It's a Long War--Valkyria Chronicles 4 Review

I finally finished Valkyria Chronicles 4!  I am extremely surprised because it turned out to be much longer than I expected.  My very robust playthrough clocked in at 59 hours.  Every time I felt like the story was winding down toward a resolution, some new crisis would pop-up and I would find myself pursuing a brand new set of bad guys.

If you're unfamiliar with the Valkyria Chronicles series, here is a link to my review of the first game.  If you want a quick overview of the basic story/squad in the fourth game, read this.

As a note, so far only two Valkyria Chronicles games have made the transition to the magical world of PC.  I don't know anything about the games that haven't made it over to PC--some of the features I am touting as new might be old hat...but they're new to me!

The Hafen (tank), with squad leader Claude and grenadier Riley.

Pros:

+Follows same format as earlier games.  The story is told through a "book" that presents a series of animated cutscenes with dialogue between the various characters in the game.  Each chapter also usually includes at least one combat scenario.  There's lots of storytelling and character development with bouts of turn-based combat sprinkled throughout the game.  This combination makes for a nice experience--there's the lighter material related to the story and characters--and there is also the challenge of combat.  These factors mean that there's a little bit of everything for people to enjoy.

+Maps/combat is more challenging and more varied than the first game.  I felt like many of the maps in the first game were fairly flat with a few obstacles sprinkled throughout.  The new maps feature all kinds of terrain--narrow pathways, high cliffs (perfect sniping ground if you can get to it), icey overhangs, etc.  There are tons of factors to consider in each combat mission.

+New class--the grenadier.  The grenadier class can lob shells at a fairly long distance and can be specced out to become an armor crushing tank killer or to be a long-range infantry annihilator.  I enjoyed using my grenadier to lay waste to infantry in cover (who can be a huge PITA to kill).

+Ability to appoint "leaders" and utilize squad grouping.  One of my biggest gripes about the OG VC was how long it took to move units into position.  Now, you can group up to three infantry units together once a turn.  The grouped units will move together and can attack a target.  This feature is extremely nice when you want to move units that have low AP (lancers and grenadiers in particular).

+New APC provides mobility.  A new armored unit, the APC can carry a small group of soldiers and is useful for transporting units safely across the battlefield.  The downside of the APC is that it is fairly fragile and if it is destroyed, so are the units inside.

+Lots of side content.  Most chapters include optional skirmish battles that are great opportunities for earning extra experience points and currency.  There are also "squad stories" which help tell the stories of the unique individuals who make up Squad E (your group of Gallian heroes).  Completing these stories also provides XP and cash, but will also help squad members overcome their negative potential.  The stories are generally goofy, but do give you more insight into squad members.

+Tons of research options for each weapon type.  As you progress through the story the research option branches out and offers players the ability to upgrade squad weapons in multiple ways--one branch provides accuracy upgrades; the main branch provides a balanced upgrade to both personnel and armor damage; and the last branch provides and upgrade to clip size which allows for more shots to be fired.

Cons:
-Story felt a bit too long.  Major events kept happening and I was sure it meant the end...but it didn't and the story just kept going and going.  I mostly enjoyed the story, but felt like there were just a few too many random variables thrown in that stretched things out more than it might have needed to be.  I also felt like parts of the story were fairly predictable.

-Female gamers might be turned off by some of the dialogue and characters.  I have read multiple comments on reviews about the fact that there are several male characters who act in a sexually harassing manner.  I did find myself cringing at the stupid things that Raz says and I thought the enemy character of Walz was a bit much (he's presented as lothario type of character who's classified as a "womanizer."--he's pretty cringey as a villain).  The dialogue in the series has always been a bit on the cheesy side, but I wasn't a big fan of Raz/Walz.  It might be too much for some people--you've been warned.

Verdict:
Get it on sale.  The combat has been improved from the original game and manages to be challenging and fun.  I didn't feel quite the same level of warm and fuzzy that I did with the crew from the original game, but Squad E does grow on you. If you're familiar with the Valkyria Chronicles style mash-up of story-based anime elements and (not the greatest, but mostly fun) turn-based strategy, I would recommend VC4.

New Faces, Better Missions--Valkyria Chronicles 4

My recent purchases in a Japan themed Steam sale included the very fun and mind-boggling Nier:  Automata (I would recommend it) and Valkyria Chronicles 4.  I decided that I was done trying to re-play through Nier after I unlocked the last of the four major endings.  Switching over to Valkyria Chronicles was a marked change from button-mashing, robot-slashing.

Not all the Valkyria titles have made the transition over to PC so we have to settle for what we can get.  The first game (Valkyria Chronicles) came to PC several years ago and I snapped it up not really knowing much about the series  Here are some basics if you're like me and are unfamiliar with it too--Valkyria Chronicles is a turn-based strategy game that tells the story of a group of soldiers fighting in the ongoing fictional wars that take place on the continent of Europa.  The games hinge on a blend of story-based elements--much of the story is told through short cutscenes and dialogue between squad members--and combat missions which place you in the role of commander and requires you to strategize troop movement and actions.  Valkyria Chronicles is a great fit for someone who doesn't want a strictly combat focused strategy game and enjoys story and character-related elements.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 follows a new squad of soldiers from the oft targeted realm of Gallia--Squad E is a talented group of rangers who find themselves fighting in the second Europan war. Similar to the story in the original game, many members of the squad come from the same hometown and have very close ties.  In true Valkyria fashion the members of the squad have their own quirks, strengths, and weaknesses that they must learn to use or overcome.

The core of Squad E poses with the Hafen.

The core members of Squad E are:

--Claude Wallace--the young, but brilliant tank commander.  Claude has the unique ability to read the weather and use it to his advantage.  He also has to overcome a reputation for being a bit of a coward during his childhood days.

--Raz--a Darcsen (a fictional ethnic group that is frequently the target of much malign) rowdy who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks.  Raz is written as a very over-the-top kind of "bro" character who is hot-headed and frequently going off on his own and ignoring orders.  (I've read several reviews which specifically mention the fact that Raz is basically sexually harassing women and people feeling unhappy about this fact.  I agree with those views and wish that they had re-written Raz without all the ridiculous ass-grabbing and whatnot).

--Miles--he is the quiet, but smart, tank driver of the Hafen, the tank for Squad E.  Miles is a bit socially inept, but is a genius when it comes to tank driving and repair.

--Kai/Leena--there's a bit of mystery around the story of the squad sniper.  She goes by the name of a different soldier (who is notably absent for reasons that I haven't quite gotten around to figuring out yet) and is a crack shot.  Her character is the level-headed strategist who helps balance out Raz's stubborn stupidity.

--Riley--although she doesn't start off with Squad E, Riley is introduced in an early mission.  She was a member of a different squad, but comes from the same hometown as the other members of the Squad.  She and Claude were close friends as children, but a tragic event caused her to grow distant from Claude and distrust his abilities to lead.

--Ragnarok--he's a cute dog and member of Squad E.  He's not actually playable and just appears to be part of the game for cute dog reasons.  Who doesn't like cute dogs though?

Of course, these aren't the only members of the squad and the roster fills up with others as you progress through the story.  In fact, there are a ton of side characters added in--way more than in the first game.  I usually have a very core group of 10ish characters that I use consistently and the rest remain primarily on the sidelines.

Many of the gameplay elements from the first game remain core parts of VC4--the story is told through a storybook with short cutscene episodes and one (or more) combat missions per chapter.  There is the option to go to headquarters to train, spend resources gained from combat to develop new gear/tank parts, and learn new orders.  There are also squad-based story chapters that tell the stories of the various members of Squad E as well as skirmish missions.

I still have quite a bit of story to play through, but so far I am enjoying VC4.  The combat missions are much better than in the first game and there is a ton of variety and challenge.  Similar to the first game, my one major gripe would be the overarching cheesiness of the dialogue (it's an inherent part of the series unfortunately).  Overall, the positives outweigh the negatives and I hope to wrap up my first playthrough soon and write up a review.

Happy weekend gaming!