Valkyria Revolution

 PlayStation 4
User Score
5.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 98 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 41 out of 98
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 98
  3. Negative: 38 out of 98
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  1. DJammers
    Jun 29, 2017
    5
    As a fan of the Chronicles series, this game did not meet my expectations. Ridiculously long cutscenes coupled with loading screens makes this game at times a pain to play.

    The combat differs from the original games taking away the turn based aspect into a more action oriented style of play. Don't get me wrong, there is still a tiny form of turn-based gameplay in there but it is hardly    As a fan of the Chronicles series, this game did not meet my expectations. Ridiculously long cutscenes coupled with loading screens makes this game at times a pain to play.

    The combat differs from the original games taking away the turn based aspect into a more action oriented style of play. Don't get me wrong, there is still a tiny form of turn-based gameplay in there but it is hardly noticeable. I found that the combat was not natural or fluid, I felt that it seemed rather robotic with each character knowing only one set of moves throughout the entire game.

    One thing I did love about this game was the art style, the use of their new GOUACHE rendering engine allows for a more painty looking approach to graphics, I loved the fact that each moment looked like the game was painted on a canvas.

    All in all I think that if you can get past the long slog of cutscenes, terrible acting and clunky gameplay, you will find a game with a solid soundtrack and story. It wasn't a great game in my opinion but still worthy of a try.    … Expand
  2. snakekill321
    Jun 27, 2017
    7
    If you can get past all of the cutscenes and some voice acting, you actually have a solid action RPG game. It was an enduring tale and plight. The story and sounds are so well done that I would scored this higher if not for the abysmally long cutscenes. The gameplay is where the game does great, and it may not feel like the old valkyria games, but if you take off the nostalgia glasses,If you can get past all of the cutscenes and some voice acting, you actually have a solid action RPG game. It was an enduring tale and plight. The story and sounds are so well done that I would scored this higher if not for the abysmally long cutscenes. The gameplay is where the game does great, and it may not feel like the old valkyria games, but if you take off the nostalgia glasses, this is worth the 40$… Expand
  3. joshp177
    Jun 29, 2017
    6
    I am updating my original rating after playing a little bit more, and bumping up the score. The graphics are nice, and the soundtrack is great. Both of them combined makes this seem like a Valkyria game. The combat is a mix between action and turn based, but heavy on the action side. My two biggest complaints are the new battle system, and how easy the combat is at the beginning. II am updating my original rating after playing a little bit more, and bumping up the score. The graphics are nice, and the soundtrack is great. Both of them combined makes this seem like a Valkyria game. The combat is a mix between action and turn based, but heavy on the action side. My two biggest complaints are the new battle system, and how easy the combat is at the beginning. I don't know if the game gets harder, but I can mash the X button and barely get damaged to achieve victory. I want a challenge and to incorporate game strategy and this game isn't bringing those features. The story is ok, but I haven't gotten far enough to comment on it.… Expand
  4. chad_pattan
    Jul 2, 2017
    7
    For the first time, the scores aren't completely off the rocker. They're lower than I expected but people's reasons (generally) are acceptable.

    First context. This is NOT Valkyria Chronicles 4, so if you're going in expecting that, you'll be disappointed. No...this game might as well have been a totally different spinoff because it only shares very light things with the original    For the first time, the scores aren't completely off the rocker. They're lower than I expected but people's reasons (generally) are acceptable.

    First context. This is NOT Valkyria Chronicles 4, so if you're going in expecting that, you'll be disappointed. No...this game might as well have been a totally different spinoff because it only shares very light things with the original series.

    In Revolution, you're actually a guy who is being told the history of a war in the 19th century when "The Traitors" were involved. Think of a 19th century version of Three Kingdoms; it's actually very similar. The story is told in terms of flashbacks and book segments that collectively put everything in perspective.

    I'm on the fence with the graphics. This is a game that could easily have been on the Switch. They're not bad, but certainly nothing here that screams next gen. Yes, the cutscenes are lengthy, but I love cutscenes anyway. People likely forgot that Valkyria Chronicles 1 had cutscenes nearly as long; they were just spliced together better. In Revolution, the only thing that makes them really annoying is the load times in between each one, which seems to indicate that Sega didn't put enough time into optimizations.

    The music is evocative of war and isn't bad, but there are very few distinct tracks. Chronicles had the same issue, but it had the advantage of unique songs per storyline battlefield. I would also point out that it's fully English voiced even at a low $39.99 price, unlike Koei who can't be bothered on their Musou games anymore at $60.

    The characters have personality, but they're explored very infrequently, even less so than Chronicles 2 (PSP). The development improves as the game goes by, but you start out as just a ragtag group with no real backstory.

    But the story...oh my, what a story. The game plays this out like you're in a digital novel, and it's captivating. The lack of character development hurts it a bit, but the underlying conspiracies and dark tendencies make you want to see more and more. It's easily the best part of the game.

    When you first start out, the battle engine will feel very pithy and light, but certain scenarios will result in your team members getting knocked out. There's a severe difficulty upswing with the storyline battles, especially with the Valkyria. Even some optional battles are hard enough that you'll run out of ammo and grenades, forcing you to fight toe-to-toe. It's not like Chronicles where rifles essentially had unlimited ammo; nope. I laugh hearing people say this has no strategy; the hell it doesn't. When you're surrounded by tanks and soldiers shooting and mines on the ground, and you're clean out of magic power and ammo and forced to melee, it's quite exciting. I like it. A bit slow, but some battles are really engaging. Don't judge it on the first few scenarios - trust me, it WILL get more challenging.

    Overall I haven't been able to stop playing the game, and I am eager to learn more about the characters. I doubt any of them will leave an emotional footprint like Isara, but perhaps they'll leave their own variation.    … Expand
  5. Prrgangsta
    Jun 27, 2017
    5
    Man this was a waste of $40 that I am already regretting. Alright so Valkyria Revolution is the new spinoff game of the Valkyria Chronicles series and it is very hard to like this one. Action RPG elements take the place of the strategy in this one so now there is no moving squadmates one at a time. Now you control one character while a group follows you into battle. Combat is probably allMan this was a waste of $40 that I am already regretting. Alright so Valkyria Revolution is the new spinoff game of the Valkyria Chronicles series and it is very hard to like this one. Action RPG elements take the place of the strategy in this one so now there is no moving squadmates one at a time. Now you control one character while a group follows you into battle. Combat is probably all this game has going for it with the use of skills and even magic now.

    Cutscenes are long and boring with characters standing almost still while their mouths awkwardly move during their dialogue moments or you see the back of them as if to save money on animating their mouths.

    The story is told between a woman and either it's her pupil or some journalist and I hate it when a story starts out that way because it tells me all this stuff happened already and it lead to a peaceful land even though they were deemed traitors. It is like being told the end of a book when you just open to the first page.

    Enemy AI is just stupid. They wait around and do nothing until you get within view, but by the time they are about to take action you can kill them.

    This is a poor addition to the Valkyria series whether it is a spinoff game or not. Do not waste even $40 on this    … Expand
  6. BrandonTjon
    Jul 24, 2017
    7
    The dead on arrival game that went out with a bang,

    Valkyria Revolution is a very interesting Spin off title set in the world of Valkyria Chronicles. The game is an hack and slash adventure title with some strategy features. the game almost plays like a visual novel due it's big amount of cutscenes. Valkyria Revolution has you follow a set of characters with each their own ambitions in    The dead on arrival game that went out with a bang,

    Valkyria Revolution is a very interesting Spin off title set in the world of Valkyria Chronicles. The game is an hack and slash adventure title with some strategy features. the game almost plays like a visual novel due it's big amount of cutscenes. Valkyria Revolution has you follow a set of characters with each their own ambitions in a world driven by war and greed. Now the problem for many players is that the game isn't anything like it's predecessors. But again it's very clearly a spin off title. The game also suffers from some very jarring animations and a lot of loading screens. Past the slow start you are greeted with a very beautifully written tale that puts a interesting spin on the game. The combat really isn't anything special. But both story and combat open up as you progress further in the story. But the boss battles in this gamer are utterly bad. They are just bulletsponges that will spam the same attack on your brainless party. You could always grind on the same 5 maps which gets extremely repetitive. It's horribly bad towards the end game with slow bits and it's reusing every single location from up to chapter 5 in the later story missions. Valkyria Revolution is a interesting take on the Valkyria saga and is held together by it's story despite the many flaws.

    (Pros)
    - A very well written story
    - excellent art direction
    - A amazing composed Soundtrack
    - Future DLC will be free

    (Cons)
    - Jarring animations comparable with late PSP or early Vita era
    - Loading screens that should of been cut for the PS4 and Xbox versions of the game
    - Slow start
    - Combat improves but is still not great
    - Some odd pauses between lines in earlier cutscenes
    - Bullet sponge bosses
    - party won't follow orders
    - party is brain dead and will get themselves killed
    - End game is terrible    … Expand
  7. vahn
    Dec 19, 2019
    5
    Valkyria Revolution is a spin-off (SPIN-OFF, aka, not part of the main series) of a famous yet underrated tactical game called Valkyria Chronicles, where instead of commanding your troops you will play a semi-action rpg which is very reminiscent of games like White Knight Chronicles: for attacking you're required to wait for a little bar near the character's portrait to fill which will letValkyria Revolution is a spin-off (SPIN-OFF, aka, not part of the main series) of a famous yet underrated tactical game called Valkyria Chronicles, where instead of commanding your troops you will play a semi-action rpg which is very reminiscent of games like White Knight Chronicles: for attacking you're required to wait for a little bar near the character's portrait to fill which will let you do any actions, such as attacking or using your guns, your grenades or your ragnites.
    Overall, I don't hate the combat at all, in fact, I enjoy quite a bit after tweaking here and there and with enough time in the game you can have some enjoyment too in neutralizing a lot of enemies at once...but more to that later.

    The story is told in flashback instead of the usual way: the story tells of the events from 100 years ago, where 5 people called "the traitors" were condemned for actions against their countries and eventually executed: the flashbacks are a conversation between a student and his teacher and the "truth" behind the so-called traitors will be slowly revealed the more you play, which is the entire theme of this game: discovering the truth.
    As much as I don't really enjoy flashback type of storytelling, the way it starts is actually interesting and the game does an ok job to lure the player into wondering what truly happened, especially when you know they're all dead by now.
    I mean, it's been 100 years, pretty sure they're dead in a way or another...

    So let's talk about what's wrong with this game, starting with combat: it's too easy and normal enemies barely give you a challenge, especially when later on you can get some powerful ragnites that can 1 shot most enemies at once.
    Not only it's easy but it's made even easier by making the game pause whenever you want to use other attacks or weapons (by pressing triangle), so if you need to heal or cast spells you can literally spam your best skills and barely get hit, as you will hit the immobile enemy without any chance to be hit.
    The only exceptions are the boss fights, which suddenly gives a difficulty spike that could potentially wipe your team if you're not careful enough. On top of that bosses are hp sponges and take a lot of time to go down, easily 10 minutes if you aren't prepared at least a bit. But the game is still overall easy even with the bosses being tougher than usual: you can ress anyone anytime by pressing R1 and you're invincible while doing so. Again, very easy.

    Levels are also extremely short, barely 10 minutes at best and it doesn't really make a difference if they got different paths or have chests - which, by the way, can't be opened if you're seen by the enemy - You'll just want them to be over for the exp.

    And now the second big issue: the story and how it's presented, which is very poor quality and overall extremely slow-paced.

    Don't get me wrong, the game does have some quality in it: practically all cutscene are voiced acted with pretty good English VA (there's JP too) and I could recognize some known VA in there too (Patrick Seitz, Wendee Lee, Greg Chun, Jamieson Price, Cherami Leigh and many more) so in that regard, they clearly spent time and effort.
    But the game is RIDDLED with cutscenes and especially at the start you WILL sit down and watch at least a dozen of cutscenes in a row, so get ready to see a lot of cutscenes - with many not being really good.

    To put this in perspective, I played this game for about 50 hours, practically at the final chapter (the 12th chapter if you count the prologue and finale as chapters) and of those 50 hours I can guarantee half is just cutscenes, while the rest is playing the missions or grinding ragnites for upgrading your weapons - which is probably the most boring, unfun method of upgrading your weapons in the game as it basically forces you to replay missions over and over...and yes you WILL grind a lot for those upgrades!

    The bottom line is, the balance between story and gameplay is ruined due to having too many cutscenes but not enough gameplay: in VC you could spend over an hour in a match to finish it, commanding troops and making sure you win without losing any members, but a match in VR only lasts 10 minutes at best (slightly more if you do bosses). And it's a shame because I think the story if done better, could have made this game a little better and worth its time but as it is it feels...unpolished rather than rushed.

    Do I recommend it? Considering the slow pace and the "not so fun" combat" it's really hard to, especially when you can get better action RPGs for the same price (like Ys 8) and it's also set in a different world (there's no Gallia and the Valkyria is also different) which makes this game completely separated from the main games in the series and a tough sell for any fans.

    If you're VERY curious and can find it dirt cheap, give it a shot and see for yourself, but I would recommend a skip instead and look elsewhere.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
54

Mixed or average reviews - based on 56 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 56
  2. Mixed: 33 out of 56
  3. Negative: 16 out of 56
  1. Playstation Official Magazine Australia
    Feb 8, 2018
    40
    For all its many faults, the script does at least make a valiant effort of recognising and explaining the politics of war and propaganda. That doesn’t change the fact that there’s an army of games more worthy of your money. [October 2017, p75]
  2. GameCritics
    Oct 17, 2017
    60
    I can’t praise Valkyria Revolution‘s story enough. It’s a clear-eyed meditation on the horrors of war – even, perhaps especially, justified war. If the developers had found a way to make the dreary, repetitive combat as worthwhile as the story that frames it, this would have been an incredible game.
    Read full review
  3. CD-Action
    Sep 25, 2017
    20
    Ladies and gentlemen, we present you “The Worst of jRPG”. [09/2017, p.57]
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