Sega’s Valkyria Chronicles 4 More than A Tactical RPG

By: GeekyGamerGirl87

The only encounter I have had with the Valkyria Chronicles games was back in 2008 when the first game launched on the PS3. That was ten years ago, and ten years ago I was a completely different gamer. I will admit I remember putting the game in the console seeing that it was a tactical game and saying, “This isn’t for me.” I turned off the game and never played it. As I said, I was a different gamer then, and I didn’t have the attention span to play it which was my main reason why I didn’t enjoy playing tactical games. Fast forward to now ten years later, and I am a much different gamer than I was then. It is ten years later when thedailygamepad.com would receive a review copy of Valkyria Chronicles 4 from Sega to review. As I hadn’t played the first game, I felt that now that I am more open-minded to games that when the game was offered to us at thedailygamepad.com that I would give it another chance. I am happy that I did because I found myself enjoying the game. I enjoy the game so much that it makes me want to time travel into the past and tell my younger self that I should give the game a chance. However, before I move into my review of Valkyria Chronicles 4, I would like to take the time to thank Sega for being so kind as to provide thedailygamepad.com with a free copy of the game for PC so that I could write this review.

Developed and published by SEGA, Valkyria Chronicles 4 is a tactical role-playing game that is so much more than a tactical RPG. As I said when I first saw tactical, I was a little put-off. However, although it is a tactical role-playing game at heart, it does a very well job of combining multiple game genres. I say this because Valkyria Chronicles 4 also reminded me of a visual novel. The game is very story driven, and it does have a great story. The story is that a war has been started because of a resource, called Ragnite that both the Empire and the rest of Europa rely on to sustain. The Empire, who is more powerful than Europa; decides that they want to have complete control over Europa turning it into a dictatorship so that The Empire can fully have the resource. The smaller countries of Europa have developed The Federation to counter the Imperial Army.  Three months have passed since the war has begun and The Federation isn’t doing so well. Their only chance they believe is one final counterattack known as Operation Northern Cross. You will be in control of Squad E which is led by First lieutenant Claude Wallace. Squad E is a group of people who end up joining the Ranger Corps (The Federation) after the Imperial Army burned down their quiet little village. It wasn’t until this event occurred that these group of individuals decided to join the war.

The characters in the game are awesome and are relatable. You have First lieutenant Claude Wallace, who although in the middle of battle, still can appreciate the smaller things in life. He is a caring soul, and he shows this during one of his dialogues with one of his platoon members. Then you have Raz, who is a sergeant in your platoon and seems to play the bad boy role. His attitude makes him a bit of a hot head at times and makes him not think things through. Raz’s irrational thinking is pointed out by the character Kai, a sniper from your platoon who has just the right amount of sarcasm to be tolerable. The characters are one of the big reasons I was drawn into the game.

The game features two different modes to choose from which are easy and normal. As I haven’t played many tactical games before and again the last time, I had touched the series was over ten years ago; I decided to play the game on easy mode. I chose to play in easy mode so that I can enjoy the game and enjoy the story of the game. If you are one that has played the series or even played tactical games in the past, then I would recommend playing the game on Normal mode. As I stated before Valkyria Chronicles 4 is a tactical game, but not in the sense that I thought of it. When I think of tactical games, I usually think of point and click, in which you send your troops to a position and you either take that position, or you are taken by the enemy.  However, in Valkyria Chronicles 4 you can select your unit, and then you get to go into the battle, and that is what became my turning point for the game. The game made me shed what had been etched into my brain on what a tactical game should be.

The game is played in two turns, “Player Phase” and “Enemy Phase.” Player phase has four main elements that you should pay attention too. The first is Command Mode, which allows you to select between your units. The second is  Action Mode, which allows you to move the unit you have selected by letting you directly control the unit in the actual battle. The third is the Attack Mode, which allows you to attack using your units. Then the last is Ending Phase, that helps you end your turn. During each of your phases, you have Command Points. Command points will let you know how many turns you have during your phase. They are also replenished at the start of each phase and can be used on the same unit multiple times. However, the units Action Points will be decreased each time you use your command points on them. You can also end your turn early to carry any unused command points to your next phase if you so choose to. When your command points have reached zero this will end the “Player Phase” and the “Enemy Phase” will begin. Enemy phase is automatic, and it does show you how many command points they have as well. At the end of the entire battle, you will be taken to Book Mode that allows you to save and select the next chapter of the game.

I thought the battle sequences were great in the game. They last around forty-five minutes or more depending on how you play. I did a lot of thinking and analyzing, and so it took me about forty-five minutes to play out the battles. The only thing I did not like was the Tank battle sequences. That part of the battle was a tad bit confusing to me, and it was very clunky. Even after following what the tutorial taught me, I couldn’t get behind those sequences.  I’m sure over time I will probably learn to like them (as they are there to stay so I must learn them sooner or later), but I will admit that it was probably my least favorite thing about the battle scenes.

When it came to the controls for the game on PC, you can play with either controller or keyboard/mouse. I tried the game first with the controller, but it was a little awkward playing with the controller for me. As this is a tactical game, I felt that it should be played with Keyboard/Mouse and for me once switching to keyboard/mouse  I enjoyed the game even more. I understand why the controller is added to the PC version and I am glad they did add the controller to PC; so that those who play on PC with a controller can still enjoy the game.

Another cool feature for the game is that you can select if you want the voiceovers to be in English or Japanese. I choose to play the game with Japanese voiceovers. There were two reasons for my playing the game with Japanese voiceovers. The first it was recommended to me that I should play the game with Japanese voiceovers. As I hadn’t played the first installments, I took this recommendation to heart. The other was because the art style of the game reminded me of an anime. I usually watch my anime in sub format. Therefore, it feels better to play with the Japanese voiceovers. Although, the English voiceovers aren’t bad. It’s just a matter of preference.

For those who are achievement hunters, you will be glad to know that there are achievements for Valkyria Chronicles 4. There a total of thirty-six achievements that you can collect. For those who are trading card enthusiasts the game also has trading cards. There are a total of twelve trading cards for the game. For those who are not familiar with the trading card system, you get so many trading cards from games on Steam that offer trading cards. Usually, anywhere between 3-4 cards may drop. You then collect the others to turn them into badges and other goodies for Steam. I will admit I just started getting into the trading cards recently with some of the other games I have enjoyed playing, so I will more than likely be trying to collect other cards for this game.

Overall, I think Valkyria Chronicles 4 is an amazing game, and I am glad that I got the chance to play it. I highly recommend the game if you are a person who likes tactical games, role-playing games, and visual novels. I know the last one is a bit odd, but if you are looking for a great story, it is here in this game. You can come for the story and look at the gameplay as a bonus to the story. If you would like to experience Valkyria Chronicles 4 for yourself, you can do so by visiting the following platforms  Steam, Humble Bundle, Fanatical, Nintendo eShop, PlayStation Store, and XBOX. The game goes for USD 59.99.