A Coming-of-Age Story in a Time of War – Valkyria Chronicles 4 takes place in the same timeframe as the original Valkyria Chronicles, but focuses on a whole new cast of main characters. Players will take command of the eager, young Commander Claude Wallace, engineer/heavy weapons extraordinaire Riley Miller, hotheaded Darcsen Raz, ice-cold ace sniper Kai Schulen, and more. Together, they will experience the painful realities of war–but will the bonds of Squad E’s friendships survive the frozen battlefield?

The Next Generation “BLiTZ” Battle System – The part overhead turn-based strategy, part RPG, and part real-time 3rd person shooter “BLiTZ” battle system returns to the field. New features include an explosive new class called the Grenadier, numerous offensive/defensive battleship support options, chances for a unit to have a “Last Stand” action before death, and more. Plus, fight the imperial threat with more units on larger-scale maps than ever before.

CANVAS Aesthetics – The series’ signature hand-drawn visual style is back and overhauled for the newest generation. Inspired by watercolor compositions, the CANVAS Graphics Engine blends visual elements of reality and imagination to create an expressive world filled with colorful emotions. Watch the journey of Squad E unfold like an interactive painting!

The Return of a Legendary Composer – The illustrious Hitoshi Sakimoto, original composer of the Valkyria Chronicles series and countless other emotional epics, returns to provide a sweeping orchestral soundtrack for the game.

They are saying all the right things about this one if you ask me. Let's get this series back on track(s)!

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Update:

Valkyria Chronicles 4 will have a special DLC story featuring characters from the first VC. You unlock them as playable characters in VC4 after beating it; the included characters are Welkin in Edelweiss, Alicia, Largo, Rosie, & Isara!

https://twitter.com/HDKirin/status/932464629090942977

I'm tentatively excited. I recently went back to the original Valkyria Chronicles and fell in love all over again, so I'm really hoping it's more of that and less like whatever that more recent game was.

I was freakin out last night over this news. There was a teaser site counting down to this announcement and I was so sure it was going to be a mobile game spin-off or something. I am so happy I was wrong. It is so exciting to finally see a new Valkyria game that actually looks like the original and not a low-poly PSP title or that anime chrome look from Valkyria Revolution. This franchise has been shafted for over a decade but Sega looks like it is finally treating it right with 4, hope it is as good as the trailer claims it to be.

Also this game is coming out in Japan in just four months on March 21, 2018! How long as Sega been working on this and why wasn't it announced a lot sooner?

Had no idea there's a 2 and 3, turns out they were all on PSP. How weird.

@lentfilms: I personally love announcements closer to the release.

Now I just have to hope they will bring this one to PC eventually as well.

I am very happy that its finally back on consoles, also back to being actually what I want. Not whatever Revolution was.

Bring it on!

@hassun: I'm not complaining, it just feels like this announcement came out of nowhere.

Maybe Little Stone Software will port the game to the PC after its initial console release. Hopefully they do because I feel the first game's Steam release is really what made the series relevant again after so long.

Thank. fucking. Christ.

After an eternity of waiting for the series to come back to consoles, they slap us with Revolution. Personally, not only did I think it was bad from a gameplay perspective, they went 'full anime' and just doubled down on all the worst tropes in the worst ways. I'm so happy that was seemingly a one-off thing and they're going back to what made the series great and putting it out on consoles too. Surprised they haven't announced the PC version. Given how well it did, I would've thought they'd announce it alongside everything else. I suppose it's just a matter of when, not if.

Am I awake?

This announcement has really made me want to play the first one again. Loved that game so much when it first came out, and bought it again when it came to steam, but never got very far into the pc version. Think I am gonna reinstall it. Hope the new one is good, the psp one never really grabbed me and the most recent one looked pretty bad.

Yes and please. I’m so down for this. Kinda baffled they didn’t announce it for PC after how well the Steam release (apparently) did, but that’s Japan for you. I’m sure it will get a port eventually.

Though, I have to say: if “In a war across frigid wastes it was the friendship that kept us warm” is an indicator for the quality of this game’s writing, we’re not going to see a drastic improvement from the rest of the series.

So basically, they tried something different, it didn't work out, so now they're going back to the tried and true formula rather than kill the series entirely. Now if only more companies would do that...

Anyway, I've been eyeing that VC Remaster on PS4 for a while now. Guess I need to hurry up to at least somewhat prepare myself for this. Don't think I'll be going back to VC2 and 3 anytime soon, though.

From what I've heard the PC release sold almost a million copies, far outselling what the game did on PS3.

@axersia: I would definitely not say that Sega is returning to the same "tried formula" after trying something new with the series. It is more like they are making the first actual sequel to the PS3 game after spending a decade making smaller scale handheld titles that didn't really live up to the first game and then trying to cash in on the hardcore fanbase by making a Warriors ripoff that could potentially bring in a more mainstream audience that didn't care about strategy games.

Edit:

Also I just read an interview with 4's producer over at the PlayStation Blog and it sounds like this game has been in development for 2 years, even longer if you count the planning phase of development. So they must have started making this game right after they announced Revolution and the PS4 Remaster in 2015. Also Also, they mention in the interview that the game's director is "Mr. Yamashita" who might be Kohei Yamashita, the game designer from VC I and II.

My girlfriend has the first one. Maybe I should try it out to see if I want this on my Switch...

Really hope this turns out, sounds like a ringer for me especially on Switch, can't wait!!

They should just call it Valkyria Chronicles 2: the games on the PSP were a pale imitation of the first one.

@gaff: To be fair, VC1 is not an easy game to top regardless of the platform and the expended classes are great. Also the bite size structure worked great for commutes. I still wish VC3 came out in the States.

Wow! This is fantastic news. I thought Revolution would be the final nail in the coffin.

Alright Sega, now all you have to do is re release Skies of Arcadia and develop a new single player Phantasy Star. Then I'll love you again.

Can't wait to see how they fuck this up too.

I forgot there was a Valkyria Chronicles 2 and I own that game. Good to see this as a return to form after whatever that last thing they did with the franchise was.

Pretty excited for this. I loved VC1 and the winter war setting could be a lot of fun.

Nevermind, thought this was Valkyrie Profile.

Does anyone else find the video similar to something like an early Kickstarter pitch? I get the impression they're very cognizant of how off base they were with Revolution. Hopefully they make good on all the flowery language.

Neato.

I still maintain a hatred toward the first game that dwarfs the mere indifference I feel toward most games I don't like.

wait there 2 more VC games i havn't heard of ?

I didn't like VC1 as much as I wanted to (I never touched 2 and only dabbled with 3), but I still really like the concept of this game, so hopefully this is the one that they get right.

Not a fan of the game taking place in the same time-frame as VC1, but I'll still take any proper VC game I can get.

@aktivity: It's the same thing they did with VC3. So now they have three games taking place at the same time.

I'm extremely hyped for this.

I assumed this franchise was totally dead after Valkyria Revolution was a flop, but I'm thrilled to see that we're finally getting a true sequel to the PS3 game. I mean, VC2 wasn't bad but the story wasn't great and it suffered from the technical limitations of the PSP. VC3 was reportedly better, but as it never got a western release, I haven't played it.

So I started playing Valkyria Chronicles recently off of all the praise it's gotten over the years and let me tell you: it doesn't hold up. The tactics gameplay is incredibly shallow. The strategic layer almost non existent. The story is also kind of bland. I get that it's better than the sequels but it's still nowhere near the classic it's made out to be.

Seeing this trailer I'm not sure what to think. They really seem to be going for that nostalgia factor hard so maybe they're bringing back the mechanics from the first game. Unfortunately that's not nearly enough to make a good game in 2017. Hopefully they have something else up their sleeve. Unique abilities for specific units. A deeper strategic layer. The first game is interesting and novel. If they build on that foundation I'm totally on board but looking at this trailer I'm not sure they are.

Glad to see the franchise is alive. I thought it was dead. I did like Revolution despite it was flawed and yeah, I did see it flop. That's why the price was cut so much and why I haven't heard about it on Twitter among Nier, Breath of the Wild during the first months of 2017

I hope the story is good. After VC1, the story got really predictable. I haven't felt sad for the characters since VC1. Granted, VC2 did better with their characters because they had character missions. VC2 marked the point when they started to adopt more anime cliches/tropes. Though, VC2 was more flexible, making their maps less challenging compared to VC1 where I had to really plan out my steps, I didn't do the Selvaria DLC as I felt the weapons made things too easy. I challenged myself with only upgrades in the story.

Revolution - I do like they tried something new. It was a bit easy. The art style wasn't as good. The expressions was like watching dolls. The story wasn't as good and it was pretty short and predictable.

I don't mind platforms. I can play on the PC or PlayStation. I did have issues with Steam's version of VC1 because of the glitches with ladders and controlling the tank had issues.

For the new game, I did remember Gallia fighting two countries on both sides. It was mentioned not as much in detail. It felt like the first game only concluded on the Imperial Empire. There was nothing about the federation. It feels weird we have to go back to the setting of the first game, twice with VC3 being the first game.

I hope it's a lot better than how VC2 turned out.

Honestly I'm kind of floored by this announcement, because I had completely written this franchise off for dead after that recent mediocre spinoff completely tanked. Not to mention I sort of gave up on Sega as a developer in general. I'm glad Sega decided to pull an X-COM here and be like "lol jk about that shitty spinoff, here's the real strategy game now." If only Square Enix would do the same with Front Mission.

Wait, they aren't making it for a dying handheld and sending it off to die? Are we sure this is sega and not some alternate universe sega? Does this sega have a goatee?

Hopefully we get a nice new game that builds on the first one then.

Now, Mr. alternate universe Sega, can we get a Skies of Arcadia sequel?

So hyped for this. I loved the first one!

Hmm maybe this will be the first of these I play. It's crazy I've missed it until now really, most of it is way up my alley.

Guys. Guys I don't know. Guys I've been burned. I've been burned bad. I've been burned bad and I haven't even played Valkyria Revolution (yet, because I'm trash and I'm going to play it). I want to believe, I do, but I don't know guys.

I shrieked when I saw this last night.

oh nice. Apart from some port problems (gunfire dealing double damage at 60 fps, while in movement mode) it was a very fun game. While the artstyle here doesn't look bad at all, it is quite funny how it looks exactly like the pc port :D

I refuse to believe anything they say about this, when it comes out and if it is what they say I will freak out.

From what they've shown so far, it looks like everything fans of the original have been wanting since the original.

I was a big fan of the first game, and it's what sold me on getting a PS3. There were a few things it could have done better (easy to cheese some levels with a buffed scout; some menu interface stuff was cumbersome; physically aiming a gun but missing a shot due to stats feels odd), but there were a lot of things it did right (art style/visuals; big cast of recruitable, voiced characters; ability to replay missions/cutscenes; Japanese audio option; non-grid-based movement). And though it's probably one of the more subjective/divisive elements, I really liked the story. If VC4 is more of what we got in VC1, which it looks like it is, then I'm on board.

This news got me thinking of finally playing VC2. I bought it digitally when it released, but probably only played a few hours. Was thinking, well, I'll have to get a new PSP battery, as mine is shot. Or maybe I can just get an external battery pack. Or just play with the power plugged in. But VC2 is playable on Vita. Since I'd already bought it, I just found it in the Vita's PSN store and downloaded it. (Now the imported UMD copy of VC3 is another matter...)

Here's hoping Enterbrain/Udon put out another big, high-quality artbook, like they did for the first three games.

Well this certainly came out of nowhere. 2018 also looks like it's shaping up to be another great year for games (if you ignore all the loot box stuff).

Sega have some of the greatest IP so I'm glad to see them finally follow up. Probably too much to ask for a new Skies of Arcadia though.

If they port it to PC too and bring back my dear uncle Jann and his muscles i'm totally in for it