Ten years have passed since the very first Valkyria Chronicles, but it could have been so much longer ago - or much more recently, really. There's something ageless about Sega's original PlayStation 3 tactical shooter, something in its washed out lo-fantasy take on World War 2 that feels like it transcends time. That's another of the strange things about Valkyria Chronicles - it's a game that's constantly pined for, and yet one that's never really been away all that long.
Maybe it's because so many of the games in those intervening years never really scratched the itch left by the original - or weren't properly given the chance to, anyway. A sequel came out for PSP back in 2010, taking the turn-based formula back to school in a slightly discordant but still enjoyable outing, followed up quickly by a third instalment that, while brilliant, never made its way out of Japan. A five year lull ensued, the silence broken by Valkyria Revolution's dismal fanfare - a spin-off that bungled a handful of the series' tropes into an anaemic action game. It was a definite nadir of Valkyria Chronicle's decade of existence.
So how lovely it is to have such a concerted bounce back so soon after the Valkyria games had hit rock bottom - and what a bounce back it is. Valkyria Chronicles 4 is a full-blooded, big-hearted throwback to everything that made the original shine, a return to the strategic action as well as to the whimsical fantasy take on World War 2. After the turbulence and disappointment of Valkyria Revolution, there's something warming about going back to it all and finding everything in its right place.