There’s nothing much going on under the sea, just a whole lot of salt water and a whole lot of sea life… and then there’s that underwater utopian society of Rapture, a haven for the working man to make his living, the artist to express himself and the Big Daddies to protect their Little Sisters. Too bad things went oh so terribly wrong…

When you think of a first person shooter, most people think of a game based around some kind of war where most of the gameplay is channelled into the multiplayer elements rather than the story. Few first person shooters bother to break away from that mould, but when they do I tend to take notice, which is why I have much praise for games like Half-Life and BioShock.

BioShock

Some people may find this strange, but what really got me into BioShock are the similarities I discovered between the mechanics of the game and the mechanics of Metroid Prime. There’s plenty of good back tracking thanks to its non-linear level design as well as areas only accessible once you get certain items or go through certain events. There are also logs to collect that will explain the background elements of the story in more detail. Hell, you can even “scan” enemies to learn of their weaknesses by taking pictures of them with a camera. It even has the feeling of isolation and a great atmosphere, with you against the rest of Rapture, even though there are plenty of supporting characters interacting with you every step of the way… I felt right at home.

As you progress through Rapture, you get a real sense of history to the place and it really does feel like it’s been lived in… Though to be honest, I kind of wonder if any of the pastries you eat to replenish health are actually safe to eat in the first place.

Unlike Metroid Prime, however, BioShock is a much more brutal game in many ways. A perfect example of this brutality can be expressed with your trust wrench. Large, heavy and covered in blood… perfectly suited to stalking down your prey from behind and… Damn, the sound it makes when it hits… *shudders* The way the Big Daddies operate is pretty similar and it’s a real treat to watch them in action. I remember moments in the game where I would try to get Splicers to accidentally attack a Big Daddy in the area when they were trying to attack me. I’d let Big Daddy lose his temper and watch as the blood splattered across the walls… great fun.

When the game came to its brilliant finish, I thought it would be a one off game of its own with no need for a sequel…

BioShock 2

A sequel may not have been needed, but a hell of a lot of people sure wanted it when it was announced. After playing through the first and then heading into the second, there’s not much that can really surprise you considering you’re familiar with the world you’re plunging into. You’re back and Rapture with the familiar sights and sounds, though some time has passed, the same pastries that were eaten in the first game can be eaten in the second… they surely must have rotted away by now, urk.

I haven’t really bothered to go through the multiplayer side of things with BioShock 2 since I’ve been too busy with other things, but a lot of gameplay improvements were made over the first game, though these were mostly relating to the ability to do more things at once with your plasmid powers and weapons being more accessible. The fact that you play as a Big Daddy also changed a few things but overall it’s still the same old BioShock you knew from the first game.

By the end of the game, which also ends brilliantly, it seemed pretty obvious that 2K Games was using BioShock as a springboard to launch an entire series of games. Expect to see a BioShock 3 and more… Rapture was just the beginning… and I don’t mind more BioShock, just as long as the sequels are as good as these two games are.

Ubisoft knew that they had something special brewing with Assassin’s Creed, and anyone who has played the game will know first hand that they have set it up to be a trilogy or possibly a long running series. But not even Ubisoft themselves were prepared for the high sales that the first game saw. Their efforts had struck an extremely good nerve with gamers, and their surprise is very understandable too since the first game of a new IP never does anywhere near as well as Assassin’s Creed did.

Even better than that, Assassin’s Creed II blew everyone away, from reviewers to the gamers themselves. I know I was blown away by the improvements they made and… some other things…

I had played a few hours of Assassin’s Creed when it was first released and liked what I played, but I hadn’t actually finished the first game until very recently. In fact, I got to experience both games in a very interesting way. Over the Christmas weekend, I happened to play Assassin’s Creed and Assassin’s Creed II back to back in one big epic marathon run. I finished the first game for the first time and got to start the second then and there… those who have started the second game know how PERFECT that situation is, though the transition from the first game to the second was a pretty big hit in terms of the visuals.

Minor spoilers ahead…

The very first second of Assassin’s Creed II takes place the very second after the credits roll for the first game. It was a bit of a shock to the system when the room you were looking at in the first game and the characters suddenly look so different because of the upgraded visuals and effects… even more so when you have just finished the first game and immediately started the second. It would’ve been nice if Ubisoft had have kept the visual style of the first game exactly the same way how it was for the first game in that one area you were familiar with, then did a cowboy switch when you escape from the building and are in those darker corridors… but that’s just me.

/ End spoilers.

Anyway, let’s have a look at the two games separately…

Assassin’s Creed

When you start Assassin’s Creed, you don’t really know where it will lead you. Despite what many people saw in the promotional material and trailers of a medieval environment, you find yourself in a near present day setting playing as Desmond Miles, a seemingly average guy who has been abducted by members of a global corporation. The events that you see in those trailers are experienced by Desmond using the Animus, a device that essentially allows a user to go back in time and experience moments of their own ancestor’s life through memories recorded in their own genes.

Desmond finds himself in the memories of Altaïr, a member of the Order of Assassins at around 1191AD. The events of his ancestor’s life are slowly revealed to him as well as the realisation of who his abductors are and what they are searching for.

An intriguing concept… it certainly made me want to find out where it was all going to lead…

Once you master it, the gameplay for Assassin’s Creed is a pleasure everyone must experience. When you first play you’ll be unsure of yourself and attempt to over compensate for many of the actions you’re trying to perform. The key is to let yourself go and trust that you’ll be able to do all of the amazing things you’re seeing happening on screen. Once you do, you’ll find that you’ll be running across rooftops at great speed, outwitting guards and climbing towers with great ease.

The environments and general presentation is well done and there’s much to do in the game with plenty of exploration. The game itself is set in a way that allows you to do as much as you want or as little as you want depending on how much you enjoy collection-fests or not. I personally loved climbing up every building I could find and finding the highest places in each area… though, personally I couldn’t care less about collecting all of those various different flags. But don’t worry, collecting stuff isn’t really that important to the main story of the game, it’s just really there for those who like to explore game environments in their own time.

Most players will happily stick with the main story as I did, which is fine, even if the game gets you to do practically the same thing over and over, if you’re clever you can figure out ways of doing things differently. I think that’s really the key to the game, it’s easy just to pull out a sword and start carving up your enemies, but it’s more fun to act as a true assassin, stalk your target and kill them without anyone realising you were even there… those moments are made of pure awesomeness if you’re prepared to go through the work to pull them off.

Ubisoft has put together a nicely polished game, though it does suffer from some very obvious and sometimes frequent AI glitches. I’m sure if you searched through YouTube, you’d be able to find plenty of videos of some of the funnier/stupid AI glitches that occur during the game.

One of my own experiences in the game was when the guards protecting the target I was meant to assassinate suddenly decided that they would try to kill the target themselves for absolutely no reason. Of course, what followed was just a confusing mess. My target would jump from place to place trying to avoid the strikes of the guards and the guards would follow him, jumping around the room… this occurred for awhile until I realised that no one would catch up with each other and it would just keep on going endlessly… so I attacked a guard and they all turned their attention on me… finally.

Despite that, the game is a must play… and if you’ve played the first, you MUST play the second…

Assassin’s Creed II

After their success with the first game, Ubisoft had a lot to prove with Assassin’s Creed II. The first one took people by surprise at the amount of quality this new IP had, the second one had better follow suit or heads would roll. From what I’ve been hearing on the net, people are very pleased with the second game and the review scores seem to favour it above the first.

The second game continues on directly where the first left off and without going into too much detail and spoiling things, Desmond is going to find that he’s going to end up playing a much bigger role in the events to shape the future. To that end, he needs to be trained as a true assassin. To achieve this he will learn from the beginning as his Italian ancestor, Ezio, had learned.

Of course, just like the first game, there’s more to it than just that, and you’ll get to find out just how deep the rabbit hole goes the further along in the story you get.

Gameplay has certainly been improved in this second coming of Assassin’s Creed. I particularly like how streamlined things have gotten and that all of the good aspects are still intact. Free-running and climbing have been greatly improved, even though they were pretty slick in the first game to begin with. I didn’t notice any really stupid AI glitches plaguing this game like I did with the first which is a big plus. One of the best additions I love though is the ability to hide among the regular people as just another face in the crowd… even though you’re wearing flowing robes and some pretty decorative armour lol. Oh, and the chicks are great *winks*…

The different weapons and the ability to buy and upgrade and also to use your enemies weapons is a nice feature, though doesn’t seem to have that big an effect on overall gameplay to make things seem strategic. Either way, I like the effort that has been put into the customisation options for Ezio. Though, when it comes right down to it, once you get that special someone’s armour, there’s no looking back.

I did find that there was a bit of a down side with fetch quests integrated directly into the main story. It gets a little annoying having to carry stuff back and forth and act as a courier… but overall, this isn’t a big deal unless you’re just impatient and want to kill things right away.

Minor spoilers ahead…

I did mention that the first game had some pretty interesting things in it, but Assassin’s Creed II takes the cake when it comes to complete mindfucks… for this series and probably for 99% of other games out there. I mean, going into the series, you know it’s not going to be your average stab and slaughter your enemies type thing. Ubi decided they’d try and screw with your head too… which is always fun.

/ End of spoilers.

I do have one problem with the release of this game though… I hate how they release different versions of the damn thing. What I hate even more is that people who don’t buy those extra special versions end up missing out on some extra stuff, as unimportant as they may be, it’s the principle of the matter.

Either way, I can’t wait for the next instalment of this trilogy or series depending on how far they want to take it. Anyone who has played it knows it’s got the potential to go into some pretty wild and out there places…

I’ll try to get through this without giving too much away in terms of spoilers for all those concerned… and there will be warning where I have given some it away…

Following paragraph contains some minor spoilers.

The scene in question where you, the player, take part in massacring innocent civilians in a terrorist act during the game was apparently leaked to the public not long ago. Before too long, the game and developer, Infinity Ward, was being accused of promoting terrorism. It has even made a few gamers question whether they really want to play through this themselves.

// End of spoilers… for now.

Obviously it’s going to make people feel uneasy (or worse) about taking part in such a horrifying act, even if it is just pixels on a screen and no one real is getting hurt. You aren’t meant to feel good about it no matter where you stand on the issue… and that really is the point of why that scene is in the game.

There are some more minor spoilers in the following paragraph.

I did feel like this was wrong and that I shouldn’t have been there, I did feel like shooting my “comrades” to stop them from continuing the massacre… as a person with common sense, I can easily separate video game fiction from real life. These weren’t real innocent people that were being shot down, but I did still feel something from the scene from the very first moment I played through it (which happens to be about 20 minutes ago from the time I’ve written this part of the entry).

// End of second set of spoilers.

What makes some movies great while others are mediocre? The answer is that the great movies tend to evoke an emotional response from the viewer to pull them into what is going on on-screen. Of course, not all of the emotions felt while watching certain movies will be positive emotions, and that really is the point.

Strong spoilers ahead!

You’re an undercover agent that has infiltrated a terrorist organisation and you happen to be taking part in a terrorist attack on an airport in Moscow. As the innocent people start dying around you as the other terrorists open fire, you are given a choice. You can do one of three things during the first part of the scene (from the way I see it)… You can start shooting along with them; you can aim high and fire, missing the civilians and shooting over their heads; or you can simply not fire a single shot at all.

I chose not to fire a single shot during the first part of the level and simply let the others take the lead. I was actually surprised by the fact that the other terrorists didn’t notice that I hadn’t fired a single shot at a civilian yet. I was half expecting the leader to turn around and say “What the hell are you doing? Shoot!” I felt that Infinity Ward missed out on a very good opportunity to really put some extra pressure on the player during that scene if they didn’t fire a shot.

After playing through it, I understood what Infinity Ward was trying to get from the scene. They want people to feel outraged and sick at what was going on. You had to take part in something so horrible but being an undercover agent with an objective that involves saving the lives of potentially millions of people, you had to grit your teeth and suffer through it. After the level ended I started to understand, in a small way, what it must feel like for undercover agents who may have to do some horrible things for their mission.

// End of spoilers.

When you start the game for the first time you’re informed that there\is some “offensive content” and are given a choice whether you want to view/play through it or not. The choice is there for you to make yourself. If you choose not to play through them then the game will skip over those parts and you won’t have to go anywhere near them at all.

I for one am not offended by the content of Modern Warfare 2. I think it’s great that Infinity Ward and Activision went ahead with this game with all of its content. It pushes the boundaries and it creates discussion and debate over certain issues. I don’t want to turn away from such things; I want to see and play it for myself and see what it’s all really about.

I enjoyed playing through that scene because it made me feel so bad. The game has been called “barbaric and awful”. The scene in question is exactly that… barbaric and awful… just like how real terrorism is barbaric and awful and just like how war and the slaughtering of people no matter who is doing the killing is barbaric and awful. Now if only some people could get more outraged when it occurs in real life rather than in a video game…

But anyway, that’s it for me… don’t forget to vote on the poll that was posted not long ago. I’ve had my take, now it’s time to hear what you have to say about it.

The first words you’ll hear anyone utter when you ask them about Dead Space is most likely going to be, “It’s like Resident Evil 4″… and it is for the most part, though that’s definitely not a bad thing. In fact, as you play through this game you will realise that they made it to try to do everything that Resident Evil can’t or has stopped doing recently.

Shadows and sound are the two elements Dead Space uses so damn well throughout the game. You’ll be walking cautiously down a corridor onto a mission object when all of a sudden a shadow is cast from behind you of something running by. You turn to find nothing there but the same empty corridor… and you love how the game just made you do that. You’ll have a lot of those kinds of moments in Dead Space where you’ll be keeping an eye out for things and also keeping an ear out for strange sounds. Hell, the game even goes as far as to try to take away your sense of sight by putting you into a pitch black environment or into an environment where the noise is deafening that you can’t hear the Necromorph about to stab you through the heart right behind you.

The way I describe Dead Space is that it is what you would get if you smooshed (yes, smooshed) Resident Evil 4 together with Metroid Prime. Many of the gameplay elements are present from Resident Evil as well as the whole survival horror premise, however it also borrows from the Metroid series’ ambience. It goes so far to put you inside the world of Dead Space that your HUD is in fact a holographic projection of your own suit. Now at this point I could go on about the story… but I think I’ll just leave it to a YouTube video to do that for me lol.

It seems strange to me that this game hasn’t sold very well. In fact from what I hear, it sounds like that Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles has actually sold more copies than Dead Space has.,, and RE:TUC was only released on a single platform… Wii. Why haven’t more of you gone out and bought this game? I demand an answer!

EA has made a conscious choice to try to bring this franchise to the masses by releasing various media on different platforms. While the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC gamers get to enjoy the game on their respective platforms, they’re also able to download an animated comic which focuses on the events before the game from XBLA, PSN and some gaming sites around the net. Along with this, an animated movie that is also set before the game called Dead Space: Downfall was released on DVD and Bluray. Wii gamers don’t miss out either with the release of Dead Space: Extraction later this year… and also the recent information that Dead Space 2 is being developed as we speak.

It seems that EA is very confident of this franchise and its ability to grow, and I hope it does… if the quality of their later works is anything like the original game then we’ll be seeing some good stuff. I hope the series can grow and evolve and I hope that more people get into it because it certainly deserves the attention.

I wrote a review of Valkyria Chronicles quite some time back and while it is one hell of a great game, it’s unfortunate that not many people are buying it and discovering how great it is for themselves… well at least until recently when we started getting reports that Valkyria Chronicles got a sudden sales boost. A lot of why I think the game is getting a boost in sales is because of the newly released Valkyria Chronicles anime in Japan, however it may also have to do with the download content popping up on the PlayStation Network spurring people to find out exactly what this game is all about.

There are three separate packs to download and I’ll try to go through them in here without being spoilerific.

Enter the Edy Detachment

This mission features Jann and other lesser characters not worth mentioning… okay, okay, Marina is worth mentioning but that’s about it. I’ve personally never been a fan of Edy, especially when she gains her “Rosie Hater” potential in the main game. There’s no room for Rosie haters in my squad.

Anyway lol, the first thing people want to know about DLC is, “is it worth buying?”… is Enter the Edy Detachment worth buying? No. Not unless you’re a Valkyria Chronicles nut like I am and would’ve bought it anyway (or you just wanted to have even more Jann goodness) . The reason it’s not worth buying is because it’s a single straight forward and boring mission that isn’t very special at all. A group from Squad 7 gets cut off from the others and Edy takes it upon herself to yada, yada, yada…

Score

Behind Her Blue Flame

On the other hand you have Selvaria’s mission pack… yes, a mission pack, not just a single mission. Anyone who has played Valkyria Chronicles knows who Selvaria is and knows exactly why they need to get this mission pack. For those who don’t know, the only thing you need to know is that she’s the one with the huge tits. In any case, this mission pack has it all and more if you’re good enough. You get to play as the enemy, you get to control Selvaria herself and watch that crazy breast jiggle animation as she runs, and you get to play through a number of levels… but I won’t tell you how many, all I’ll tell you is that you’d better aim for an A rank for all the levels right from the start.

While the Edy mission isn’t really worth it, I feel that you can’t miss out on Selvaria’s mission pack. It’s well worth the money and you’ll spend plenty of time enjoying… you know… what you see.

Score

Hard EX Mode

This pack is ONLY for the challenge lovers out there who don’t mind failing your mission a few hundred times trying to figure out exactly how to achieve victory. This pack basically does one simple thing: it adds an Expert difficulty mode to all of the Skirmish missions. Bottom line is this one shouldn’t be bought unless you’re very much into Valkyria Chronicles and play it almost religiously.

Normally you would have access to your tank, the Edelweiss, in the skirmish missions, however for Expert mode, Welkin will have to go on foot as a scout. The unfortunate thing is that Welkin isn’t a very good scout and in pretty much every expert skirmish mission you’re set up with a scenario that could mean that Welkin is put in imminent danger if you don’t do something about it right away. If you lose Welkin, it’s game over… and you’ll be seeing quite a lot of that lol. It’ll frustrate some, but for those who love a challenge? My advice is to do as Vyse does… “Woooie! Our hero’s in trouble now…haha!”

Score

Also known as
Senjou no Valkyria: Gallian Chronicles (Battlefield Valkyria: Gallian Chronicles)

Genre
Action, tactical role-playing game

Developer
Sega WOW

Publisher
Sega

Game Features

• CANVAS visual engine providing unique sketch and watercolour effect visuals.
• BLiTZ (Battle of Live Tactical Zones) system. Once a unit has been chosen from the overhead Command view, the player can then control the character in third person view, giving them the ability to move, position and aim the characters weapon in an action game perspective.
• Features both the English and Japanese voice work which you can switch between at any time using the options menu at the title screen.
• Music composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto who also composed Final Fantasy XII, Radiant Silvergun and Vagrant Story. Orchestral work by Eminence Symphony Orchestra who worked on SoulCalibur IV and Odin Sphere.
• Engaging storyline chronicled in an animated storybook-like format.
• A tonne of extras from replayable cutscenes, to unlockable side-stories and skirmish missions, as well as an entire book full of written information about the characters and the world they inhabit.
• More to come in the form of downloadable content.

The Good and the Bad

• Beautiful visual engine with equally well done animation and brilliant English and Japanese voice acting.
• Very well thought out tutorials and explanations of game functions means you’re never lost during a mission, but at the same time it doesn’t feel like you’re being led by the hand.
• Has a unique gameplay experience by combining well known traditional gameplay methods together.

• When listening to the Japanese voices, sometimes the English subtitles don’t actually reflect exactly what is being said because it’s the direct script of the English voice work.
• The game can become much harder for you in the long run if you don’t finish levels with a high enough grade to grab enough experience to level up your squad.
• Some grinding may be required. If you’re lacking experience points you will have to replay Skirmish missions over and over again to get more experience to outfit your squad.

Review Score

Detailed Review

Welcome to the first review ever written up for Twilight Lynk. Hopefully this will be enjoyable for people and will be the start of many more reviews to be written in the future. I chose Valkyria Chronicles as my first review because it’s not a very well known game and most people will overlook it for more mainstream games. Personally, I am a fan of Tactical RPGs and I am a big fan or Fire Emblem. That said, this isn’t going to be a comparison of Valkyria Chronicles and Fire Emblem. I will be reviewing Valkyria Chronicles and every other game on their own merits.

Story

“On the Gallian Front” is a book chronicling the events of the second Europan War from the perspective of the Gallian Militia Squad 7 and written by a journalist, Irene Koller. As soon as you start a new game, you will be presented to this book which will become your main menu for the game. You’re introduced to an alternate reality Europe in which a small country called Gallia is being invaded by the Eastern Empire. The story itself is centered on Welkin Gunther and Alicia Melchiott as the two main leading characters. There are a number of main characters throughout the game along with other secondary characters who you can choose to join your squad but aren’t a part of the main plot.

I found the story very easy to follow. While it had quite a lot of back story that it fleshed out along the way in various forms, you didn’t find yourself asking why certain characters were motivated in their actions or why any of what was happening was happening in the first place. It was all just there and it clicked into place, though it still did have a few moments where I felt were a little too cliché for my tastes.

All of the characters in Valkyria Chronicles have distinct personalities and while a lot of the playable characters aren’t part of the main plot-line, they still create quite an impact on you with their personal traits. I for one love using Vyse (who some of you will know from Skies of Arcadia) who happens to laugh like a maniac as he mows the enemy down with his machine gun. And let’s not forget Jann who is hands down the funniest character in the game. I won’t tell you why in this review, it’s best to find out for yourself. The cast of characters has a lot to do with why this game is so enjoyable and I’m sure many of you will find the bad guys to be just as enjoyable to watch as the good guys.

While there are a lot of very cinematic moments within the game that become increasingly awesome as the story progresses, there are quite a lot of moments where there are standard conversations between characters. These are handled in a much more traditional “face to face” manner with a standard background still with what can only be described as comic book frames with the characters talking back and forth with each other.

With a few small bumps along the way, the overall story, plot and characters really did deliver in excellence. I am also VERY glad that they brought in a great English voice cast to voice the characters. I’ll talk more about that in the Audio part of this review.

Gameplay

While Valkyria Chronicles may seem very different, it really doesn’t feature anything that we haven’t already experienced in many other games, though I say this in a good way. On the surface, you are presented with what appears to be an RPG, however in many ways you will find that a lot of the more traditional RPG elements have been taken out and simplified in favour of a more straight forward action game. The result is a game that is accessible to many who feel that RPGs can get too technical for their tastes. There is still some character management to be done and you are able to do some customisations by equipping the squad with certain weapons as well as purchasing upgrades for your tank unit.

The meat of the game comes from the many battles you fight with a group of characters you select to use. While there are many action elements to the game, it is still turn based. You start off with the command view that shows you a map of the battlefield area with markers showing the placement of your units and any enemy units within view. An interesting twist in this game comes from its own version of the “fog of war” concept. You will only be able to keep track of enemy units that members of your squad can visually identify from their locations.

You have many kinds of different units to use and they all have different strengths and weaknesses and are used for different purposes. For example: Scouts are used for reconnaissance and are able to spot enemy hidden enemy units while shock troopers are your main front-line units, Lancers are your anti-tank units and Engineers are your support units, and finally the snipers whose purpose will be quite obvious to everyone. You will learn more of how these units are used as you progress through the first few missions of the game.

Once you have selected a unit to move from the Command View, you are brought down to the battlefield and are able to directly control the character in a third person shooter view. Different units have a certain level of Action Points which drain every time you move your selected character. In this mode you can move your character to position them near enemy unit, however if your character gets within range of an enemy unit, that enemy character will open fire on your character. Pressing R1 will allow you to go into firing mode which will effectively stop time and allow you to aim your character’s weapon at the enemy. You can spend as long as you want in this mode, however once you have selected to fire your characters weapon on an enemy unit or have chosen to cancel the attack, any enemy soldier still alive and within range will resume their attack on your character. Your character can only attack once until you end their movement and choose them again.

Unlike other Tactical RPGs, movement is determined by how many Command Points you have and isn’t determined by the number of characters you have and which have or have not made a move. If you want, you can choose to move the same character as many times as you want until you run out of Command Points for that turn. Alternatively, you can choose not to use up all of your Command Points for that turn, in which case they are carried over to the next turn. Either way, once you have chosen to end your turn the Enemy Phase will begin. Depending on how much of a tactical mastermind you are, your units should be able to survive to your next turn and hopefully take out some enemy units as well. In any case, it all depends on how well you’ve thought out the actions of your units.

You’ll certainly find a lot of action in this game and at the same time, you don’t have to be a tactical genius to be able to enjoy the game. However, it does help to stop and think before you act. You’re their commanding officer, so it’s your responsibility to get your units out of the battle alive.

Visuals

Sega has been developing its CANVAS visual engine for quite awhile now behind closed doors and Valkyria Chronicles is the flagship title to show off just what this visual engine can do. As soon you view any image of Valkyria Chronicles, you’ll notice that everything has been sketched and watercoloured. We aren’t talking about a cel-shaded art style that many games of the past have had. This game brings to life a watercolour sketchbook that goes extremely well with the premise that you’re reading the chronicled history of Gallia.

I could go on and on about minute details and how effective the colour palette is and how the textures look crisp and all that kinda jazz, however all you really need to know is that the art style simply works. The anime art style will most definitely allow the visuals to outlast most other games of this generation. If we come back and take a look at this game at the end of the next generation, chances are that Valkyria Chronicles will still hold up against the latest games of the time.

There is one small problem I have noticed occasionally while playing through the game. The textures, particularly around shadows on various objects that moved frequently, seem to blink from one texture to another repeatedly in a shimmering pattern. You can find it mostly in cutscenes, though to be honest; it’s not really an issue since most people won’t even notice it.

Audio

The first thing that you should know is that Valkyria Chronicles includes both Japanese and English voice acting. You can choose to switch between the two voice tracks at any time, however it can only be done through the options menu on the title screen. Personally, I found the English voice work to be brilliantly done and it also included a lot of my favourite voice actors, however I do realise that there are a lot of other people who prefer to hear the original Japanese voice work instead. The only problem Valkyria Chronicles really has is that the subtitles don’t match up exactly with the Japanese voice work since they are based off of the script for the English voice work.

It is said that a lot of what makes a movie great is its musical soundtrack. I feel that this is also true for many video games, whether they are story based or not. Valkyria Chronicles’ score, composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto and orchestrated by Eminence Symphony Orchestra, works extremely well and helps the story feel that extra bit more epic. Personally, I feel that this has to be some of Hitoshi Sakimoto’s best work yet.

One thing about the US/Europe/Australian version of this game is that it doesn’t include the main theme song found on the original Japanese version. It is disappointing, however for the most part, I don’t think anyone will mind too much in the long run.

Extras

As far as extra material goes, Valkyria Chronicles does not disappoint. In fact, in many ways it’s surprising just how much is packed into the game. As you play through, you’ll discover that each new chapter opens up more and more extras for you to explore. Some are unlocked automatically after you complete a mission or view a specific cutscene, while others can be bought using the in-game currency. Most of the extra material is organised within the pages of “On the Gallian Front” and while I could go into exactly what you get, I think it’s more fun to find out for yourself. I will say, however, that there is a lot of written information for you to read through that really gives you the sense that a lot of hard work was put into creating this game. Even better is a certain extra chapter you can unlock that has some delicious fan service… yes, you heard me.

Of course, it doesn’t end with what’s packed into the Bluray disc itself. Downloadable content has already been released in Japan which will be available in other regions in early 2009. From what we know so far, there are two download packs: one which contains a side story involving Edy and a few other minor characters who join your squad and the other one will have you taking control of the Eastern Empire units as you play missions against Gallia. Each pack contains all new recorded voice acting and will expand upon the main storyline so it’ll definitely be a treat to get.

I don’t think anyone will be unsatisfied replaying this game considering the many ways it draws you back in. I guarantee you that you will want to try to earn A ranks in every mission and choose to use different characters to unlock more information about them in their profiles. The real question is, how much more can they pack into the game with the downloadable content?

Final Thoughts

I won’t lie to you, I had very high expectations going into this game since I had heard quite a lot of high praise from others. The unique gameplay experience, well presented story and beautiful visuals really draw you in and just when you think it’s over, you’re given more to play with the promise of more to come. I’m very proud of Sega after playing Valkyria Chronicles. They haven’t released a great game like this in a very long time, and the inclusion of Vyse, Aika and Fina from Skies of Arcadia as cameo characters pretty much tell you that Sega is trying to recapture their greatest moments within the pages of Valkyria Chronicles.

Well done Sega. If I were wearing a top hat at the moment, I would tip it for you in acknowledgement of a very well made game.

Second Opinion

Mr. Weasel says:

Ugh, yuck. As good as the story is… there are some parts which scream cliché JRPG/anime! I had to stop myself from clawing my own eyes out at times, especially because of that damn pig. I mean, who in their right mind puts an animal mascot into anything these days?… Oh wait. In any case, the moment when the words “I will protect you” were spoken, it was all over for me. Can’t anyone think of maybe getting the characters to say, I don’t know… SOMETHING ELSE!

Then there is that one chick with the really long neck, pointy chin and huge tits… I tell ya, I could get lost in those. Though, with that aside, it’s about time Sega finally managed to make a decent game in recent years… Sega! Let the hedgehog die already and focus on more important things like this!… and while you’re at it, bring back Skies of Arcadia and Dragon Force!

Now, excuse me while I go back to dreaming about snuggling up between Selvaria’s breasts…

Links

• Official site (Japanese)
• Official site (US)
• Wikipedia page
• Buy Valkyria Chronicles from Amazon.com

That concludes the first review posted on Twilight Lynk. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I stressed myself out from writing it. You’re all free to write your own reviews and opinions about Valkyria Chronicles in this blog entry/thread whenever you want. For anything regarding the way the review was done itself, I have opened up a forum thread specifically for that purpose in the feedback forum.

The difference with this article from the few others I have written in the past is that it won’t try to give you all the answers, rather it is intended to get a discussion started so that you can share from your own experience, what PS3 games we should be aware of.

Before I begin though, I’d like people to focus more on PS3 exclusives rather than the multiplatform titles… to be perfectly honest, I feel that most of the current multiplatform games perform better on the Xbox 360 than they do on the PS3.

Okay, let’s start:

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune

I’m sure you’ve heard people speak very good things about this game yet haven’t tried it out for yourself. To be honest, I wasn’t all that convinced until I played Uncharted for myself as well, but it definitely is one of the defining games for the PS3 at the moment. It’s a very nice blend of action and adventure and cinematic story telling that, unlike Metal Gear Solid 4, doesn’t take you away from the game for too long.

Uncharted has some amazing gameplay and equally amazing animation to go with it. Everything seems more real, and not just in a photo-realistic sense. Naughty Dog, the developers of this fine game, made an extra effort to animate the characters with as much realistic human movement as they could and that alone makes it feel more real than anything else.

The gameplay is also very well done, both in the action and the adventuring sides of the game. The gunfights, especially in the “Crushing” difficulty can become pretty intense, and you have to make on the fly tactical decisions that will either get you killed or save your ass in the most dire circumstances. It’s all done in a way that’s very exciting without it having to be a frantic multiplayer FPS. All of the enemies can duck behind cover, roll out and shoot, throw grenades, etc just as well as you can, so you better be ready otherwise the colour of the world washes away and death finds you.

I wish I could say there was a good balance between the action and the adventuring, but there seemed to be a lot more action than there was adventuring. But, what adventuring you do get up to is pretty damn good. Everything from wall and rock climbing to solving ancient puzzles and the odd quick time event here and there which have been popping up a lot in games lately.

Personally, another thing that impressed me about this game is that it runs so well on the PS3. There are no mandatory installs, no loading screens and everything runs pretty damn smoothly. The game does feel like a long movie and short for a videogame, but it has plenty of replayability when it comes to collecting treasure and unlocking all those extras… and provided you’ve bothered to download the patch, the joy of collection PlayStation Network trophies.

If you haven’t tried it out, you really should because chances are you’ll end up loving it and that in itself will encourage Naughty Dog to make more.

Valkyria Chronicles

I’ve been hearing about this game for awhile now but haven’t been paying attention to it until recently when I found it that it’s actually a Tactical RPG with a difference. After searching through the net, finding videos and reading about the game, my interest peaked and I can say with great certainly that I’ll definitely be buying this game. While I’m sure it’s going to have a really cliché Anime style story (of course!), the gameplay itself is what interests me the most. The kind of tactical games of this type that I’m used to are Fire Emblem and Advanced Wars, but Valkyria Chronicles, while it does take elements from these two series, has some very nice and unique gameplay features which I really want to try.

The gameplay feature I’m talking about is called “BLiTZ” or “Battle of Live Tactical Zones.” As with most other games of this type, it is turn based and you start off with a map of the battle area where you can select your units etc. It all seems pretty standard until you select a character and your perspective suddenly come down from the map view and into a third person perspective where you can directly control the character you have chosen.

Usually, in other games the map would be divided into square areas and each character has the ability to move a certain amount of spaces and attack within that area. With Valkyria Chronicles, this idea is thrown out the door almost completely. When you are in this third person perspective, it’s basically a stripped down version of a third person shooter. You are able to move your character as far as their move points will take them, you can move to an advantageous location, attack an enemy with your machine gun or rifle or whatever off in the distance, and if you have any move points remaining, retreat to a safer location.

When you are moving your character in third person view, enemy soldiers near your character will fire on them and you may or may not take hits depending on what kind of cover is around you. However, when it comes time for you to attack your enemy, time stops and you are given the chance to aim your characters weapon yourself to score head shots, etc. It’s combining strategy with hands-on action in a very interesting way, and these kinds of fresh ideas are what make me excited about this game.

Gameplay aside, the art style and visuals themselves look stunning… and so they should, I didn’t pay all this money for a PS3 (note: this is a lie, I got my PS3 for free, but you get what I’m saying…) just so I could look at glorified last gem visuals, now did I!

Right now, Valkyria Chronicles is only out in Japan, but it’s set to hit the US in November, and hopefully sooner than later in Europe and Australia so I can pick it up and don’t have to import. For me, this game is under the DO WANT! category.

And more…

So now it’s your turn. What PS3 games are there which we should all REALLY be paying attention to? If people don’t speak up, we’ll never know and we’ll probably end up missing out on some really special games. I for one don’t want that to happen.