Oh man, I was excited for this one. The first Valkyria Chronicles is one of my favorite video games, and after losing interest in the series due to its two sequels differing in structure (not to mention VC3's lack of a Western release), I was thrilled to hear Sega was bringing the original formula back. It’s too bad this one hasn’t sold well, however, but not surprising given the lack of love Sega has given the series in the West. I’m even more thrilled that this one lived up to the first in nearly every way.
Whoops, I got ahead of myself. This month in my 2020 JRPG journey, I’ll be discussing Valkyria Chronicles 4. If you’ve never played this series, I urge you to start with the first game, although this one is quite similar. The unique combination of turn-based strategy, third-person shooting, and puzzling is a bizarrely enjoyable and addictivr experience.
The core appeal of Valkyria Chronicles for me is figuring out how to complete each battle as fast as possible, and I’m glad Sega has leaned into that aspect in this sequel. It’s hard to tell if the ability to break the first game with Scouts (particularly Alicia) was intended by the development team, at least perhaps not to the extent that Potentials (hello, Resist Crossfire) and certain Orders like Caution allowed. Given that Caution in particular has been removed from this game, the developers clearly didn’t want this game to be as broken as the first, but they nonetheless give you plenty of ways to rush goals and get that turn count as low as possible. This is one the best gameplay experiences I could ask for, and the fourth game in the series delivers.
Valkyria Chronicles 4 is accurately described as a clone of the first, which from me, anyway, is a compliment. The only major change aside from nerfing Orders is the addition of the Grenadier class, which quickly became my go-to for nearly all ranged combat situations in the early game. They were so useful that my Lancers saw even less use this time around than in the first game. However, once my other classes had better weapons, my Grenadiers saw less use overall due to utter lack of defense. They were still often the best choice for dealing large damage to a single heavy unit, such as some of the boss tanks, but in general my style in the later stages consisted mostly of old-school Scout rushing, using leader units to extend movement to an insane degree. All-in-all, I don’t think Grenadiers added much to the formula. In the early game, they replace nearly all uses for Snipers and Lancers, and then become mostly useless. I’d rather have to make better use of my Snipers and Lancers early on and have their uses evolve as weapons improve. Still, Grenadiers were a ton of fun, so it’s hard to complain about them.
The story overall was entertaining, but standard JRPG fair through-and-through, and was heavily reminiscent of the first game. This isn’t necessarily bad, since the story is not the core appeal of the series to me, but I do enjoy fluffy JRPG stories and wish they had done something different this time. Maybe set it in a different war or time period. Japanese WWII games in general are kind of hilarious in how absurdly they simplify global conflict and its effects on all involved.
The characters as well were not as memorable as the first game’s, although it’s hard to beat Alicia in terms of memorability. Riley and Raz were fun, though, and the childhood relationships between several main characters provided some intrigue, albeit in typically zany JRPG ways. I stayed invested in the characters and story at the very least, which is all I ask from a JRPG.
I got a solid 70 hours out of my experience, which is even longer than I spent with the first game. This one has significantly more content as well as more DLC. I unlocked everything, got all medals, and A-ranked all main game and DLC missions except for the Expert Skirmishes, which I’m saving for a rainy day some year soon. Gotta have somewhere to get my Valkyria Chronicles fix since, unfortunately, I doubt we will get a fifth game any time soon.
Stay tuned for June when I’ll discuss the next game on my industrious JRPG list, a long-hyped beast of a game, a game from one of my favorite series, a game I should have played years ago … Tales of the Abyss.
