One of the best games of the year!

This game is beautiful, deep, and very engrossing. It's a shame that it would get lost in the shuffle among sure-fire blockbusters like Gears 2, Resistance 2, and Fallout 3 but this title ranks right up there! If you love RPGs, third-person shooters, and/or anime, you owe it to yourself to play this game and get immersed!

Awesome Game, No Questions Asked Pt.1

Valkyria Chronicles is a game for PS3 that puts you in control of Squad 7, a unit lead by Welkin Gunther. The game takes place during a fierce war over resources.

STORY: Players are introduced to Valkyria Chronicles when Welkin Gunther, an everyday teacher, returns to his home town of Gallia to visit family. Unfortunately (and fortunately) for him, he encounters Alicia Melchiott, a soldier that previously had a job at a bakery. At first, they don't seem to be very fond of each other but after the situation clears up, they become invaluable allies to each other. As Welkin eventually through a series of events becomes the captain of his squad, with Alicia at his side, and fight to defend their hometown from Imperial invaders who are raiding the town for an invaluable substance. My persona favorite character is Alicia, followed by Welkin, then Rosie. Try the game out and you'll see some of the other members as well. That aside, the game is MUCH deeper than this, but I'd rather you all try it yourselves.

GAMEPLAY: Valkyria Chronicles features solid gameplay using SEGA's BLiTZ system. The gameplay is turn-based with strong RTS elements. Assembling the squad is another aspect of the game that offers very vivid customization options that require the player to be very strategic in the way they handle themselves. For example, snipers are very valuable characters but possess weak defensive ability (they die easily). Each character possesses unique attributes such as some operating poorly because of allergies or some working better with men. It's very, very deep and it truly does feel like you're in control of a flock of soldiers with unique attributes. Definitely a shining gem among a sea of titles. You also have the ability to upgrade classes and even weapons to your liking. Fortunately, members of your squad that are leveled up also applies to the ones you keep in your camp (a scout in play that levels up also levels up the other scouts you have in your reserves) so there's no need to worry about imbalance and inexperience among yourselves. Again, these are key gameplay elements in a nutshell.

GRAPHICS: Contrary to the way things are going for most games this generation, Valkyria Chronicles trades the push-technology-for-realism
for a much more artistic and anime-esque feel, which I actually enjoy much more. The graphics are very water-color canvas-like. The environments are lush with very vibrant coloring all around. The shading featured in the game consists of hatch lines, making it feel even more animated. The cutscenes are very believable with characters that give you the real feel as well. The CG is very artistic in the sense that while it still has a water color look with hatch-line shading, one can still easily see the computer-generated graphics from it.