Shinkara: Valkyria Chronicles
Taylor makes his return to Blistered Thumbs with a new video show about, what else, Japanese games! In this debut episode he discusses one of the most underrated game this console generation.
Valkyria Chronicles
Players: 1
Publisher: Sega
Genres: RPG, Strategy RPG
Publisher: Sega
Genres: RPG, Strategy RPG
Release Date: August 31, 2008
Developer: Sega WOW
MSRP: $24.99
Developer: Sega WOW
MSRP: $24.99
Valkyria Chronicles is set in a fictitious continent reminiscent of 1930s Europe - divided in two and ruled by the Empire and the Federation. The Empire has set its sights on invading a small neutral country called Gallia, which is situated in the middle of the two great empires. The game follows a hero named Welkin and his fellow soldiers of the Federations 7th Platoon as they engage in a series of epic battles.
Shinkara: Valkyria Chronicles
Posted By Taylor Hoyt about 9 months, 1 week ago
Taylor makes his return to Blistered Thumbs with a new video show about, what else, Japanese games!
In this debut episode he discusses one of the most underrated game this console generation, Valkyria Chronicles.
Follow Taylor on Twitter: @TaylorsShelf
Original Art: Ririkuto
Opening and credit songs: Incompetech.com
Logo design: @PyreHavoc
Shinkara: Valkyria Chronicles
Taylor makes his return to Blistered Thumbs with a new video show about, what else, Japanese games! In this debut episode he discusses one of the most underrated game this console generation. No Posts
Shinkara: Valkyria Chronicles
Posted By Taylor Hoyt about 9 months, 1 week ago
Shinkara: Valkyria Chronicles
Taylor makes his return to Blistered Thumbs with a new video show about, what else, Japanese games!
In this debut episode he discusses one of the most underrated game this console generation, Valkyria Chronicles.
Follow Taylor on Twitter: @TaylorsShelf
Original Art: Ririkuto
Opening and credit songs: Incompetech.com
Logo design: @PyreHavoc
Shinkara: Valkyria Chronicles
Taylor makes his return to Blistered Thumbs with a new video show about, what else, Japanese games! In this debut episode he discusses one of the most underrated game this console generation.-
August 14, 2012 at 03:50pm
Wow, that was great! This show is definitely going to be good.
JRPG is my favorite genre, but I somehow missed this game because I didn’t hear much about it at the time. Well, I’ve got a PS3, so I’ll definitely be picking it up now.
-
August 14, 2012 at 06:40am
Very cool to see a loving look at one of my favorite games of all time. The video was solid, with some nice insight; I enjoy that you sound genuinely interested in the subject matter, and not removed at all.
My only real problem, similar to some others, is that you didn’t really mention any cons. While I don’t think the game is too hard by any means, there are certainly some frustrating design choices. Springing to mind is a particularly long mission in which a particular character appears in a particularly obnoxious fashion part way through the mission, possibly right behind your tank. Possibly killing it without allowing you time to do anything. This ties in with your point that the missions are often long, and there’s no mid-mission save; it wouldn’t be a problem if not for situations which you have no control over leading to a game over.
On the other hand of odd difficulties, the AI can be a bit… touched (I remember some particularly hilarious maps in which a tank or two will literally just move back and forth doing nothing), and there are some odd choices in terms of graphics from time to time: for instance when an enemy is exploded off into the distance and then suddenly appears where they were previously standing.
One thing that might have been cool to mention is the general run time of the game, or to discuss the sheer number of squad-mates possible to recruit.
Oh, you also mention Welkin’s name before explaining who he his, which might be a bit confusing if someone hadn’t played the game… maybe? Small nitpick stuff that probably doesn’t matter now that I think on it.
Anywho, ranting aside, it was a pleasure to watch.
I’d be really interested in a look at Odin Sphere or Grim Grimoire, maybe even Baroque. Your content-quota touches on one of my favorite veins of gaming, I’ll be sure to keep tuning in. -
August 14, 2012 at 07:39pm
Thanks for the suggestions! Very mcuh appreciated, especially considering this was episode 1. I’ll make sure to keep those in mind moving forward
-
August 12, 2012 at 05:40pm
*Salutes* Welcome back, sir!
I’m quite happy that you have this show now, because I too am a fan of japanese games, and I feel that nowadays they’ve really been falling out of scope.
Might I suggest you do a video about the Yakuza series? For those who don’t know, it is a brawler/rpg hybrid that is actually much deeper than it first appears gameplay-wise, and it is a treat for those who like story heavy games, specially those who like gangster movies (although these are yakuza, a different kind of gangster). So yeah, I do love the Yakuza series and I hope I’m not alone on this.
-
August 11, 2012 at 01:51pm
Taylor welcome back!
Will this show cover all JRPGs this gen that came out in the west?
Or will the show cover some of everything? -
August 12, 2012 at 01:09pm
It’ll basically cover a little bit of everything, new and old. But if there’s a new game coming out, that definitely gets priority.
-
August 10, 2012 at 04:27pm
I actually did play this game, but it’s just so freaking hard. Another thing is that to get a good score in missions, you have to pretty much rush through as fast as possible – while killing soldiers gives you points, you get far, far, far more xp from clearing the mission as fast as you possibly can, which eliminates a lot of the fun for me, because I highly prefer methodically stalking out the battlefield, killing all the enemies.
That’s not even mentioning that the map they give you in the beginning to try and figure out troop placement is absolutely WORTHLESS. I made it a habit of just starting the mission, checking out the terrain a bit, and then reload and placing my troops. It’s seriously that bad, I can’t make anything out of it.
Though I did only make it to mission 8~ or so before I just stopped playing. I was kinda enjoying the story, but the gameplay just really brought it down for me.
-
August 10, 2012 at 10:58am
You forgot one important thing to point about this game: Does the story make sense? Because 90% of JRPGs these days have stories that are so nonsensical, stupid, contrived or in worst cases offensive (e.g. Final Fantasy 13/13-2 and Breath of Fire 5).
-
August 10, 2012 at 10:59am
Outside of an ancient race of super powered beings, the story mostly makes sense and is rooted in reality
. -
August 14, 2012 at 06:22am
What didn’t you like about BoF 5? 13 and 13-2 need no explanation, obviously.
-
August 10, 2012 at 07:38am
So Taylor, does this mean I can call you Shinkara instead? I think that name is kinda cool man, and it does fit for your new show about underrated Japanese games (please, PLEASE do a Dark Cloud review… I’m such a begger :p). Oh and it’s great to have you back, I wasn’t aware you left the site these pass few months, guess I wasn’t into reading articles (it’s not my cup of tea that easily dude ^_^). But now with this, I like it.
And no worries, your show’s name doesn’t make similarity to Lewis’s Linkara name. Besides, I’m not much into comics I’m into games and so you’re my kind of a “Linkara of Video Games” …… :3
Once more, I enjoy it and I’ll look into the game you reviewed. I never heard of it so curiosity will do some digging about this game. Keep it up and I’ll subscribe you on YT as well. Thanks Taylor.
-
August 10, 2012 at 11:13am
You can still call me Taylor, Shinkara is just the name of the show. Glad you enjoyed it. I love Dark Cloud and Level 5 as well! I may have to talk about that game at some point.
-
August 10, 2012 at 06:00am
Good vid, its good to hear that VC is getting the recognition it deserves
The most annoying thing about the decision not to release VC3 anywhere but Japan is that it has by far the best gameplay mechanics of all the games.
It is challenging yet very well balanced, as some of the weaker classes (Engineer and Armoured Tech) get buffed to make them important while the more OP classes (Fencers and Scouts) require good positioning and practice to use.
If they’d released it on PS3, I think it could’ve really brought VC back in to the lime light.
-
August 09, 2012 at 11:51pm
Stealing most of Linkara’s name are we >.>?
Well good to see ya back man to review things about Japanese games. I would like to hear your opinion on some random Monster Hunter Game (maybe Portable 3rd
) but I dunno. As for the types of games you are going to reviews I’m interested since you will review them as another person on the site will talk about them who is JewWario. -
August 10, 2012 at 12:16am
I don’t think that Monster Hunter is “forgotten” by the Community but instead by Capcom which doesnt want to push it in the West… even though they easily could without making any losses.
-
August 10, 2012 at 01:09am
I knew it wouldn’t be long before someone came back with that one
In Japanese, Shinkara loosely translates to “Heart & Soul”. Those are the types of games I’ll be talking about on the show, ones with plenty of both.
While the similarity is undeniable, Linkara had zero influence in the naming of the show.
I won’t be doing nearly as many imports as Jew Wario, the games I talk about will be largely ones available in English, new and old.
-
August 09, 2012 at 09:11pm
Everything about this video is good.
Defiantly going to subscribe to you on youtube.
-
August 09, 2012 at 09:11pm
I love Valkyria Chronicles. It’s one of my favorite games on the PS3. I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t beaten it though. I got it when it first came out, and from then to now I still haven’t been able to beat Jaeger and his Tank in Bridge of Hope.
However, from the rest of the game, I found it absolutely amazing, and that scene you mentioned about the wounded soldier still chokes me up every time I watch it.
-
August 10, 2012 at 12:15am
Thats the same Spot I am at right now. But I only gave Jaeger one try… mostly because I played 8 hours of Valkyra straight D:
No it will rest for one week or so and I guess then Ill finish it :3
-
August 09, 2012 at 08:37pm
While I, unfortunately, haven’t been around Blistered Thumbs long enough to have a meaningful congratulation to your return, I can at the very least say how interesting of a segment you are creating.
I’ve been a fan of Japanese games for a long time, even as a child when I didn’t even know any better. Something about them appealed to me. There has been alot of negative talk of late regarding Japanese games, expecially Japanese RPGs. It doesn’t stop me from enjoying them, but it’s still dishearting. Right now, I have a little over 120 games total with less than 4-5 of them not being from Japan. On top of that, around 15 of those games are in Japanese. Guess that shows how hard-core I am about these types of games.
Anyway, video/review-wise…everything’s good. I wish more reviews are like this. It was informative without spoiling anything. It really makes me want to play it again…even though I already kinda-finished it myself. The only thing I can really say is that you didn’t talk about the negatives, but you already mentioned why in the video itself. Also, I’m really feeling that visual novel approach. It’s somehow appropriate with the material covered.
Well, I’ll be looking foward to more of these video/reviews. Good luck with future videos.
-
August 09, 2012 at 08:03pm
Well Taylor. I got to admit for your return debut, I was really impressed.
I absolutely love the style for this review. It felt right for the choice of genre you are doing. Also whoever did the artwork (and possibly Anime Taylor) props to the person.
As for the review itself. I agree, there isn’t anything wrong with this game. It’s a masterpiece and should have never been overshadowed. Goes to show how young ones are missing out on these type of games yet still picking up the next M-Rated game.
Anyway I’m hoping to see another Shinkara within this month. Wish you luck.
-
August 09, 2012 at 09:52pm
You have a keen eye
I really love art the girl did for this show as well. I left a link to her deviant art page in the description. You should check out her other stuff! Oh there will be more to come for sure, don’t worry
-
August 09, 2012 at 06:55pm
Awesome review. I like the concept you’re going with here and I’m looking forward to more. As for Valkyria Chronicles, I kept hearing about it and then finally looked up YouTube videos to see what all the hype was and wow. Let’s just say I recently picked it up off Amazon for less than $20 new. I haven’t played much yet, but from what I have played it’s an amazing game. Definitely worth more than what I paid. It’s a shame the sequels are only on the PSP (which I don’t have), ‘cuz I’m sure I’ll want more after I’m done with this one.
-
August 09, 2012 at 06:50pm
Taylor!
Welcome back dude. Going to do more of these style of videos/reviews? Looks good. -
August 09, 2012 at 06:54pm
Yup! I’m trying to do at least 2 a month, maybe 3 if I can find a video type that doesn’t require as much heavy editing.
-
August 09, 2012 at 06:25pm
Oh Alicia. Comfort one Imperial soldier – and headshot the rest! Like a (schizophrenic) boss.
Also, Welkin’s english voice is Teddy from Persona 4. You will never be able to unhear that.
-
August 09, 2012 at 06:13pm
I’m looking forward to your next video. What wonders of Japan shall you expose onto us?
-
August 09, 2012 at 06:21pm
Well, I’ve had an import copy of Ni no Kuni forever, so maybe if you’re nice…
-
August 09, 2012 at 05:51pm
Great new Show.
I just got Valkyria Chronicles about 1 Month back.
I’ve reached the second or third last Mission and I totally have to agree with your Commentary about this Game. :3And nice to have you back Sir :3
-
August 09, 2012 at 05:51pm
Awesome vid Taylor. I kinda wish I had a ps3 to play this now. Oh well. One of these days I’ll get around to playing it.
No Posts
Shinkara: Valkyria Chronicles
Taylor makes his return to Blistered Thumbs with a new video show about, what else, Japanese games! In this debut episode he discusses one of the most underrated game this console generation.
Wow, that was great! This show is definitely going to be good.
JRPG is my favorite genre, but I somehow missed this game because I didn’t hear much about it at the time. Well, I’ve got a PS3, so I’ll definitely be picking it up now.
Very cool to see a loving look at one of my favorite games of all time. The video was solid, with some nice insight; I enjoy that you sound genuinely interested in the subject matter, and not removed at all.
My only real problem, similar to some others, is that you didn’t really mention any cons. While I don’t think the game is too hard by any means, there are certainly some frustrating design choices. Springing to mind is a particularly long mission in which a particular character appears in a particularly obnoxious fashion part way through the mission, possibly right behind your tank. Possibly killing it without allowing you time to do anything. This ties in with your point that the missions are often long, and there’s no mid-mission save; it wouldn’t be a problem if not for situations which you have no control over leading to a game over.
On the other hand of odd difficulties, the AI can be a bit… touched (I remember some particularly hilarious maps in which a tank or two will literally just move back and forth doing nothing), and there are some odd choices in terms of graphics from time to time: for instance when an enemy is exploded off into the distance and then suddenly appears where they were previously standing.
One thing that might have been cool to mention is the general run time of the game, or to discuss the sheer number of squad-mates possible to recruit.
Oh, you also mention Welkin’s name before explaining who he his, which might be a bit confusing if someone hadn’t played the game… maybe? Small nitpick stuff that probably doesn’t matter now that I think on it.
Anywho, ranting aside, it was a pleasure to watch.
I’d be really interested in a look at Odin Sphere or Grim Grimoire, maybe even Baroque. Your content-quota touches on one of my favorite veins of gaming, I’ll be sure to keep tuning in.
Thanks for the suggestions! Very mcuh appreciated, especially considering this was episode 1. I’ll make sure to keep those in mind moving forward
*Salutes* Welcome back, sir!
I’m quite happy that you have this show now, because I too am a fan of japanese games, and I feel that nowadays they’ve really been falling out of scope.
Might I suggest you do a video about the Yakuza series? For those who don’t know, it is a brawler/rpg hybrid that is actually much deeper than it first appears gameplay-wise, and it is a treat for those who like story heavy games, specially those who like gangster movies (although these are yakuza, a different kind of gangster). So yeah, I do love the Yakuza series and I hope I’m not alone on this.
Taylor welcome back!
Will this show cover all JRPGs this gen that came out in the west?
Or will the show cover some of everything?
It’ll basically cover a little bit of everything, new and old. But if there’s a new game coming out, that definitely gets priority.
I actually did play this game, but it’s just so freaking hard. Another thing is that to get a good score in missions, you have to pretty much rush through as fast as possible – while killing soldiers gives you points, you get far, far, far more xp from clearing the mission as fast as you possibly can, which eliminates a lot of the fun for me, because I highly prefer methodically stalking out the battlefield, killing all the enemies.
That’s not even mentioning that the map they give you in the beginning to try and figure out troop placement is absolutely WORTHLESS. I made it a habit of just starting the mission, checking out the terrain a bit, and then reload and placing my troops. It’s seriously that bad, I can’t make anything out of it.
Though I did only make it to mission 8~ or so before I just stopped playing. I was kinda enjoying the story, but the gameplay just really brought it down for me.
You forgot one important thing to point about this game: Does the story make sense? Because 90% of JRPGs these days have stories that are so nonsensical, stupid, contrived or in worst cases offensive (e.g. Final Fantasy 13/13-2 and Breath of Fire 5).
Outside of an ancient race of super powered beings, the story mostly makes sense and is rooted in reality
.
What didn’t you like about BoF 5? 13 and 13-2 need no explanation, obviously.
I actually havne’t played Dragon Quarter yet! I hear it’s a really good game though.
So Taylor, does this mean I can call you Shinkara instead? I think that name is kinda cool man, and it does fit for your new show about underrated Japanese games (please, PLEASE do a Dark Cloud review… I’m such a begger :p). Oh and it’s great to have you back, I wasn’t aware you left the site these pass few months, guess I wasn’t into reading articles (it’s not my cup of tea that easily dude ^_^). But now with this, I like it.
And no worries, your show’s name doesn’t make similarity to Lewis’s Linkara name. Besides, I’m not much into comics I’m into games and so you’re my kind of a “Linkara of Video Games” …… :3
Once more, I enjoy it and I’ll look into the game you reviewed. I never heard of it so curiosity will do some digging about this game. Keep it up and I’ll subscribe you on YT as well. Thanks Taylor.
You can still call me Taylor, Shinkara is just the name of the show. Glad you enjoyed it. I love Dark Cloud and Level 5 as well! I may have to talk about that game at some point.
Good vid, its good to hear that VC is getting the recognition it deserves
The most annoying thing about the decision not to release VC3 anywhere but Japan is that it has by far the best gameplay mechanics of all the games.
It is challenging yet very well balanced, as some of the weaker classes (Engineer and Armoured Tech) get buffed to make them important while the more OP classes (Fencers and Scouts) require good positioning and practice to use.
If they’d released it on PS3, I think it could’ve really brought VC back in to the lime light.
Stealing most of Linkara’s name are we >.>?
Well good to see ya back man to review things about Japanese games. I would like to hear your opinion on some random Monster Hunter Game (maybe Portable 3rd
) but I dunno. As for the types of games you are going to reviews I’m interested since you will review them as another person on the site will talk about them who is JewWario.
I don’t think that Monster Hunter is “forgotten” by the Community but instead by Capcom which doesnt want to push it in the West… even though they easily could without making any losses.
I knew it wouldn’t be long before someone came back with that one
In Japanese, Shinkara loosely translates to “Heart & Soul”. Those are the types of games I’ll be talking about on the show, ones with plenty of both.
While the similarity is undeniable, Linkara had zero influence in the naming of the show.
I won’t be doing nearly as many imports as Jew Wario, the games I talk about will be largely ones available in English, new and old.
I would still like to hear his opinion on one of the games in the series like maybe the first (PS) or third (Wii)
Everything about this video is good.
Defiantly going to subscribe to you on youtube.
Thanks Xirbtt, much love!
I love Valkyria Chronicles. It’s one of my favorite games on the PS3. I’m ashamed to admit I haven’t beaten it though. I got it when it first came out, and from then to now I still haven’t been able to beat Jaeger and his Tank in Bridge of Hope.
However, from the rest of the game, I found it absolutely amazing, and that scene you mentioned about the wounded soldier still chokes me up every time I watch it.
Thats the same Spot I am at right now. But I only gave Jaeger one try… mostly because I played 8 hours of Valkyra straight D:
No it will rest for one week or so and I guess then Ill finish it :3
While I, unfortunately, haven’t been around Blistered Thumbs long enough to have a meaningful congratulation to your return, I can at the very least say how interesting of a segment you are creating.
I’ve been a fan of Japanese games for a long time, even as a child when I didn’t even know any better. Something about them appealed to me. There has been alot of negative talk of late regarding Japanese games, expecially Japanese RPGs. It doesn’t stop me from enjoying them, but it’s still dishearting. Right now, I have a little over 120 games total with less than 4-5 of them not being from Japan. On top of that, around 15 of those games are in Japanese. Guess that shows how hard-core I am about these types of games.
Anyway, video/review-wise…everything’s good. I wish more reviews are like this. It was informative without spoiling anything. It really makes me want to play it again…even though I already kinda-finished it myself. The only thing I can really say is that you didn’t talk about the negatives, but you already mentioned why in the video itself. Also, I’m really feeling that visual novel approach. It’s somehow appropriate with the material covered.
Well, I’ll be looking foward to more of these video/reviews. Good luck with future videos.
Well Taylor. I got to admit for your return debut, I was really impressed.
I absolutely love the style for this review. It felt right for the choice of genre you are doing. Also whoever did the artwork (and possibly Anime Taylor) props to the person.
As for the review itself. I agree, there isn’t anything wrong with this game. It’s a masterpiece and should have never been overshadowed. Goes to show how young ones are missing out on these type of games yet still picking up the next M-Rated game.
Anyway I’m hoping to see another Shinkara within this month. Wish you luck.
You have a keen eye
I really love art the girl did for this show as well. I left a link to her deviant art page in the description. You should check out her other stuff!
Oh there will be more to come for sure, don’t worry
Awesome review. I like the concept you’re going with here and I’m looking forward to more. As for Valkyria Chronicles, I kept hearing about it and then finally looked up YouTube videos to see what all the hype was and wow. Let’s just say I recently picked it up off Amazon for less than $20 new. I haven’t played much yet, but from what I have played it’s an amazing game. Definitely worth more than what I paid. It’s a shame the sequels are only on the PSP (which I don’t have), ‘cuz I’m sure I’ll want more after I’m done with this one.
Taylor!
Welcome back dude. Going to do more of these style of videos/reviews? Looks good.
Yup! I’m trying to do at least 2 a month, maybe 3 if I can find a video type that doesn’t require as much heavy editing.
Oh Alicia. Comfort one Imperial soldier – and headshot the rest! Like a (schizophrenic) boss.
Also, Welkin’s english voice is Teddy from Persona 4. You will never be able to unhear that.
Welcome back. What a pleasant surprise too..
I’m looking forward to your next video. What wonders of Japan shall you expose onto us?
Well, I’ve had an import copy of Ni no Kuni forever, so maybe if you’re nice…
Great new Show.
I just got Valkyria Chronicles about 1 Month back.
I’ve reached the second or third last Mission and I totally have to agree with your Commentary about this Game. :3
And nice to have you back Sir :3
It’s good to be back
Awesome vid Taylor. I kinda wish I had a ps3 to play this now. Oh well. One of these days I’ll get around to playing it.