Editor’s note: This review was written by Cody Woolard, a student at Full Sail University. Cody has been an avid gamer for about as long as he can remember, and ever since he learned game design was a real job, he knew that’s what he wanted to do when he grew up. Now Cody is a student at Full Sail and spending as much time as possible working on assignments and finding time for videogames. He hopes someday he’ll have the opportunity to develop the games he has designed.

Valkyria Chronicles is a tactical role-playing game. Released in 2008, the game garnered few sales but has since become a cult hit that has fueled the release of one sequel and the current development of another.

One of the main attractions to Valkyria Chronicles is its story. I found the story to be a wonderful stylization of the European conflict in World War II. In the game, two major powers are struggling for dominance over the continent of Europa, The Autocratic East Europan Imperial Alliance in the east and the Atlantic Federation in the West. The Empire has a vastly superior military compared to the Federation and quickly gains ground in Federation states. One of the Empire’s commanders, known as Selvaria Bles, is a descendant of an ancient race called the Valkyrur, who have incredibly destructive supernatural powers. Confident with their progress in the war against the Federation, they invade a small neutral country called Gallia for its resources with one of the Empire’s princes and Selvaria leading their forces.

The story is told from the point of view of a reporter who is following the Gallian militia’s 7th Platoon; the commander of the squad, Welkin Gunther, is the son of a general who was a hero in a previous war and gets involved in the war after his village was attacked. The goal of the main characters is to push the Empire back out of their country so they can all return to their peaceful lives.

The story also focuses on racism, oppression and hatred. In Valkyria Chronicles, there’s a race of people called the Darksens, who are blamed for a catastrophic event that wiped out the Valkyrur, a race of people worshiped by some groups in Europa. In the story, the Darksens are treated as second-class citizens at best and enslaved or murdered in groups at worst. The presentation of their hardships is done in a serious and mature fashion — leaving you speechless and further motivating you to end the war.

The gameplay was what originally interested me in the game. After playing the demo on PlayStation Network and experiencing how combat was handled by the Blitz system, I had to pick up the full version. The Blitz system is a great mix of real-time strategy and turn-based tactics used for the entirety of combat in Valkyria Chronicles. As the player, you control a tank and a set number of units from your squad of 20. The map gives you a bird’s eye view of the battlefield and allows you to select which unit you wish to move. This is where the Blitz system is unique. You move and attack the enemies in real time with a third-person view. This makes the move and attack phase feel like a third-person shooter and gives you direct control over which area of the enemy you want to attack.

Each recruitable unit for your squad has a unique personality complete with their own traits that may be beneficial or harmful to your strategy. One of my favorite examples is Cezary Regard, a sniper who is terrified of heights. I had many moments in which I had forgotten about his acrophobia and had him climb up a tower to get a good view of the battlefield, and the character’s fear of heights lowered his accuracy. Another example is an engineer named Homer Peron, who has a masochist trait and receives a beneficial effect after taking a certain amount of damage. These hilarious traits helped offset the seriousness of the story and made me become more attached to using certain units.

One of the key features that immediately caught my attention was the amazingly innovative graphics. The appropriately named Canvas graphics engine makes practically everything in game look as though it’s really an elaborate watercolor painting. Even in combat, the outer edges of the screen look like worn pages from an old sketchbook. I felt this and the use of onomatopoeia to accentuate sound effects greatly added to the unique experience Valkyria Chronicles has to offer and further reinforces the feeling that the story is being read from a reporter’s notes and sketches.

If you own a PlayStation 3, I highly recommend picking up Valkyria Chronicles. The game will not disappoint fans of the strategy and RPG genre and is truly a unique and enjoyable experience. The combat is incredibly addictive, and the combination of the Canvas graphics engine, Fantastic artwork, customization and variety of units at your disposal gives the game a lot of charm. I have easily spent well over 80 hours exploring the content, refining my squad tactics and experiencing side stories for the various characters. If you are a fan of strategy games or just want a unique RPG with an amazing story and quirky characters, then give Valkyria Chronicles a chance to charm you as well.