5/5 ★ – DirtyMidnighter's review of Valkyria Chronicles.

I just found everything about this game to be so endearing and captivating. I'm not a huge fan of real-time-strategy games but this 3rd person over-the-shoulder viewpoint made the world a lot more immersive and I truly felt like i was in the trenches of fake WWII with my anime soldiers. The story hit me hard too. Not gonna lie, some tears were shed by the time the final credits had rolled. You really feel like you get to know these characters after spending so much time with them. The fact that you can actually lose them forever if you make a mistake is just brutal. Sometimes you might find yourself weighing the lives of your soldiers against a hard-fought victory within reach. It's dark and compelling stuff that captures an element of the morbidly existential frivolity of war and the fragility of human life. Wow. If you're interested in a game that strikes a perfect balance between a wartime drama and an anime series (complete with so many of the tropes you know and love), look no further.