Tom

I used to not be terribly interested in getting higher end statues than the stuff you can win from UFO catchers, if mainly because they're, y'know, so damn pricey. But I resolved to get at least the Shionne one when I found out about it earlier this year because: 1. she kinda sorta means a lot to me for obvious reasons and I want some form of her in my office and 2. it's the first such figure since Arise came out that isn't one of those gawdy ass Qposket ones that seem to exist mainly to make you think, "be grateful this character wasn't Funko'd." Anyway, fast forward to September right before TGS and I dunno what it was, but I got it in my head I wanted to grab one for Selvaria from Valkyria Chronicles given my profound love of that series and now, a few months' worth of hunting for the exact one I wanted at a fair price later, here those two are, as well as Rinwell, who I obviously also hold dear as one of her English parents, and Daiwa Scarlet because I'll forever love the eternal horsey brat. I've gotta buy another showcase to house them in because my existing one is mostly full of games, but in the meantime, it's fun to learn that Selvaria is canonically taller than Daiwa Scarlet, which, knowing how Raita likes to draw women, yeah, that checks out.

• It keeps the best part of 2 intact (the fact the game plays well and capably within the limits of much less powerful hardware than 1) and rubs a lot of the rough edges around the new character classes, etc.
• The rest of the game isn't Valkyria Chronicles 2.
• Its only acknowledgement of 2 comes from brief aside in which the main trio briefly appear for all of an hour inside a campaign dozens of hours long. The takeaway is "these kids existed during the time of 1" and then they're forever yeeted off, never to be heard from for the rest of the game.
• It's a game that grapples with thorny issues rarely explored in Japanese games in general, let alone the wider series. Questions are asked about the transactional, extractive nature of patriotism, citizenship, and serving the state; the politics of people with shared traumas and how they can serve different causes; the toll and worth of labor when it's anonymized; and much more.
• Not unlike 2, there are plenty of Anime Personalities in the wider cast, but having the squad be a group of criminals and other undesirables over a bunch of school kids makes for much richer, varied chemistry between characters who operate within their own motivations and circumstances. There are rough-talking grandmas, girls with a zest for pyrotechnics; you name an itch you have, it's probably gonna get scratched, and it's gonna get scratched with mini-campaigns for each and every character who joins you.
• If you're all about micromanaging your units and their abilities in SRPGs, friends, have I got a game for you, as you can not only customize everyone's class like in 2, but even their loadout of Potentials, including ones ordinarily locked to specific classes with enough training and deployments.
• It boasts better polygonal art direction that more closely mimics 1's aesthetics and upscales rather gorgeously in emulation.
• It is not Valkyria Chronicles 2.

It is extremely rare for me to put in triple digits into an RPG voluntarily if the main story doesn't demand it (something I haven't done since Persona 5's original Japanese release, which I'm frankly not eager to repeat anytime soon), but 3 is an incredibly rich and dense game that even after I beat it, I put dozens more hours into it afterwards to pursue the side content and just enjoy more of its take on the series combat, which is frankly unheard of for me. If you at all have the means to do so, please, please it in Japanese for the best narrative experience possible. But don't sleep on what remains the best story the series has had to offer by a mile even if you already played through 4 (a game which itself plays even better!).

It genuinely hurts me that this game is now 12 years old and we're not a minute closer to giving the best story this series had to offer by a mile a proper localization and especially a proper rebuild for consoles with bespoke maps.

4 plays fantastically, the maps are stellar, and the mechanical additions are enthralling. It is such a sublime return to form in so many ways. But it has nothing on 3's story and that this game continues to be left in the dust paints the series' narrative chops in an unfair light. You will never hear me decry the work of a well-intended fan translation effort. But there really is something to be said for a production with proper institutional backing and god, if there's a game in Sega's library that deserves a second chance to make its case properly (ie: not when its platform is on its last legs even in Japan), this is definitely one of them.

Sega folks know how I feel about this game, but I reckon they're due for a proper reminder next month if I run into any of them. 🤔