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** The grading system. Unlike, say, ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'', time is literally the ''only'' factor taken into account for scoring rather than finesse, and while the majority of the game favors speed the grading system in particular is ''extremely'' unforgiving of your turn count. It doesn't matter how many casualities you inflict, whether you're able to bring your entire squad through the battle without them receiving so much as a hangnail, or whether it was a bloodbath where your troops were slaughtered in droves on their way to the objective, the ''only'' thing that matters is how quickly you won. Most A rank walkthroughs for missions consist of buffing Alicia and sending her for a jog straight towards the objective, and in the opposite direction of fun, so that she can shove the soldiers out of it with a grenade and claim it before any time consuming combat occurs. Most new players are advised to ignore rank entirely rather than restructure their entire playstyle to fit its whims.

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** The grading system. Unlike, Higher grades mean more resources for the strategic portions of the game, and unlike, say, ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'', time is literally the ''only'' factor taken into account for scoring rather than finesse, and while the majority of the game favors speed the grading system in particular is ''extremely'' unforgiving of your turn count. It doesn't matter how many casualities you inflict, whether you're able to bring your entire squad through the battle without them receiving so much as a hangnail, or whether it was a bloodbath where your troops were slaughtered in droves on their way to the objective, the ''only'' thing that matters is how quickly you won. Most A rank walkthroughs for missions consist of buffing Alicia and sending her for a jog straight towards the objective, and in the opposite direction of fun, so that she can shove the soldiers out of it with a grenade and claim it before any time consuming combat occurs. Most new players are advised to ignore rank entirely rather than restructure their entire playstyle to fit its whims. whims, even if it means more LevelGrinding. It doesn't help that while later games largely refined the gameplay of ''Chronicles'' and smoothed over its rougher edges, this was one mechanics they stubbornly stuck to and doubled-down on.
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* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: It's hard to justify ''not'' deploying Alicia, Rosie, and Largo to every mission, because each of them adds an extra pip of CP. All three are certainly very effective units in their niches, but in a game that already rewards speed above everything else, getting three extra actions every turn is a big deal. Even if you're trying to ignore Rankings to [[ScrappyMechanic actually have fun]], that's enough CP for a team-wide buff every round even if you ''don't'' want to use them to just waste three more Imperials.
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** In "Chapter 7: The Battle at Barious", it's easy to get killed if you don't know what's going to happen. You have to take down a giant tank which is only vulnerable at specific turns, has anti-personnel turrets that can quickly kill anybody who tries to get close, and can break walls with two powerful, invincible anti-tank turrets. The only way to defeat the anti-personnel turrets is to pop them off with Lancer fire, which is fairly inaccurate (and ammo-limited without Engineers to resupply) this early in the game. To win, you have to destroy the tank's radiators, which can be done by having a Lancer shoot it three times, though there is a more simple strategy that's not particularly obvious, save for the shape of the radiators[[note]] They are shaped like containers. Chuck a grenade inside of them and they will be destroyed instantly[[/note]]. To top it all off, once you get close to beating him, Selvaria shows up for the first time to aid him. [[NighInvulnerability She cannot be harmed]] and if she targets any of your infantry, they are as good as dead. Better yet, she also comes in with a force of powerful soldiers (including the stage's Ace) who ''will'' run around and clean up if you're out of position.

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** In "Chapter 7: The Battle at Barious", it's easy to get killed if you don't know what's going to happen. You have to take down a giant tank which is only vulnerable at specific turns, has anti-personnel turrets that can quickly kill anybody who tries to get close, and can break walls with two powerful, invincible anti-tank turrets. The only way to defeat the anti-personnel turrets is to pop them off with Lancer fire, which is fairly inaccurate (and ammo-limited without Engineers to resupply) this early in the game. To win, you have to destroy the tank's radiators, which can be done by having a Lancer shoot it three times, though there is a more simple strategy that's not particularly obvious, save for the shape of the radiators[[note]] radiators and the presence of ladders on the side of the tank to climb[[note]] They are shaped like containers. Chuck a grenade inside of them and they will be destroyed instantly[[/note]]. Maximillian will only expose these radiators when he fires the tank's giant main gun, instantly sliding them back down whenever one is destroyed, which will only happen at specific points on the map when chunks of ruin are toppled in its path unless the player aggressively risks losing by baiting it out with their own tank, [[HeroMustSurvive and the mission fails if it blows up]]. To top it all off, once you get close to beating him, Selvaria shows up for the first time to aid him. [[NighInvulnerability She cannot be harmed]] and if she targets any of your infantry, they are as good as dead. Better yet, she also comes in with a force of powerful soldiers (including the stage's Ace) who ''will'' run around and clean up if you're out of position.



** With Largo, it's understandable that a veteran soldier would have reservations about taking orders from someone who he has reason to believe only got his rank through education and social status. However, Largo was offered promotion several times, but rejected the offer because he wanted to stay on the front lines. Saying you don't want something and then holding a grudge about someone else getting it can be seen as...well, childish...

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** With Largo, it's understandable that a veteran soldier would have reservations about taking orders from someone who he has reason to believe only got his rank through education and social status. However, Largo was offered promotion several times, but rejected the offer because he wanted to stay on the front lines. Saying you don't want something and then holding a grudge about someone else getting it can be seen as...well, childish...childish. Largo at least has the advantage that he gets over it pretty quickly and tries to play peacemaker between Rosie and Isara, which unfortunately sometimes reeks of "both sides-ism" when Largo (and seemingly the game) tries to make out Isara's tendency to push back instead of quietly being victimized as just as bad as the racist bullying she receives. Speaking of which...

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* BaseBreakingCharacter: The Imperial characters. Are they ''really'' one-dimensional [[CardCarryingVillain Card Carrying Villains]] who deserve no love because no matter how you spin it, imperialism, racism and invasion are bad, period? Or are they capable of holding their own sympathetic qualities and therefore can be liked on their own? This mostly applied to just Maximillian (having his own DarkAndTroubledPast of coming out from a horrible succession war that costed him his family, and [[EvenEvilHasStandards having strict discipline when it comes to warfare and patriotism]] [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves (country sellouts are unwelcome in his vision)]]), Selvaria (has her own tragic past and unrequited genuine love on Maximillian as well as being [[AFatherToHisMen A Mother To Her Men]]) and Jaeger (very affable and laid back as well as commanding a good deal of competence, as well as actually fighting because his own homeland is on the line). Gregor on the other hand tends to fall into HateSink because he has no such past and being a concentration camp {{Jerkass}} manager means that it's his job to be a hated villain.

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* BaseBreakingCharacter: The Imperial characters. Are characters and how much sympathy they ''really'' one-dimensional [[CardCarryingVillain Card Carrying Villains]] who deserve no love because no matter how you spin it, imperialism, racism can and invasion should be afforded. On the one hand, they're not merely complicit in but actively engaging in multiple wars of totally unjustified naked aggression and conquest, including not a little genocide and not a few war crimes. The ''very first thing'' the Imperials are bad, period? Or are they capable shown to do in Gallia is go out of holding their own sympathetic qualities way to mow down a family of refugees, children and therefore can be liked on older adult noncombatants, with gunfire and grenades, and the very first thing an Imperial soldier with lines does on-screen is attempt to commit a hate-crime against what he thinks is an unarmed teenager; no sign is ever given that any of the Imperial high command so much as disapprove of their own? This mostly applied soldiers figuratively and literally raping Gallia and Selvaria actually has a line boasting about it. On the other hand, attempts are made to just give some depth to Maximillian (having his own DarkAndTroubledPast of coming out from a horrible succession war that costed him his family, and [[EvenEvilHasStandards having strict discipline when it comes to warfare and patriotism]] [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves (country sellouts are unwelcome in his vision)]]), Selvaria (has her own tragic past and unrequited genuine love on Maximillian as well as being [[AFatherToHisMen A Mother To Her Men]]) and Men]]), Jaeger (very affable and laid back as well as commanding a good deal of competence, as well as actually fighting because his own homeland is on the line). line), and Johann (a low-level mook who's afraid of violence but seemingly conscripted into the war). Gregor on is the other hand tends to fall into one everyone agrees is just a HateSink because he has no such past FreudianExcuse and being a concentration camp manager on top of being a {{Jerkass}} manager means that it's his job to be a hated villain.



* DracoInLeatherPants: '''Selvaria'''. Maximilian used her genuine love for him to his advantage, subjected her to constant emotional manipulation for his own ends, and goaded her into [[spoiler:committing mass murder-suicide]], so she's TheWoobie instead of an unapologetic slayer of thousands who describes conquering Gallia with a rape metaphor.

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* DracoInLeatherPants: '''Selvaria'''. Maximilian used her genuine love for him to his advantage, subjected her to constant emotional manipulation for his own ends, and goaded her into [[spoiler:committing mass murder-suicide]], so she's TheWoobie instead of an unapologetic slayer of thousands who describes conquering Gallia with a rape metaphor. Some fans in general try to act like the Imperials' {{Freudian Excuse}}s and occasional moments of humanity make the conflict more morally grey than it actually is, considering the Imperials are, by design, an unholy fusion of everything wrong with imperial German, tsarist Russia, and the freaking Nazis, with all the utter disregard for human life that entails.



** Quite mysteriously for being a very Anime series, there seems to be a fairly sizable Russian fanbase who perform feats up to and including remaking the Edelweiss and Nameless Tank for use in ''VideoGame/WorldOfTanks'', though they are no longer necessary, as far as the [=SEA=] server is concerned, as these two tanks were officially added into the game for that server only in mid-2017.

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** Quite mysteriously for being a very Anime series, anime series where the bad guys are clearly at least ''kind of'' channeling tsarist Russia, there seems to be a fairly sizable Russian fanbase who perform feats up to and including remaking the Edelweiss and Nameless Tank for use in ''VideoGame/WorldOfTanks'', though they are no longer necessary, as far as the [=SEA=] server is concerned, as these two tanks were officially added into the game for that server only in mid-2017.


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** Damon also utilizes chemical weapons in the second mission of Selvaria's DLC, which both sides point out is a violation of the laws and customs of war under [[FictionalGenevaConventions an in-universe international treaty]] in an effort to make him look worse than the Imperial {{Villain Protagonist}}s. But while the only argument he offers is that he won't let Gallia be conquered because of a piece of paper, it's worth noting that the Imperial army has spent the war up to that point wiping their butts with international law; [[ScrewTheRulesTheyBrokeThemFirst in real life a demonstrated unwillingness to abide by international treaties is a reason to break them yourself]]. Besides, the weapon he uses is a nonlethal paralytic agent seemingly more akin to tear gas than mustard or sarin; Johann is able to easily treat it once he successfully gets close to Selvaria. And all of that's setting aside that, while he doesn't yet know she's a Valkyria, she ''is'' a [[OneManArmy one-woman army]] who just slaughtered half the map in the previous level; he's not exactly being paranoid or disproportionate trying to pin her down.
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* BreatherLevel: Episode 9 is a "puzzle" level setup that is substantially easier to get high rankings on than other levels, even on the first playthrough. It's possible to win in a single turn with a strong Shocktrooper and (ab)using order(s).

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* BreatherLevel: Episode 9 (where [[spoiler: Princess Cordelia is kidnapped]]) is a "puzzle" level setup that is substantially easier to get high rankings on than other levels, even on the first playthrough. It's possible to win in a single turn with a strong Shocktrooper and (ab)using order(s).
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Spelling/grammar fix(es), trimming entry.


** ''Chapter 14: Showdown at Naggiar (2)''. The Level is essentially one big fat BaitAndSwitch. At first it is ridiculously easy; the player simply needs to capture the enemy base that is rather lightly defended by a few pillboxes, [=MGs=], and ''one'' enemy shocktrooper. It also helps that this part has [[spoiler: Valkyria!Alicia mows down & destroys half of the enemies listed]]. However, the moment the base is captured, reinforcements arrive from opposite sides of the map, and they consist of many enemy soldiers & two strong enemy tanks. The player also [[spoiler: loses assistance from Valkyria!Alicia, who passes out immediately after capturing the base]]. One of the key factors making the level difficult is both the tanks and the size of the map. The map is ''very large & long'' and takes forever for units to move within, even moreso for your tanks & lancers. On top of that, the special tanks the enemy uses have an effect to set areas of the map on fire (most frequently the acquired base); and the enemy is constantly sending in many reinforcements ''every turn'', that can quickly overwhelm your own soldiers. The level essentially requires the player to know exactly what to do and where to position the tanks & units before you begin just to survive.

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** ''Chapter "Chapter 14: Showdown at Naggiar (2)''. The Level (2)" is essentially one big fat BaitAndSwitch. At first it is ridiculously easy; the player simply needs to capture the an enemy base that is rather lightly defended by a few pillboxes, [=MGs=], and ''one'' enemy shocktrooper. It also helps that this part [[spoiler:Alicia has [[spoiler: Valkyria!Alicia mows down & gained her Valkyria powers, becoming an invincible NPC who destroys half the majority of the enemies listed]]. on her own turn]]. However, the moment the base is captured, reinforcements arrive from opposite sides of the map, and they consist of many enemy soldiers & and two strong enemy tanks. The player also [[spoiler: loses [[spoiler:loses assistance from Valkyria!Alicia, Valkyria Alicia, who passes out immediately after capturing the base]]. base is captured]]. One of the key factors making the level difficult is both the tanks and the large size of the map. The map is ''very large & long'' and map, as it takes forever for units to move within, reach their destinations, even moreso for your tanks & and lancers. On top of that, the special tanks the enemy uses have an effect to set areas of the map on fire (most frequently the acquired base); and the enemy is constantly sending sends in many reinforcements ''every turn'', that which can quickly overwhelm your own soldiers. The level essentially requires the player to know exactly what to do and where to position the tanks & units before you begin just to survive. soldiers.
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** ''Chapter 14: Showdown at Naggiar (2)''. The Level is essentially one big fat BaitAndSwitch. At first it is ridiculously easy; the player simply needs to capture the enemy base that is rather lightly defended by a few pillboxes, MGs, and ''one'' enemy shocktrooper. It also helps that this part has [[spoiler: Valkyria!Alicia mows down & destroys half of the enemies listed]]. However, the moment the base is captured, reinforcements arrive from opposite sides of the map, and they consist of many enemy soldiers & two strong enemy tanks. The player also [[spoiler: loses assistance from Valkyria!Alicia, who passes out immediately after capturing the base]]. One of the key factors making the level difficult is both the tanks and the size of the map. The map is ''very large & long'' and takes forever for units to move within, even moreso for your tanks & lancers. On top of that, the special tanks the enemy uses have an effect to set areas of the map on fire (most frequently the acquired base); and the enemy is constantly sending in many reinforcements ''every turn'', that can quickly overwhelm your own soldiers. The level essentially requires the player to know exactly what to do and where to position the tanks & units before you begin just to survive.

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** ''Chapter 14: Showdown at Naggiar (2)''. The Level is essentially one big fat BaitAndSwitch. At first it is ridiculously easy; the player simply needs to capture the enemy base that is rather lightly defended by a few pillboxes, MGs, [=MGs=], and ''one'' enemy shocktrooper. It also helps that this part has [[spoiler: Valkyria!Alicia mows down & destroys half of the enemies listed]]. However, the moment the base is captured, reinforcements arrive from opposite sides of the map, and they consist of many enemy soldiers & two strong enemy tanks. The player also [[spoiler: loses assistance from Valkyria!Alicia, who passes out immediately after capturing the base]]. One of the key factors making the level difficult is both the tanks and the size of the map. The map is ''very large & long'' and takes forever for units to move within, even moreso for your tanks & lancers. On top of that, the special tanks the enemy uses have an effect to set areas of the map on fire (most frequently the acquired base); and the enemy is constantly sending in many reinforcements ''every turn'', that can quickly overwhelm your own soldiers. The level essentially requires the player to know exactly what to do and where to position the tanks & units before you begin just to survive.
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** ''Chapter 14: Showdown at Naggiar (2)''. The Level is essentially one big fat BaitAndSwitch. At first it is ridiculously easy; the player simply needs to capture the enemy base that is rather lightly defended by a few pillboxes, MGs, and ''one'' enemy shocktrooper. It also helps that this part has [[spoiler: Valkyria!Alicia mows down & destroys half of the enemies listed]]. However, the moment the base is captured, reinforcements arrive from opposite sides of the map, and they consist of many enemy soldiers & two strong enemy tanks. The player also [[spoiler: loses assistance from Valkyria!Alicia, who passes out immediately after capturing the base]]. One of the key factors making the level difficult is both the tanks and the size of the map. The map is ''very large & long'' and takes forever for units to move within, even moreso for your tanks & lancers. On top of that, the special tanks the enemy uses have an effect to set areas of the map on fire (most frequently the acquired base); and the enemy is constantly sending in many reinforcements ''every turn'', that can quickly overwhelm your own soldiers. The level essentially requires the player to know exactly what to do and where to position the tanks & units before you begin just to survive.
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* BaseBreakingCharacter: The Imperial characters. Are they ''really'' one-dimensional CardCarryingVillain who deserve no love because no matter how you spin it, imperialism, racism and invasion are bad, period? Or are they capable of holding their own sympathetic qualities and therefore can be liked on their own? This mostly applied to just Maximillian (having his own DarkAndTroubledPast of coming out from a horrible succession war that costed him his family, and [[EvenEvilHasStandards having strict discipline when it comes to warfare and patriotism]] [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves (country sellouts are unwelcome in his vision)]]), Selvaria (has her own tragic past and unrequited genuine love on Maximillian as well as being [[AFatherToHisMen A Mother To Her Men]]) and Jaeger (very affable and laid back as well as commanding a good deal of competence, as well as actually fighting because his own homeland is on the line). Gregor on the other hand tends to fall into HateSink because he has no such past and being a concentration camp {{Jerkass}} manager means that it's his job to be a hated villain.

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* BaseBreakingCharacter: The Imperial characters. Are they ''really'' one-dimensional CardCarryingVillain [[CardCarryingVillain Card Carrying Villains]] who deserve no love because no matter how you spin it, imperialism, racism and invasion are bad, period? Or are they capable of holding their own sympathetic qualities and therefore can be liked on their own? This mostly applied to just Maximillian (having his own DarkAndTroubledPast of coming out from a horrible succession war that costed him his family, and [[EvenEvilHasStandards having strict discipline when it comes to warfare and patriotism]] [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves (country sellouts are unwelcome in his vision)]]), Selvaria (has her own tragic past and unrequited genuine love on Maximillian as well as being [[AFatherToHisMen A Mother To Her Men]]) and Jaeger (very affable and laid back as well as commanding a good deal of competence, as well as actually fighting because his own homeland is on the line). Gregor on the other hand tends to fall into HateSink because he has no such past and being a concentration camp {{Jerkass}} manager means that it's his job to be a hated villain.
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Trope was cut/disambiguated due to cleanup


* EvilIsSexy: Selvaria for being a StatuesqueStunner, and Radi Jaeger for his rugged classiness and playboy attitude. Curiously, they are the most sympathetic among the game's villains, so maybe this is also a case of BeautyEqualsGoodness of some sort.
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Boobs Of Steel has been disambiguated


* EvilIsSexy: Selvaria for being a StatuesqueStunner with BoobsOfSteel, and Radi Jaeger for his rugged classiness and playboy attitude. Curiously, they are the most sympathetic among the game's villains, so maybe this is also a case of BeautyEqualsGoodness of some sort.

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* EvilIsSexy: Selvaria for being a StatuesqueStunner with BoobsOfSteel, StatuesqueStunner, and Radi Jaeger for his rugged classiness and playboy attitude. Curiously, they are the most sympathetic among the game's villains, so maybe this is also a case of BeautyEqualsGoodness of some sort.
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Now an index disallowing examples.


* AcceptableTargets: The regular army are shown to be even ''more'' unpleasant than they were in the actual games, where they were for the most part simply incompetent with [[TheNeidermeyer General Damon]] being the {{Jerkass}}.
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* AuthorsSavingThrow: A lot of fans took issue with how the game never explored the consequences of [[spoiler:Alicia awakening her Valkyria powers in depth. In the anime, Damon forcibly enlists Alicia into the regular army to use her against the Imperials. Not only that, Damon and to a lesser extent the regular army's cruel treatment of her as nothing more than a weapon emphasises how the regular army isn't so different from the Imperials, mitigating the BrokenAesop in the game.]]
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Old Maid merge


* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Rosie and Largo may have their reasons for their behaviour in their EstablishingCharacterMoment (disrespecting Welkin, being insubordinate to Alicia and harassing Isara) and they do grow out of it, but [[NeverLiveItDown some fans find it difficult to overlook]]. Especially regarding Isara, since it's a 30 year old man and a [[ChristmasCake (almost) 30]] year old woman picking a fight with a girl who's half their age.

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* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Rosie and Largo may have their reasons for their behaviour in their EstablishingCharacterMoment (disrespecting Welkin, being insubordinate to Alicia and harassing Isara) and they do grow out of it, but [[NeverLiveItDown some fans find it difficult to overlook]]. Especially regarding Isara, since it's a 30 year old 30-year-old man and a [[ChristmasCake (almost) 30]] year old an almost) 30-year-old woman picking a fight with a girl who's half their age.


* AccidentalAesop: Selvaria's story arc can be interpreted as a cautionary tale about DomesticAbuse. Strong, intelligent, and accomplished people aren't immune to being victims of emotional manipulation. Someone who tries to make you feel like their love can only be earned or won through hard work doesn't actually love you, but is trying to use you for their ends. Defining yourself by someone else's vision is not only unhealthy but dangerous, and can cause pain to yourself and others.
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Moving The Cameo to appropriate subtrope(s).


* AmericansHateTingle: Susie is one of the most hated units in the game overseas because of her Humanitarian potential, which can cause her to refuse to attack an enemy. In Japan, she's popular enough to become a member of the Edy Detachment, and make [[TheCameo cameo appearances]] in ''II'' and ''III''.

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* AmericansHateTingle: Susie is one of the most hated units in the game overseas because of her Humanitarian potential, which can cause her to refuse to attack an enemy. In Japan, she's popular enough to become a member of the Edy Detachment, and make [[TheCameo cameo appearances]] ContinuityCameo appearances in ''II'' and ''III''.



** Vyse and Aika, thanks to being [[TheCameo cameo characters]] from ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia''. It certainly helps that Vyse is one of the best Shocktroopers in the game and Aika is a very solid Scout unit.

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** Vyse and Aika, thanks to being [[TheCameo cameo characters]] CrossoverCameo characters from ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia''. It certainly helps that Vyse is one of the best Shocktroopers in the game and Aika is a very solid Scout unit.
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Too general; lacks context; Sugar Wiki.


* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The entire OST is very pleasant to the ears, especially the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX4tz9NL5JY&list=PL6F611A771C18A2B7&index=29&t=0s main theme]] by Hitoshi Sakimoto, and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xfe5rrNN0xk&list=PL6F611A771C18A2B7&index=48&t=0s Those Who Succeeded]]."

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