The Axis of Bozz

I think that’s all a matter of taste. Having just started playing Valkyria Chronicles (I has a PS3 nao); I am liking the story but the gameplay is actually slightly irritating in parts, particularly those parts where VC2 greatly improved on it.

Example: levelling up classes.
VC1: hold right until the line gets to the end. You can raise each class one level at a time this way. Tedious. (You can raise a class partially by not pushing the line all the way but what’s the point of that? I’d rather level it all the way up or not at all.)
VC2: press right to gain one level in that class. Can raise each class an arbitrary amount of levels at a time. Much better.

Example: squad member selection
VC1: One squad, one vehicle configuration. Need to switch things around between missions to take full advantage of the team. Tedious.
VC2: Multiple teams, each with their own vehicle configuration. Can create teams for different types of missions, or even the same sort of team with different team members to balance deployments. Convenient (sometimes).

And I’m not sure if I’m missing something but I’m used to the ability to see squad member details during a mission while selecting my next unit to act. I tried to do this in VC1 and accidentally selected the unit to act. That was frustrating.

But I am that kind of person. I’m willing to give a game with great gameplay a pass even if the story is phoned in. After all, Mario games have never needed one and they are all stellar games (except for Sunshine, which is just OK).

I’m also willing to give a game with an excellent story a pass on somewhat bad gameplay elements. I just play each kind of game for a different reason.

For me, it really just depends on the game. Puzzle and arcade style games usually have little or no story to begin with, and that’s okay. Fighting games as well. It’s really only action/rpg style games that seem to rely heavily on any kind of story. If the story is lame, no kind of awesome gameplay would save it for me.

I love the Professor Layton games, but I don’t play them for the story. Hardly ever are the puzzles actually integrated into the plot in any way. It’s just fun to play. I don’t need a diabolical box, eternal diva, or a curious village to go along with my puzzles. The story just makes it more charming, and less like a string of random puzzles, but it isn’t necessary.

Rpgs, like the Final Fantasy series, I really only play for the story. It’s like an interactive movie. The gameplay is usually pretty solid, but I don’t mind what it is and long as the characters are interesting and the story is epic. In FFXIII, I thought the gameplay could’ve been a bit more strategic, and less “let me mash the x button until I win.” I still liked it because I loved the characters and the story (even though I do admit there could’ve been a lot more meat to it). By the end of the game, I didn’t feel disappointed by it at all.

To tie this into Valkyria Chronicles, both gameplay and story are equally important to me. The first one did such a good job at it, that the second one was really a let down. You really had to think before you act, and use your troops strategically. And after the missions, you’re rewarded with intimate moments and plot advancement. The rpg elements were simple and unique. I fell in love with that game.

In VC2, it’s just mission after pointless mission just to unlock the actual story mission, which by that time I don’t care anymore. When I do beat the story missions, the story isn’t even that great for me to care about what happens next. Partly, this is also because I know I’ll have to beat another series of pointless missions in order to advance the story again. On top of that, add the extremely tedious task of leveling up, and getting credits and materials to upgrade your troops…

There have been many times where I just wanted to set down this game and be done with it. Now I feel like it’s more my duty as a fan of the first game to finish the second one. VC2 is so discouraging to me personally. I just hope they go back to basics in VC3, and after that, go back to the PS3 in VC4. Not being able to use CANVAS also makes the game lose a lot of it’s charm. Here’s a formula that SEGA can use for future VC titles.

CANVAS + BLiTZ + awesome story/characters = Valkyria Chronicles

Wow! Four comments on a blog article, this must be a record!

It’s as you guys say, it is very genre specific. It might be a stretch for me to say that I enjoy playing Ace Attorney in part because of the funny characters and plot, as well as the gameplay.

@Enrico: It’s funny you mention the issue about the leveling bar difference between the two. I liked how in the original after I do a few levels I can upgrade gradually rather than having to continue to do battles until I am sure I have enough.

The thing about squad selection, it just reminds me of the fact that VC1 required more strategy to it then VC2 (only time I used strategy was on the August story mission and final story mission). With the exception of not using 1 or 2 characters (such as Magari); I generally stuck with the same cast of characters throughout the game. In VC1 on the other hand, depending on the mission, I would use a different cast of characters.

I forgot to mention the nice thing about VC1 is you have access to the entirety of your recruited members rather than a subset of it as is done in VC2. I found that a little annoying about VC2.

I will say this much, VC2 is a fun game, the gameplay mechanics are its strong point, but the story could have used a lot of work.

That is true about it being genre specific, but there is also a sort of personal preference involved. Take for example Halo ODST. Everyone I knew didn’t care for it, usually saying the gameplay was meh or not an improvement which didn’t bother me. It was something new in the storyline so maybe I’m the odd one out of that argument. But I can also see the otherside because I recall there being quite a few people who liked Final Fantasy X-2 so I picked it up, couldn’t figure out the gameplay, got rid of it and went back and played FF IX.
There are also certain expectations for games within a certain franchise, again turning back to Halo and the Halo Wars title, despite its stunning cinematics and the plot, the gameplay killed it.

Shifting gears to Valkyria Chronicles, I loved the game overall. It was fun, refreshing and probably one of the few games I’ve really enjoyed considerably since Donkey Kong Country. That said, it had its faults with both as a RPG. Most of the time it was with goofs in the cutscene in relation to the story, and occasional absurdity of situations, although a handful I have forgiven as being cultural differences between NA-EU and Japan just as their media shows things which wouldn’t get to air in Canada, the USA, or parts of Europe.
With its gameplay I wasn’t too fond of many of the weapons, which is going to happen again in VC3. That doesn’t mean they aren’t good, just silly looking. The missions at time grew a little old with capture the camp, kill this guy, attack is the only form of defence, and the enemies didn’t effectively make you react to them. With the exception of aces and the named enemies they weren’t creatively challenging. I can partially echo some earlier statements of some of the differences between the first game and its sequel regarding the leveling bar, the unit selection and the improvements/detractors between the two, but part of that is preference as well. In some ways they made the leveling and class system better, but in others it left me wondering, “Why did you guys do this?”

Overall though, if the game has a storyline it should be a good one and have good gameplay to go with it. Gameplay makes a good game, the storyline however makes it memorable.