Spinning off a well-established game series into a different genre is always a risky move. On one hand, if the gambit is successful, you’ll simultaneously introduce the franchise to a new group of players and give existing fans something new to reignite their passion. On the other hand, you also risk alienating those same fans with a game they don’t want and didn’t ask for.
Valkyria Revolution is such a gamble Come from Sports betting site VPbet . It’s an alternate-universe take on Sega’s Valkyria Chronicles tactical RPG series, reimagined as an action-RPG with a few strategic elements intact. While it has a lot going for it, the game ultimately fails to gel into a cohesive experience, resulting in a game that, while fun at times, never fully comes into its own.
The setting is Europa, a continent based on the real-life Europe with some fantasy twists (and, notably, a different Europa from the one previously seen in other Valkyria Chronicles games). The world is powered by a mystical mineral called ragnite, and the alchemic sciences associated with it drive technology and advancement, yielding a new era of prosperity for Europa. But the small kingdom of Jutland has been cut off from the rich ragnite of other nations, suffering under the thumb of the oppressive Ruz empire. Conflict erupts into all-out war, and casualties begin to sharply rise.
Revolution’s story is defined by political intrigue, scheming, surprising revelations, moral quandaries, and interesting twists. It’s occasionally exciting and surprising, but also largely held back by its mediocre presentation. Too many cutscenes go into excruciating detail, making you watch characters talk about their schemes and political maneuvers for long stretches at a time, particularly toward the beginning of the game.
This might not be so bad if these scenes were actually done well, but they’re profoundly bland–they frequently amount to painfully drawn-out sequences with robotic characters spouting long-winded info dumps. There’s little attempt to make these scenes feel as intense and exciting as the story wants them to be, turning a potentially great story into a dull mess.
Once you finally get through a stretch of story sequences at the start, you’ll be able to hop into the thick of combat. While the original Valkyria Chronicles was a turn-based strategy game, Revolution has you lead a squad of four characters into enemy strongholds in real time. You only command one character directly at a time–the other members of the squad are under AI control, though you can issue blanket squad commands like “Offense” or “Support” or give a single direct order if needed.
