Missed the first one entirely, 2 and 3 were, well.. anyways.

Do we think this is a game I can just kinda jump into as my first VC experience? Should I need to seek out the first one and give it a play through?

Do you need to play the first entry, no. Should you? Yes. It's one of the more underappreciated gems that it worthy of your time, if you are in to tactical RPG's. Also, with the re-release on the PS4 it looks better than ever.

You should play it because it's very good and probably on a really deep sale right now somewhere.

But I think the new one is once again going to run parallel to the events of the first so you might be fine either way?

VC1 is great, cheap, and available now. Get it, play it, and see if you like it. We don't know when VC4 will come out in most territories.

You can just jump in, but please play the first one, simply because it's an awesome game and hasn't aged at all!

But the first one was the best...

Valkyria Chronicles 1 is awesome and should be experienced. It is a little too early to tell if you don't need to know any of the previous game's story to fully enjoy 4. I would think since the game doesn't take place in Gallia and is about a totally new cast of characters that it would be a good jumping in point for the series but you should really play 1. The first game is challenging but still one of the best strategy games out there.

Yeah, play the first one for sure.

Best way to play it is on PC of course, it's very cheap as it is, but if you wait for the steam holiday sales it will get a good discount for certain, it always does in the big sales.

From what they've shown so far, I don't think there'll be any problem with going into VC4 without having played the first game. I'm sure there will at least be some nods to/cameos from VC1, but sounds like it's mostly telling its own story.

But since VC1 is now available on PS4 ($30) and PC ($20), I'd say it's definitely worth checking out.

The PS4 disc version might be out of print? I'm not seeing a lot of new copies out there from the usual places (Amazon, Gamestop, Best Buy, Walmart), but there's a few out there (Newegg, Play Asia, and some third-party sellers). Can always get it digitally, of course.

I don’t think the story has any connection to Gallia, it seems to be centered on a new Europan War. But I would recommend playing the first game either way. It’s a great game.