The Tales series has always been one that I looked suspiciously at, not because it’s a japanese RPG (jRPG) series but for more on how it plays. The first Tales game I played was Tales of Symphonia on the Gamecube, and to be honest I didn’t enjoy it too much. It wasn’t that the game was bland or bad, it was that the characters of the game were annoying and unlikeable, at least in my eyes. Fast forward probably about 4 years later and I find Tales of Vesperia.  I see the title and I figure why not at least try it, because games in a series can improve from their predecessors.

The first thing I can tell you right off the bat is that the game is well made and quite beautiful to look at. The characters are cell-shaded (although that is the tradition in the 3D Tales games), and the landscapes are artistic, colourful, and quite pleasing.
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Floating amidst a sea of triple-A titles comes the small ship ”Valkryia Chronicles”. Sega’s ambitious JSRPG has been ultimately overlooked during the flood of games that saw games like Resistance 2, Prince of Persia, LittleBigPlanet and Mirror’s Edge make big splashes in the gaming market. That being said, you would be remiss to pass this game up, regardless of whether or not your proclivities steer you towards more dark and gritty shooters. With a mix of wonderfully crafted visuals, intuitive game mechanics and tumultous combat, Valkyria Chronicles is the perfect fix for those looking for a defining JRPG on the playstation 3, or any other console for that matter.

Valkyria Chronicles takes place within a reimagining of World War 2 called The Second Europan war. The small prinicipality of Gallia is caught within the crossfire between The prototypical Empire and the Atlantic Federation. Due to high amounts of a miracle resource known as Ragnite, Gallia gets invaded. Of course, this inevitably pulls the story’s protagonist, Welkin Gunther, into the fray. With his father’s tank and a bit of blind courage, he quickly rises up the rank’s in squad 7. While the plot and its devices may not be awe-inspiring in and of themselves, the superb writing and timing easily make up for any short comings. The care that went into creating such  likeable characters truly becomes appreciable in the tear-jerking scenes which I dare not spoil here.

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