When released in 2008, the original Valkyria Chronicles garnered a dedicated following. The fans enjoyed the combat, the characters, and the story in this strategy RPG. But despite the critical acclaim, sales were below what Sega had hoped. Still, fans persisted and Sega brought over the PSP sequel in 2010. However, due to the PSP’s slower software sales, Sega were left thinking that the series wasn’t going to be as powerful as expected and the third game in the series would stay in Japan. In the last few years, Sega has taken an interest in PC and have slowly been putting their backcatalog on the Steam storefront. When the original Valkyria Chronicles came out on PC, it exceeded the publisher’s expectations beating out the massively popular Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.
Famitsu revealed that Sega was planning a remastering of Valkyria Chronicles for release in Japan on February 10th, 2016 perhaps due to the overwhelmingly positive sales the PC version had. The PS4 version is said to have improved graphics, trophy support, as well as all of the DLC that was released for the original. The game will also include a demo of the simultaneously announced Valkyria: Azure Revolution. The new title in the VC series.
According to Gematsu, Azure Revolution will release in Winter 2016 in Japan. Unlike its predecessors, Azure Revolution will be a more traditional RPG rather than strategy based. Instead of the “storybook” of the original game, the aesthetic will be more “painting-esque.” The combat system will shuck off the strategy elements and instead go for a real time battle system with simulation elements. According to the game’s director Takeshi Ozawa, players will be able to see enemy units on the field and engage them before actually fighting them. You will be able to snipe them from afar or use a smokescreen to lower their accuracy.
No word yet on a North American release yet.