Battle Field Valkyrie: Gallian Chronicles (AKA: Sega trying an RPG? LOOKS GOOD!)
 

Article with Details!

Storyline Trailer!

Tutorial Trailer!

Cell-shaded graphics, but the shading technique looks fucking AWESOME. The story is set in a different universe of course, but the technology and setting obviously is akin to World War 2 (the European Campaign in particular).

Gears of Desu, it seems~ Headshots, tank units, anti-tank units, soldier units, snipers, heavy machine guns, etc. This looks like a god damn blast. To top it off?

NO FUCKING SONIC. No butchering classic series (I'm looking at YOU, Shining Force). Something fresh.

The fact that it has minds from the Sakura Taisen games in addition to the director from Skies of Arcadia makes this an instant must-buy for me. If the PS3 doesn't pick this up, it'll be almost as big of an atrocity of Front Mission 5 getting swept aside. The system needs an RPG (and this is a healthy mix of that and other genres), and this is just what is needed. I look forward to this coming to the states (assuming it gets announced).

I hope this is a turning point for Sega. Their games have been laughable after the Dreamcast fell through, but this is the first interesting game of theirs since that has intrigued me.

Edit -- This game is a nice amalgamation of genres. If someone wants to get antsy about it, just move it to general video games. But it's strategy/action/RPG/etc =O

See, I'd have preferred Shining Force IV (bundled with Shining Force III complete, of course)... but, I have to say, I've been watching this since I first heard about it, and I like what I see. The mechanics look fun, the graphics look sweet, and in general, it looks like something worth keeping an eye on.

Yeah this is one I've been intently keeping my eye on. It's showing a heck of a lot of potential and I think a solid story is all that will be needed to pull this one together.

Can't really comment on the game itself 'cause this is the first I've heard of it. Awe-inspiring graphics, though. I may as well keep my eye on it too, given its from the creators of Sakura Taisen.

(Knowing Sega it's probably just an awesome yet misguiding mini-game from something like this)

I had/have a game idea which features some of the same things going on (The tank, WWII-level of Tech, Army fighting in a rustic village) ... for that I'm a little saddened, but hey, the game might be fun.

This definitely looks interesting; I hope Sega entertains the thought of bringing this to the 360 as well... which raises the general question: given the process' costs and all other considerations being equal, what incentive is there to a develop a game for just one console? Conversely, I imagine a console company would have to lay out some serious incentive to land an exclusive.
Given that, historically, tanks (along with APCs and IFVs) succeeded horse cavalry, it is amusing that the anti-tank weapon resembles a lance or pike. In a similar vein, I am interested in how all this development took place, and nobody thought to implement camouflage... the player characters' uniforms are nice and all, but they seem more suitable as 'dress blues' than actual field wear.

PS3? Nooooo :(

This looks fucking awesome. Cel-shading isn't done enough on these newfangled consoles.

Be wary of Ryutaro Nonoka. The Nightshade and Shinobi games are notorious for being visually pleasing... and having questionably enjoyable platforming and objectives. Granted with minds from other games, I imagine he might be able to shake that problem. It looks great, these days it's amazing how any sketch can now be rendered near perfectly in 3D when given the proper effort.

Sega's doing fine to me... because, well, Virtua Fighter 5 and Iplugmyearswhenitcomestoothergamesbythem.

I love it when they mix various game elements like this! This makes it another game making the PS3 look even more interesting in my eyes. If this keeps up there's only a matter of time until I buy a PS3.

I'm glad to see that el-shading hasn't been completely abandoned by next-gen consoles. White Knight Story makes some use of cel-shading, but this looks to be full-blown cel.

Looking forward to hearing some more information. I'll try and keep you guys updated as to when this gets a date in GameStop's reserve list.

BUNCH OF MOST-EXCELLENT SCREENSHOTS + TRAILER + LIMITED EDITION STUFF

Game looks pretty hot so far. I hope it delivers, because I think I'm gonna buy it (JP version) on day 1 or damn close to it.

Here's hoping when they bring this over that they have the sense to keep the name as Valkyrie of the Battlefield.

I'm a little unclear as to how exactly is this going to play though. Real time or turn based? Traditional or tactical? Do you command troops or one character etc. Either way, the color-sketches-brought-to-life visuals are lovely, and should they keep the name, it could mean the rest of the game will have a similar sense of sweeping epic grace.

Here you go.
It's a big download, but it should give you a pretty good idea of what's up.

Even after viewing the video, I'm a little stumped. It looked like "Command Mode" had you go RTS-style and order specific characters to a location, at which point "Action Mode" had you control them briefly, like a drastically scaled-down RTS you could take direct control of -- something like Savage, actually.

Still couldn't tell whether or not the combat was turn-based or real-time though.

What's that, Baby's First Photoshop Sketch Filter: The Game?

Well that does clear it up a tad bit. Not quite clear on the command points system, but the action mode seems clear enough. Movement and shooting use up your AP, so you can only do so much during your turn with each unit.

Though I have a feeling I'd be more comfortable if the game did away with the command mode view entirely and made the whole game turned based, from the action mode viewpoint, Silent Storm style.

Either way, It certainly looks a lot more interesting than any of the other next-gen RPGs I've seen so far. Let's just hope the two systems fit together well enough.

Thanks for the heads-up, Hindman. I'll have to watch that video later, but here's a quick bit of speculation on command points...
They could serve as a cap on force size, maybe with - as is the case with SJ Games' Ogre and GEV - larger, more powerful units 'costing' more to field.
I reiterate my comments on the player characters' uniforms: I can dig the cut and style, but the coloration still seems better suited for ceremonial functions than actual field work. The in-universe explanation for this is hopefully interesting.

Sega announced today that the game is coming to the US this fall under the name Valkyria Chronicles.

So I uploaded the previously linked video and a couple others to the Youtube dealie. (Hindman gets with the times, oh snap :O ) The bigger, better-quality/higher-res versions are the downloadable, but you know the 'Tube -- it at least gets the point across, heh.
YouTube - RPGLand's Channel

Yep, it's coming:
MAXCONSOLE - Playstation 3 - Valkyria Chronicles announed for the West

Made my day =D

New gameplay promotional trailer detected.
Aside from showing off more boots-on-the-ground gameplay (notes here: some cover is destructible (4:43) - or, at least, can be rammed through by tanks - and certain things explode violently under rifle fire (0:55)) and expounding a bit on the backstory (the invasion of Gallia seems to boil down to grand theft writ large), some aspects of character growth are made clear. Experience points seem to be awarded to a pool, from which you draw to develop the various unit types (5:39); further, new and improved tools of the trade become available as the game progresses (an incenerator is seen at 4:13; a mated GL seems to be evidenced at 6:25). Speaking of tanks: first, facing seems to matter (4:55 - exposed engine systemry + AT weapon = insta-kill); and second, given that tank armament can be upgraded, I cannot help but wonder if it's possible to field a flame tank (these were common in WW2's Pacific theatre with good reason)...
This said, with arrival on this side of the Pac scheduled for autumn, shouldn't Sega be getting started on raising interest early? A subtitled version of this trailer would be an easy and relatively cheap first step.

Given that Sega does, in fact, plan on bringing this Stateside later this year, I saw fit to share with them my concerns with respect to the marketing thereof...

As an example of 'how not to do it'... compare and contrast the Japanese website for Operation Darkness with its US counterpart.

Holy crap Hitoshi Sakimoto is composing the music for this. We could have another Dragon Quarter here.

Tuneage
 

And we'll be able to nab our own copies of same in late May, according to this particular page at CDJapan.
Interestingly, while the tracklist is not provided there, you can get it direct from the proverbial horse's mouth. That's 57 tracks, including music not used in the game, divided between 2 discs.

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/a...8933479038.jpg

So I was informed Vyse and Aika are in the game, as can be seen here as well. In before dozens of kotaku rumors on ETERNAL ARCADIA SEQUEL???????

Anyway, cameos are awesome. Especially if they come with Sakimoto music. This game is looking better and better each time~