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Valkyria: Azure Revolution Demo (contains full prologue) PS4: 12/22 JP PSV: 12/26 JP

I expected something terrible after hearing impressions from the last two demos but after playing this prologue I'm totally going to buy this game. Characters and story left a good impression ( except for the overly idealistic princess ) and the combat system seems interesting enough.

Everything dies so fast in the first mission, so I have no idea how important playing carefully and strategically in the full game is going to be, but throwing a smoke grenade into a group of enemies and picking them off one by one feels good.

So yeah, I'm sold.
 
I expected something terrible after hearing impressions from the last two demos but after playing this prologue I'm totally going to buy this game. Characters and story left a good impression ( except for the overly idealistic princess ) and the combat system seems interesting enough.

Everything dies so fast in the first mission, so I have no idea how important playing carefully and strategically in the full game is going to be, but throwing a smoke grenade into a group of enemies and picking them off one by one feels good.

So yeah, I'm sold.

Honestly, I'm expecting that the game will still have the series tradition of a sudden early-game difficulty spike once all the mechanics are introduced just like the other two games in the series. I mean, this is still the same dev team that made VC3 afterall.
 

Nyoro SF

Member
Finished. Let's see.

As expected it's the game's prologue which explains the large and long number of cutscenes. It's normal though, they basically explain the entire setting.
Also the idle animations are OUT OF CONTROL lol. If they slowed them down by half speed it would be fine but other times it's kind of funny how distracting they are.

The game looks much better in motion than it does in screenshots, that's for sure. I think they improved the lighting in this compared to the last demo.

I like the little character cut-in when you win a battle. It can be a bit awkward when it's not the character you're controlling though. The fluidity of the game has been improved since the last demo; ATB bar fills in real time and actions follow more naturally together. However, they made the characters way too strong, so there's no health management or team management, you just bulldoze past everyone. I'm sure this won't be the case later in the game, but I noticed the game doesn't have real-time leveling still, so... that might be an issue.

The main character is deliciously edgy and the villains are kind of comically evil, but it has a great aesthetic. The Legend of the Galactic Heroes comparison cannot be more apt. I can see this story being a lot of fun not just in the more serious edge but also with a slight level of warfare campiness. Exhibit A being the guy who sucks up to the emperor for like 5 straight minutes lol.

I think this game definitely has a chance of being very enjoyable, but they need to emphasize resource management.
 
Is there any reason why this game's engine requires NOW LOADING... every 10 seconds during a cutscene? Is there any reason why the 95% of this prologue isn't actually playable content, it's either NOW LOADING... or people flapping their lips endlessly?

NOW LOADING...

I think NOW LOADING... was fully 50% of the actual time spent in this demo.

NOW LOADING...

Fighting things was about 5%. Almost interminable amounts of exposition was the other 45%. I realize this is a prologue but what the hell is up with the 60 minutes of information dumping cutscenes? Do they really think people want to sit through what feels like an hour of infodumping regularly interrupted by NOW LOADING... as the opening of this game?

NOW LOADING...

The character designs are hilarious. I wasn't sure what to make of character design changes from what I'll now call the "mainline" Valkyria series but this is completely hilarious. Everybody looks like they are from Dynasty Warriors or something.

NOW LOADING...

The combat system is apparently about running around waiting for READY to appear and then hitting a button to dial a combo. Of course we see maybe 5 minutes of actual combat during the 60 minutes of NOW LOADING... and cutscenes so it's hard to say what's actually going on with the combat.

NOW LOADING...

I'm not going to lie, from what I've seen, this fucking sucks.

NOW LOADING...

NOW LOADING...

NOW LOADING...

In the end, I wasn't sure if I actually played Valkyria: Azure Revolution. I did get a nice preview of Valkyria: Now Loading though!
 
Watched EZA's Michael Damiani play it and it looks like absolute trash. Should have just remastered Valkyria 3 and then made it 4. SEGA wtf you doing.
 

Holundrian

Unconfirmed Member
Watched EZA's Michael Damiani play it and it looks like absolute trash. Should have just remastered Valkyria 3 and then made it 4. SEGA wtf you doing.

Haha agreed.
I hope we're going to be super wrong but this game is jarringly dissonant with everything.

From the inconsistent designs(they're also simply dumb too what up with the weapons X_x), them not fitting with the tone of the story at all, to the cutscenes not gelling with what happens gameplay wise at all to the seemingly bad story.

I lost my shit laughing when a cutscene cut to the evil empire and their city was all dark and black it might as well have been mordor.
 
Haha agreed.
I hope we're going to be super wrong but this game is jarringly dissonant with everything.

From the inconsistent designs(they're also simply dumb too what up with the weapons X_x), them not fitting with the tone of the story at all, to the cutscenes not gelling with what happens gameplay wise at all to the seemingly bad story.

I lost my shit laughing when a cutscene cut to the evil empire and their city was all dark and black it might as well have been mordor.

Like everything looks off to put it politely. I really liked the female character that looked like she straight walked out of an idol game and entered the battlefield...
 

cireza

Banned
This thread is depressing. How come this game is still so bad after all this time and all those demos ? Sega, what are you doing ? :(
 

Ushojax

Should probably not trust the 7-11 security cameras quite so much
I know they are trying to pretend they still care about making a real Valkyria game at some point but when this crashes and burns I think they are just going to kill the franchise altogether. This demo, like all the others, is awful. I don't think they've done a single thing well, the combat, the character designs, the mission structure, the story, it's all rancid.

It's sad to think how much money they wasted on this.
 
I know they are trying to pretend they still care about making a real Valkyria game but when this crashes and burns I think they are just going to kill the franchise altogether. This demo, like all the others, is awful.

I mean they are right this means we have no interest in the franchise, even if this game is nothing like the series, it carries the same name and Selvaria.
 
Production values must be very low, the cut-scenes are laughable, animation, lip sync... awful. The story looks interesting and the soundtrack is good but the rest?, character design, graphics, combat system, everything is so underwhelming. I'm trying to play with an open mind knowing beforehand this is not a Valkyria Chronicles game but is not doing it for me.
 
I mean they are right this means we have no interest in the franchise, even if this game is nothing like the series, it carries the same name and Selvaria.

well, yeah, but that's pretty much all it carries. hell, they could've made a kart racing game containing both those things :) ...
 

perorist

Unconfirmed Member
This dropping the same day as the nier demo made it extra difficult to play. While they're obviously not remotely comparable, the disparity in quality was amazing. Will probably pick it up at bargain bin prices to run through for the story.
 

EmiPrime

Member

Some Nobody

Junior Member
Finished. Let's see.

As expected it's the game's prologue which explains the large and long number of cutscenes. It's normal though, they basically explain the entire setting.
Also the idle animations are OUT OF CONTROL lol. If they slowed them down by half speed it would be fine but other times it's kind of funny how distracting they are.

The game looks much better in motion than it does in screenshots, that's for sure. I think they improved the lighting in this compared to the last demo.

I like the little character cut-in when you win a battle. It can be a bit awkward when it's not the character you're controlling though. The fluidity of the game has been improved since the last demo; ATB bar fills in real time and actions follow more naturally together. However, they made the characters way too strong, so there's no health management or team management, you just bulldoze past everyone. I'm sure this won't be the case later in the game, but I noticed the game doesn't have real-time leveling still, so... that might be an issue.

The main character is deliciously edgy and the villains are kind of comically evil, but it has a great aesthetic. The Legend of the Galactic Heroes comparison cannot be more apt. I can see this story being a lot of fun not just in the more serious edge but also with a slight level of warfare campiness. Exhibit A being the guy who sucks up to the emperor for like 5 straight minutes lol.

I think this game definitely has a chance of being very enjoyable, but they need to emphasize resource management.

Since I never played Valkyria Chronicles and I honestly think this game looks great, I'm gonna go with this and ignore all the people who so desperately wanted this to be VC4. Really the only thing I'm worried about is the combat--the game itself has looked great from day one.
 
Going after the lucrative big boobies anime statue collector and boobie mouse mat audience.

Taking a dump all over a once cherished franchise like they did with Shining Force.

Thanks Sega!

I mean, Selvaria herself has had quite a bit of this merchandise in general the last couple of years. So it's hard to say it's anything recent for what Sega is doing with merchandise for her.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
I sort of like what I played. Its heavy on story and scenes with typical Japanese flair, which is good for a change. I actually think the music is top notch.

The gameplay could be decent if you could issue orders in real time. Along with a higher difficulty (but I guess you're meant to power through the prologue). I hope there is a reason to use cover and healing items in the full game (ofcourse there is, VC games were never completely easy).

I like the overall visual style, its not as good as VC but its different enough from western action games.

EDIT: duh, OST is by Mitsuda. One of the best composers in the business.
 

EmiPrime

Member
I mean, Selvaria herself has had quite a bit of this merchandise in general the last couple of years. So it's hard to say it's anything recent for what Sega is doing with merchandise for her.

Oh I know and it saddens me. She was a tragic character in VC1, really well written and Sega have desecrated that over and over since then by reducing her to a sex object.

I mean which is more appealing to a global audience, a super soldier
who sacrifices herself during a war
or an anime tit witch? This series is a poster child for Galapagos syndrome and Sega's treatment of Selvaria is a symptom of it.
 

sublimit

Banned
Even if this game ends up being bad (which i don't believe it will at least not as much as some people say) i will still buy it on day 1 to support my dream and hope of a TRUE Valkyria Chronicles 4 to come out one day.At the very least i think the game looks very pretty and i love the aesthetics (especially vehicles and weapons.)

Btw i love Mitsuda but if they ever make VC4 i'd love to see Sakimoto to return as the composer.The first game had one of my favorite soundtracks ever and it fitted the game perfectly.
 

dramatis

Member
Knowing that it's the beginning of the game with basically 80% of the demo being cutscenes, I think there wasn't enough gameplay in this demo to make a good assessment of whether or not it is good.

In that sense, it's a pretty poor demo.
 

Nyoro SF

Member
Knowing that it's the beginning of the game with basically 80% of the demo being cutscenes, I think there wasn't enough gameplay in this demo to make a good assessment of whether or not it is good.

In that sense, it's a pretty poor demo.

The reason behind that is because the last two demos were almost 100% gameplay focused. So they wanted to give the story guys a piece of the fun.
 

system11

Member
Disappointing, but I didn't read up beforehand and thought it was an actual Vakyria game rather than yet another action game.
 
Can't comment on story and characters (I don't think the designs are terrible, though I may be in the minority on that one), but I thought the battle system had a lot of potential. There's quite a bit of jank to it but it feels like a nice blend of action with bits and pieces of strategy. Hopefully the localization team knocks it out of the park with the voice acting to make up for the stiff animations during most of the cutscenes.
 

Dio

Banned
Oh I know and it saddens me. She was a tragic character in VC1, really well written and Sega have desecrated that over and over since then by reducing her to a sex object.

I mean which is more appealing to a global audience, a super soldier
who sacrifices herself during a war
or an anime tit witch? This series is a poster child for Galapagos syndrome and Sega's treatment of Selvaria is a symptom of it.
Yeah but animals on the Galapagos are awesome and unique.
 
So what you're saying is it loads faster with less loading screens than the first game on PS3? Amazing, great to see this series making progress.

I played the original VC on PS3 and the loading is nothing compared to this. It's sad how much worse and more frequent the loading is in this game.
 
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