Set in a fictional version of Europe during a World War I-like conflict, Valkyria Chronicles saw the veteran Sega team behind the Sakura Wars series deliver a breath of fresh air into tactical games.

The game's outstanding feature is its blend of tactical turn-based RPG with third-person combat. When a mission starts you're sent into a tactical map and asked to dispatch up to ten units. Each turn you're given a set number of Command Points, and by spending one you get to control a unit in third-person mode, walking around for a set amount and performing one attack. You may use a unit repeatedly, but once your points are over, the turn ends.

The game offers five classes – Scouts, Engineers, Shocktroopers, Lancers and Snipers – plus two types of tank. Knowing where and when to use them is key: a Lancer can destroy a tank with one well-aimed shot at its engine, but it's useless against regular troops.

Each character also has its own personality traits: a “Loner” character, for example, gets a bonus when far from the rest of the squad. After each battle you'll earn money and XP based on your performance, which can be used to upgrade weapons, armour and tanks, as well as level up each of the classes.

The main campaign offers 18 battles with a wide range of goals – you'll pursue an armoured car across narrow streets, avoid enemy search parties in a forest at night, defeat a massive tank, blow up a bridge, etc. Some missions can take over an hour to complete and allow many strategies, though the game pushes you to complete them as fast as possible to earn an S rank.

You'll eventually unlock extra side-missions, such as repeatable skirmishes (where you can train), special missions based around individual characters and the DLC missions, which are included in the PC port and allow you to play as other squads.