Valkyria Chronicles - PS3

This game was originally released on Nov 2008 for PS3 only. This is a high quality RPG made by SEGA. It combines several aspects of different genres into a cohesive whole. There have been 2 sequels to the game; however, both only on the PSP. (This reminds me of what happened with Monster Hunter on the PS2. We can expect that the next console Valkyria Chronicles will be for the Wii...). In my opinion this game was buried under the many releases that came out that capitalist season and it never reemerged from the overwhelming pile on top of it.


Story: 
SCORE: 9/10
Story Cut Scenes video sample (Chapter 1)

Valkyria Chronicles' story is combination of anime style drama, comedy and romance. Although it tries to stay away from being too overly dramatic, possibly in order to appeal to more western audience, the Japanese influence is still obviously present.

This is a story of war, love and revenge that seems like a colorful WWII alternate spin off. War has split Europa in two: the Atlantic Federation to the east and the Empire to the west. The story develops on a tiny neutral nation called Gallia located between both alliances currently at war. Gallia is involved in the war by the invasion of the Empire in search of ragnite resources and the Valkyria power to aid their goal of world domination. The story focuses on Welkin Gunther as he becomes the lieutenant of the militia's Squad 7 and has to command a group of individuals from distinct backgrounds and attitudes to defend their homeland.

The story is told through a series of chapters and episodic cut scenes that divide the story and allow exposure background and context that further your attachment to characters and personalities while keeping things fresh and advancing every subdivision of the chapter.

Overall, this story can be quite engaging as long as you can put up with having to hit X every time a speech is done during the manga style cut scenes, which comprises of about 60% of all the cut scenes. The character development is slow and repetitive at first, but abrupt and satisfying at the end, which makes it feel like these personalities changed in a realistic manner (people tend to stick to what they know despite influences all around them until one day something just clicks and everything changes).


Gameplay and Design:
SCORE: 9/10

The gameplay combines elements from three genres (RPGs, strategy games, and third-person shooters) in order to create a unique Turn-based RTS (That's exactly how it felt to me).

Missions begin with an overhead view of the battlefield with all units are represented by icons that separate them by class. Command Points (CPs) allow you to choose one unit in order to move and attack. Once the unit is chosen the camera shifts into third-person; movement is limited by an action gauge and only one type of attack is allowed per unit's action. When attacking one can consider cover, weak points and positioning in order to get the most out of that action. Once all CPs are spent the Phase shifts to the enemy's side after that another turn begins on the player's phase. Battles are won by either obliterating all enemy forces or completing certain tasks, such as capturing enemy camps or disabling certain units, within 20 turns.

After each battle you get money and experience according to the mission completion rank dependent on your performance. These can be used on headquarters to upgrade your troops and weapons. You can also customize your squad from a list of recruits that have unique personalities and tastes that will affect their performance in battle. Your troops are divided into 5 classes; each class behaves differently and has advantages confronting certain opponents.This creates a rock-paper-scissor system that requires the player to use a certain class in the right situation. Battles tend to emphasize squad teamwork because of different attacks and special moves of each class that are required to overcome obstacles. The factor that I like the most and did not expect was a squad member death. If one of your soldiers is shot down in combat you have 3 phases or before an enemy reaches them; otherwise they will perish for the rest of your game. This adds an additional layer to the game as you probably will bond with some of the personalities and skills.

Overall this game is well balance, complex and deep (Perhaps a little too deep). Although once you are able to keep track of all the different variables you will be severely rewarded it is so much to remember that you will make mistakes that can jeopardize the mission and waste your time. If you are not willing to give the same mission a try a couple times you will not be able to complete every mission. This game is difficult; even if you are a great chess player.


Presentation:
SCORE: 10/10

The visuals in Valkyria Chronicles are just great. All animation and interaction feels anime cartoon like, but of great quality. The game's shading style makes it feel as if you were watching a moving watercolor painting instead of your TV. There is not other game that looks like it. There is very little difference between the CG cutscenes and the actual engine work seen during battles and gameplay. The voice acting feels very genuine and nails what each cutscene wants to convey.
Overall the presentation is just beautiful without having to exploit all of the engine's power. However, if you do not like anime styled art you will definitely hate the look of this beast.


Lasting Appeal:
SCORE: 4/10

This game is a strong single player experience. However, there is very little incentive to make you play again once you have finished the game once other than to relive the story. There is no online or multiplayer to exploit. Although farming for experience and money to crack up your squad's level and equipment might keep you busy it will not bring out new content that is truly worth your time. The hard mode is a way to go through the game again with added challenge, but the story is the same and strategy is extremely similar as in normal mode. You could also strive to achieve a rank A in each mission, but you will receive little more than in game medals that do not transfer to PS3 trophies. Thus there truly is nothing to stop you from reselling this game once you played through once.


Overall Score: 8/10


PS: I know this took me a LONG time... but it was very difficult to figure out what type of layout to use and the type of scoring I found fitting. As of right now this is still  a draft of what I'd like to work on.... If there is anything anyone can contribute to help me make better reviews please go ahead and let me know.

Again thanks for reading!!

Dark Souls & DLC Annoucements Before Release

There is two topics I'd like to tackle today. First off I will talk about a sequel to a game that did not receive enough attention from RPG lovers and that they should not pass up now. The second thing is an issue that has been slowly creeping in... DLC... Furthermore, release day DLC. 

Dark Souls (PS3 Exclusive)

Dark Souls is the "sequel" to Demons Souls in the aspects of concepts and execution, but it is set on a similar yet different world. Thus it is not a direct sequel to the story, but instead to the feel and gameplay. Dark Souls still offers the same kind of intense action within the dungeons and encounters with terrifying enemies along with the different type of online system that makes this game very unique. The developers said that this game will have a world that allows for fluid exploration between all locations; I get the feeling that he meant to convey that it would be like oblivion, but without loading screen.


Demon Souls was successful in the long run, but even today it seems easily overshadowed by other JRPG games. The most common turn off of this game is the difficulty level and yes Dark Souls will be just as hard; so if you do not like hard games neither of these is for you. It seems like story and decision making will not be a driving force as in western RPGs, but the combat is definitely very complex and engaging; a little mistake gets you killed easy. Japanese RPGs have been "dying" because of their attempt to westernize according to a lot a gamers, but the mild success of this game and Monster Hunter 3 show how Japanese developers are trying to approach the RPG fight through the gameplay instead of the story. I think the next step would be a game where the elements of complex fighting found here and story line decisions found in western games are blended into one (A game that seems to be approaching this is The Witcher 2).

I just thought it was worth to mention that this game plans to release for 2011 holiday season (Nov/Dec...ish) because any fan of the western RPG style would probably like to give this game a big chunk of their time.

Sources:
Game Trailers: http://www.gametrailers.com/game/dark-souls/13855
IGN: http://ps3.ign.com/objects/086/086623.html

DLC (Down-Loadable Content)

My opinion of DLC is utterly negative. I do not want DLC to become the only way to purchase and sell games. Although it is convenient for both customer and developers in many aspects it will completely cut out the factor of supply and demand as well as destroying a second market option (unless a way to "share" games is created). I feel that people are taking this change far too lightly. If a full scale change to DLC happens people will be saying good bye to being able to share games with friends, re-selling games that you hated or finished, price drops, and possibly collection items. However, you will NOT be saying farewells to piracy! (I'd argue that it could make it easier), but I am sure that hackers and programmers will find a way to pirate games. Now tell me is it worth it to go this way? I don't think so... I may be proven wrong, but I highly doubt that companies will not take advantage of the DLC power to exploit more money from honest customers. In other words, I think that honest customers will lose a lot of flexibility in exchange for convenience by implementing this system, while pirates and hackers would have a much better flexibility and the same convenience. Are you sure about moving in this direction?
(PS: I do not buy or support any kind of DLC products that do not allow for me to literally own the product aside from Netflix because I still consider it a 'rental' system)

Developers are taking advantage of the DLC systems already to get more money. YTF are developers and publishers announcing DLC for a game that has not even been released yet!? I mean they want to sell you "extra" content the first day of release. I am sorry but shouldn't that content be on the disk already? It was created before the release.... people argue that the content was not meant to be on the primary story to begin with to justify the 'extra' and to this I agree. However, I would also agree that the efforts they put into this extra content could have been used in creating a more robust and fulfilling game than the one being sold to me at full price. Of course companies choose the path of making extra instead of more robust in order to make more money.... Overall I would say that developers should emphasize on making each section separately and please do not make DLC for release day unless is free. -.-

Do you support/like DLC? Do you disagree with me? Why?
After you answer that think about this:
What do you do with DLC from a big game after you are done? What can you do? Will your friend who borrowed your game enjoy that DLC as well? Will you be able to get extra cash for trading in/selling you copy of the game?

One example of this that is disappointing:
Dragon Age 2 - Exiled Prince DLC Trailer (from GT)