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Post by Xeogred on Aug 1, 2021 20:11:48 GMT -5
I put a little over 5 hours into Valkyria Chronicles (in game, I feel like it's actually been more real time).
This game is incredible. Is this what the modern XCom's are like, or is there anything similar to these? Either way, the lead staff behind this series deserve a medal for taking one of the coolest spins on the SRPG genre I've ever seen. You got your menu's to progress through the story per usual in these kind of games, upgrading and managing units/equipment, etc, you position your units and deploy them... and then the tables flip. The game zooms into a third person perspective and you control your units in real time. It sounds like such a simple decision and I guess it is in ways but the way it's implemented here with all the mechanics is so dang good.
I love that you're not leveling up single units. The game even seems to kind of make a little jabbing joke about this, so there's no fear of "leaving anyone behind". Instead, you level up the entire class which effects everyone that fits that role. There are five classes and I'm still getting a hang of them and the mechanics. So far, Snipers haven't been all that useful or interesting, but I suspect they'll maybe have their place in some scenarios.
Not only that though, then you have a tank that you control, can be a wall for your units, etc. It's really freaking cool.
I'm glad you can save mid battle. Didn't realize that for awhile, so I took a few deaths early on and had to do some long stretches again. But it was worth gaining more experience with the systems at hand here. Having played Front Mission 4 earlier this year I won't say it's super hard or anything in comparison but like a lot of this genre, a little mistake or two can really set you back sometimes. The challenge seems pretty good so far.
Story/characters seem very anime but in a good way to me. I'm digging it and its 1930's scenario.
Top it off with my man Hitoshi Sakimoto scoring the music.
I'm still kind of in this weird gaming rut, but even so this one sucked me in pretty fast and I'm excited to keep playing. I know Ex loves these games and one of my local friends was big on the PS3 original as well, I saw him play a lot and it looked amazing. For some reason it just took me like 10 years to get to it haha. But my main point here is that it seems like anyone who plays these games, loves them. I'm definitely seeing why.
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Post by Ex on Aug 1, 2021 20:50:49 GMT -5
Now you're starting to see why I say Valkyria Chronicles is my favorite "modern" SRPG series. The first game is a stone cold classic, I loved it.* Anybody who enjoys SRPGs owes it to themselves to play this one. I had very few gripes about the original VC. My main gripe was that it's too easy (this didn't get rectified until VC3), and there's one particular exploit that if you stumble upon, really unbalances the difficulty in the player's favor. That said, there's still one particular mission that is legit difficult, and a lot of people stop playing there. However that mission represents the crest of a hill, not a continuous incline. Glad to see you are enjoy VC1, looking forward to your overall opinion once you're done. The good news is VC1 knows exactly when to quit, it's the perfect length for this genre, so you won't get burnt out. You're in for some great surprises, so don't read any guides or reviews or anything that will spoil said surprises! * I beat this game back in 2015. My HLTB entry was brief, but to the point:
Version beaten: PS3 Time to beat: 31h 10m 02s Notes: Completed main campaign and all bonus missions, no strategy guide or walkthroughs used, also did about 1/3rd of the skirmish missions. Normal difficulty. User rating: 9/10 Review: "Valkyria Chronicles is simply a fantastic strategy experience. It has unique and beautiful graphics, an excellent soundtrack, and game mechanics design of a high caliber rarely seen. Not to mention an emotional and sweeping story that will keep you hooked. There are some balancing issues concerning the -[REDACTED]- unit class, menus could be a little more streamlined, and load times can be a bit long even with the game installed to your PS3. Let none of these minor issues deter you though; Valkyria Chronicles is a war well worth fighting for."
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Post by Sarge on Aug 1, 2021 23:37:28 GMT -5
Yeah, there's some commonality with modern XCOM.
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Post by Xeogred on Aug 2, 2021 8:03:24 GMT -5
Interesting. Well, Valkyria Chronicles has the power of anime on its side.
And yeah... I'll be curious to look things up once I beat this. Playing some of the missions, I am suspicious there's probably ways to cheese these systems haha. Like maybe loading up a map with a specific class, or using a ton of turns on one unit (Scout?) doing something crazy.
But yeah it's easy enough so far. I wonder if you can get by without worrying about some of the mechanics. I keep forgetting about the "Orders" from the tank. Now there's some special team up attacks when units that have affinity to one another are close by or something, haven't seen that yet.
The only thing bugging me is that I can't figure out how to zoom in with Snipers. Even though there's an icon that says R3 and I'll try everything, hmm.
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Post by Ex on Aug 2, 2021 8:28:23 GMT -5
Interesting. Well, Valkyria Chronicles has the power of anime on its side. It's important to note the BLiTZ turn-based/real time SRPG combat style was trailblazed by Valkyria Chronicles in 2008. The similar combat style X-Com game being mentioned here debuted four years after in 2012. So if anything, VC1 was the influencer, not the influenced You're getting warmer! The tank becomes more and more important as the game progresses. And eventually you get what are practically Super Saiyan units. They are very strategically advantageous. You can definitely zoom in and out with scopes. I don't recall the exact button presses right now, but here's what the PS3 manual says:
Edit: That may mean to simply push the right stick forward and backward, not click it inwards. You have to keep in mind, the last two VC games I've played were on PSP, so the controls were different. That's why I don't remember exactly how the PS3 controls work.
- I plan to start on my first SEGA game today. I definitely need to beat something fast, because my present HLTB games beaten score is cursed:
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Post by Xeogred on Aug 2, 2021 11:27:23 GMT -5
I'm foaming at the mouth wondering what a Front Mission game could be like in this style.
Dreams...
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Post by Ex on Aug 2, 2021 11:32:33 GMT -5
I'm foaming at the mouth wondering what a Front Mission game could be like in this style. That would be awesome. Ring of Red is the closest equivalent that comes to mind. There is an RTS Front Mission, named Front Mission Alternative. So it has some action elements as a result. Unfortunately, it's not available in English officially or unofficially. ( I beat the game regardless.)
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Post by Ex on Aug 2, 2021 17:02:37 GMT -5
Started playing SpellCaster on Master System today. Pretty sure toei likes this one. I know it's based off the Peacock King franchise, which has multiple video games in it. I don't know anything about Peacock King though. Even without knowledge of the source material, this game thus far seems ambitious and interesting. Kind of an action-platformer-adventure hybrid.
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Post by toei on Aug 2, 2021 17:40:39 GMT -5
Started playing SpellCaster on Master System today. Pretty sure toei likes this one. I know it's based off the Peacock King franchise, which has multiple video games in it. I don't know anything about Peacock King though. Even without knowledge of the source material, this game thus far seems ambitious and interesting. Kind of an action-platformer-adventure hybrid. SpellCaster is pretty cool, but it has some BS towards the end. There's a huge pyramid maze level, which I personally liked, but it's way more hardcore than anything in Revenge of Shinobi (some of the same people worked on it), and there's an adventure section that doesn't flow at all. But you can find answers to all that in a FAQ if it comes to that. Rieko Kodama drew some of that art, btw. You can definitely see the resemblance with art in the first Phantasy Star at times. Mystic Defender is all action.
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Post by Sarge on Aug 2, 2021 17:42:56 GMT -5
I played through it for Master System month, and thought it was pretty solid. Gave it a 6.5. Not going to set the world on fire, but one of those games I always wanted to finish after seeing it in a few magazines I owned.
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