69 replies to this topic

[Tempest]

My main beef with ES was that you had no time to plan anything out because the timer went down even if you weren't moving (I think that only happened on level 3 and up though).  If the timer only goes down if you're moving around that's fine.  I just hate being rushed, especially if it's a strategy game.

Tempest

[cimerians]

Tempest, on Tue Feb 17, 2009 10:46 AM, said:

My main beef with ES was that you had no time to plan anything out because the timer went down even if you weren't moving (I think that only happened on level 3 and up though).  If the timer only goes down if you're moving around that's fine.  I just hate being rushed, especially if it's a strategy game.

Tempest

Yup I know exactly what you mean.

VC is a lot better and not as frustrating....I think it did do that around Level 3 in Sonata.

[Mendon]

There is no timer in Valkyria Chronicles and you can take as long as you like to set up your attack strategy and move your characters.

Basic gameplay:

You are presented a mission with a clear objective. All missions require you to win the battle within 20 moves, but at least one mission requires you make less than 20 moves.

Once the mission is outlined, and an overhead map of the battlefield is shown, you select which characters that are in your squad you will use to take part in the battle. Each character has "Battle" and "Personal" potentials, or better known as strengths and weaknesses. Going over these potentials is a must as you really need to optimise your squad. An example would be: if the battle is to take place in a grass field, you don't want a character who has a "Pollen Allergy"  as that potential will kick in and they will lose accuracy, hit points, or even refuse to take part in the battle. But taking a character with a potential of "Meadow Bred" will raise their accuracy, hit points, and will to fight. Sometimes you take a character with bad potentials and hope for the best because that character is the best person for that particular battle. You also will have one of your main characters, Welkin, who commands a tank, for almost every battle.

Characters come in classes: Shocktrooper (does heavy damage), Scout (great for looking over the area), Engineer (keeps your tanks repaired, heals characters, restocks ammo), Sniper (obivious), and Lancer (doesn missile damage only). Each character has what is termed "Action Points" or AP's (and this **might** have been incorrectly identified as a "timer") and these AP's are how far (or how many steps) you can move a character per round. A Scout has the most AP's because they need to survey the battle area. An Engineer has the next highest number of AP's, then a Shocktrooper, Lancer, and Sniper (who has a pitiful amount). As you move a character, his AP meter will lower showing you his remaining amount of step's left.

So you are presented an overhead view map (which shows some enemy troop locations but not all nor the total number as many may be hiding), given your objective, you've selected your squad members, and its now off to battle. Once you select a character to move, the view switches to 3rd person and you see the actual landscape along with landmarks (trenches, tree's, rocks, etc that can provide cover). Its up to you figure out a strategy and how to move your troops to win the battle and meet the mission objective.

Its a LOT more involved than what I wrote..... command points, movement, swapping out characters, taking over enemy camps, raising your troop's stat's, giving Orders during battles, improving equipment and weapons, etc etc etc... and would take a long time to type it all in. Its best to download the demo and get a feel for the game.

I can't give this game enough praise as the artwork, storyline, characters, gameplay, control, and more are of the HIGHEST quality. This is, without doubt, the BEST game I've played in years and years and years and I can't recommend strongly enough that you are least try out the demo.



Mendon

[gospeedde]

So I "finished" the game, and now I love it more than ever.  You can't really get any of the difficult medals until the game "ends" and working on them is a whole lot of fun for me.  I'm trying to open all the potentials for all the characters, learn all the orders, get A's on all the levels, etc.  It also opened the hard levels for the skirmishes and they are WAY harder than the normal or easy versions.  Plus, you are usually playing them "backwards" i.e. going from the camp you occupied in the easy/normal levels to whereever the enemy ended up when they fled the camp (usually where you started out the first time, but sometimes split all around you).  I died rather spectacularly the first five or six times I played the first hard level.  It's awesome.

As a warning, you can't save after you finish the last battle until the movie(s) are over, which takes about a thousand years.  Seriously.  It takes forever, but it is worth it for what you can do afterwards.

[moycon]

gospeedde, on Sun Feb 22, 2009 10:36 PM, said:

It takes forever, but it is worth it for what you can do afterwards.

If it took forever you'd never get to it to know!!    

I don't mind long ass movies at the completion of the game. Sure beats having them in the middle of the game, especially when all you really want to do is play!!

[cimerians]

moycon, on Sun Feb 22, 2009 9:48 PM, said:

gospeedde, on Sun Feb 22, 2009 10:36 PM, said:

It takes forever, but it is worth it for what you can do afterwards.

If it took forever you'd never get to it to know!!    

I don't mind long ass movies at the completion of the game. Sure beats having them in the middle of the game, especially when all you really want to do is play!!

Metal Gear was notorious for that.  LOL

[cimerians]

DLC!



--

Valkyria Chronicles DLC?
Published: 03/03/2009, 10:34 in News
Tags: SEGA, Valkyria Chronicles
Author: cc_star

We think Valkyria Chronicles, the amazing and jaw droppingly beautiful Sega RPG/RTS combo is officially great, it should also be pointed out that the rest of the world agrees with us, as it carries a Metacritic score of 87.

Unfortunately the buying public didn’t agree as sales of the amazing game outside of Japan were a bit weak to say the least.

There are whisperings,well tweetings that something new is happening in the fictional land of Gallia. As Sega’s announce “Something new looms on Gallia’s horizon… are you ready?”  on the official Valkyria Chronicles twitter account.

What this ’somethin new’ is, isn’t known yet, but it is doubtful at this stage it’s going to be a sequel, and it is highly likely this anouncement relates to the DLC which surfaced in Japan last year. That DLC included a whole new mission, an even harder skirmish mode, the ability to play as the evil invading Imperial forces, and obviously a whole new set of battles.

There were rumours of Trophies appearing in the game, but when you’ve only got a maximum of 140 characters to go on, details are obviously thin on the ground.

It’s rare that a game looks like a developer has put so much love, care and attention in to it, but this is one of those games. I loved Valkyria Chronicles, it truly is a unique gaming experience which pushes the boundaries and sits comfortably between two genres, which are under-represented on the PS3, in fact it’s got me that excited I’m going to fire up Valkyria as soon as I get in front of my PS3, I can’t wait to revisit Gallia.


Article is here:
http://www.thesixtha...chronicles-dlc/

[Mendon]

cimerians, on Tue Mar 3, 2009 10:11 AM, said:

DLC!



--

I finished the game about a week ago and..... I'm still in awe of this game and the quality that went into it. I've said it often but I'll say it again: Valkyria Chronicles is the BEST game I've played in years and years and years.

While waiting for the DLC to appear, I'm going back thru and trying different goals on my own. As an example, I'm trying to complete each mission by killing EVERY onscreen enemy before occupying the final camp.

I've also done a few skirmishes by A) using only 5 squad members, one of each class; or B) fighting a skirmish without using/moving Welkin and Zaka at all; or C) fighting a skirmish by using all one class.... all Lancers or all Scouts or all Shocktroopers; or D) fighting a skrimish without swapping out any squad members or calling for the medic.  The possibilities of differing ways of playing this game is limited only by your imagination.

And I still have to obtain 4 medals to complete that part.


Plus.. don't forget the anime movie is coming also. No firm release date has been set as I've only seen "coming this spring" so far.


Mendon

[cimerians]

Yup I heard about the anime. I'm on chapter one....I've delayed far too long.

The graphics still amaze me.

[Mendon]

From what I've been reading, the DLC will consist of 3 parts:

1) Hard EX DLC will add an Extra Hard setting to all skirmishes.
2) Selvaria DLC will add 4 new missions where you play as the Empire
3) Edy DLC will add one new (and supposedly quite different) Squad 7 mission


I cannot wait for the DLC to arrive!!!!


Mendon

Edited by Mendon, Fri Mar 13, 2009 4:25 PM.

[moycon]

Mendon & cimerians, on Fri Mar 13, 2009, said:

The graphics still amaze me.  I cannot wait for the DLC to arrive!!!!

Mendon

G-Damnit!!! Mendon and cimerians... I can't stand it anymore.
I ordered this for next to full retail price (using a gift certificate) based on your slobbering, lovey dovey praise for the game.
I can only hope it's HALF as good as you claim. Time will tell.

Edited by moycon, Sat Mar 14, 2009 2:19 AM.

[Mendon]

moycon, on Sat Mar 14, 2009 3:18 AM, said:

G-Damnit!!! Mendon and cimerians... I can't stand it anymore.
I ordered this for next to full retail price (using a gift certificate) based on your slobbering, lovey dovey praise for the game.
I can only hope it's HALF as good as you claim. Time will tell.

Did you download and give the demo a try? While the demo does NOT do justice to the game, due to the depth of story and characters, it will give you a taste of a skirmish and a battle.

The reviews have all been glowing for the game and I've not seen a post in any VC forum I've been on that knocks the game. So hopefully you will like this game as much as it appears eveyone else seems to do.

I cannot think of one thing about the game I didn't like..... no, wait a minute, there was ONE: totally ignore Hans.... MOINK!


Mendon

[cimerians]

moycon, on Sat Mar 14, 2009 2:18 AM, said:

Mendon & cimerians, on Fri Mar 13, 2009, said:

The graphics still amaze me.  I cannot wait for the DLC to arrive!!!!

Mendon

G-Damnit!!! Mendon and cimerians... I can't stand it anymore.
I ordered this for next to full retail price (using a gift certificate) based on your slobbering, lovey dovey praise for the game.
I can only hope it's HALF as good as you claim. Time will tell.

    

I think you'll like it

LOL

[moycon]

Tried this out today.
So far it's been top notch. Excellent graphics. Engaging game play. It's a bit different than I was expecting.
This game does sort of remind me of Eternal Sonata in certain ways.
It should be noted ES was/is one of my favorite games so that can only be a good thing.
Looking forward to progressing further.

[Mendon]

Keep us updated on how you are doing and what you think of the game, Moycon. I'm interested in your reaction to it.

And if you need any tips or hints, post away!



Mendon

[moycon]

I'm not terribly far into the game yet. I past the area where you encounter a tank, and honestly I ran like a little girl and wound up with a "C"
I'm thinking maybe you can destroy the tank maybe by

Spoiler

hitting that blue power thing on it's back end??

I haven't tried yet but can you go back and replay an episode to try and get a better grade?

[cimerians]

I tried going back to re-play a skirmish but it didnt let me.  

Unless Im missing something?

[Mendon]

Moycon: The only real way to destroy a tank is to take out the radiator (the glowing blue thingy) on the back of a tank. Use the Eildelweiss or a Lancer to target the radiator and take it out.

Later in the game you can give an "Order" (you obtain orders by leveling up your troops and by purchasing them from the Old Gentleman at the cemetary.... Orders are your BEST friend so make sure you buy every one you can from the Old Gentleman) that will raise the destructive capabilities of the Shocktroopers and then they can also take out a tank on their turn.


Once you have completed a mission, you can't replay that mission (from Book Mode) until you've completed the game and opened up New Game Plus. BUT... there is nothing stopping you from having multiple saves, one at the start of a mission or one during a mission, and if you are unhappy with the grade you receive you can just reload that save and play the mission again until you receive the grade you want.

For myself, I didn't worry about getting an A or a B as my grade on my first play-thru but I just enjoyed the game. After you beat the game and open up New Game Plus, you can go back thru and replay any/all missions you want, try to obtain all A's, and earn a medal for doing so.

Yes, the higher the grade you receive means more EXP's and money for that mission. But with the ability to replay skirmishes over and over and over, earning money and EXP's each time, getting an A isn't that important.



Cimerians: you can replay skirmishes that you've unlocked over and over and over. Just go into Tab Mode, select Skirmishes, and select any of the unlocked skirmishes from list. Skirmishes that you haven't unlocked yet will be darkened and you cannot select them.

When I needed EXP's to buy Orders from the Old Gentleman or money to upgrade my tanks/weapons or buy a story from The Writing On The Wall or to level up my troops, I would replay one of two skirmishes constantly because I could beat either of these skirmishes in one or two moves and receive an A, thus receiving the maximum amount of money/EXP's which was 50,000+ EXP's and 60,000+ in money for doing so.

If you have unlocked a skirmish, played that skirmish, and now can't go back and replay that skirmish, I don't know what the problem would be as all unlocked skirmishes can be played as many times as you want.

Hope I've helped.


Mendon

[gospeedde]

I actually enjoyed not going for an A grade the first time around.  Most of the time I ended up with C's.  Usually what you need to do to get an A leaves most of the enemies alive, on some of the levels it even feels like a cheap win.  The first time I played through I tried to kill off all the enemies in every battle, rather than just running for the goal.  This time around I'm going for all A's and it sorta feels like a different game, which makes replay a little more fun.

[Reaperman]

I've really been enjoying this title so far.  I'm up to chapter 5--about to try my first battle in the woods, but I haven't been getting great grades on previous missions at all, and I don't feel like grinding up in skirmish mode.  I tend to rely pretty heavily on scout units, but maybe that's just the early levels talking.

scouts seem like about the only way to get enough movement for this game--which I thought would help my grades, but so far it hasn't

Edited by Reaperman, Mon Apr 6, 2009 9:47 AM.

[Mendon]

WOW.... OH WOW!!!

HERE IS A LINK to the preview of the Valkyria Chronicles Anime!! Looks absolutely GREAT!!! (but I'm biased as I love this game!)

One thing: at the end, I noticed a "Playstation Store" logo and name..... I can't read Japanese so I'm wondering if its possibly stating that the anime will be available for download from the PS Store??????


Mendon

[Mendon]

HERE IS THE LINK to Episode 1 (with English subtitles) of Valkyria Chronicles.

Nice they used a lot of the music from the game in it and that they changed the story "a little bit" so that's it not a complete remake of the game.

Enjoy!


Mendon

[Mendon]

Great News!!!  (at least for me).....

THIS ARTICLE is an interview with the producer of Valkyria Chronicles and in it he states that ".... he doesn't want to leave the series at one title" and that he really wants to do a sequel!!! Though not definite, this is indeed encouraging!!

I'd love to see them go back in time and do the first war with Welkin's father.


Mendon

[moycon]

Mendon, on Fri Apr 10, 2009 11:25 AM, said:

Great News!!!  (at least for me).....

THIS ARTICLE is an interview with the producer of Valkyria Chronicles and in it he states that ".... he doesn't want to leave the series at one title" and that he really wants to do a sequel!!! Though not definite, this is indeed encouraging!!

I'd love to see them go back in time and do the first war with Welkin's father.


Mendon

More information (Not much new though) about a possible sequel:

http://www.joystiq.c...ed-in-a-sequel/

Edited by moycon, Sun Apr 12, 2009 1:32 PM.

[Mendon]

Anyone purchase the DLC's for Valkyria?

I've played a little of the Hard EX and Selvaria's Blue Flame DLC's (haven't tried Edy's DLC yet) and all I can say so far is WOW... just WOW.

Selvaria's DLC is tough as the troops you are given are almost worthless in battle (Lvl 1's against Lvl 6's who dodge everything!!!), but Hard EX??? Ack... still haven't completed the first map in that sucker yet as its been handing me my butt on a regular basis, even with new weapons.

Maybe some will find the DLC's a little pricey, but I find them excellent (so far) and am really pleased that they give you more insight into the characters lives.


Mendon