LED Lights & Accessories Wholesaler

A new Valkyria wasn't completely unexpected given the critical acclaim the first game received, but the platform might come as a bit of a surprise -- the game's due out for the PSP this winter in Japan, with a US date yet to be announced. Producer Shuntaro Tanaka commented to Famitsu that the move to PSP was "to allow a broader spectrum of users to discover and enjoy what makes Valkyria special," but noted that the Valkyria series is not necessarily bound to handheld systems in the future.

Taking place two years after the original, Valkyria 2 is once again set in the principality of Gallia, a small nation stuck between two superpowers in the continent of Europa. Still exhausted by the war depicted in the previous game, the country now faces a new threat: the Gallia Revolutionary Army, a rebel group staging an ethnically-charged campaign against the Darcsen minority living in the south. With Gallia's own army stretched to the limit, the government is forced to press the cadets studying at the national military academy into active service -- including 17-year-old Avan Hardence, the hero of this game.

This gives Valkyria 2 a gameplay style not unlike what we've seen in Atlus's Persona series. The game uses the same battle system as before, mixing behind-the-shoulder action with sim-like strategic gameplay as it guides you through a series of missions. You're controlling a bunch of military cadets, though, so much of the game's story is told through your life in and around the school -- perhaps giving Valkyria 2 a bit of a Japanese "school life simulator" touch, although details are still scant. There are several times more missions than in the first Valkyria, and a great deal more customization is possible in this game, both to your fighters and to the vehicles and tanks they have at their disposal.

More on Valkyria 2 as it comes.