Valkyria Chronicles
Since we didn't make it anywhere interesting for Christmas due to icky weather, I rented a video game instead. Namely, Valkyria Chronicles, a PS3 RPG that got glowing reviews from game websites, but hasn't done too well sales-wise so far. :(
The basic plot is WWII in a fantasy-Europe and add a dash of magic in the form of Valkyrur - blue glowy people who are nearly invisible when wielding a lance and shield. Our main cast are soldiers in Gallia, a small country caught between two behemoths. At the game's start Gallia is invaded by one of them for precious fuel resources and is nearly crushed. The story is about squad 7 and how they managed to prove that sometimes David can win against Goliath.
I liked this game a lot. The plot is interesting (and the characters are quirky, but likable) and the battles are very unusual. The battle system is a weird hybrid of RPG battles and first person shooters - i.e. you have a certain number of moves and select individual characters to move around the battle map. There's also "players turn", where you move your characters once at a time, and an "enemy's turn" where your computer opponent does the same. However, once you select the character you play something of a 3rd person shooter type game - you can move your character a certain distance determined by a bar and can do one action (heal, shoot, repair, throw a grenade, etc) per turn. While you move around enemies take pot-shots at you if they can see you, but when you do your action things "pause" so you can carefully aim (aim is VERY important, since head shots require less hits to kill an enemy.)
The game developers also did a good job of keeping battles fresh. They use multiple settings (villages/towns, woodlands, deserts, canyons, plains) and each battle has unique conditions to provide different challenges. The battles are a little challenging and it took me some time to get used to. (I got fairly frustrated at times, actually, but by the end I was getting much better at it assuming I was patient.) It works that way with the other mechanics of the game as well. You don't get access to all of the areas of the game until Chapter 10 (I THINK, since I had to return the game before I finished it).
Overall, I think RPG fans who own a PS3 should definitely check it out. It's the first exclusive RPG for the PS3 that has sounded decent and it was really fun. I want to buy it sometime.
The basic plot is WWII in a fantasy-Europe and add a dash of magic in the form of Valkyrur - blue glowy people who are nearly invisible when wielding a lance and shield. Our main cast are soldiers in Gallia, a small country caught between two behemoths. At the game's start Gallia is invaded by one of them for precious fuel resources and is nearly crushed. The story is about squad 7 and how they managed to prove that sometimes David can win against Goliath.
I liked this game a lot. The plot is interesting (and the characters are quirky, but likable) and the battles are very unusual. The battle system is a weird hybrid of RPG battles and first person shooters - i.e. you have a certain number of moves and select individual characters to move around the battle map. There's also "players turn", where you move your characters once at a time, and an "enemy's turn" where your computer opponent does the same. However, once you select the character you play something of a 3rd person shooter type game - you can move your character a certain distance determined by a bar and can do one action (heal, shoot, repair, throw a grenade, etc) per turn. While you move around enemies take pot-shots at you if they can see you, but when you do your action things "pause" so you can carefully aim (aim is VERY important, since head shots require less hits to kill an enemy.)
The game developers also did a good job of keeping battles fresh. They use multiple settings (villages/towns, woodlands, deserts, canyons, plains) and each battle has unique conditions to provide different challenges. The battles are a little challenging and it took me some time to get used to. (I got fairly frustrated at times, actually, but by the end I was getting much better at it assuming I was patient.) It works that way with the other mechanics of the game as well. You don't get access to all of the areas of the game until Chapter 10 (I THINK, since I had to return the game before I finished it).
Overall, I think RPG fans who own a PS3 should definitely check it out. It's the first exclusive RPG for the PS3 that has sounded decent and it was really fun. I want to buy it sometime.