Valkyria Chronicles Remastered

Valkyria Chronicles is about the continent of Europa, separated into three nations. You begin the story in the small neutral nation of Gallia, caught between the war of The East Europan Imperial Alliance and the Atlantic federation. Though a peaceful Nation, Gallia is eventually targeted by the imperial alliance for it’s abundance of the mineral Ragnite. Europa is loosely based on Europe during the early years of World war II, and Ragnite is a versatile substance that acts almost like petrol does for us. The border town of Bruhl is the first to be invaded, and that is where we meet our protagonists Welkin Gunther, the nature loving son of a wartime hero and Alicia Melchiott. Bruhl is eventually overrun and they escape to the capital city of Randgriz were they join the Gallian Malitia.

The game has a unique menu setup which is styled like a history book, with small episodes and chapters taking up the actual game play. Everything you need is within this book, and a simple page flip away. You can access all sub menu options in this book at anytime by selecting the appropriate tabs, and you have the ability to go freely between your headquarters and chapter selections. Essentially the game is like a historical re-telling of the Second Europan war. This history book style is also represented in the art style and animation of the game, which resembles watercolour sketches, both in cutscene episodes and in game play.

Playing as Welkin, you command squad 7 and have full control of members you put into the party. Something I really liked about this is that all the members you have to choose from, each have unique personalities and traits, which can either aid you in battle or become a bit of a nuisance. For instance, a scout who fancies men will have their performance and accuracy increase when around men, while someone with a desert allergy will have their stats suffer greatly when fighting in a desert environment. The personalities add to your connection to your team mates and you can fast find yourself becoming attached to some, which in the case of casualties during battle, makes the loss all the more realistic.

Something else that is great about this is that there is a nice amount of LGBT representation within squad members, and it’s not used as some kind of shock value or big reveal, it’s just part of the norm.

Battles use the turn based system called BLiTZ, which some JRPG fans may be familiar with. You are able to place and select units in an overhead map called command mode, and then through live battle mode you can control them individually, attacking and moving around depending on the Action Points you have. In target mode enemy actions will freeze which allows you to take your time and aim for their weakest point.