I bought Valkyria Chronicles 2 a week after its release. Being a huge fan of the original, when the news that a new Valkyria Chronicles was coming I was ecstatic. Initially I was kinda bummed out the game would be coming on the PSP and not the PS3, but once good reviews started rolling in and when I watched the video review on GameTrailers all my anxiety vanished. And once I fired up the game and started playing, I instantly knew I was playing a pretty special game.
What impressed me the most throughout my playtime is how polished and deep the battle system had become from the original with its varied missions and the customization options. The core battle mechanics (called the BLITZ) are the same as before and so were the different classes, but this time around new classes have been added, and that turned the whole experience on it head. I now had control over elites and specialized units such as the Gunners, the Fencer unit or the support unit in the Anthem Corps. Every class can be outfitted with modern day weaponry according to their respective class so the shock trooper can equip machine guns, scouts can equip rifles and lancer can use rocket launchers. Due to the increase in classes the level of tactics change dynamically in every battle which paved a way for exciting scenarios and strategies. So maybe for the next Valkyria Chronicles for the PS3, the fleshed out system used in VC 2 can be adopted, which will definitely equate to some awesome game play.
On the presentation front, VC 2 gets the job done and in style. The graphics doesn’t strain the PSP hardware in any way, but the game still looks really solid. The character designs, animations, background art and the manga style cut-scenes shine quite nicely on the PSP screen and makes for some good eye candy. A handful of anime cut-scenes are also present and they are rendered quite well. All on all Valkyria Chronicles 2 makes a strong showing in the graphical department.
The game has a lot of voice acting as all the important cut-scenes are voiced, but the game is not fully voiced as many of the expositions are text based supported by voice clips; hearing Avan Hardins dumb laughs got really grating at times. But still the quality of the voice work is commendable and unlike normal JRPGs many of the voice actors have done a great job in sounding convincing and natural. Sure there are a few performances which were spotty but Avan Hardins (Jason Spisak) and Zeri (Crispin Freeman) were the real standouts.
The game has a lot of voice acting as all the important cut-scenes are voiced, but the game is not fully voiced as many of the expositions are text based supported by voice clips; hearing Avan Hardins dumb laughs got really grating at times. But still the quality of the voice work is commendable and unlike normal JRPGs many of the voice actors have done a great job in sounding convincing and natural. Sure there are a few performances which were spotty but Avan Hardins (Jason Spisak) and Zeri (Crispin Freeman) were the real standouts.
Another strong aspect of the game are the characters. Don’t get me wrong as many of the characters are your run of the mill anime clichés, but there are more than a handful of well developed characters in the main characters roster as well as the supporting cast. Avan Hardins and Zeri were easily the best ones and here’s how: Avan Hardins quality as the leader of the pack and his undying determination against unnerving odds gave the character real depth. Although on first impression Avan’s character came off as callous, but as the game progressed I got swept up in his enthusiasm and the trust he had in his comrades. Zeri is the no nonsense and strong headed Darcsen (a minority and a discriminated race), but his struggle to bring good name to his reviled race was quite inspiring and I could not help but root on his character, coupled with a few awesome moments in the game made Zeri a very good main character. But on the other spectrum some of the main characters were not as impressive especially the character of Cosette Coalhearth, the demure damsel in distress archetype. Oh and talking about characters a welcome addition to VC 2 are the Classmate missions, small bite sized mission which help unlock new skills as well as conclude some personal bits for the characters, this made my get really close to many of the team members.
Anyways now to the some of the things I didn’t like in the game: First off was the story which was just decent and no where on the level or scale of the original. The saga of a rebellion after the Europan War had a lot of potential while the whole concept of genocide against the Darcens was also quite intriguing but in the end it kind off petered. Valkyria Chronicles had a great plot with some truly outstanding twists and turns and the non-preachy anti-war approach, the plot was tightly woven and had some amazing heart wrenching moments as well as the satisfying ending. In comparison VC 2 plot came off as pretty weak, although the story revolved around a rebellion and the ensuing civil war, it wasn’t as bold and hard hitting as the original. And while I didn’t mind the whole high school/military cadet college setting of the game, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something more edgy would had been much more appreciated.
In my opinion the biggest criticism I had with VC 2 was the plot narrative. In the original every battle, every skirmish, every cut-scene had some weight to it, where the epic scale of war was felt in every action I took. The narrative was told through a book show casing the struggles of Squad 7. In VC 2 the story is told via small snippets of random class banter along with story related segments which muddled the story telling process. Even in the mission structure I would have to play through 3-4 meaningless missions to get to the next story mission which just didn’t go down well with me. I mean I couldn’t feel connected to Class G’s aspirations and because of that I was more than a little annoyed at VC 2’s approach
Another aspect of VC 2 which I did not agree to was the change of the graphical style from the original. Valkyria Chronicles’s water colour like aesthetics were quite incredible and such visual splendour still has not been replicated. At first I would think that due to the hardware limitations such aesthetics would be nigh impossible for the sequel, but as Valkyria Chronicles 3 for the PSP shares the water colour look of the original, I cant help but be disappointed by the graphical style of VC 2. Although there is nothing wrong with the anime aesthetics of game, but if your compare it with original it just looks very jarring.
Anyways now to the some of the things I didn’t like in the game: First off was the story which was just decent and no where on the level or scale of the original. The saga of a rebellion after the Europan War had a lot of potential while the whole concept of genocide against the Darcens was also quite intriguing but in the end it kind off petered. Valkyria Chronicles had a great plot with some truly outstanding twists and turns and the non-preachy anti-war approach, the plot was tightly woven and had some amazing heart wrenching moments as well as the satisfying ending. In comparison VC 2 plot came off as pretty weak, although the story revolved around a rebellion and the ensuing civil war, it wasn’t as bold and hard hitting as the original. And while I didn’t mind the whole high school/military cadet college setting of the game, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something more edgy would had been much more appreciated.
In my opinion the biggest criticism I had with VC 2 was the plot narrative. In the original every battle, every skirmish, every cut-scene had some weight to it, where the epic scale of war was felt in every action I took. The narrative was told through a book show casing the struggles of Squad 7. In VC 2 the story is told via small snippets of random class banter along with story related segments which muddled the story telling process. Even in the mission structure I would have to play through 3-4 meaningless missions to get to the next story mission which just didn’t go down well with me. I mean I couldn’t feel connected to Class G’s aspirations and because of that I was more than a little annoyed at VC 2’s approach
Another aspect of VC 2 which I did not agree to was the change of the graphical style from the original. Valkyria Chronicles’s water colour like aesthetics were quite incredible and such visual splendour still has not been replicated. At first I would think that due to the hardware limitations such aesthetics would be nigh impossible for the sequel, but as Valkyria Chronicles 3 for the PSP shares the water colour look of the original, I cant help but be disappointed by the graphical style of VC 2. Although there is nothing wrong with the anime aesthetics of game, but if your compare it with original it just looks very jarring.
I could had played this game a lot longer as after the game ends, new missions open up to gain extra mileage, but I didn't even bother as once I finish the story mode of any game I lose incentive to keep on playing.
In conclusion despite a few misgivings I found Valkyria Chronicles 2 a really addictive game, and in that essence a quintessential game for the PSP. The deep battle mechanics, variety of mission structure, good graphics makes Valkyria Chronicles 2 is fine achievement for the PSP and fans of the series will really dig the game. My play time: 50 hours, 2 minutes and 26 secs. My rating: 8.8.
In conclusion despite a few misgivings I found Valkyria Chronicles 2 a really addictive game, and in that essence a quintessential game for the PSP. The deep battle mechanics, variety of mission structure, good graphics makes Valkyria Chronicles 2 is fine achievement for the PSP and fans of the series will really dig the game. My play time: 50 hours, 2 minutes and 26 secs. My rating: 8.8.
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