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Great games this week: Valkyria Chronicles 4, Labyrinth of Refrain, and more


This week, we revisit the anime version of World War II, delve into a water world’s distant past, and create murderous puppets to conquer a labyrinth.

Valkyria Chronicles 4

The “Valkyria Chronicles” series is set in an alternate universe where World War II is a war involving pretty anime soldiers. These games also happen to be some of the best military tactical RPGs around, especially if you love your turn-based combat with a dash of real-time.

“Valkyria Chronicles 4” doesn’t make too many changes to the formula that’s made its predecessors so successful. You’re given a squad of soldiers and a couple of armored vehicles to command, a large battlefield, and a goal. Maybe you have to capture a base. Or wipe the enemy infantry out. Or defend a position.

Whatever the mission, you’ll have to plan out your strategy. Are you sure your troops have sufficient cover where you’re sending them? Do you have any countermeasures in case there’s an ambush waiting? The game offers plenty of room for creativity in your approach – just be sure to be ready for anything.

The new class, Grenadier, provides you with even more tactical options. With the ability to launch mortar rounds over obstacles and put the hurt on your enemies from a safe position, Grenadiers are a blessing. Abusing their strengths can make some missions a tad easy, though.

The story takes its time to get to the juicy parts, and some cut scenes are so long they overstay their welcome. But you’ll grow to love every soldier in your unit with their amusing quirks and compelling backstories. You can even unlock character-specific side missions if you send them into battle enough times.

“Valkyria Chronicles 4” may not take many risks, but it doesn’t need to. This is a strategy game that packs a lot of depth and charm, making it an easy recommendation for anyone into military tactics.

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC

Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country

As an expansion, “Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country” is shorter than its parent game, “Xenoblade Chronicles 2.” And yet, in a number of ways, it’s a better game than the 2017 JRPG.

The game is set 500 years before the events of “Xenoblade Chronicles 2,” and will have you exploring fantastic new environments, the history of the world and several of the original title’s characters. The new characters are far more interesting, and they’ll take center stage in a fast-paced story that’s full of huge reveals and emotionally powerful moments.

The combat has been tweaked and is now faster and more convenient. In addition to simply being better designed, the battle system also makes you feel more powerful. This is a crucial improvement as it makes grinding, leveling up, and evolving your characters more enjoyable.

The new Community system is a spectacular way to unlock new side quests. The more people you meet, the more adventuring you’ll have to do, which in turn will allow you to meet more people. The only downside to this system is that it locks you out of the main quest until you’ve completed a specific number of side missions, meaning it doesn’t always let you play at your own pace.

Thankfully, most of the side missions are fun, and will have you fighting some of the game’s magnificent beasts and visiting some truly fascinating locations.

And then there's its excellent soundtrack, perfectly capturing the epic scale of its story and world, as well as every emotionally poignant juncture.

The game can be completed in 15 hours, but it could take you near twice that if you’re going to finish every side quest and unlock each character’s full potential.

Even better, you don’t need to own the original game to play this one; “Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country” is a standalone expansion that you can enjoy with or without the base game.

Platform: Switch

Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk

First-person dungeon crawlers may seem like a thing of the past, until RPGs like “Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk” come along and prove there’s still a lot to love about the genre.

Here is the story of a witch, her apprentice, and you – the living book Tractatus de Monstrum. Your journey takes you to the town of Refrain, at the center of which is a vast, underground labyrinth – a labyrinth you’ll be exploring despite the countless lives it has already taken.

But you won’t be braving the dangers alone. Being a magical book, you can assemble puppet parts and create an adventuring party of dolls. The customization is extensive, allowing you to choose each character’s appearance, class, starting abilities, voice, and even their personality.

You then have them join covens, special subgroupings that provide them with more skills and even influence the size of your party. As the game progresses, you’ll unlock more covens and abilities, until you can bring a mini-army of lethal puppets down into the depths.

While the turn-based combat is simple, it’ll take brains to emerge victorious from the toughest challenges. Unit combinations and coven choice plays a huge role in how well you’ll do in battle; choose the wrong covens or skills, and you could end up with a party of useless nitwits.

Where the game falters is in its dungeon design. While it’s fun breaking dungeon walls and finding secret areas, the levels often reuse assets and even dungeon layouts. The game is also stingy with directions, so you’ll occasionally find yourself wandering around aimlessly with no clear goal in sight.

For all its faults, “Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk” is a dungeon crawler with delightfully complex systems. If you’re hankering after a good old-fashioned RPG with a bright, modern, anime sheen, you’ll get a kick out of this one.

Platform: PlayStation 4, Switch, PC

— LA, GMA News

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