Valkyria Chronicles PS3

Alex Beech guest review of Valkyria Chronicles. Subscribe to this column via RSS or Newsletter.

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Buy: US UK
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Column:
Haiku Gamer

Format:
PS3

Genre:
Strategy

Written on:
08/08/2010

Second opinion:
Family Guide Gamer (PS3)
Scared Gamer (PS3)

Further reading:
Alex Beech

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This peaceful world,
Will be torn apart by war,
Sacrifice saves it.

Pastel tones distract,
Within the beautiful world,
But cannot hide death.

Plotting friends acts,
Sacrifice is demanded,
For victories call.

Talk and laugh with me,
I'll do my best to save you,
From what I must do.

Valkyria Chronicles PS3 should be a horrifying game. But its gritty honesty spoke as much to me about humanity as it did loss of life.

Casting me as an idealistic young man it quickly forces you up the ziggurat of command within a small militia. War erupts all around, as two mighty armies vie for the precious fuel that my tiny country sits on. While I have endless supplies of energy I lack the most important commodity of war, soldiers.

Drawing from a limited supply of conscripted, none of who seem ideal suited for battle; I fight the superior opposition forces. Yet as battles are waged in my heart I know it must be a futile effort given my nations diminutive size.

My most valuable resource is not inexcusable. For my tiny squad death is permanent, and falling on the battlefield will leave them as nothing but a memory. My troops, with personalities so subtly implied, can be ripped from me instantly, the connection I spent hours forming gone.

Distanced from the action, I feel like the commander I play. Sending children to their deaths, trying to remain impassionate, as I am unable to rescue the young girl who only hours ago saved my life. But that is as it should be; I lead and must be preserved. We all have to make scarifies and do what we can to keep our small country free.

Were it not all so picturesque and bloodless, I would be sickened.

Guest review by Alex Beech

Alex Beech wrote this Haiku Gamer article under the watchful eye of Lottie Rose. "I review games by writing little Haiku poems, printing them out and making tiny little folded paper creations. My haiku poems are a five second game review. Their brevity and ability to capture experience seems such a good fit for a review."

Lottie Rose's recent reviews:

• Super Mario Galaxy 2
• Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
• Assassin's Creed 2
• Pikmin 2

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