REVIEW

Valkyria Chronicles Remastered Review

by Sam Foxall, July 17th, 2016

As the summer drought approaches, it’s usual practice for companies to release a remaster or two to fill the void while they potter away with titles that were announced at E3. Sony have gotten in earlier this year with a remaster, bringing the lauded strategy RPG Valkyria Chronicles to PS4. Valkyria Chronicles already had a successful rerelease on PC, with this PS4 version being a straight port of the PC remaster to consoles. While the hybrid 3^rd person combat system and watercolour art style still hold up on the current generation, some dents and cracks have started to show in Valkyria Chronicles’ armour.

The first major thing to note about this remaster is that it is literally a straight port of the PC version. Unlike the Japanese version which came with the Valkyria: Azure Revolution demo, there are no PS4 specific features that wannabe tank commanders can play around with. You do get all of the DLC from the original game which is something but it would have been nice to maybe have an additional mode or feature that just made the PS4 version that little bit more worthwhile for fans who already have Valkyria Chronicles on PS3 and PC. It’s fortunate that the PC port was well made and the console version does run at a smooth 1080p 60fps so this version is very technically sound at the very least. However, the remaster has not made any pains to streamline navigating through menus, meaning you’ll have to sort through a fair few submenus and tabs to get to the mission that you want to play through.

If you haven’t played Valkyria Chronicles before, the main story is a sort of alt-history/retelling of the Second World War, this time fought on the creatively named continent of Europa. Players follow Welkin Gunther, a keen botanist who is drafted into the Gallian militia after a trip back to his home village ends with the local evil empire from the next country over, the Eastern Europan Imperial Alliance, casually invading to strip Gallia of its minerals. After mounting a resistance from his father’s old tank and with the help of local fighters, it’s your job to push back the Imperials from the sleepy pastoral land of Gallia and restore order. Valkyria Chronicles balances on the knife edge of being grave enough about the horrors of war while also being light hearted enough to have your soldiers celebrating at having a pig with wings as its mascot. There is a subplot about racial tensions between Gallians and the Darcsen, a race of dark haired people who supposedly brought about a continent-wide calamity which does tread into the territory of the ridiculous but it never becomes comically offensive. It’s good that Valkyria Chronicles’ cast are all fairly likable, even if the Imperial forces do come dangerously close to being ‘ze typical Germans’ near the end, so you can soldier through the campaign without ever really wanting to punch someone’s head off. It’s a damn sight better than Valkyria Chronicles II, which can be best described as Lucky Star meets the Final Solution.

Combat in Valkyria Chronicles involves players first choosing their soldiers from a list of potential militiamen, before heading out into various missions which can involve capturing an enemy base, evading searchlights and mortar fire to even taking down a giant tank before enemy reinforcements arrive. The missions in the campaign are nicely varied, with the game throwing you curveballs mid-battle to make sure players are always on their toes. The first giant tank attack is quite the multistage battle, requiring troops to split up into a defensive line which must slow the tank’s advance, while another stays close to the land dreadnought in order to blow it up. Moving and fighting in Valkyria Chronicles takes a bit of getting used to, as you have to balance your movement gauge with finding a suitable firing position and staying out of enemy sight lines. Once you’ve got your head around moving into position, quickly swapping into target mode to take your shot and then ending your turn without taking too much damage. Similar to units in overwatch in a more static SRPG like X:COM, certain units than can see you will fire on you when you’re moving and even aiming, meaning you have to be incredibly efficient when repositioning units in order to keep them alive.

This hybrid combat system is still the best out there, with games like Codename: STEAM trying to emulate this style of third person shooting and tactical movement but not quite getting it right. This is not to say that Valkyria Chronicles’ combat has aged perfectly. Turning units to face the right way, especially tanks, can be a nightmare when combined with the movement gauge which limits how far you can move in a single turn and you cannot effectively gauge how far you can move. If there was a grid system like in Fire Emblem which clearly displays the upper limit of how far a unit can move, this problem would be assuaged but unfortunately, no such luck in Valkyria Chronicles. The cover system isn’t fantastic, as troops can only gain cover bonuses from specific terrain like sandbags and trenches, while not being able to peer round walls to fire on incoming enemies. You also have the age old SRPG problem of bullshit RNG, where a sniper who is perfectly on target will have a bullet go through the edge of an enemy’s helmet yet do no damage. The amount of times I’ve had an anti-tank soldier miss a rocket shot when at point blank range of an armoured unit is simply unbelievable. Don’t get me wrong, playing Valkyria Chronicles is still a blast, especially when a plan comes together but years of distance have revealed that the series is well due for a proper oil change. Tweaking the sometimes moronic AI and making mission rewards be based on combat effectiveness, rather than clearing the mission in the fastest time, would have made this remaster a great look ahead to the possible future of Valkyria Chronicles, rather than just a sometimes frustrating glance back.

Luckily, the CANVAS engine still holds up, with the watercolour backgrounds looking fantastic in 1080p. Valkyria Chronicles cycles through enough different areas, moving from lush green fields, to bombed out cities and even desert skirmishes that the aesthetic doesn’t become tired. It’s also helped by the design of both Gallian and Imperial military equipment, which blends 40s era technology with medieval armour and weaponry, creating this unique depiction of early-modern combat. The soundtrack never quite won me over, as I feel an orchestral score would have added a lot of gravitas to the fighting on screen, compared to the computerised sound effects that is used. It’s never distracting but none of the tracks really grabbed me while I was fighting off tank divisions.

If you’re looking for a decent SRPG to fill the summer drought, you cannot go wrong with Valkyria Chronicles Remastered. For the discounted price of £16, even with its slightly aging combat system and finicky menus, players who’ve never joined the Gallian militia will definitely get their money’s worth with the amount of missions and things to do. Even if you already have Valkyria Chronicles on PC, it’s well worth a buy just to support SEGA and show them that people still want a proper Valkyria Chronicles game in the future.