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Does Valkyria Chronicles 2 Lose Anything in the Move to Mobile?

Despite some tedious high school drama, this cult favorite makes a successful transition to PSP.

September 9, 2010
You won't like this if...

bad stories turn you off

Valkyria Chronicles 2
Credit: Sega

It seems that August was the month for terrific gameplay and lousy stories. On the heels of Metroid: Other M and Ys Seven we have Valkyria Chronicies 2, which matches the interminable cut-scenes and dialogue found in those games with puerile high school comedy. Unlike those games though, how much that detracts from what is actually a very good game is really down to taste.

The handheld sequel to the cult favorite RPG on PS3, Valkyria Chronicles 2 shifts the narrative focus from the battlefield to the Gallia Royal Military Academy, where the next generation of commanders is being trained in earnest. It was established in the original game that basic training is mandatory for all able-bodied Gallian citizens, so it's an interesting opportunity to see the school firsthand. And, for better or worse, Sega also opted to flesh out the game's secondary characters.

Click the image above to check out all Valkyria Chronicles 2 screens.

In theory, this is a great idea; the soldiers of Valkyria Chronicles' Squad 7 all had elaborate backstories but rarely appeared in the story proper. In practice, the members of Class G are considerably more annoying than those of Squad 7, which in turn makes it difficult to care about them. Taking note of the inexplicable popularity of Edy -- the wannabe pop idol from the original game -- the developer has not only opted to drop in her sister, but to load out the rest of the squadron with similar anime archetypes. For instance Avan, the leader of the bunch, is a hot-blooded teen with a distinct brother complex, making him pretty much every shonen anime protagonist ever. He's a marked departure from the original game's Welkin, who's more mild-mannered and not nearly as abrasive.

Obviously, there are people who'll enjoy this approach, and they're free to discount my criticism as they see fit. For everyone else though, be aware that Valkyria Chronicles 2 takes the (mostly) understated anime tropes from the original and kicks them up several notches. All that said though, many of the vignettes can thankfully be skipped entirely, which is something I started doing with regularity after about the first quarter of the game.

Persona, Valkyria Chronicles 2 divides up its story by month, with advancement contingent upon completing three key missions and a normal story mission. The normal missions tend to be less interesting than the story missions simply because they recycle map layouts and feature fairly vanilla objectives; but speaking as someone who considered the war room to be the best feature of Advance Wars, I welcome the opportunity to obsessively seek top ranks over a wide variety of missions.

It should be noted that all of the missions can be played in the game's new co-op mode, which was the primary impetus for moving the series to PSP in the first place. Multiplayer is actually quite a good fit for Valkyria Chronicles, as even the handheld maps are much more elaborate than the typical tactical RPG, necessitating careful planning on the part of both players. The same goes for the versus mode matches, which can get quite tense given that the game only allots three command points per player. For those who are into serious tactical combat, Valkyria Chronicles certainly equals similar handheld RPGs, and may even surpass them.

Click the image above to check out all Valkyria Chronicles 2 screens.

Part of what makes the multiplayer interesting is that the single-player armies carry over into versus matchups, with the even deeper customization serving to highlight individual quirks and preferences. The tank can now hold everything from a constructor arm for building bridges to a plowlike apparatus that clears boulders, and collecting enough materials makes it possible for characters to upgrade to numerous sub-classes. As an example, I initially opted to make the shocktrooper Zeri into a gunner, giving him access to a powerful gatling gun that can mow down tightly knit groups of enemies (though it's a pain to aim properly). There are other new classes as well, like the shield-bearing Armored Tech. The original game's sniper class is initially missing in action, but can be added to the party by upgrading a scout.

The multiplayer and increased customization actually make for a pretty hefty strategy RPG -- the sort of game that can last dozens of hours. The only thing that gets in the way is the high school drama, which is a shame because the original game's story was a notable strength.

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