mar 25, 2011
    10
    The main cast of characters are a memorable group with unique personalities and a decent amount of development. The supporting cast is largeThe main cast of characters are a memorable group with unique personalities and a decent amount of development. The supporting cast is large and varied and each one has a reasonable amount of backstory to them too. Moreover the group as a whole becomes really memorable, as you pick and choose characters that you like and that work well together thanks to the great potential system, they bond together and will stick in your mind as Squad 7.

    The story itself is very enjoyable, a mix of romance, fantasy, war and racial tensions which draws many parralells with the real conflict of world war 2, overall it's a wonderful breath of fresh air and a much needed break from the myriad flavours of power fantasy.

    The gameplay system is great and really brought the SRPG genre along leaps and bounds. It becomes really enjoyable 1/4 of the way into the game when it starts throwing immense set pieces into the mix.

    The anime artsyle really looks great while at the same time it remains down to earth and not too garish.

    The bottom line is this is a must have game
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  4. Sep 21, 2014
    10
    10/10 for me, but it certainly is a targeted audience game.
    Things I liked about the game (and why you may not) -
    Long sweeping
    10/10 for me, but it certainly is a targeted audience game.
    Things I liked about the game (and why you may not) -

    Long sweeping story-line, there is tons of character development and relationship building throughout the game. If you're the kind of person that enjoys "oh hey I just met you now we're in love forever so can we get on with the game-play?" story-lines this isn't for you.

    Difficulty - not terribly unforgiving as a strategy game, but probably one of the more difficult ones I've seen in the united states. Don't enter this game unprepared or expecting to be able to brute force / rush your way through any of the levels. Be aware that the pace is made for those who like strategy games, not the traditional warfare (ex. cod) type of game-play, so this game may seem very slow paced to new players to the field.

    Disadvantage (part of difficulty) - Unlike most games you'll see in america where you're a god and the enemy is laughable all throughout the game, most of the time the enemies units in this game have superior abilities, maneuverability, and firepower compared to your unites. This means you actually have to plan out and outsmart the AI in order to beat the game.

    Team Design - You can change the balance of units in your team so that you can appropriately plan for the mission. This means that even with the best strategy in the battle, you may not have a chance without bringing the right type of units. The types of units available range from scouts, to anti-tank, to snipers and all have different abilities and controls.

    Overall the game-play, story-line, and difficulty level came together to make a spectacular game. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I have.
    Expand
  5. Dec 30, 2012
    9
    I was honestly surprised when I bought this game, especially since I fail miserably at tactical games, but this game was a huge surprise inI was honestly surprised when I bought this game, especially since I fail miserably at tactical games, but this game was a huge surprise in both gameplay and difficulty. The game mixes elements of tactics (you move characters on a map), with rpg elements (you gain exp, power up stuff, gather members), and also elements of a shooter (you go into third person mode when you have to shoot). But the battle aren't the only good thing: characters and the setup are fantastic too, set in an alternative europe with different beliefs, but at the same time similar to the real europe, making us feel comfortable with the setting but still being able to tell new things. I haven't completely finished it yet but the game is luckily very versatile and, even if it's sometimes cheating, it's a good game and really pays off your dedication. But even then I do have some big complains about this game, and one of them is the classes. First off, I did love the fact that you don't believe your members by themselves, but they level up characters that are all in class, using the experience gained from battles (and skirmishes, which are the random battles of the game): this easily kills the constant grinding for leveling each character because you'll just level all characters from a certain class....but few classes are extremely and completely hard to use properly, making them worthless, like the shocktroopers and the lancers (your basic soldier and rocket launchers). Both these classes are used only in few moments, but because of their EXTREME slowness, they won't be able to be of any use when you're a lot forward into the camp or when you need proper action, leaving the main job to scouts (weaker, but much more mobile and can kill pretty good, if you aim to the head), engineers (weaker scouts, but they can repair the tank, replenish ammo, have more bombs, have good mobility and their weapon is the same as the scouts), and even snipers (they're even slower than shocktroopers and lancers....but they can 1-shot enemies from far, making them a must). Even your tank is better, even if slow, because it can kill everyone on the battlefield and only explosives and rockets can hurt him. In the end, even if lancers are good against tanks, making them a LITTLE more useful than the shocktroopers, these ones are and will remain a defensive type of soldier, which is a bit of disappointment considering their huge amount of damage they can do. Too bad, this issue would have been fixed if your tank could move them as a transport. Another big problem also, is the enemy that, even if sometimes acting as a random, they can shoot you more precisely than a sniper at times (a tank was able to destroy a group of soldier from almost the other side of the map, and a soldier was able to shoot me through the bridge rails). Luckily the enemy will still act randomly and won't be a big of an issue, but if you're not careful your group will perish from their inhuman aiming. And third...the game randomly ramps up in difficulty during fights. The biggest examples were the first battles of the game, where I was supposed to use the tank to fight back...but the tank wouldn't arrive until I was almost dead (and luckily I managed to pass the mission just in time). Another big example was when I was fighting the enemy, everything was doing fine, then...an unspotted tank came in, and destroyed my camp, and almost failed the mission (at least the game told me to bring some lancers), without mentioning a boss tank could almost 3 shot me even with full defensive upgrades available. As I said, I haven't completed the game, but these are some small examples of how the game will tease you, and it can be a problem because, if you don't act on time, you might fail and restart the game, in order to make a proper group (thus, becoming a trial and error game). I do like this game though, despite the flaws, because of the amazing amount of details they've put on anything, like soldier's backstories, weapons and tank upgrades, well thought level up system, and a detailed story with a well balanced roster of character (balanced, because they all are the main characters, in the end), and it really saddens me that this game didn't have a good popularity, because it deserved a proper success and, unfortunely, it showed how good games and well thought games can fail because of poor marketing (Okami on the ps2 is the prime example). If you ever find this game, I'd highly suggest to give it a try, because I did the mistake of following bad reviews (mentioning that it was either hard as hell, or badly programmed), and only now I recovered my mistake. Worth trying, especially because it might be cheap, and good games on the ps3 are still a rare sight to spot. Expand
  6. GiampaoloC.
    Jan 2, 2009
    9
    Valkyria Chronicles is the game I've been waiting since Final Fantasy Tactics. It manages to change the usual sRPG gameplay in an Valkyria Chronicles is the game I've been waiting since Final Fantasy Tactics. It manages to change the usual sRPG gameplay in an innovative and clever way, creating an unique and definitely satisfying game experience. Add to this an incredible graphic quality, an intriguing story and a few good characters and you get a masterpiece. The only thing that prevented this game from getting a 10 is the not-so-perfect AI. But still, I would highly recommend this game to any RPG fan out there. Expand
  7. Dec 1, 2021
    0
    A strategy game that gives you multiple classes, but only actually wants you to use 2 of them. One, where you should just endlessly spamA strategy game that gives you multiple classes, but only actually wants you to use 2 of them. One, where you should just endlessly spam tank-engineer-combo for all eternity and let your snipers and shocktroopers try to catch up as they are incredibly slow and useless. A game that has a somewhat decent story, but hides it behind more and more infurating missions forcing you to restart them multiple times until you figure out the actual winning strategy. Of course, also has absolutely no cheat codes to circumvent the **** At least it lets you save how often you want.

    I had some fun with this at the beginning, but now it frustrated me more than it was ever entertaining. All I wanna do now is to see how the story concludes, and thats it. Of course, I can't, because modern games dont include level skip codes anymore because they all suck. Oh, well.
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See all 88 User Reviews