I tried talking this through last night with board8chat, but I still am indecisive. I need me a good rpg, and VC seems like it could fit the bill. The problem is that the SRPG genre is one I have trouble keeping with. I've played FFT, Disgaea, and Fire Emblem, and I haven't beaten any, or really gotten all that much further than half the game. VC is supposedly unique, though.
Is VC easily accessible? Is the story great enough to keep me powering through?
VC is great. Still the best rpg for the PS3. It's much more accessible than most grid-based SRPG's. Beloved characters, great music, pretty graphics. Also, Vyse and Aika are in it. Just get it dude. It's probably like $15 now or something.
Here's the write-up I made earlier in the year. Removed the references to VC II as it was referencing both games.
There's no doubt that Valkyria Chronicles brought an amazing new spin on the SRPG genre. Basically you have a crew of different units each with different abilities: scouts, who can move farther than the others; shocktroopers, who are equipped with machine guns; lancers, who are anti-tank infantry; engineers, who can heal or repair other units; snipers, who are long-range attackers; and tanks, of course. There are many missions in both games that take advantage of the various abilities that your squad has. VC1 has the superior story and main characters and has great voice acting with different voices for each character. Valkyria Chronicles is the best jRPG available on the PS3, and not playing it is a terrible mistake.
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Congrats to 2011 Rivalry Rumble Guru winner, SuperNiceDog http://backloggery.com/articuno2001/sig.gif
Download and play the demo. If the graphics and music and general atmosphere leave you feeling slightly charmed you'll probably like it; if not then it depends how big a fan you are of squad-based SRPGs, and it sounds like not very. But it is a really charming and fun game. The characters are (for the most part) not incredible, but they're just fun to be around (and not in a wacky kind of a way). Gameplay is well-balanced, as long as you don't grind on the optional maps the difficulty is reasonable enough that you can win without it getting frustrating but would have to work hard to succeed on the first attempt (or at least without casualties).
One of my favourite games on the system, would heartily recommend you at least try the demo.
-- James - Board 8's Resident Warm And Safe, Slipper-Wearing User & The Cream of Porcupine Tree Fanboyism
I enjoyed the game at first but tbqh I stopped playing it about halfway through and just never picked it up again and don't really care enough to bother trying again. so I guess it isn't that engrossing.
I checked PSN last night and didn't find a demo for the ps3 version. Isn't there a Valkyria game that's more standard rpg? One of the characters was in a character battle, no?