Valkyria Chronicles 4 (Nintendo Switch) Review

The middle two games were largely overlooked, mainly because they were resigned to release on PSP, but the third entry also stayed within Japan's borders, meaning most people's sole experience with this series has been with the first Valkyria Chronicles, which has gratefully received ports to current systems in recent times.

SEGA has played it pretty safe with Valkyria Chronicles 4 following the messy Revolution. Rather than incorporating much from the PSP titles, this stays very true to the original game in nearly every way. That's no bad thing, though. Instead of tinkering with too much and risking a failure, VC4 only needs to take the solid formula of the first game, add a few bits and pieces here and there, and wrap a new story and characters around it all. Even the story itself, though, is pretty similar, with a squad of close-knit young soldiers, each with distinct anime-like personalities, fighting back the Imperial Empire in an attempt to protect their home of Gallia.

VC1 fans might feel a little aggrieved that the narrative doesn't offer too much fresh here, given that the gameplay is more or less a carbon copy, so it was the plot that had the chance to mix it up a bit. However, being a prequel, there was only so much that could be done without going way off the mark. The pacing does go up and down, too, with some missions coming rather quickly after the previous, whereas others can take quite some time to pop up following numerous cut-scenes. The best part of the game is in the battles, so the long waits can prove tiresome when you just want to get stuck into the missions.

Battles, as mentioned, don't change much from before, with units selected and placed onto an overhead map, before taking turns to guide each one through the field in a real-time third-person view. Just about every stage presents new challenges to overcome, throwing different hazards or distractions into the fray, such as reduced vision in fog, attempting to hold out whilst keeping enemy camps claimed, or splitting parties up midway through missions.

New objectives can crop up once certain conditions are met, changing the goal and keeping players on their toes. It is still possible to resort to cheap tactics, buffing up certain units with defense and evasion, for example, and having them go on a suicide mission, but depending on the mission type and changes in objectives, this may not always prove as fruitful as it did in the past.

The mish-mash of strategy and real-time gameplay is handled as well as before, with different types of units and their strengths and weaknesses working together to provide a variety of options to deal with each situation. Of course, some trial and error is necessary, as you cannot always predict what types of enemy will be on the map or appear over time, but there are opportunities to evacuate and deploy units mid-battle to account for developing situations.

The grenadier is a new unit type for Valkyria Chronicles 4, which is always fun to use to blow up targets from afar, and the APC is a new vehicle that can carry soldiers further into the battlefield safely and efficiently, which makes traversing a lot easier. There is even a new "follow the leader" command, where mini groups can be created mid-battle, with soldiers following a lead unit, co-operating in attacks automatically for extra convenience. These are minor additions to the gameplay that just enhance the experience that little bit more.

Sadly, achieving A ranks consists, again, of finishing a map in a set number of turns, which, while still meaning some tactical thought process is required depending on the situation and enemies on the field, does tend to result in buffing allies and storming head first into the crossfire towards the goal. That said, VC4 isn't a particularly strenuous strategy RPG, and it is possible to replay missions for more EXP, as well as to try again for those pesky A ranks. This means no need for a New Game+ mode, since getting the best scores can now be done in one sitting.