= Valkyria Chronicles III =
Senjō no Valkyria 3 : <unk> Chronicles ( Japanese : 戦場のヴァルキュリア3 , lit . Valkyria of the Battlefield 3 ) , commonly referred to as Valkyria Chronicles III outside Japan , is a tactical role @-@ playing video game developed by Sega and Media.Vision for the PlayStation Portable . Released in January 2011 in Japan , it is the third game in the Valkyria series . <unk> the same fusion of tactical and real @-@ time gameplay as its predecessors , the story runs parallel to the first game and follows the " Nameless " , a penal military unit serving the nation of Gallia during the Second Europan War who perform secret black operations and are pitted against the Imperial unit " <unk> Raven " .
The game began development in 2010 , carrying over a large portion of the work done on Valkyria Chronicles II . While it retained the standard features of the series , it also underwent multiple adjustments , such as making the game more <unk> for series newcomers . Character designer <unk> Honjou and composer Hitoshi Sakimoto both returned from previous entries , along with Valkyria Chronicles II director Takeshi Ozawa . A large team of writers handled the script . The game 's opening theme was sung by May 'n .
It met with positive sales in Japan , and was praised by both Japanese and western critics . After release , it received downloadable content , along with an expanded edition in November of that year . It was also adapted into manga and an original video animation series . Due to low sales of Valkyria Chronicles II , Valkyria Chronicles III was not localized , but a fan translation compatible with the game 's expanded edition was released in 2014 . Media.Vision would return to the franchise with the development of Valkyria : Azure Revolution for the PlayStation 4 .
= = Gameplay = =
As with previous <unk> Chronicles games , Valkyria Chronicles III is a tactical role @-@ playing game where players take control of a military unit and take part in missions against enemy forces . Stories are told through comic book @-@ like panels with animated character portraits , with characters speaking partially through voiced speech bubbles and partially through <unk> text . The player progresses through a series of linear missions , gradually unlocked as maps that can be freely <unk> through and replayed as they are unlocked . The route to each story location on the map varies depending on an individual player 's approach : when one option is selected , the other is sealed off to the player . Outside missions , the player characters rest in a camp , where units can be customized and character growth occurs . Alongside the main story missions are character @-@ specific sub missions relating to different squad members . After the game 's completion , additional episodes are unlocked , some of them having a higher difficulty than those found in the rest of the game . There are also love simulation elements related to the game 's two main <unk> , although they take a very minor role .
The game 's battle system , the <unk> system , is carried over directly from <unk> Chronicles . During missions , players select each unit using a top @-@ down perspective of the battlefield map : once a character is selected , the player moves the character around the battlefield in third @-@ person . A character can only act once per @-@ turn , but characters can be granted multiple turns at the expense of other characters ' turns . Each character has a field and distance of movement limited by their Action <unk> . Up to nine characters can be assigned to a single mission . During gameplay , characters will call out if something happens to them , such as their health points ( HP ) getting low or being knocked out by enemy attacks . Each character has specific " Potentials " , skills unique to each character . They are divided into " Personal Potential " , which are innate skills that remain unaltered unless otherwise dictated by the story and can either help or impede a character , and " Battle Potentials " , which are grown throughout the game and always grant <unk> to a character . To learn Battle Potentials , each character has a unique " Masters Table " , a grid @-@ based skill table that can be used to acquire and link different skills . Characters also have Special <unk> that grant them temporary <unk> on the battlefield : Kurt can activate " Direct Command " and move around the battlefield without <unk> his Action Point gauge , the character <unk> can shift into her " Valkyria Form " and become <unk> , while Imca can target multiple enemy units with her heavy weapon .
Troops are divided into five classes : Scouts , <unk> , Engineers , <unk> and Armored Soldier . <unk> can switch classes by changing their assigned weapon . Changing class does not greatly affect the stats gained while in a previous class . With victory in battle , experience points are awarded to the squad , which are distributed into five different attributes shared by the entire squad , a feature differing from early games ' method of distributing to different unit types .
= = Plot = =
The game takes place during the Second Europan War . Gallian Army Squad 422 , also known as " The Nameless " , are a penal military unit composed of criminals , foreign <unk> , and military offenders whose real names are erased from the records and <unk> officially referred to by numbers . <unk> by the Gallian military to perform the most dangerous missions that the Regular Army and Militia will not do , they are nevertheless up to the task , exemplified by their motto , <unk> <unk> , meaning " Always Ready . " The three main characters are <unk> Kurt Irving , an army officer falsely accused of treason who wishes to redeem himself ; Ace <unk> Imca , a female Darcsen heavy weapons specialist who seeks revenge against the Valkyria who destroyed her home ; and <unk> Riela <unk> , a seemingly <unk> young woman who is unknowingly a descendant of the Valkyria . Together with their fellow squad members , these three are tasked to fight against a mysterious Imperial unit known as Calamity Raven , consisting of mostly Darcsen soldiers .
As the Nameless officially do not exist , the upper echelons of the Gallian Army exploit the concept of plausible <unk> in order to send them on missions that would otherwise make Gallia lose face in the war . While at times this works to their advantage , such as a successful incursion into Imperial territory , other orders cause certain members of the 422nd great distress . One such member , <unk> , becomes so enraged that he abandons his post and defects into the ranks of Calamity Raven , attached to the ideal of Darcsen independence proposed by their leader , Dahau . At the same time , elements within Gallian Army Command move to erase the Nameless in order to protect their own interests . <unk> by both allies and enemies , and combined with the presence of a traitor within their ranks , the 422nd desperately move to keep themselves alive while at the same time fight to help the Gallian war effort . This continues until the Nameless 's commanding officer , Ramsey Crowe , who had been kept under house arrest , is escorted to the capital city of <unk> in order to present evidence <unk> the weary soldiers and expose the real traitor , the Gallian General that had accused Kurt of Treason .
<unk> due to these events , and partly due to the major losses in manpower Gallia suffers towards the end of the war with the Empire , the Nameless are offered a formal position as a squad in the Gallian Army rather than serve as an anonymous shadow force . This is short @-@ lived , however , as following Maximilian 's defeat , Dahau and Calamity Raven move to activate an ancient <unk> super weapon within the Empire , kept secret by their benefactor . Without the support of Maximilian or the chance to prove themselves in the war with Gallia , it is Daha
