Mirson

User Score
8.0

Presentation - 8.0
Gameplay - 8.0
Value - 8.0

The fourth downloadable content for Valkyria Chronicles has finally hit stateside. “The Challenges of the Edy Detachment” focuses on the members of the Edy Detachment (Edy, Jann, Marina, Susie, and Homer), but this isn’t a side-story unlike “Behind Her Blue Flame” and “Enter the Edy Detachment.” Instead, they’re class-based battles, and they can be accessed via the skirmish tab in the main game. This DLC contains six missions and retails for $5, but is it worth it? Are the battles enjoyable and lengthy, or are they a waste of time and money?

As mentioned before, this DLC follows the Edy Detachment, and each member does the mission briefing for the mission pertaining to its class. If the mission is sniper-based, Marina is the one who does the mission briefing. Each member’s personality is strengthened through their mission briefings; Jann remains hilarious and lovable while Edy remains egotistical and slightly annoying. There are no English voice-overs during the briefings which is unfortunate for those who prefer English VA. Also, don't expect to see new maps as they're the same ones from the main game.

Gameplay remains unchanged, but there’s an interesting design to these battles. Five out of the six missions are designed in such way that compels you to use a particular class to finish the mission. You're free to use any class in every mission, but it'll be more challenging if you don't use the class they're telling you rely on. Also, you aren’t forced to use anyone in the Edy Detachment which is great for those who despises anyone in the Edy Detachment.

Out of the six missions, only one of them was a waste of time. The scout mission will mostly have you locating enemies in the dark thus making it tedious. In the sniper mission, you're stranded on a terrestrial island, so you have limited space to work with. The enemies are on the opposite of the island, so you're going to rely on the snipers to take them out from far away. At the same time, you have to prevent the enemies from entering their base which makes it more exciting.

The shocktrooper mission is strategically demanding and thrilling to play because it only lets you have four squad members (Rosie will be mandatory), and you can’t call for reinforcements. Also, there's a great number of enemies present with reinforcement arriving at every turn, and you have to prevent them from leaving the area. The lancer mission is arguably the best and most strategically demanding mission. Once you see the map layout with all the tanks surrounding your base, you know you’re in for a ride. I have never seen so many tanks in Valkyria Chronicles. The last two missions, which Welkin is present, are ordinary missions – nothing great but not bad. Still, they’re worth a try.

As far as challenge goes, it all depends on the level you’re at. I didn’t find the battles challenging, with the exception of the lancer mission, since my characters were at a high level, and it also took away a little bit of my enjoyment from these skirmishes. Granted, there were some aces that gave me a hard time as they dealt a lot of damage and constantly dodged my attacks. These skirmishes can be completed in 4-5 hours, and there's practically no reason to replay them other than acquiring the new weapons you might've missed. You can’t try them under a different difficulty unlike the skirmish battles which is a tad unfortunate but understandable.

Despite a weak mission and the low replayability, $5 for "The Challenges of the Edy Detachment" is a great value. The class-based missions are incredibly fresh and well-designed. Those who are looking for more Valkyria should definitely pick this up.