Valkyria Chronicles General

I thought I'd start a conversation about this game, so those of us currently playing through it can discuss plot points and such at a regular pace. I think to facilitate spoilers, we should make sure we add what chapter we're talking about, so others who've already done that chapter can join in and others who haven't can avoid those.

Also, I started the game's page here; feel free to start adding tropes to it and indexing it (since I'm still not terribly familiar with TVTropes' system. )

So... chapter 2. Was I the only one who squeed like a fangirl when Welkin and Alicia showed up at the Store? And that Welkin now serves the purpose the Aged Gentleman did in the first game? I mean, from the Japanese website in particular, I was expecting them to show up much later in the game, like if Avan and the others had to travel to Bruhl or something, but they showed up preeetty early, and that caught me off-guard - in a good way.

edited 1st Sep '10 10:50:39 PM by Demovere

I don't have the game yet, but it'd be nice if you could answer what I feel is clearly the most important question about the game: does it still revolve around capturing bases and can that still be done with a "super-scout" that's heavily buffed and generally able to beat any mission in one turn in exactly the same way? That was a huge flaw with the original, especially given the fact that experience was based entirely around how fast you beat missions. I was kinda hoping that there'd be more alternate mission types or scoring conditions, but the demo didn't give any hint of that. I'll probably play it anyway, but if they didn't fix that glaring flaw I think I'd have a hard time calling this game "good".

I haven't gotten too far in the game yet, but so far the missions have been equally divided between main base capture and enemy wipes, with the occasional 'defeat enemy commander' mission added in - something confirmed by those who've already played the Japanese version, so yeah, there's more variety between missions compared to the original.

Picked it up today. Haven't gotten very far, but so far it's as enjoyable as I remember Valkyria Chronicles being.

And oh god, Edy's little sister.

Man, I'm in July now and I really love this game. Definitely one of the best PSP games I've ever played.

One of my favorite things about this game are the Classmate missions. They're essentially missions that not only unlocks a certain classmates (ultimate) potential or changes one of their negative potentials into a positive awesome one, they also give characters a nice bit of backstory and character development.

Y'know, I love sending out a squad comprised almost entirely of Darcsen soldiers. It just seems fitting to have them mow down the rebels and other classes.

Also, Darcsen haters never wind up on my team.

edited 3rd Sep '10 8:56:49 PM by Miijhal

I'm still waiting for my copy to arrive. And here I thought preordering off of Amazon would allow me to avoid this...

Got my copy, but I'm trying to balance grad school and finishing the first game. Which is kind of silly since I spoiled the plot for myself so long ago, but there you go.

The plot isn't really worth writing home about. The characters and the gameplay are what make it worthwhile.

I quite enjoy the plot, actually. Though there's some strange moments of Gameplay and Story Segregation. Where's Isara's damn medic?!

It's not bad, I just don't think it's particularly good either. The characters are what really interest me. I'm still in April because I've been doing all the character missions I can.

The story is something of a Cliché Storm, but I find it charming. The interesting characters make it worth investing in...much like Skies Of Arcadia, which is not so surprising.

I wouldn't rank it up with the drama of a Fire Emblem plot, but it certainly sets up giant epic fights with prepestorous but awesome tanks.

in b4 some misguided Yahtzee fanboy.

How's the combat, now that it's smaller?

Just as good, if not slightly better. It's definitely a hell of a lot easier to line up headshots now. Also, the addition of APCs and better squad customization is nice.

Just as good, if not slightly better. It's definitely a hell of a lot easier to line up headshots now.[...]

From what I remember of the first game, they were never that hard to line up. Getting them to actually connect was a different matter entirely, and I always felt compelled to horribly abuse the ability to save mid-battle until they did.

That's probably why I never got very far, actually.

I got this yesterday. I never played the original because I don't own any of the current-gen consoles, but squad based games interest me and the non-fantasy setting is very refreshing. I've only done the first couple missions in the academy. So far, really fun game.

@Super: The issue for me was mainly the analogue stick. They're not very precise. Unless my memory is failing me and you could use the d-pad in the original...

But I actually haven't had much trouble actually hitting what I want in the PSP game, either. Hell, even the lancers are pretty accurate now, though headshots are still somewhat hard to pull off with them.

@Super: The issue for me was mainly the analogue stick. They're not very precise. Unless my memory is failing me and you could use the d-pad in the original...

I thought you could use the D-pad, but my memory might be failing me.

But I actually haven't had much trouble actually hitting what I want in the PSP game, either. Hell, even the lancers are pretty accurate now, though headshots are still somewhat hard to pull off with them.

That's good. I guess in the first one, your characters start to be able to shoot straight as you level up their class or upgrade their weapons or something, but I got frustrated with it too early to see that come into play, which is always a risk when you're designing a game with that kind of character progression.

edited 4th Sep '10 11:54:05 PM by SuperDimensionman

Wait, Lancers have ACCURACY now?!

I mean, in the first game, I've had them miss at point blank range.

You could definitely use the D-pad. I used it to line up headshots all the time.

I'm glad to see Lancers getting accuracy. It got to the point in the first game where I was ignoring them in favor of Stormtroopers even for tanks.

Well, isn't that where the orange circles came in? They pretty much gave you the general area where your current unit's shots would hit. So while you were underleveled, unless you were feeling particularly lucky, it would be preferable to get most of an enemy soldier's body/enemy tank into that circle, so that more of your shots were likely to hit something. (Which is why a leveled-up Marina was so deadly: with Ultimate Accuracy, her orange circle turned into a dot. )

And I'm starting to wonder if I can power up Lancers in VC2 to enable them to score headshots. I mean, the AI in VC1 does it frighteningly often...

I didn't even know Lancers could get headshots. I always assumed it was like a grenade and just did the same explosive damage no matter where it hit. Anyway, they do seem to be more reliable in this game.

In other news, I've been playing for about 10 hours and I've never used an Engineer. I'm not sure what the point of them is anymore, now that some of their utility migrated to the Armored Techs. All Engineers can do is heal and... heal tanks, and the game set-up is still far too aggressive to reward wasting turns like that. Especially since you can now very easily rotate through your units mid-battle, and they get healed by spending a turn out of combat.

While having a useless class is bad enough, it's made worse by the fact that the characters actually need to do things to get Credits to class up and get cutscenes, so I'm never gonna unlock the advanced Engineer classes for anyone. Unless I use Avar to do it, which while reasonable is just kind of silly.

edited 5th Sep '10 2:54:39 AM by Clarste

I've been using mine extensively. You're going to need them once you start needing them in March, where you're pitted against enemies whose suppressive fire can destroy your tank in a single turn. Also, they can reload your sniper and lancer's ammunition and you tank's mortar rounds. Their later forms are also able to buff allies and have AOE heals.

Also, engineers do about the same damage as scouts, with the same range, and only slightly less accuracy.

I have Magari on my team for every fight I can.

edited 5th Sep '10 11:47:42 AM by Miijhal

question: Is there anyone returning from the first game (as a PC or otherwise)? I know Isara and a few others can be unlocked with an old save but they're not relevant to the story.

Welkin and Alicia appear pretty early on. There are also mentions of various characters throughout the game. Edy is also part of Anisette's character arc.

edited 5th Sep '10 12:20:09 PM by Miijhal