Valkyria Chronicles 3 Summary

Valkyria Chronicles 3
Spoiler-Free!

Available on the PSP in Japan only. Unlike VC2 in North America, VC3 can be downloaded onto the Vita directly after switching your system region to Japan. You can also purchase the physical or digital version for your PSP. The game is also Vita TV compatible.

There is a fan translation for this game with multiple ways of applying it. I recommend purchasing the digital PSP version and applying the patch using custom PSP firmware. The fan translation is passable quality... good enough to complete the game with understanding of what's going on.

The story switches things up heavily from the past 2 games. You are a penal military unit that is forced to fight in battles as throwaway soldiers, and the unit's goal is to achieve amnesty. The story has more serious elements than the first two games and it does a good job of properly giving the game tension. The plot does a great job of framing villains and streamlining missions into its narrative and the dialogue between the main characters is extremely good overall, especially including the dynamic with Kurt and Gusurg. That being said it suffers from character bloat a few times during dialogue (a problem they smartly avoided in VC1, yet can't seem to replicate...) and a few bad character designs (Annika, etc.), but the overall takeaway is a fine story properly focused on main characters with clashing ambitions that adds to the hype.

The battle system from VC2 returns, but it has been heavily rebalanced. VC3 features the strongest interception fire from regular enemies in the entire series not including the VC1 Gallian Crossfire rebalance mod. Listing all the balance problems from VC2 that VC3 fixed would take far too long but rest assured you will come across more challenging moments more often when chasing the S-Rank. Regarding the difficulty, it is the same situation as VC1, where people claim it is too easy or too hard (unlike VC2 which is easy no matter what you do) so it entirely comes down to your mindset when you approach strategy. Keep in mind that VC3 still has not attempted to fix the grading system from VC1 which favors speed over anything else.

Even a casual player getting to know the series has probably heard of VC2's very grindy gameplay. VC3 removes most of it, but retains a few annoying leveling and drop systems. Characters level to Veteran and Elite through enemy kills but certain classes have far too stringent kill requirements to reach Elite status. Since certain Potentials won't get the chance to unlock unless the class unit in question reaches Veteran and then Elite, it can be very daunting and extremely difficult for these classes (Gunners, Lancers, Fencers) to take full advantage of the Master Table, a system where picking up Potentials through switching classes allows you to unlock Master Potentials such as Double Movement and Clear Sight.

Though it's rare, some missions lock the continuation of a weapon blueprint series behind an Ace kill, like VC2. There are far too many weapons to level for both troops and tanks alike leading to huge weapon bloat where 98% of said weapons become obsolete once you get the go-to weapons... just like VC2. It doesn't hurt the experience at all since you should always have sufficient power with the default weapon lineup, but it's a bit odd that there's so many extra weapons of no value in the game.

The game also has a few too many extraneous missions. VC3 has 20 chapters with an average of ~4 missions each, not including 20 character side-story missions or extra missions. The game reuses maps from VC2 on top of adding its own maps but it does a MUCH better job remixing your soldier positioning and adding obstacles/effects to make each strategic attack or defense new while tying it all into the main story to make it a fresh experience. That being said, it is a test of patience to be told to play on the same map so many times, even if it's remixed properly.

To sum it all up VC1 still takes the crown for having the most gamer-friendly progression system and the most diverse mission library. VC3 is a fun game as a package but it could have been much more streamlined overall. Less isn't automatically more but in particular cases regarding missions, weapons and leveling that philosophy would have helped in lots of ways.

My recommendation: I would go straight to this game after playing VC1. While there are VC2 character cameos in VC3 you won't miss or be spoiled by any story elements if you want to torture yourself and end your series playthrough with VC2. This was probably deliberately done by the designers in case VC3 was someone's first VC game. Like always, play through blind and challenge yourself to overcome new enemy strategies.