There’s a War in my Pocket- Valkyria Chronicles 2 Review

Sequels are tough. A lot of the time, the first sequel can be a series’ magnum opus– a chance to revisit what fans loved about the original game while addressing some of the flaws.  Other times, a sequel can be a devastating sign that the publisher never had a firm grasp on the elements that made their game worthy of continuation in the first place.Valkyria Chronicles for the PS3 was such a neatly wrapped package that it was hard to imagine what more Shuntaro Tanaka could possibly cram into a sequel. The series changed settings, changed platforms and changed art styles all at once – the transition seemed daunting. Lucky for fans, from the title screen to ending credits, Valkyria Chronicles 2 is exactly what you’ve been waiting for: more Valkyria Chronicles.

At first glance, Valkyira Chronicles 2 looks troubling. The CANVAS rendering system has been substituted with stylized anime cut scenes, the front-line setting has been replaced with a military high school and the story driven mission structure has been scrapped in favor of a Monster Hunter-style list o’ available quests.Without playing the game, one could easily assume that SEGA missed their mark on this one, but even an hour in, I was pleased to find that the portable follow-up was every bit as engrossing as the debut title.

The campaign story and characters are unfortunately derivative. You assume the role of Avan, a rambunctious, lazy, hungry teen plucked straight out of a box of Brand X anime characters who enlists in a military school to find out what happened to his missing brother. He is assigned to Class G, the worst class in the whole school, and vows to earn them the honor and respect of their fellow classmates!  Oh, there is also some civil war going on, and racial tension and yadda yadda – apparently that stuff all takes a back seat, because those Class A jerks think they’re better than you! The nerve!  Although the story never attempts to make the player think or feel anything, the exchanges between the classmates are not entirely useless.  Many scenes are completely optional, but often times, story events will drop hints as to which characters work best together on the battlefield and can what special abilities they have available.

Basic mission structure has changed very little, but some minor changes have been made that will make a major impact on the tactics you use. You still deploy your units at the start of a mission, move and shoot from a third-person-shooter perspective, and capture enemy camps to earn spawning points.  However, now the battlefields are split into multiple areas, and these camps also serve as the gateway between each zone. Losing a camp to the enemy could mean leaving part of your squad to rot by themselves. Also, a few new classes have been added, such as the fencer, armored tech and APC, while the old units have been rebalanced. That means you aren’t going to be able to rely on a squad of super scouts to muscle your way through every mission, but instead will have to tailor your squad to fit each mission.The result is that the new missions provide a more challenging, diverse and gripping experience.

The most obvious departure for the sequel is the addition of multiplayer. Valkyria Chronicles 2 offers both coop and competitive multiplayer over ad-hoc wireless. Each of the story missions is available In coop, which means you always have an option to get help when you get stuck. Competitive multiplayer is  a blast.  As I said before, the folks at SEGA spent a lot of time balancing the different unit types, and it really shines in multiplayer .The wide variety of unit types means that there is a seemingly endless array of squad configurations and strategies, and each competitive game feels completely unique. If you are worried that you won’t be able to find a squadmate or opponent on your bus, don’t get too upset; VC2 seems to have joined Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Monster Hunter: Freedom Unite on the Ad-Hoc Party scene, and you should have no problem starting a game up there.

The story of Valkyria Chronicles 2 may not have the heart and charm of the original, but it more than makes up for it with improvements on the already stellar gameplay mechanics. I had a hard time believing that the sequel could live up to the original, but I’m happy to say it far surpassed my expectations.