Probably my favourite game of all time, I just keep coming back to it. Must have ranked something like 500+ hours on it, judging by my save files.
It's primarily a strategy game, which originally put me off completely. I generally find them a little dry, if I play 'em at all. Yet Valkyria Chronicles differs greatly from the norm in 2 main ways:
1st - It has a compelling story, which was so good a manga was commissioned, followed by an anime. Usually, the opposite occurs in Japan, if a manga becomes popular enough, they'll make an anime, then a game! There's over 50 playable characters, each with their own animations and personality traits which can affect gameplay, such as acrophobia, hayfever, night vision, laziness, or whether they 'like' men or women. Incidentally, the country you represent in this fictional world has a universal conscription policy, which means your recruits will be male, female, and aged 12-65! This all lends a personal touch to what would otherwise be nameless grunts. There are even death scenes & a graveyard, so if you get someone killed, you'll remember it!
2nd - The gameplay is heavily action-oriented. You're given a set amount of command points each turn, with which to select a unit and move them around/attack. But whereas you select a unit from the map, you actually move the soldier [or your tank] in 3rd-person perspective, taking direct control over their movements, taking aim, climbing ladders, and hiding behind cover. There is also an RPG element to the game, in that XP can be spent training up a class, or money spent on weapon R&D.
The gameplay is also excellently balanced. You select your troops from 5 classes: scouts, shocktroopers, anti-tank lancers, engineers & snipers. Each have their own equipment and skills. It's up to you who you bring into the field, but you can't bring everyone on your squad, so you have to take an educated guess from the map you're shown. Speaking of which, there are 27 missions, each with their own specific terrain, and some surprisingly varied goals. Usually, you'll probably have to capture the enemy's base camp, but you might have to divert a juggernaut, blow up a bridge, or make sure no enemy escapes the field alive! Then, there's also 9 'skirmishes' which take previous locales, and change the conditions of victory.
For replay value, you keep everything once you've finished the game, and you've no need to start again, as you can just select any chapter you wish to play again. There are also 5 secret characters, medals, and countless ways to achieve your goals, so it'll keep you busy!
The only downside to the game is that people didn't buy it when it came out in the west, so VCII went straight to the PSP, and VCIII didn't even get sold outside of Japan. Still, this game has just been remastered & released on Steam, so perhaps it'll get a new audience!
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