Valkyria Revolution gets a Western release date

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Those who got to know the Valkyria series on the PS3, with the first Valkyria Chronicles and its watercolor look, kept an eye out when Sega announced, in late March 2017, the Western date for Valkyria Revolution: June 27 in the Americas and June 30 in Europe, for PS4 and Xbox One.

In Japan, the game had already come out on January 19, 2017 under the name Valkyria: Azure Revolution. Despite the familiar name, it is not a direct sequel to Valkyria Chronicles, but a spin-off set in another universe that changes the formula quite a bit. Out goes the original series’ turn-based combat and in comes real-time action with strategy elements, commanding squads of up to four characters with different roles. Permanent character death is still present, a trademark of the house.

The story follows five childhood friends, orphans, known as the “Circle of Five”. Driven by revenge and personal reasons, they orchestrate behind the scenes a war between the kingdom of Jutland and the Ruzi Empire that spreads across the entire continent.

Development was by Media.Vision, under the direction of Takeshi Ozawa, using its own graphics engine with a gouache-painting look. The soundtrack is by Yasunori Mitsuda, the composer of Chrono Trigger, in his first solo work on a game in over seven years.

Along with the date came the special Vanargand Edition, for PS4 and Xbox One in the Americas: besides the game, a pin with the Vanargand crest, a CD with 12 tracks from Mitsuda’s soundtrack and a special box.

What came next

Valkyria Revolution also came out on PS Vita, but reception was lukewarm: the Metacritic average was between 54 and 56. Critics liked the setting but complained about how the story is told, the many loading screens and the gameplay execution.