69 replies to this topic

[cimerians]

Oh boy.....

I downloaded the demo and I am instantly hooked. I played the skirmish like 4 or 5 times and now Sega has driven me to buy this game.
I haven't bought it yet but I definitely will.

If anyone likes Vandal Hearts or even Front Mission style turn based strategy (with simple controls) then download the demo!


The demo has a tutorial and a skirmish. Worth the download.

[moycon]

Wow this looks great.
I've added it to my Amazon wishlist! Thanks.

[Mendon]

I can't remember whether it was Best Buy, Target, or Circuit City but one of them has Valkyria on sale this week for $44.95, a $15 savings off the usual price.

Check the Sunday ad's for whichever store has it on sale.


Mendon

[cimerians]

I just got it from Amazon for $49.99....

[Reaperman]

That game looks so awesome. I've been playing the demo. It takes complex rules/concepts usually found in tabletop strategy and makes them simple enough for anybody to use.

A shame fallout 3 just hit...and lbp... or it'd be on my 'buy immediately' list.

Edited by Reaperman, Mon Nov 10, 2008 12:52 AM.

[Mendon]

I have been reading some of the threads on the official PS3 forums and almost every post has been nothing but praise for the game. I then went to YouTube and looked at some of the gameplay video's that people had uploaded and my interest in the game increased 1000%. I then downloaded the demo and played both the Tutorial and Skirmish and was hooked, Hooked, HOOKED!!

I went out and bought the game today and am on Chapter 2. This game is incredible and I can't believe how little marketing by Sega/Sony is being done for it. From the lush graphic's to storyline to gameplay to strategy to music, this game screams quality.

If you have any interest at all in RPG's and RTS's, you must at least download the demo and try it out.

Thank You Sega!!


Mendon

[cimerians]

I totally agree.

Everytime I meet someone or a friend with a PS3 I mention this game...to try in some small, microscopic way to help with game sales.


It definitely needs a sequel, its VERY well done.

[gospeedde]

I love this game. I got it about a week ago and I've been playing it pretty solidly ever since. It gets a lot better after about the fourth battle, it was kind of slow and fairly easy until then. The difficulty continues to ramp up as you learn things. There is some sort of new aspect in just about every battle, which keeps it really interesting. I just found out that you can get flamethrowers if you level up far enough (the enemy has them, but I don't, boo!).

Besides the great strategy aspect of the game (best I've ever played, if that means anything) I really enjoy other aspects of the game as well. Having people with allergies or who like or dislike other members of the team really adds another element to the gameplay. I also like that the longer you keep them alive the more you learn about their background.

In short, this is the best game I've played in a really, really long time and I highly recommend it.

[Mendon]

I'm on Chapter 3 and just opened up the Skirmish tab. I've picked my 20 recruits, leveled all my troops to Lvl 3, and upgraded everything available to me (uniforms, rifles, extra tread, etc). Whew.....

I am loving this game and addicted to it completely. One thing, though: I don't know about anyone else, but I've found that there is a lot to learn and experiment with in the game... much more than I first realized from playing the demo: when to level and who, how to outfit tanks to maximise attack and defense, which characters to use based on potentials, when and which orders to give, getting a good feel for planning battles based on knowing your troops, which R&D items should you spend money on, which characters to use to throw grenades (some, like Alica, can't throw worth beans whiles others get triple her distances), and on and on.

How is everyone else doing in the game? Which chapter are you on? What kind of grades are you receiving (I've been getting mostly B's so far, but am not concerned about achieving high grades this play-through)? Any favorite characters so far? Are you losing characters and reloading the game to replay a battle?

Oh, and I just read that DLC will be coming this spring for the game.... YES!!!


Mendon

Edited by Mendon, Tue Jan 6, 2009 6:09 AM.

[cimerians]

I dont have my PS3 currently so I havent played it. It crapped out two weeks after my 360 died.

Unbelievable.

I might be getting it back this week so I will start playing again.

[Mendon]

I'm now up to Chapter 6 and loving this game more and more.

As I posted previously, I'm learning more and more and more as I play and discovering how really deep this game can be. I'm still experimenting with trying to put together the perfect squad (good attack, good defense, etc.) but then finding that I can't play the same squad every chapter as you must take potentials & friendships into consideration. As an example, I'm fighting in the desert right now and a couple characters have "Desert Allergy" so I'm faced with trying to figure out if their attack and defense capabilities overcome the negative impact of the Allergy potential.

Then you have to decide if you wish to spend a CP to issue an order or not. Sometimes its a waste of CP, sometimes it will really help you win a battle. It all comes down to knowing when to issue orders, figuring out which characters to use in your squad, being able to use the "leap frog" method between camps to bring reinforcements in, figuring out the best attack strategy, and a little luck all decide if you will win a battle or not.

And while the battles are getting more and more difficult, the difficulty doesn't ramp up to an suddenly impossible level.... you can still win but you have to be much more strategic and intelligent with each battle. As an example... trying not to put spoilers in here.... on Chapter 5 a new enemy tank is introduced and it took me multiple tries to figure out how to take that sucker out as its power would shread any of my characters if I got within its range.

I'm not concerned with getting a high grade with each chapter, nor am I "power leveling" my characters by doing the skirmishes over and over. I'm simply playing and loving this incredible game.


Mendon

[cimerians]

Mendon, on Sat Jan 10, 2009 5:19 AM, said:

I'm now up to Chapter 6 and loving this game more and more.

As I posted previously, I'm learning more and more and more as I play and discovering how really deep this game can be. I'm still experimenting with trying to put together the perfect squad (good attack, good defense, etc.) but then finding that I can't play the same squad every chapter as you must take potentials & friendships into consideration. As an example, I'm fighting in the desert right now and a couple characters have "Desert Allergy" so I'm faced with trying to figure out if their attack and defense capabilities overcome the negative impact of the Allergy potential.

Then you have to decide if you wish to spend a CP to issue an order or not. Sometimes its a waste of CP, sometimes it will really help you win a battle. It all comes down to knowing when to issue orders, figuring out which characters to use in your squad, being able to use the "leap frog" method between camps to bring reinforcements in, figuring out the best attack strategy, and a little luck all decide if you will win a battle or not.

And while the battles are getting more and more difficult, the difficulty doesn't ramp up to an suddenly impossible level.... you can still win but you have to be much more strategic and intelligent with each battle. As an example... trying not to put spoilers in here.... on Chapter 5 a new enemy tank is introduced and it took me multiple tries to figure out how to take that sucker out as its power would shread any of my characters if I got within its range.

I'm not concerned with getting a high grade with each chapter, nor am I "power leveling" my characters by doing the skirmishes over and over. I'm simply playing and loving this incredible game.


Mendon

Very cool!

Thanks for the insight without using spoilers. Very much appreciated!

I like the fact that you can win without the perfect combination of people. There are some strategy games that are not as forgiving.

[Mendon]

WOW!!! Just finished Chapter 7 and WOW!!

Don't want to spoil anything for anyone else so I'll be carefull: Chapter 7 is the first Boss battle of the game and requires the employment of new strategies to complete. Lancers are extremely important in the level, so I seriously recomend that you spend a few skirmish battles and level up your Lancers a little bit before taking on this battle.

For me, Lancers have always been the "iffy" members of my squads, as too often they miss hitting their target..... unless they are at point blank range. And of course they were missing A LOT on Chapter 7, so after losing 5 battles or so I went back and for the first time did some skirmish battles just to raise my Lancers to Level 8. They still missed a few shots, but raising their Lvl's helped me quite a bit in completing the chapter.

Took me multiple tries to complete Chapter 7 but the beauty of this game is that I never once felt frustration.

And the story is getting more and more intense as I go along..... you learn something about the Valkyria in this chapter. I especially like the fact that by doing certain "things" within the game, you open up sub-chapters that deal with the back-story of the characters. I recently opened up sub-chapters on Alicia and Largo that really fleshed out their characters, and the Largo sub-chapter even included a skirmish.

Looking forward to some others catching up with me on the game so that we can openly discuss game events and strategies.


Mendon

Edited by Mendon, Sun Jan 11, 2009 4:30 PM.

[cimerians]

I just got my PS3 back and spent the whole weekend re-downloading everything.

I lost all my saves so I have to start over with all my games.



Hopefully this week I can catch up.

[Mendon]

I'm now working on Chapter 10.... completed the first battle of it and am now on the 2nd battle. Whew.... this baby is H*A*R*D as I've had my butt handed to me every try so far. But again, the beauty of this game is trying different strategies and different characters and not once have I felt frustration with having to repeat a mission.

I'm now getting medal's for completing missions and obtained 6 of them, which is kind of neat. I'm also still playing around with outfitting my tank, trying to get the best stat's for it with the limited amount of upgrade space available.

Can't say it enough.... this is an INCREDIBLE game!



Mendon

[gospeedde]

I just finished chapter 11, wherein some interesting plot develops (I'm pretty sure I know who did it!). I just got my eighth medal. I'm really curious about how to unlock the last two tabs in the book. I also just leveled my first group up to 11 (I've been leveling them up evenly, so everyone else is at 10) and you get some cool stuff when that happens.

I rely on Mariana too much, she's my favorite.

I tend to get D's or C's for the level grade. I think maybe I take too long; I can be overly cautious.

I'm going to second that this is an incredible game. I wish I had more time to play it (stupid grad school!).

[Mendon]

gospeedde, on Wed Jan 21, 2009 2:59 AM, said:

I just finished chapter 11, wherein some interesting plot develops (I'm pretty sure I know who did it!). I just got my eighth medal. I'm really curious about how to unlock the last two tabs in the book. I also just leveled my first group up to 11 (I've been leveling them up evenly, so everyone else is at 10) and you get some cool stuff when that happens.

I rely on Mariana too much, she's my favorite.

I tend to get D's or C's for the level grade. I think maybe I take too long; I can be overly cautious.

I'm going to second that this is an incredible game. I wish I had more time to play it (stupid grad school!).

I've never gotten a D grade, so far, and almost always end up with a C grade. I'm not worrying at all about the grades on this, my first play-through, as I'm simply just enjoying the hell out of the game. But when I finish and unlock New Game+, I'm going to try and get some A grades.

You do get many more EXP's and DCT's, though, with higher grading. I did one of the Skirmishes to level up my Lancers for Chapter 7 and got an A on that Skirmish (HINT: orders are your best friend) and it awarded me 30,000 EXP's for doing so.

I just finished the 2nd battle in Chapter 10 and breathed a big sigh of relief when I did. I graded out a C on that battle but then was shaken up when I read on another website that to get an A grade on that battle, you have to complete it in 6 turns or less. Between the train, the mortar fire, the enemies, the constant re-enforcements, the tanks, the Ace Sniper and everything else, I don't see how its possible to complete that battle in 6 moves or less!!!

Like you, I've kept all of my classes at the same level as the Chapter I'm on. The only exception is the Lancers, who I leveled up to 8 before taking on Chapter 7 so that their accuracy would improve. Right now, I'm starting Chapter 11 and all classes are Lvl 11, meaning they just achieved Elite status.... now I can start using Elite weapons like the Flame Thrower and grenade launcher.

I haven't received Mariana as a recruit yet. My favorite recruit so far is Hannes as he's proven to be a pure tank and a half against enemies and doesn't have any really bad potentials. I just "fired" one of my snipers (can't recall name at the moment") because his "moodiness" potential kicked in much too often, meaning he wouldn't fire his rifle.....grrrrrr.

And I love all of the comments the characters make, too.... an example: I use Cherry the Scout quite alot and love it when she runs by any of the male recruits and says "You boys like Cherries?"


Mendon

Edited by Mendon, Wed Jan 21, 2009 6:10 AM.

[gospeedde]

Hannes is my second favorite. I pair him with Jane often and they do really well. Marina is my sniper and she's fabulous. My other sniper (Oscar) misses a lot.

I haven't used orders yet, though I will when I do the second playthrough. I'm trying to finish every battle without them. Don't ask me why, I just am.

Do you know if buying the articles gives you anything, or is it just to read the stories?

[Mendon]

gospeedde, on Thu Jan 22, 2009 3:27 AM, said:

Hannes is my second favorite. I pair him with Jane often and they do really well. Marina is my sniper and she's fabulous. My other sniper (Oscar) misses a lot.

I haven't used orders yet, though I will when I do the second playthrough. I'm trying to finish every battle without them. Don't ask me why, I just am.

Do you know if buying the articles gives you anything, or is it just to read the stories?

Wow.... sniff sniff.... wiping away a tear..... just finished Chapter 11 and couldn't believe how it ended.... sniff sniff..... very, very powerful story with characters you can care about. My love for this game just keeps growing and growing.

As for buying the articles, by purchasing them you open up additional "sub-chapters" of the story that are cut-scenes. A couple I opened up contained a story (and mission) featuring Largo and another one called "Squad 7's R&R" that further expands the characters.

And I just got Marina when I went to the Command Room after finishing Chapter 11.


Mendon

Edited by Mendon, Thu Jan 22, 2009 1:37 PM.

[gospeedde]

Ah! I figured it out. I'd never scrolled back through the pages in the book, so I hadn't realized they were there. I played them through, and they're pretty interesting. Also, I accidentally said the wrong chapter before. I was on chapter 13 (not 11) in case you were wondering why my comments made no sense. 11 made me snif a bit too. I wasn't expecting that at all.

I don't know how they do it, but it just keeps getting more and more interesting and the game play keeps getting more and more involved.

[Mendon]

gospeedde, on Wed Jan 28, 2009 2:57 AM, said:

Ah! I figured it out. I'd never scrolled back through the pages in the book, so I hadn't realized they were there. I played them through, and they're pretty interesting. Also, I accidentally said the wrong chapter before. I was on chapter 13 (not 11) in case you were wondering why my comments made no sense. 11 made me snif a bit too. I wasn't expecting that at all.

I don't know how they do it, but it just keeps getting more and more interesting and the game play keeps getting more and more involved.

I maybe forgot to mention, and I don't think its a spoiler, that by contributing to the book fund and opening sub-chapters, you also reveal the hidden potentials of characters, such as Largo's Veggie potential, by completing his sub-chapter.

I just completed Chapter 13 and again was met with the WOW factor at the way this chapter ended and the cliffhanger it leaves you on. Incredible, incredible game!!!

I'm trying to make the game last a little longer, since there are only 18 Chapters, by taking a short break and starting/playing Fallout 3 for a couple days. But I'll be back to VC this weekend as I HAVE to finish the Naggier Saga by entering the 2nd part of the battle in Chapter 14.


Mendon

[Mendon]

Just finished Chapter 15 and the WOW factor of this game just keeps climbing and climbing. What a turn of events at chapters end!!

And I ran into the first battle that really, really gave me fits: its the report that opens up Welkins hidden potential called "Defending the Refugee Camp". This battle was totally different than any other that I had fought in the game and the fact that you only had 5 characters, no option for reinforcement, the number of enemies you faced, and the limited number of turns to complete the battle really made this a difficult one for me.

I believe I finally won it after about the 5th or 6th try and was awarded a B grading, but this was the hardest battle I've faced yet. Absolutely loved it!!

One last thing: another example of the sheer brillance of this game is the number of options available to you to conduct a battle. Just changing out one character for another character, with different skills and potentials, can completely alter the end result of a battle. Incredible.


Mendon

[cimerians]

I really need to get going and play this game!

Anyway.....now there's an anime in Japan

http://kotaku.com/5154825/check-out-more-v...les-anime-parts


I swear this should be considered one of the best games of 2008.

[Tempest]

So how does the gameplay work? From what I've read it sounds a bit like Eternal Sonata where you had 'turns' but there was live action during those turns.

Tempest

[cimerians]

Its like Level 1 or 2 turn based Eternal Sonata. I think Sonata had Level 1-6 types of combat.

You have a squad of guys and each takes a turn. During that soldiers turn a timer goes down and during this time you can move him\her\it around the field.
You can shoot your weapon or whatever. The enemy does not move (although they can snipe at you) nor do your other units, its all turn based. Mendon could probably get into the details as I've only played the begining of the game (and demo skirmish).

The demo is actually pretty good at giving you a sample of how it works. Its easy to get into which I think makes it a good game from the start.

Edited by cimerians, Tue Feb 17, 2009 10:43 AM.