It is beautiful - but that beauty isn’t just some gimmick, the beauty which is apparent from the artistic direction of this game is not limited merely to asthetics. The cutscenes are expertly crafted - they resonate with the somberness of war, but they don’t wallow in the sorrow of it. There is a scene, very early in the game, when one of the main characters is in a battle for the very first time - afterwards, that character just stares at the bodies and requests that they be buried. There’s no long speech telling us what we already know; that that person feels scarrede by the experience. The game has too much respect for us to do that.
You remember how you felt when you were playing FFXII and it felt like all the action was happening somewhere else while your characters ran around with mediocore music playing in the background? Well, this is like that, except this time you’re characters are in the thick of the action, doing things which seem to be relative to the main story, or at least taking actions which are thoroughly interesting; and you’ve got music that actually reminds me of Final Fantasy Tactics (warning: albeit, I’d say the soundtrack isn’t nearly as grandiose as FFT’s)
I’m only a few hours in, but this game is an epic. I haven’t played a game in, what, two months because of my internship, college, and Mock Trial. Paying that 70 dollars to pick the game up hurt my soul because of how miserly I am, but this is one of the best games I’ve ever played so far.
If I had a PS3, I’d pick it up. Sadly, the chances of that are pretty slim. Quite sad, given that this is a pretty damn good game from what I’ve seen. Got bored one day and watched some missions on Youtube. It was awesome (and burned time!).
Well never played Skies of Arcadia so can’t comment on whether it is better or worse than it. But do own a copy of Valkyria Chronicles, and I must say I do love it.
It is actually a fun game to play, love just how much it makes you think about every single one of your moves. Trying to decide which enemy to try and gun down first, where to hide my troops so they don’t get killed on the next turn.
The graphics are superb, really fit the game well. And the story, haven’t been this engrossed in a story for ages.
I want to add after getting further in the game that the gameplay is superb. It’s truly engaging and intense; just as importantly, it’s deceptively simple - but it requires strategic thinking.
It’s an amazing game; it truly is. I never played Skies of Arcadia; I don’t know why, I had a Dreamcast, but the RPG I played on that system was Grandia II which I adored. Yeah…I don’t really know why I didn’t play SoA, I think I thought it seemed kind of cheesy, especially the ads. Dumb reason, I know.
What I really like about the game is how fresh and new it feels. I mean when I first started playing, it reminded me of the first strategy rpg I ever played. Now it isn’t completely different from any game I have played before, it is just different enough to feel like a breath of fresh air.
I’ll admit I’m not that into the story though. Don’t get me wrong, it is well told. It manages to touch on issues like racism, enemies in war being human too and the effect war has on people without coming off corny or depressing. It even seems to try to be somewhat realistic by having the main characters be over 18 and explaining why the main characters would have some military experience. Even though the story takes pains to be serious and well-told, it also manages to throw some anime humor into the mix. (A good thing in my book.) In conclusion, I like how the story is well-told, but it just doesn’t hook me.
Interesting extra: Vyse and other characters are from Skies of Arcadia are playable characters.
Your regular troops still contain underage troops - probably for the sake of “moe” characters not allowed to be adults… I mean, they could, like, drive cars or drink alcohol or… If they were adults. But shooting others is always fine in any age, any game these days, I guess.
Vyse and Aika are playable (both good in their own ways and both have slight disadvantages too, darn hay fever…) - Fina shows up in a cutscene.
Yeah Fina is your Medic for the squad, always there to treat your wounded before they die.
Yes Mabat you do have some that troops who are younger, but the game does actually give reasons for saying why they know how to fight, and are fighting.
Rather than them just being there and just saying, “Yeah I’m underage, so what?”