Valkyria Chronicles

Valkyria Chronicles debuted in 2008 on PlayStation 3, blending turn-based tactics with real-time movement and aiming on the battlefield through a system Sega called BLiTZ – you plan a turn, but each unit then runs and shoots live. Its story of the fictional nation of Gallia caught up in a war modeled on the European front of World War II was told through a distinctive watercolor-style visual look resembling an illustrated storybook, and that combination of art direction and unit-based tactics earned it a cult following among critics and players.

Valkyria Chronicles 2 (2010) moved the series to the portable PSP and shifted the setting to a military academy, lightening the tone toward a youth-focused story, which left some fans of the original uneasy. Valkyria Chronicles 3, also on PSP, returned to a grimmer wartime story following the Nameless squad but went a long time without an official release in Europe and North America. Valkyria Chronicles 4 (2018) brought the series back to its original setting and more serious tone and reached modern platforms including PC and Switch, widely seen as a return to what made the first game stand out.

The success of the first game, whose leads were commander Welkin Gunther and soldier Alicia Melchiott, spread beyond video games – a 2009 anime series and manga were both based on it, unusual for a tactics title of this kind. Its popularity was further helped by a 2014 PC release of the first game, which brought Gallia's story to players who never owned a PlayStation 3 and kept interest in the series alive between entries.