To this day, Valkyria Chronicles
remains one of the most under-appreciated PlayStation 3 exclusives out
there, regardless of how often the avid fans sing its praises. Some of
those same fans were a little disappointed when the sequel came
exclusively to the PSP, and it doesn’t help that the third installment
also seems to be leaving PS3 owners out in the cold. That being said,
strategy/RPG aficionados will most certainly want to dive into this
sequel; it’s very much like the original, and although I’m not the
biggest fan of the new school sim feature, Valkyria Chronicles 2 manages
to retain much of its charm and intricate appeal. The depth is here,
the storyline suffers only a bit due to extra emphasis on the
aforementioned school feature, and above all else, that unique and oddly
addicting gameplay is as good as ever. Honestly, if you were a super
huge fan of the first title and you don’t yet own a PSP, VC2 might be
enough of a reason to snag Sony’s portable.
As
you might expect, we have to make allowances for the graphics, which
obviously can’t be as accomplished or polished on the PSP. Even so, the
cut-scenes are still super pretty and the in-game visuals are more than
competent. I was actually surprised at how well detailed many of the
characters were, the effects enhance the experience as always, and
there’s only the anticipated lack of clarity and sharpness. If you can
handle the latter and accept you’re playing this sequel on a lesser
machine, you’ll be good to go. I do think there could’ve been more
diversity in the environments, though, as there were three or four
battles in a row where I began to get a little tired of my surroundings.
I don’t remember this drawback being evident in the original on the
PS3, which is why I mention it here. That aside, VC2 looks just fine and
really, the story-driven scenes are pretty darn impressive for a
handheld.
Concerning
the sound, both the voice acting and soundtrack are definite
highlights, although I might call the effects into question (due to an
occasional lack of balance and intensity). Some of you probably know my
favorite game of all time is Final Fantasy Tactics, so maybe I’m
unfairly biased towards the musical talents of Hitoshi Sakimoto, but the
quality and emotion of the tracks in VC2 is undeniable. I’m most
thankful this one particular element of the first PS3 presentation
carried over; it really gives the game that extra “oomph.” To me, the
voiceovers in this sequel are solid, but a bit more hit-or-miss in
comparison to the original. There are also less voices overall – again,
to be expected – and like I just said, the effects don’t always do it
for me. But man, the music is just so perfect and the complete sound
package fits the style, theme, and structure of the game. So we
definitely shouldn’t nitpick.
First
and foremost, I want to make one thing very clear: if you liked
Valkyria Chronicles, there’s little chance you won’t enjoy the sequel.
The gameplay is almost exactly the same in terms of basic control and
strategy; you still consume CP to move single or multiple units, you
learn a large variety of new abilities and fresh tactics, and there’s
that pseudo-third-person shooter view. It’s all here. Sega didn’t gimp
VC2 just because they put it on the PSP, so don’t think for a second
that we’ve received a watered-down, dissatisfying adventure. Personally,
I’ve always loved the turn-based aspect of the game, which allows you
to take as much time as you need to plan your strategy. The controls are
straightforward and accessible, and the longer you play, the more depth
you uncover. It’s actually quite mind-boggling, especially if you’re
expecting some sort of strategy wannabe in a third-person shooter’s
clothing.
Some
of the uninitiated may get that impression from some of the screenshots
and media. But the familiar know better. This being established, I
should mention that Sega did make one significant concession to the
PSP’s limited hardware: the battle sizes are smaller. There aren’t as
many units involved in even the large-scale battles, and the
battlegrounds are separated into different sections. You can also only
deploy 6 units at a time this time around. Besides that, though, this is
clearly Chronicles at its core. Everything works just about as well as
it did before, and we even get a few new classes with which to
experiment. The combination of massive amounts of micromanagement and
the new school sim makes the game quite dynamic, even if I’ve long since
grown tired of that distinctly Japanese schoolroom element. It was
still cool to be able to control some of the school events by utilizing
certain characters in battle; the two gameplay facets are tied together.
When
VC2 was first announced, we found out the developers wanted to address
the balancing issues some attentive fans spotted in the original. I’m
not entirely sure Sega did everything they could do to fix the issue,
though, because while there seems to be better balance on your side, the
AI isn’t very bright. In fact, it can be downright stupid. Early on in
the game, it might be understandable for the sake of difficulty
purposes, but your foes never seem to get smarter. This drags the whole
production down but thankfully, it can’t possibly destroy the inherent
entertainment. Offering 35 unique classes and increasingly deeper
upgrade systems for your weapons, there’s actually more to think about.
If you’re a big fan of customization and micromanagement, you’ll
probably lose hours to VC2; tweaking your characters and preparing for
battle has never been so engrossing.
Then
you’ve got the multiplayer, which lets you pick a leader and attack
missions with up to four friends at your side. That’s a lot of fun – if
you can find multiple people to team up with you – and Versus should be a
big draw…although I still believe strategy/RPG is best played alone, I
freely admit to wishing for a Versus mode in FFT, just to see how my
team stacked up against human competitors. And it’s especially great for
VC2 because, as I just mentioned, the AI isn’t exactly top-notch and it
won’t be overly difficult to get the upper hand. Against a human
opponent, however, all that changes. And even if multiplayer isn’t your
bag, there’s no doubt that the single-player campaign will deliver the
goods. How long might it take to complete over 100 different missions…? I
have no idea, but I’m pretty damn certain you’ll get your money’s
worth, and it’s nice to have the new multiplayer to add another
dimension to the experience.
I’m
still not sure about the whole school feature, the smaller battles may
chafe, and I wasn’t as big a fan of the storyline. But even so, Valkyria
Chronicles 2 is a more than worthy sequel: extra depth, more classes,
more missions, more customization, the same gameplay the fans fell in
love with back in 2008, and attractive multiplayer options make it a
must for those who…well, you know who you are. If you never played the
first game but own a PSP and consider yourself a strat/RPG follower,
you’ll love it. I would dissuade those who have never sampled any sort
of strategy game, but even if you’re just looking for something fresh
and wildly in-depth, it’s right here. Just in a slightly smaller and
more condensed package.
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