Valkyria Chronicles

I ended up getting this game for Christmas almost 2 years ago now when it came out and didn't manage to get into it as much as I would have liked right away. I found the first level (tutorial level) mundane and ended up throwing it onto my shelf to collect dust with the rest of the games I plan to get to but never seem to. After my better half to me that I wasn't getting any new games until I finished the ones I had I decided this summer that i would throw this one in and try to knock it out.

I have to say that I am glad I did. I have spent a number of hours working on completing Valkyria Chronicles and so far it has been worth every minute. I love to play tactics based games and this one certainly delivered. There is a great deal of freedom in how units are used in this game. Basically its a combination of third-person shooter and action-RPG-tactics. The teams are completely customizable and the maps provide enough of a challenge that they keep you engaged for the hours plus that some of them take.

But like all games this one isn't perfect. The biggest downfall I found personally was that you need at least an hour uninterrupted in order to complete the maps later in the game. This can get a little annoying when you want to play a quick game. To be quite honest, this is the only problem that I have with this game. Everything else has done exactly what it is meant to do and entertain me.

I haven't completed the game yet (on the last map now) but based on what I have played so far, the replayability seems pretty high. I will most likely go through the game a second time with the extra mode using all of my team members, stats, and weapons, just to get some of the extra story content. There are also PSN DLC  available, however, I am personally not sold on paying and extra $5-$7 for each extra map. As good as the game is, I am not fully convinced that the extra maps will provide enough enjoyment at this point.

I would definitely recommend this game to all gamers who enjoy third-person shooters, RPGs, tactics, and action based games. This seems to cater to a number of demographics in terms of genres and doesn't disappoint.