Valkyria Chronicles (video game)

Plot

In 1935 E.C., the continent of Europa is dominated by the East Europan Imperial Alliance and the Atlantic Federation. The economies of both depend on a mineral called Ragnite, whose scarcity leads the Empire to declare war on the Federation, sparking the Second Europan War. The Empire quickly puts the Federation on the defensive and then invades the neutral Principality of Gallia for its Ragnite deposits. When Imperial forces attack the border town of Bruhl, Welkin Gunther, son of the hero General Belgen Gunther, fights alongside town watch captain Alicia Melchiott.

With Welkin's adopted sister Isara and Belgen's prototype tank the Edelweiss, they escape to the capital Randgriz and join the Gallian militia. Welkin is promoted to Lieutenant and commands Squad 7, with Alicia as his non-commissioned officer. After initial doubts, the squad trusts Welkin's tactics. Welkin and Alicia become romantically engaged, but Isara is killed by an Imperial sniper.

Squad 7 wages a successful campaign, but crown prince Maximilian deploys Selvaria Bles, a Valkyrian descendant with magic powers and a legendary Ragnite lance and shield. Selvaria destroys the Gallian army. Welkin's colleague Faldio Landzaat shoots Alicia to awaken her own Valkyrian powers, and she drives Selvaria back. Selvaria uses the final flame after the capture of Ghirlandaio fortress, killing the core of Gallian military and leaving only the militia, including Squad 7.

Development

The earliest concept for Valkyria Chronicles was created in 2003 during discussions between director Shuntaro Tanaka and producer Ryutaro Nonaka. Both were working on different games at the time—Nonaka on Nightshade and Tanaka on the GameCube port of Skies of Arcadia—and wanted to create something new. Tanaka suggested a dramatic war story.

Both had worked on the Sakura Wars series but knew they would face restrictions if they created something within that series, so they developed a new concept. Nonaka and Tanaka later said similarities to Sakura Wars were mainly due to shared development teams and gameplay styles. A key aspect was to go against market trends that focused on specific genre archetypes.

The initial pitch was titled Gallian Panzers, with pitch artwork by Daisuke Tabayashi, who remained on the art and modelling team. After approval, a movie pitch was made using the new official title. No platform was initially decided; Nonaka vaguely thought the game would be for the PlayStation 2, and also considered the PlayStation Portable. When the PS3 was revealed, Nonaka suggested producing the game for that platform.

The production team was based in Sega's GE2 R&D division, with staff who had worked on titles including Sakura Wars and Skies of Arcadia. Production for the PS3 was liberating due to increased hardware specifications but challenging due to working out how to best use the console's CPU. The final Japanese title represented the focus on war, with Valkyria symbolising fantasy elements.

Reception

Valkyria Chronicles received very favorable reviews from numerous sources, including IGN, RPGFan, G4TV's X-Play, and GameTrailers. Kevin VanOrd of GameSpot praised the gameplay design for giving players a new sense of tactical freedom absent in other games of the same genre, such as the removal of a grid-based map. Some reviewers enjoyed the active and strategic nature of combat. Chris Hudak of Game Revolution described situations as nail-gnawingly tense, keeping the player emotionally involved.

The story and its presentation were cited as strong points. James Quentin Clark of RPGFan noted that the game gets better the more it is played. Multiple reviewers criticized the artificial intelligence of enemy forces. Sales were mixed: the game sold 77,000 copies in its first week in Japan and 81,000 during its budget release, but only 33,000 copies in the United States in November 2008.

It was the 93rd best-selling game in Japan in 2008, selling 141,589 copies. North American sales increased sharply in April 2009 after a price cut and the release of an anime based on the game. As of 2015, the PS3 version had shipped over one million units worldwide.

The 2014 PC version topped the Steam sales charts on release day, ahead of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Assassin's Creed Unity, and received a Metacritic score of 85. As of March 2015, it sold over 200,000 copies on Steam; as of April 2018, about 940,000 copies. The remastered PS4 version sold 39,071 copies in Japan as of December 2016. Total sales across all platforms reached about two million copies.

Did You Know?

• Sega of America held a pre-launch event at the Sony Metreon in San Francisco on September 29, 2008, where a raffle gave away an 80 GB PlayStation 3.
• Downloadable content includes Hard EX Mode, Edy's Mission: Enter the Edy Detachment, and Selvaria's Mission: Behind Her Blue Flame.