Valkyria Chronicles II

Valkyria Chronicles 2, known in Japan as Battlefield Valkyria 2: Gallian Royal Military Academy​ (戦場のヴァルキュリア2 ガリア王立士官学校, Senjō no Varukyuria 2 Gallia Ouritsushikan Gakkou?) is an upcoming video game for the PlayStation Portable. It is the sequel to the PlayStation 3 title Valkyria Chronicles by Sega. The game was released on January 21, 2010 in Japan, with a North American release scheduled for August 31, 2010.

Plot
Set two years after the events of Valkyria Chronicles, the story revolves around a civil war within the small Europan nation of Gallia. A rebel group made up of dissatisfied aristocrats and like-minded soldiers and citizens calling themselves the Gallian Revolutionary Army rises up in arms in order to wage an ethnic cleansing campaign against Gallians of Darcsen descent. However, with the intense fight against the Empire having left Gallia's regular army in an exhausted state, there is initially little to stop the insurrection from gaining momentum. Laws preventing the formation of a national militia to fight fellow Gallians force the government to deploy military academy cadets to the front lines in order to combat and defeat the GRA forces.

Among the students sent out on the field is 17-year-old Avan Hardins, a young man who enrolled in Lanseal Military Academy after the death of his older brother, Leon.

Gameplay
Many gameplay concepts in Valkyria Chronicles 2 are carried over from the original. The BLiTZ system is used during combat scenarios, splitting the action between an overhead Command Mode and third-person Action Mode. By selecting allied units during Command Mode, using Command Points in the process, said units can move and perform actions until their Action Points run out. When the player has exhausted their available Command Points, or volunteers to pass control without using all of them, the Player Phase ends and the Enemy Phase begins. This progresses back and forth until the battle's victory conditions are achieved or the player is defeated. Valkyria Chronicles 2 uses a system of multiple area maps connected by enemy encampments. When an enemy camp is captured by the player's forces, subsequent areas are made available, using the camp as a way-point to call in reinforcements and proceed.

Also similar to the original, the characters available for use by the player each occupy a specific class. New to Valkyria Chronicles 2 are new class types and the ability of units to change their class based on a branching tree of upgrades. All five original classes from Valkyria Chronicles reappear, some with slight modification. Scouts, Shocktroopers, Engineers, and anti-tank Lancers act as the base units that lead to more powerful and specialized promotions. Snipers, rather than act as a starting class, are a part of the Scout's upgrade potential. The final base class is brand new to the series. The Armored Soldier class can disarm mines and carry large shields into battle that can deflect rifle and machine gun fire. Armored soldiers do not carry a firearm, instead wielding a hammer to strike enemies with melee attacks. From these five base unit classes, individual units can use experience earned from completing missions to move into more advanced forms. Advantages garnered from upgrading class range from new weapon types to increased effectiveness against tanks to special abilities. Like the original game's Squad 7, the player has access to a tank. Like the infantry classes, the tank in VC2 has an increased amount of customization potential, being able to increase its firepower and armor, or be stripped down into a simple armored car.

The themes being used for the game include school and war as the students try to juggle their responsibilities as military academy students and as soldiers.[10] It is believed that the themes are based on the success of Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4