Yeah, I'm just gonna join the dogpile and say that I appreciated the CrossCode review as well. I'll definitely be on the lookout for an eventual console port. Thanks, Scrustle.
So,
Valkyria Chronicles, then. Wow, what a game.
It's not everyday that a backward curmudgeon with a laundry list of pet issues like myself falls in love with an entirely new game without feeling the need to compare it negatively to a previous classic, but what do you know? That's exactly what happened. It simply nails the big three for me: Gameplay, Story and Presentation.
I'm a sucker for games with a distinct audiovisual hook, and the combination of faux-pencil art style and faux-sketchbook chapter format is marvelous. The music isn't the kind of top shelf stuff I would necessarily listen to outside of the game itself, but every track is fitting and underlines the action / cutscene perfectly. No complaints here.
I found the story to be surprisingly good. I have a soft spot for japanese war stories in general because I find the perspective of many writers to be very nuanced and interesting due to various cultural factors. This game is rather trope-y and veers into anime territory one too many times for its own good, but it does have very memorable characters and handles a lot of its subject matter rather well. It's not quite
great, but it certainly goes above and beyond the bare minimum that would have been necessary to frame the gameplay like so many other video game stories. I for one was looking forward to every cutscene and never felt disappointed.
The gameplay on the other hand is nothing short of fantastic. The game thankfully opts for refined and easily understandable basics instead of over-saturating the player with hundreds of stats and half-baked mechanics like so many of its competitors. But what it lacks in obfuscating complexity, it makes up for in variety. Now that's speaking my language. The missions and maps are brilliantly designed, always with a new twist around the corner that forces you to rethink your strategy. The absence of a grid-based movement system and character usage restrictions meant that I had to fundamentally reevaluate the way I approached each encounter because I was so used to Fire Emblem at first, but by the end of the game I was completely in the zone without the usual nagging feeling of "I've done this before, and it was better the first time". This type of gameplay structure meant that my engagement and enjoyment of the game only increased over time instead of the other way around. The late game Citadel Ghirlandaio battles in particular are some of the genre's standout moments. Last but not least: the enemy Ace system is the kind of ingenious extra challenge that I adore, the adorable Medic triplets provide a much appreciated safety net to soften the blow of the permadeath system, and it never feels as if the RNG has any major influence on the outcome of any battle. Great polish, everything just feels tight and well-considered. Wonderful stuff.
Character balancing is also really good for the most part. Level progression being class-based instead of individual-based encourages mix-ups, perks are distinct enough to make a noticeable difference at times without ever breaking the game *cough* Awakeni(r)ng *cough*, and every class fulfills a useful and specific role. As many have pointed out before me, scout rushing is indeed overpowered, but I opted for a more conservative playstyle my first go around in order to make the best out of my team and the overall map design. Fun times. Bring on NG+.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but this game can definitely hold its own against the best Fire Emblem games, which is nothing short of
insanely high praise coming from me. If anything, it made me significantly more critical of XCOM in retrospect, thanks to its very reasonable amount of randomization, wonderful mission design/variety and impeccable technical performance.
I'm ashamed of myself for taking 10 bloody years to finally play it. Many thanks to the podcast crew for bringing this gem to my attention. For the record, my interest in VC4 went from "oh cool, I'll certainly be tempted for under 25€ at some point" to "can't wait to receive my LE
tomorrow!!". And needless to say, I'd be all over a console port of 2 and 3 if that ever happened.
We need more games like this one and we need them
now. Sega does what Nintendon't, indeed. After the critical acclaim that VC4 has received, all I need is for Intelligent Systems to stick the landing with Three Houses and we'll be in the golden age of Tactical RPGs once again. Let the Renaissance be lush and bountiful, so the world may be mended.
Great game, epic shelf, gold star, GOTY 2008 runner-up, yadda yadda yadda.
