Five names circled in red
Valkyria Revolution tells two parallel stories, and does it from the end, or a student and a professor who, on the day of Jutland’s national holiday imaginary country of southern Europe, find themselves in front of the tomb of the so-called “five traitors” , figures passed to history as the only responsible for the outbreak of a bloody war.
Indeed, the two stories referred to include both the detail and the general, the sad events of five orphans surviving by miracle at the stake of the orphanage that hosted them, and the torment of a nation driven by the war absurd economic sanctions that are reducing it to collapse.
The player is dressed as Amleth Gronkjaer (the Japanese have ideas somewhat confused about European names and surnames …), the skilful leader of the Anti-Valkyria Squad, a specialized elite core created specifically to counter the power of Valkyria, a note for old saga fans.
This devil from the extraordinary powers is enslaved by the ruler of Ruz, a huge colonial empire that sweeps across the central part of the continent, imposing states and imposing heavy taxes on them.
Starting with the first Valkyria Chronicles, from anchored historical foundations (here the second industrial revolution, which shook the economies and social systems of European countries between the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries), writers of Sega have built a masterful plot, populated by avid figures of power, of characters blinded by unhappy but deeply human feelings, of masses exploited without any awareness and, above all, of almost current issues such as the value of revenge and the limit of justice and blind rips.
Unlike the two prequels that came to Europe, Valkyria Revolution framed the war from the point of view of those who decided it at the table, moving pawns on a map for their own interests, and not common soldiers, forced to shed their blood and commit atrocious acts in the name of who knows what an ideal: the result is a ripe and violent product, which resembles much less than the two titles preceding an antimilitarist pamphlet.
The depersonalization of many of the most cruel aspects of the war goes hand in hand with the human tragedy of the five traitors, and often the most careful player can not help but wonder if he is dressing the anti-heroes rather than those of the blatant commander .
As often happens when the boundary between victims and carnivores is very nuanced, Valkyria Revolution raises questions without unequivocal answers, legitimate doubts that even the most granitic convictions can not break completely: although we continue to prefer the ingenuity and freshness of the parent, it is undeniable how the coziness and the cynicism brought in dowries from the last Sega fatigue are two powerful arrows in the arc of his narrative.
Strategy musou
Even though we were expecting a move towards more sustained rhythms than Valkyria Chronicles, the first few hours in the company of Valkyria Revolution have been marked by the loss and wonder, and certainly not in a positive sense.
Sega had considered wise to upset the game mechanics that had characterized the previous chapters, lightening the weight of strategy in the gaming economy to the benefit of real-time action.
If Valkyria Chronicles played in shifts, moving characters down to the emptying of their action point bar, Revolution had direct control, left-wing delegate movement and front-facing attacks: although a menu can be called up semiradial, through which to give real-time orders to their three teammates, which can be controlled at will by acting on the directional cross, the gameplay tends towards the series titles such as Dynasty and Samurai Warriors.
