Valkyria Chronicles 4

Genre: Turn-Based Strategy-RPG

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in Valkyria Chronicles + Valkyria Chronicles 4 Bundle, along with the original Valkyria Chronicles.)

Valkyria Chronicles 4, much as with the first game in the series, is a Turn-Based Strategy-RPG that plays much like the XCOM games, albeit with a very different feel thanks to the wildly different presentation this game has. While those games are dark, somewhat realistic sci-fi games, this one is an alternate history game with anime-esque visuals and story.

For those wondering why the series jumps from the first game to the fourth on the Nintendo Switch, and whether that will affect their enjoyment of the game… pull up a chair. Okay, so after the first game released on the PlayStation 3 in 2008, the second and third games released on the PlayStation Portable, with the third game not even seeing release outside of Japan. After this, there was a six year gap where the series only saw a few side-story games released, until the fourth numbered installment hit multiple platforms including the Nintendo Switch in 2018 (though I’ll get this out of the way right away – no touchscreen or motion control support).

Now, Sega could have chosen to bring out the second and third games as well, but that would pose two problems: first, the third game would need a new localization, as it never received one in the first place. And second, unlike the first Valkyria Chronicles, the second and third games were originally released on hardware that is now graphically roughly three generations behind the Nintendo Switch, and would probably need work done to bring the graphics up to par by today’s standards.

Okay, so now that the history lesson is over, here’s the important part: each of these games follows a different group of characters, and while they all exist in the same shared alternate history version of Europe, you don’t need to have played prior games to understand the plot of the current one. In fact, the third and fourth games take place at roughly the same time as the first game, just in a different area (the second game takes place two years later), so in terms of story, you’re not missing much by skipping straight from the first game to the fourth.

Whew! All that to basically tell you there’s no problem with playing only the first and fourth games!

When it comes to this game’s story, as with most games in the series, this game’s story takes place in an alternate-reality version of the European theater during World War… 2, I think? It’s a bit hard to tell because this alternate version of history has everyone fighting over a fictional resource called ragnite that powers the machinery, and the overall plot is very anime-esque. With the fourth game specifically, this time around the game starts in medias res with your protagonist already commanding a group of troops heading into battle, and as such, you’re more or less getting to know them on the field of battle. This actually works pretty well, and helps to ensure that players get into the action more swiftly this time around (though make no mistake – there’s still plenty of story in-between battles).

Further reinforcing the anime feel of this game is the presentation, which features a beautiful cel-shaded 3D presentation designed to look like an anime being sketched out with color pencils (much as the first game was). There’s a bit more detail this time around, but mostly this is the same beautiful stylized look that worked so well for the first game, and is just as appealing now.

This is paired with good (though again, very anime-esque) voice acting, and appropriately dramatic music to match the intensity of battle and the melodrama going on between characters. Again, this all works fantastic for this game’s overall anime-esque presentation, though I will note one caveat – during battle, you’ll hear radio chatter responding to your actions (or just general military jabber), and it doesn’t take long to get repetitive and annoying.

When it comes to the gameplay, this game is a strong evolution of the qualities that made the first game great. Players of the first game will recognize the hand-drawn maps that transition into the cel-shaded 3D visuals as you individually select troops to move, giving you multiple perspectives on the strategy of the battlefield, as well as the mix of XCOM-style turn-based strategy with the immediacy given to the action by having players manually moving the characters where to go rather than pointing them to a destination and having them move there automatically. And once again, players are given the freedom to build up their own little private army of soldiers, giving each of them not only a specialty, but their own individual friendships with your other fighters as well as unique personality traits that make them feel like more than just numbers on a stat sheet, but full-fledged characters.

Basically, everything that worked well for the first game is still present here. However, the game does add a few elements, with the most notable being the new class, grenadier, who is capable of shelling locations from a range. This unit quickly proves to be invaluable, if not outright overpowered – the ability to take out enemies from a distance without even needing line-of-sight is a game-changer, and teaming up one of these units with a mechanic to ensure they never run out of ammo is such a powerful pairing that it’s likely to be your go-to for most situations.

There are other important elements as well, such as being able to assign team leaders who both give you extra action points to use on the battlefield, as well as allowing you to move them with their individual team at the same time. This game also goes farther with the idea that each of your troops is a unique character, adding in optional side-missions for them.

The result is a game that is a marked improvement over the first Valkyria Chronicles, but one that doesn’t depart too far from the formula that game set. With ten years between the original release of the first installment and the fourth, this series has definitely grown, but it hasn’t grown much. However, while Valkyria Chronicles 4 doesn’t do much to change up this decade-old formula, it’s a formula that was pretty strong to begin with, only gets stronger here, and the $30 price tag is a pretty sweet deal for a superb Strategy-RPG. If you’re a fan of Strategy-RPGs, and especially if you’re a fan of anime, you should consider this an absolute must-buy.

tl;dr – Valkyria Chronicles 4 is a Turn-Based Strategy RPG that takes place at roughly the same time as the first game but with a different set of characters. Like the first game, the fourth game in the series combines XCOM-style Strategy-RPG gameplay with real-time movement and a beautiful anime-esque cel-shaded presentation, and it builds on the formula set in the first game with a new unit type as well as the ability to form commanders. Make no mistake, this is an improvement over the first game, but it’s a marginal one. However, this still means it is a must-have for Strategy-RPG fans, especially those who love anime.

Grade: A-

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