Game critics across the net have all agreed Valkyria Chronicles is a wonderful game. In fact, the generally un-noticed title garnered a Metacritic score of 87, from a total of 58 reviews. So how could a game that is so well received by critics suffer from such poor sales?
Part of the reason for the poor sales was its release date. It was released during the overly flooded holiday season, where the majority of the biggest games drop. During this season, the PS3 saw a huge wave of blockbuster releases with LittleBigPlanet, Resistance 2, Bioshock, Buzz! Quiz TV, Call of Duty: World at War, Dead Space, Far Cry 2 and many more. As you can plainly see from all these heavily promoted, big name titles… Valkyria Chronicles could easily be lost in the shadows. Not to mention the market generally buys FPS games over anything else these days.
I myself hadn’t paid much, if any, attention to Valkyria Chronicles. It was only until I tried the demo on the PSN that I realized how much potential the game had. That day, I went out to purchase it at the price of $59.99, and it’s easily worth its price tag.
VC is a strategy RPG, with just a touch of shooter mixed in. The campaign is over 30 hours long, and has one of the most enjoyable casts in an RPG. Comraderie plays the lead, as you fight to drive the Emperial forces back out of your native country of Gallia. The anime/cartoony visuals at first were a bit of a turnoff, but after a while I soon came to appreciate the ‘painted’ look of this title. There isn’t any trophy support (which shouldn’t deter you from a stellar game anyway), but trophies may be coming soon, especially since the game has some DLC on the way. Even the DLC is set to shine, as it will allow you to play as the Empire. Who wouldn’t want to play as the bad guys for a change?
This week, during its ‘Game Days’ sale, Gamestop is offering Valkyria Chronicles for the low, low price of just $29.99. Do yourself a favor and pick up this title. You will not be disappointed. It will be the last time you tell anyone, including yourself, “The PS3 doesn’t have any quality RPGs.”
For more deals like this, check out our Deals of the Week.
