The articlegameplay, story, development, reception
Gameplay
Valkyria Chronicles 4 is a strategy game in the style of the first three games in the series. It introduces a new soldier class known as the Grenadier, who can fire mortar rounds at enemies. If allied soldiers are present to provide battlefield information, they can fire without being seen by hostile forces. When a soldier in your army is on the verge of death, there is a fixed chance that a new system called "Brave" will be activated. When used, players can choose to either restore one Command Point (CP) and increase the ability of a nearby ally, counter the enemy's attack (if downed on enemy's turn) or restore Action Points (AP) to the unit and enable it to move and attack once in an invincible state (if downed on player's turn).
Story
Claude Wallace and his childhood friends Kai Shulen and Raz join the Federation Army in order to fight the Empire in the Second Europan War, both to protect their home country of Gallia and avenge an Imperial attack on their hometown of Hafen. However, during training, Kai mysteriously disappears, leaving his sister Leena to take his place as "Kai". Claude, Raz, and Leena are able to pass training and join the elite Ranger Corps, with Claude being assigned command of Squad E.
Squad E is then informed that the Empire has the upper hand, capturing a large amount of Federation territory as well as initiating an invasion of Gallia. Federation leaders decide to put all of their resources into Operation Northern Cross, a massive offensive with the objective of pushing straight to the Imperial capital of Schwartzgrad. The operation is initially successful, with Squad E managing to push through Imperial territory. Along the way, they are joined by another childhood friend, Riley Miller.
Development
The game was produced by Kei Mikami, who was involved in the production of Valkyria Revolution, and directed by Kohei Yamashita. The game's soundtrack was written by series composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, with the main theme, "Light Up My Life", being composed by Shilo and written and performed by Mai Kuraki.
The development began around the end of 2015, after Yamashita had finished planning the project. From the start, the developers had the goal to build a worldwide audience for the Valkyria Chronicles series, with the concept of returning to the style of the original Valkyria Chronicles game while building upon developments from later games in the series: whereas the PlayStation Portable game Valkyria Chronicles II had been developed specifically with a Japanese audience in mind due to the popularity of the platform in that region, with "fantastical" characters and a school setting, Valkyria Chronicles 4 uses a more grounded military setting with characters intended to feel like real people.
Reception
Valkyria Chronicles 4 received "generally favorable reviews", according to review aggregator Metacritic.
During its initial March release on PS4, the game sold 76,778 physical copies within its first three weeks in Japan. After its release on the Switch in September, the game sold 5,596 physical copies within its first week in Japan.
