The shortest month of the year is behind us, but not without causing a bit of electronic drama as the first three generations of PlayStation 3's pooped themselves on Monday. My second generation unit had no problems since I didn't even turn it on on Monday, but the problems others were having resolved themselves when the clock rolled into Tuesday. Interesting!

So, Demon's Souls is on the shelf now, sadly. I will return to it later, but I have pressed on into the next game in the queue, Valkyria Chronicles.

Valkyria Chronicles is a tactical combat game. Each level consists of a mission for your squad of militiamen fighting a defensive war against the invading East Europan (sic) Imperial Alliance, which also goes by the eternal antagonistic collective term, "the Empire." The game puts you in the role of Welkin Gunther, shown in the picture above on the right, as he leads a small team to oppose the invasion.

I've completed about four or five levels now, and the game is indeed cool. The turn-based combat throws me back to playing XCOM. There is depth under the surface when you realize you need to hand pick your squad for each mission, where each soldier has unique traits and abilities that will change the squad's effectiveness just by his or presence or absence. Furthermore, certain soldiers will work well (or not so well) with others, so finding synergies and avoiding intrasquad friction is another challenge. I freely admit I have not mastered the system yet but I also luckily have yet to be kneecapped by a poorly chosen roster.

The game is presented in a cel-shaded Japanimation/anime/call-it-what-you-will style and has all the introspective, soliloquitastic dialogue one would expect from a tactical JRPG. I don't think I've ever actually used that term before--JRPG, not "soliloquitastic." For example, in the image to the left, racial drama unfolds as Rosie (left) verbally accosts Isara (far right) about her heritage. Welkin (center) stares longingly and then offers up some speech about how everything would be better if people were more in tune with nature and tells a story (to no one in particular) about planting a tree as a child. It is also only in such a characteristically Japanese game world that one would find miniskirts and thigh-high boots to be the standard battle dress (no pun intended) for female foot soldiers. Despite the quirks, I am very much enjoying the game and I am looking forward to playing through it. I've heard horror stories about an upcoming mission, but I will endure. After all, I also heard horror stories about the final motorcycle jump in Grand Theft Auto IV, and that turned out the be the least of my problems in that mission.

This weekend, I also had a chance to play the demo for God of War III. I haven't played a God of War game in years, but as soon as the characteristic Blades of Athena started whipping across the screen, I was sucked right back into mythological combat. The feel of the previous two games is there, as is the sheer brutality. As scary as it is, Kratos is even more dangerous now. I'm looking forward to playing the real deal when it comes out.