Valkyria Chronicles II

Valkyria Chronicles II is one of the best games on the Playstation Portable (PSP).  Though, I suppose this isn't saying much considering that much of the PSP library is littered with lazily done remakes of old Playstation games.  Sometimes they're even disguised as a sequel.  I will probably discuss these in a later post.

However, before we talk about the shit, I would like to talk about the best of what the PSP has to offer.  Valkyria Chronicles II is clearly one of the best.

One of the main reasons this game works so well is because it knows its limitations.  In fact, I've seen developers make the mistake of not knowing limitations even with the Playstation 3.  Some good examples of this are Star Ocean:  The Last Hope and even critically acclaimed games like Fallout 3.  Don't get me wrong, I love Fallout 3 but if you're playing it on the Playstation 3, don't play it for more than three hours at once or else you'll beat your head against the wall waiting for the game to unfreeze itself (yeah, if you're patient, it does eventually start working again but I wouldn't walk away from the game because you'll walk back to a game over screen).

Anyways, all tangents aside, I would like to talk about Valkyria Chronicles II.  Valkyria Chronicles II is not only as good as the first, I would say that it is even better than its Playstation 3 predecessor.  Valkyria Chronicles II not only builds off of the most innovative gameplay since Battlefield 1942, it also improves it by including new soldier classes, a revamped leveling system, and a plethora of vehicle mods.

Probably the most definitive aspect of the Valkyria Chronicles series is the general gameplay.  The gameplay is centered around a turn-based, first person shooter style.  Yes, you read that right.  Turn-based, first person shooter.  It sounds like the dumbest idea ever on paper but this game is a ton of fun.  It's kind of like playing Company of Heroes if you got to control the movement and combat of ever soldier at your discretion (and it wasn't real time).

You select what soldier you want to
control from a top down map of the area

Each turn involves a troop movement phase and a combat phase.  You select which troop you want to move, then it goes into a third person kind of perspective as you move them into the position you want.  When you're moving, you want to avoid land mines and certain enemy troops as you have no means of defending yourself until you enter attack mode.  Once you get into position, you can go into attack mode.

You move your troops into position
and fire away

Most troops have their main weapon to choose from (rifle, machine gun, anti-tank lance) or hand grenades.  I'll talk more about soldier classes in a moment.  You choose what weapon you want to use and aim like you would in a first person shooter.  Most of the time, you will want to aim for the head.  However, not all of your troops are going to be champion marksman so sometimes it's more worth your while to aim for the chest instead.

The tactical portion of the game is a critical skill to master.  Using the special abilities of each soldier class and applying them to situations are pretty vital to being successful in the game.  This is one of the first tactical games I have ever played where you can't just recycle the same or similar strategy for each level (unless if you spend a needless amount of time leveling up your troops).  Really, this goes for the whole series (which is one of the reasons why I love it so much).  You will find yourself trying all sorts of strategies in different situations to try and penetrate an enemy's defenses depending on soldier classes and positioning.  Probably the one way that the sequel falls short of the original is with the addition of the Fencer class.  The Fencer class basically has a huge-ass shield that can block bullets and a giant broadsword that can cut the heads off of infantry.  The drawback is that they can't run that far.  However, the Fencers can travel far enough where you can send them into a hail of gunfire and have them cut down a pesky machine gunner.  Basically, the Fencer class is a bit overpowered.  Situations where you found yourself screwed in the first game aren't so bad in the second game.  In fact, there are levels in the first game that are similar to WWI battlefields where you find yourself in trench warfare situations.  Imagine how easy those levels would have been if you could just lumber down the field with a giant-ass shield to block all of the bullets flying around.

Haha bitch!  Sandbags don't stop a sword swung from over the top!

Anyhow, for those of you interested, I made a breakdown of all the soldier classes in the game.  The soldier classes are divided into three tiers.  A particular soldier has to be a soldier class in the previous tier before being eligible for a soldier class in the next tier.  A soldier also has to be in a soldier class that falls within the realm of the starting soldier classes (ie, a scout can only upgrade to a scout veteran or a sniper).  Along these lines, a soldier can only upgrade to an elite soldier class that falls under the realm of the veteran soldier class that they were in (ie, a sniper can only upgrade to the sniper elite or AT sniper classes).

Starting Soldier Classes	Interception Fire/ Counter Attack	Description
Scout	Yes	Most mobile:  Shoots a semi-auto infantry rifle, has a grenade
Shocktrooper	Yes	Moderately mobile:  Shoots a submachine gun, has a grenade
Lancer	No	Moderately mobile:  Shoots what's essentially an anti-tank rocket called a lance.  Has three shells.
Engineer	Yes	Second most mobile:  Shoots a semi-automatic pistol.  Also has access to first aid and vehicle repair wrench
Armored Tech	No	Least Mobile.  Swings a giant battle hammer.  Has a shield making them just about invincible to bullets from the front.  Also can lay mines, remove mines, and fix demolished sandbag implacements.  Does not fight back on enemy turns
Veteran Soldier Classes
Scout Veteran	Yes	Improved stats from the regular scout
Sniper	No	Very immobile.  Does not shoot at nearby enemies out of turn.  One shot sniper rifle.  Has three bullets
Shocktrooper Veteran	Yes	Improved stats from the regular shocktrooper
Gunner	Yes	Gets a massive machinegun that shoots in a sweeping motion.  Most valuable for defending points as they shoot straight during the enemy's phase.
Lancer Veteran	No	Improved stats from the regular Lancer
Mortarer	No	Shoots a mortar lance instead of an anti-tank lance.  Great against infantry.  Has no effect against armor
Engineer	Yes	Improved stats from regular engineer
Anthem Corp	Yes	Supports troops by boosting stats through playing music.  Has pistol like an engineer would
Tech Veteran	No	Improved Stats from armored tech
Fencer	No	Focuses on infantry combat.  Swings a massive sword.  Capable of taking out multiple targets at once if they're close enough together.  Has the shield like an armored tech.
Elite Soldier Classes
Scout Elite	Yes	Improved Stats from the Scout Veteran
Heavy Scout	Yes	Similar to the Scout Veteran but rifle has a grenade launcher and a larger magazine
Sniper Elite	No	Shoots a three round semi-auto sniper rifle
AT Sniper	No	Shoots a one shot sniper rifle that can penatrate armor
Trooper Elite	Yes	Improved Stats from the Trooper Veteran
Commando	Yes	Has a submachine gun that has a flamethrower attachment.  Good for taking out troops in cover from a moderate distance.
Gunner Elite	Yes	Improved Stats from the gunner
Heavy Gunner	Yes	Similar to the Gunner Elite but has a 60 shot machine gun .  Mobility is limited
Lancer Elite	No	Improved Stats from the Lancer Veteran
Mobile Lancer	No	Can move farther than the Lancer Veteran
Heavy Mortar	No	Improved Stats from the Mortarer
Mobile Mortar	No	Can move farther than the Mortarer
Engineer Elite	Yes	Improved Stats from the Engineer Veteran
Medic	Yes	Does not have a wrench but first-aid can revive fallen comrades
Anthem Elite	Yes	Improved Stats from the Anthem Corp
Melodist	Yes	Can inflict status ailments on enemies through music
Tech Elite	No	Improved Stats from the Tech Veteran
Spec Tech	No	Throws Flash Grenades that can suppress enemy interception fire and counters
Fencer Elite	No	Improved Stats from the Fencer
Mauler	No	Similar to the Fencer Elite but has lowered attack against infantry and improved attack against armor

Another aspect that makes this game unique is the visual style of the game.  It is similar to a game for the Playstation 2/Xbox called XIII.  The Valkyria Chronicles series uses an anime style art design (well, I guess that XIII wasn't anime) and is animated similar to that of a comic book.  When explosions go off you have "BAAAAMM!"  and when people scurry off you have "shuffle shuffle shuffle."  The environments are also beautifully illustrated.  The colors grasp the right mood that this game is trying to portray.

This game has the best story telling that I have seen on the PSP.  The overall story arc is basic but the sideplots and character arcs are what really make the story great.  In between missions, random events will happen that are irrelevant to the game's main story but unveil important information about characters and character relationships.  As you progress through the game, you will be given opportunities to help characters with their own personal problems (which all conveniently involve going to battle).  But as you accomplish these, those particular characters will have potentials unlocked that change their stats in battle.  It's kind of like when someone gets emotionally charged going into battle since they have truly found something to fight for.  For instance, someone might be fighting alongside another character that is their best friend so they unlock a potential which improves firing rate and firing accuracy.  I think that's pretty cool.

Along the same lines, I would also like to emphasize that this game does not have generic characters in your squad.  What I mean by this is that you don't ever take control of faceless characters or regular grunts that you have no reason to care about.  Every soldier has their own face, own body type, own stance, own voice actor, own unique personality, and their own unique back story.  This is highly unusual, especially for a game that has 34 playable characters (not including bonus characters unlocked at the end of the game).  This truly blew me away.

The soundtrack for this game is also pretty good.  I wouldn't say it's one of the best of all time but I think it definitely makes the top 20%..

I guess one other thing to mention here is that the guy to girl ratio of characters is about 1:1 which is not typical for a story about soldiers going to war.  Though, this game is particularly about students going to a military academy who find themselves fighting in a war.  So, that might be part of the reason. However, the first game also had about the same number of female soldiers to male soldiers and that game was about a militia so, I think in this game's universe, it's just normal for women to fight wars.

Overall, if you like strategy based video games and own a PSP, you ought to give this one a try.  I can't see how you could possibly regret it.

Valkyria Chronicles II Cover:  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b6/Valkyria_Chronicles_II.jpg
Map Image: 
http://static.gamesradar.com/images/mb/GamesRadar/us/Games/V/Valkyria%20Chronicles%20II/Bulk%20Viewer/PSP/2010-09-07/20823Valkyria_38--article_image.jpg
Gameplay Image:  http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/1/12799/1505245-961429_20100901_790screen006.jpg
Fencer Image:  http://clgamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Battle-Swipe.jpg