"Bringing back the drama."

It’s a bit strange to think that Valkyria Chronicles 3 already has a playable demo so shortly after the release of the second game. In fact, when it was first announced, I feared this “annualization treatment” the series seems to be receiving would hurt the quality of the franchise. Fortunately, what I’ve played of the third installment has left a very good impression for the most part.

Valkyria Chronicles 3 actually takes place during the same span of time as the first game. You’ll take on role of “The Nameless”, a squad of outlaws that take on especially dangerous missions. Despite it running in parallel with the original, the development staff considers VC3 to be the first true sequel; returning the series to its more serious tone and story driven campaign.

I can’t comment on the content of the various story scenes throughout the demo, since I don’t know Japanese. I can, however, comment on the improved presentation of it. There’s still a heavy reliance on character stills, but the way they’re cutout looks far more polished. This isn’t restricted to to the story segments either. The graphic design is better all around. Choosing characters on the battlefield presents you with much larger character portraits that make telling your squad mates apart far quicker and easier.

The demo features two missions. The first is a fairly open city area composed of a singe map while the second is divided into four separate maps. I’m hoping this is a hint that not every map will have you deploying units in two separate locations as the second game seemed to over-use this concept.

The second mission seemed like it was on a larger scale than most missions in the second game. Aside from the extra land, this was due to the fact that you can now deploy nine units on the battlefield instead of six as in VC2. Three extra units might not seem like a big deal, but it makes a huge difference. I always felt like I couldn’t use as many different characters as I wanted in VC2, so this is a very welcome change.

Each map showed promise. The first, while simple, featured a large vehicle with several mounted guns. The second had half my troops making their way through an underground tunnel while the other half made their way around devastating turrets.

The most interesting aspect, though, was the real-time artillery section. One of the maps had an area marked off in red. If any of my characters entered this area, explosions would start happening all around me. Getting hit would send me flying. It was interesting to see another real-time element added into such a turn-based game.

"Imuka's powered up state allows her to fire at multiple targets for a turn."

The improved deployment rules from the second game are present here. However, I’m not sure if the same branching class development will be in play. Snipers were available right off the bat in the demo, but have to be earned in VC2 by evolving the Scout class. Whether or not you’ll also have to jump through hoops before using the Sniper class in the full version of VC3 remains to be seen.

Besides the availability of the Sniper, the Tech seemed to have some tweaks. They still use the shields and melee wrenches of the second game. The difference is in how they end their turn. Rather than standing around like a dullard, Techs now hunker down behind their shields. Their shields also expand outward, tripling in size. This drastically increases their defensive potential.

A really intriguing new feature is the character-specific, powered up states. Only the three main characters seemed to have them, but each one is incredibly useful. During the entire mission, I only had three of the SP points they require and there seemed to be no way to get more before the battle’s end. Given how powerful they can be, this is for the best.

Kurt (the main character) has an ability called “Direct Command” that allows him to have two other units follow his movement during his turn as well as contribute to an attack. Moving three units with one turn proved to be a valuable skill. Riela is the squad’s resident Valkyrur, so it should come as no surprise that her powered up form has her don a glowing lance and shield. Finally, there’s Imuka. While normally a lancer, Imuka can target a large number of enemies at once, damaging them all.

Each of these powered up states take one of your three SP points and only lasts for a single turn. As much as I was impressed with the skills, I am concerned that they might end up being too powerful. Hopefully the small amount of SP points you’re given will be enough to keep them in check.

Valkyria Chronicles 3 is shaping up to be a great sequel so far. It seems to have kept some of the improvements of VC2, while adding some interesting elements of its own. I’m also happy to see the more serious tone of the first game reappear along with a sharper presentation. As long as the balance doesn’t suffer from the new special skills, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about the quality suffering from such a sort time between sequels.

Tags: demo, hands-on impressions, import, psp, Sega, strategy, Valkyria Chronicles, Valkyria Chronicles 3

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 16th, 2010 at 11:00 am and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.