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    Senjo no Valkyria 3: Unrecorded Chronicles

    Game » consists of 4 releases. Released Jan 27, 2011

    The third installment in the Valkyria Chronicles franchise returns to the PSP with a brand new cast and a story set during the same period as the first Valkyria Chronicles.

    The PC release of VC1 prompted me to give this game a try.

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    Zeik

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    Especially with there being a fan translation patch out there now.

    A little backstory first: The first Valkyria Chronicles was the very first game I picked up for my PS3 many years ago. I actually bought it before I even owned a PS3 because I was so certain I'd like it. However I found the game a little disappointing when I eventually got around to finishing it. The core gameplay was neat, but it had more than a few notable flaws, and the story was full of too many lame anime cliches. (I have a fairly high tolerance for anime, but VC hit too many of the wrong notes.) I still thought it was a decent game, but I don't have as fond of memories of it as some people. Because of this I never touched VC2 because nothing I heard about it suggested it fixed anything I disliked about VC1. (And introduced even more to not like.)

    Okay, so onto VC3. I just reached chapter 6 and so far it seems like a better game than VC1. The story and characters are still very anime, but a bit less blandly so, I guess. Kurt is a bit more believable as a leader than Welkin, who acted too much like a scatter-brained doofus too often. I also like that there's more than just a couple characters in your group that participate in the story, even if it's only minor. One of the issues I had with VC1 is that most of the more interesting characters had no role outside of combat. (That game would have been so much better if Vyse and Aika had notable story roles.) It does mean there are significantly less characters to choose from than VC1, but that's balanced out by the fact that you have significantly more control over customizing them. I also think playing as basically a suicide squad is interesting, although setting it in the background of the events of VC1 seems a little forced. (Especially considering I'm almost certain one of the characters is secretly another Valkyria.)

    The gameplay is where it feels most notably improved though. It's still very very similar, but there's a few key changes that improve the experience. The classes generally seem more balanced for one. Or at the least Scouts don't overshadow all the other classes. Having your scouts make a beeline to the objective is really not that effective anymore. Part of that is due to the way missions are split into smaller maps. Being able to leap-frog your party between bases as you advance means that a shocktroopers limited AP doesn't make them feel practically useless, because they can actually get into the fray much easier and more often. Also, given that bases are your gateway between the maps, protecting them is actually an important strategy. You can't just sweep across the battlefield, killing everything in your way. If you're not careful you can quickly lose ground from enemies sneaking around you and stealing your bases.

    The changes to the upgrade system also generally seem for the better. I did like that exp was universally shared for each class, but it was still abuseable if you pumped most of it into a specific class. (Like, say, Scouts.) Now you just level specifically stats that universally benefit all classes. On the flip-side, you don't access to the more advanced version of the classes without using a specific character with a specific class in combat, which does eventually limit you down to a core group of most used favorites.

    There are also a few new classes that unlock as you progress in the game, but so far I've only just unlocked the second one (Gunner) and I haven't found much use for the first one. (Armored-tech.)

    I also like all new options for tank customization. In VC1 you had your big clunky tank that you could modify with parts, but it was mostly just stat differences. Now you can modify its frame for armor vs mobility or make it an APC that has limited combat capability, but can carry units across the battlefield for free. You can also add various utility parts, like a lamp to negate the negative effects of night, or an arm that can place ladders or bridges that your units can use for shortcuts. The tank was always strong, but now it's a very valuable utility as well.

    Lastly, the English patch I'm using seems decent, although it's clearly not 100% complete. There's still some untranslated text (although nothing that has been very detrimental yet) and I've noticed more than a few obvious spelling and grammatical errors. The text also often clips outside the boxes and sometimes off the screen.

    It's a real shame this is the game they decided not to localize, because it feels like the game where they were finally starting to get things right, even with the limitations of the PSP. Anyone who liked VC1 or was disappointed VC2 and has yet to give this a try should do so. I haven't played it enough to wholeheartedly endorse it, but I feel like I've played enough to recommend it.

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    mosespippy

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    It may be a bit forced to have the plot take place along with the VC1 story line, but nobody liked when VC2 took place during a civil war, so they had to return to EWII for VC3. Most of the gameplay changes were implemented in VC2. The split up maps, the new classes, the tank modifications, medics being able to revive characters in the field, etc. Hell, half the maps from VC3 are in VC2. The gunners were more useful in VC2 I think. They're great for sitting at a base and letting the enemy walk into that stream of bullets. Armour Techs have their uses, and so do the other classes. VC2 still had a large cast of charaters to choose from with no story importance, but at least they've added character missions for each of them. VC3 is also a lot harder than VC2, which was super easy. It might be a bit weird for you when VC2 characters show up.

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    Zeik

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    #3  Edited By Zeik

    If that's true then I think VC2 has an undeserved reputation. At least on the gameplay end. The general talk I've heard around that game is that it's held back by being on the PSP and is generally an inferior game to VC1. I don't really get why people act like returning the series to the console is so important. A release on the Vita would probably solve the few PSP related issues I have. (Not that I would object to a PS4 sequel.)

    I did run into the main character of VC2 in the last chapter though, and I can definitely see a whole game of that being obnoxious.

    I suppose I should actually give VC2 a try at some point and see how it compares.

    Oh, one more thing, since it sounds like you've played this one. I keep getting messages that pop up at times that seem like special missions or at least story scenes (for example "Kurt's first battle") but I've searched all over the game and I can't find what it is actually referring to. There's no new missions anywhere and I don't see anything appropriate in the barracks either. Do you know what the game is refferring to?

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    ArbitraryWater

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    The Fencer class, the upgrade for Armored Techs, is super cheesy and useful if my experiences with the second game are anything to go by.

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    Zeik

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    My impression is that Fencer's are a completely separate class from Armored Techs in this one, but I have yet to unlock it. (Class unlocks seem to be gated by story progress.)

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    mosespippy

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    #6  Edited By mosespippy

    @zeik: I played in Japanese and didn't find any of that side stuff until after finishing the game, most likely because I couldn't understand any menus. Anyway, I think if you leave the barracks and go to the map of the country where you can select a chapter, in the upper left corner there might be a button prompt or something. Actually, maybe it was the select button. It'll change the map from story missions to side missions. It kind of looks like tabs in a browser and you tab between side stuff and main stuff.

    And having played VC2 in Japanese, I did think it was a big improvement over the original in terms of gameplay. It was only when I played it in english and was able to understand what the characters were like was I able to realize how shitty it was.

    @arbitrarywater: Classes don't upgrade in 3 like they do in 2. The armour techs and fencers are different classes, the gunners and shocktroopers are different classes, scouts and snipers are separate classes again. At least the musicians and medics is still the same class. Good to keep the 2 most useless classes combined. And all characters can change to all classes. In fact they get some great battle potentials by earning all the battle potentials of related classes. Each unit has a matrix like chart showing what they have.

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    Zeik

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    @mosespippy: Oooooh, there it is. You do have to go back to the main map and then push L or R to reach the extra missions and DLC. The text that indicates that is one of the things that has not been translated, so I didn't notice at all. Thanks, that was really bugging me.

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