Valkyria Chronicles

[Gorvi]

Originally Posted by ClannerDelta

I still feel they made a mistake with the way missions were ranked. Encouraging scout rushing to the exclusion of everything else.

To know that I was doing things extremely slowly and that I was gonna be punished for it, that was a downer.

Still loved it, and just scout rushed skirmishes to make up the difference, but it killed the flow for me, to need to go off and do a skirmish every level.

That did diminish things a bit, but you could ignore that if you wanted and still enjoy the game. I'll admit to Scout rushing skirmishes towards the end though to hit the level cap on all my classes.

Originally Posted by Cyndair

OK, no more messing around. I've had this game for years and still haven't played past chapter 7. I'm pulling it out tonight and giving it the time it deserves.

That's the spirit! Maybe I'll actually play it as well and get to the DLC. I have all of it now and have barely played any of it. I just need to buy the DLC for the PSP version now....

[maharahaj]

I need to get back into this game; I got distracted with other stuff about a year and a half ago. I do remember what battle I was at though. It is against a whole squad of snipers, some on windmills. I think I'm about 2/3's through the game.

[Xerxes]

Can you play the PSP game first or does the PS3 version come first?

[Wraith]

VC1 (PS3) takes place before VC2 (PSP). Some characters from 1 show up in 2.

Can't comment on how much playing 2 would potentially spoil the story of 1.

[Urizen]

Originally Posted by ClannerDelta

I still feel they made a mistake with the way missions were ranked. Encouraging scout rushing to the exclusion of everything else.

Very valid point. It took me forever to realize this myself. I would complete a mission without taking any damage, landing multiple criticals, and killing everything, and get raped in the final ranking. I assumed for a long time that the ranking algorithm with complex to the point of being broken.

Turns out it was the opposite.

[Gorvi]

Originally Posted by Xerxes

Can you play the PSP game first or does the PS3 version come first?

The PS3 version does come first, but unless you care about very general story spoilers you'll be OK. A couple of the characters from the first show up as cameos, 2 run the item shop after the first few chapters, but that's about it.

The games are built on the same basic principal, but structured very differently. While the PS3 game is set in mostly large, sprawling environments, the PSP game is set in smaller connected areas. You're much more focused on capturing bases in the PSP version so you can control movement between maps, and there are some new classes that change things up a bit. They also added a class progression system (for example Sniper isn't it's own class in the PSP game, it's a progression of Scout).

[Spigot]

I didn't care about the rankings after the first few missions. I knew that it was all about the scout rush, but it just wasn't fun, so I just gave up and focused on tactics. Sure, it took longer to grind points, but it was more enjoyable.

[KSmitty]

Originally Posted by Urizen

Very valid point. It took me forever to realize this myself. I would complete a mission without taking any damage, landing multiple criticals, and killing everything, and get raped in the final ranking. I assumed for a long time that the ranking algorithm with complex to the point of being broken.

Turns out it was the opposite.

It's even more apparent when you do the replay with upgraded scouts.

[JayK47]

Scouts are great for skirmishes, but I'm not so sure with many campaign missions. It's not like I can wrap up most skirmishes with just scouts. I usually have them blast ahead and clear a camp, then request reinforcements at the camp to keep my units at the front lines. Too many times I move ahead too fast and leave too many behind. I'm having fun with the mortar guys. The battle I am on now they are pretty helpful with all of the bullet dodgers I am fighting. Dodge this.

[LordDon]

When is Sony launching PS-Network on the PC?

[JayK47]

I just finished this game. It was pretty awesome. Probably one of my top ten. Now to decide if I want to try the DLC.

[ClannerDelta]

Originally Posted by JayK47

Scouts are great for skirmishes, but I'm not so sure with many campaign missions. It's not like I can wrap up most skirmishes with just scouts. I usually have them blast ahead and clear a camp, then request reinforcements at the camp to keep my units at the front lines. Too many times I move ahead too fast and leave too many behind. I'm having fun with the mortar guys. The battle I am on now they are pretty helpful with all of the bullet dodgers I am fighting. Dodge this.

The key to getting the best ranks on the vast majority of missions is to use a "Special" scout or 3 to run to the enemy base camp, blow the enemies out of the area with grenades (or kill them) and then claim the camp satisfying the victory conditions. It's also boring.

Originally Posted by JayK47

I just finished this game. It was pretty awesome. Probably one of my top ten. Now to decide if I want to try the DLC.

The Edy Detachment has a little side story and provides some food for thought. Like "Really? Edy was the popular side character? Why?"

[JayK47]

I'm not liking this Edy side detachment so far. Just when I think I am done, I'm not and "pow, right in the kisser". I've done entirely too many restarts. Is there any point in grabbing the extra hard DLC? Is that just for skirmishes?

[JayK47]

Well I finished Edy Detachment and started the Edy skirmishes and Blue Flame. Edy Detachment requires perfection to get through and is basically one mission. The story element is ok, but maybe not worth the hassle. The additional skirmishes so far don't seem like much fun since you only seem to use one person rather than a squad as I had hoped. Feels more like challenges than skirmishes. The Blue Flame DLC just hasn't been any fun since I am now playing the Imperial forces. And they are extremely weak. I basically cannot get in the line of fire at all. Even scouts mow me down. There seems to be a big disparity in character levels. The Imperials seem very low level compared to the Gallians. And the Gallians outnumber the Imperials by quite a bit. Not quite how it was when Squad 7 went up against the Imperials. The Imperials always outnumbered me. So me being a bullet sponge was necessary to move the story forward.

I think I'll stick with the main story and blast through it on new game plus. I'll try out different squad mates to mix things up.

[frederec]

Has anyone been following the VC3 Fan translation project? Just saw an article about it over at Kotaku, and it looks like they've made a good amount of progress. Looks like it should be playable by anyone with a copy of the game and a hacked PSP.

Naturally, projects like this don't really give release dates until they're done (where did that Soul Hackers project go, gemini?). But it sounds like they're in the testing phase.

[Gorvi]

Originally Posted by frederec

Has anyone been following the VC3 Fan translation project? Just saw an article about it over at Kotaku, and it looks like they've made a good amount of progress. Looks like it should be playable by anyone with a copy of the game and a hacked PSP.

Naturally, projects like this don't really give release dates until they're done (where did that Soul Hackers project go, gemini?). But it sounds like they're in the testing phase.

I've been keeping an eye on it, but I'm going to wait until they're 100% complete with it, then I'll import a copy. It looks like right now they're just working on getting the main story translated, but some menus and the side missions aren't close yet.