Name: Anonymous 2011-11-26 2:06
I worked on Valkyria Chronicles 1, 2 and 3.
Here's some news that you wont find on any gaming sites...
After VC1 came out on PS3, Sega was a little disappointing in the sales (They had poured a significant amount of cash into the CANVAS system, along with a 'higher than usual' quality for an experimental genre)
The main producer at the time (forgot his name) decided that because of poor sales (despite being critically acclaimed) the next version will be on PSP, and get released internationally.
Into the production of VC2, due to either stress and / or sickness (again, forget why), he left his role on the project and a new producer was brought in.
That producer decided for some reason that he wanted to market VC2 towards female audiences. So that is why the art style was a bit 'yaoi-ish' and the story was mostly brighter.
When VC3 rolled around (we had started working on it even before VC2 was released in the States), seeing their failure at VC2, they decided to go the opposite way and make it with a very dark tone. If VC3 sold relatively better than VC2 in Japan, SEGA would strongly consider to bring it out to international markets.
As you can see, VC3 is no where to be seen. I've been disappointing at this, especially since i think VC3 was the greatest achievement for the series.
2 things that I blame for the failure of this series.
1- the art style (sorry my Jap brothers, but most people outside Asia do not like to look at anime (cell shaded style for VC1 was 'innovative' to a point, which is probably an exception, but with VC2.. come on)
2- Where's the promotion? (Releasing a game overseas does not mean it will sell itself. I can't prove this, but I think SEGA in the West really didn't have high hopes for the series, and thus chose not to put much budget into international promotions)
I haven't been asked to work on VC4, which means it's probably not in production.
Here's some news that you wont find on any gaming sites...
After VC1 came out on PS3, Sega was a little disappointing in the sales (They had poured a significant amount of cash into the CANVAS system, along with a 'higher than usual' quality for an experimental genre)
The main producer at the time (forgot his name) decided that because of poor sales (despite being critically acclaimed) the next version will be on PSP, and get released internationally.
Into the production of VC2, due to either stress and / or sickness (again, forget why), he left his role on the project and a new producer was brought in.
That producer decided for some reason that he wanted to market VC2 towards female audiences. So that is why the art style was a bit 'yaoi-ish' and the story was mostly brighter.
When VC3 rolled around (we had started working on it even before VC2 was released in the States), seeing their failure at VC2, they decided to go the opposite way and make it with a very dark tone. If VC3 sold relatively better than VC2 in Japan, SEGA would strongly consider to bring it out to international markets.
As you can see, VC3 is no where to be seen. I've been disappointing at this, especially since i think VC3 was the greatest achievement for the series.
2 things that I blame for the failure of this series.
1- the art style (sorry my Jap brothers, but most people outside Asia do not like to look at anime (cell shaded style for VC1 was 'innovative' to a point, which is probably an exception, but with VC2.. come on)
2- Where's the promotion? (Releasing a game overseas does not mean it will sell itself. I can't prove this, but I think SEGA in the West really didn't have high hopes for the series, and thus chose not to put much budget into international promotions)
I haven't been asked to work on VC4, which means it's probably not in production.