Valkyria Chronicles came out exclusively for the PS3 in 2008. It was one of those games that had very high reviews and praise, but only sold modestly well in the States. It's an amazing strategy game made by the minds behind the acclaimed Sakura Wars series.

Valkyria Chronicles grabbed my attention when I first saw the Japanese trailer back in 2007. I generally find games with a military feel to be a total turn off, but the trailer's direction accompanied by Hitoshi Sakimoto's amazing music compositions got me excited to see a potentially touching and emotional drama between people.

The story takes place in a fictional world resembling 1930s Europe with rustic looking technology. The story follows a young man named Wilkin, who aspires to be a teacher and ends up becoming a captain of a ragtag military squad in a war against a powerful empire. Some of the characters do a few odd things, particularly Wilkin, but it's all still good. =) Overall, the game sports an awesome story, a great cast of characters, and superb voice acting! XD Oh how wonderful it is to watch the squad interact, grow, and overcome their adversaries together. =)

The game has a fun well thought-out unique combat system. Movements between yours and the enemy squads are turn based; you have a bird-eyes view of the map, but move and command units individually and in third person view. As you move, enemies are free to open fire forcing you to take advantage of your terrain for cover. When you command a unit to attack, time will freeze as you take aim at enemies in first person view. There are a variety of different unit types with paper, rock, scissors strengths and weaknesses, unit customizability, and even units with personality quirks involving their teammates and/or the environment. Of course there's a lot more to the game mechanics that I'm leaving out, but if you like strategy RPG's, enjoy fun, epic, emotional stories, and maybe own a PS3, this really is a must-buy game! =D You can get it for less than twenty dollars on Amazon RIGHT NOW! Go!

Long ago I conceded to the idea that I might never get the game, gave in to my obsession and ended up watching all of the story segments on youtube. Funnily, Bear and I ended up buying it a couple months later for only $20! I didn't get too far into the game but I love it and still really want to pass it one day! >.<