I have never played a Japanese SRPG in my gaming hobby before. And to be honest, I never thought I would until I saw Valkyria Chronicles. The feeling of commanding my soldiers that I have personally chose and sending them out in the field are nail biting, yet fun experiences. The story is top notch, characters are fleshed out to the point where you really care for them, and gameplay is addicting. I may be late on the Valkyria Chronicles fan wagon, but better late than never right?Story:I don't want to touch up on story since you can get a synopsis from the game. I really recommend going in blind about what the story is about. I did, and the experience of discovery when playing the game made my playthrough so much better. The story has a nice pace broken up into chapters. And i mean literally, "chapters" as if you're reading a book. A book is displayed on screen and you choose which panel or "episode" to choose to play whether it's a cut scene or stage. It's a cool concept that has a unique charm about it.Characters: this subject needs its own spot light. The one thing i love most about any game, mostly JRPGs, are their characters. The first game where ive connected to the characters deeply are the Kingdom Hearts characters since i grew up with those characters. Valkyria Chronicles has made me feel just as connected, and it only took me a week and a half to beat the game. At the beginning of the game, i didnt even like Rosie, one of the main characters, and by the end of the game I freakin loved her. She's honest, smart, talented, and loyal. All of the main characters are just as great and you'll really have a deep connection to them since it's war and any moment could be their last. You'll loath the enemy or find him so witty that it's amusing. The characters in VC are the ones you'll remember for a long time.Gameplay: it's an SRPG. You'll have a stage to play on and the objectives can be to capture an enemy base or kill a major enemy using the six classes: scouts, shocktroopers, lancers, engineers, snipers and tanks. The first five are leveled up through experience given at the end of battles, and tanks and weapons get stronger through money given at the end of battles as well. This is a TEAM based game, so ill just say help comes from all sides. Although i didnt find use for engineers. They didnt play a part in my strategies. Scouts will be your best friend, especially Alicia. During battles, you have command points and these are the amount of moves you can do in one turn. I recommend saving before making a crucial move, that way you wont have to restart the entire battle. Make your moves count and think 3 steps ahead. During a command you''ll control whoever you chose and, in third person, move them and/or shoot an enemy which you can only do once per command. What's unique about recruiting troops is that they have their own personalities that play into your strategies. Such as one person can be a "metal enthusiast(not correct term)" and theyll get a boost in stats whenever they're around metal. Or "fancies women" can give that person a boost stats when they're around women. And yes, there is a lesbian AND a feminist man that'll have you laughing until you piss your pants, yet he's a decent lancer lol they all also have their own back story of why they joined the war, so you'll feel a bit of regret and sorrow if you lose that one recruit during battle(not by story.) if they do lose all of their health in battle. You have 3 turns to revive them. Battles are extremely addicting, fun, and hard.Okay, i think ive gone on enough lol i hope this review has helped you in considering whether to buy this game or not. I am so happy to have had Valkyria Chronicles as my first SRPG. This one will stay in my game collection and close to the heart for years to come.