When comparing Valkyria Chronicles Remastered vs Grim Dawn, the Slant community recommends Grim Dawn for most people. In the question“What are the best RPGs with a high number of classes that are actually different from one another?” Grim Dawn is ranked 1st while Valkyria Chronicles Remastered is ranked 9th. The most important reason people chose Grim Dawn is:
Basically you choose 1 class and select skills as you level up. At level 10 you can select a second class, which already gives you 5x5=25 character type possibilities. Each character has dozens of skills, plus you have this additional passive skill tree that you unlock through cleansing shrines. Then there is item customization with crafted "modifiers", adding additional unique stats and skills that you can use, all this adds literally to thousands / millions of character possibilities. Do you want to use a double weapon shooting lightning bolts? You can do that. Do you want to summon your creatures and support them with fireballs? You can do that as well, you can push it wherever you want.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Great turn-based, tactical gameplay
Valkyria Chronicles features an expertly-crafted, turn-based combat system, where you control only a few characters in each battle. You are often against greater numbers, so tactics play a huge part in this game.
The combat system is called BLiTZ (Battle of Live Tactical Zones). You view an overhead map of the combat area and can control each character individually. There are a plethora of options with each character: repositioning to have a better attack capability, taking cover, using special abilities or items, or simply attacking. These actions are limited by the AP gauge, so you'll have to pay close attention to how much you can do in a single turn.
Each character also has their own class, so you'll also have to plan around their strengths and weaknesses. Some are better at moving, some are better at shooting, but most of them are defined by their special abilities and stat modifiers.
Pro Amazing soundtrack
This game features a soundtrack composed by Hitoshi Sakamoto (known for his work on FFT and FFXII). The orchestra music makes you feel various emotions at the right times. It's a mix of melancholy, hope, and also fear. Some of the songs make you feel even more tense than the battles themselves.
Pro Very immersive story
Valkyria Chronicles is a story about war and all the ugly truths behind it. It effectively uses cutscenes for outlining each team member's motivations, so you really get invested in keeping them alive. In the end, it's the soldiers who suffer the most.
Pro Complex leveling system with thousands of possible builds
Basically you choose 1 class and select skills as you level up. At level 10 you can select a second class, which already gives you 5x5=25 character type possibilities.
Each character has dozens of skills, plus you have this additional passive skill tree that you unlock through cleansing shrines. Then there is item customization with crafted "modifiers", adding additional unique stats and skills that you can use, all this adds literally to thousands / millions of character possibilities.
Do you want to use a double weapon shooting lightning bolts? You can do that. Do you want to summon your creatures and support them with fireballs? You can do that as well, you can push it wherever you want.
Pro Great homage to old school ARPGs
This game is very dark, and grim. It harkens back to games like Diablo 2 or Titans Quest. While other ARPGs have come out since then, none have hit all the marks of what fans of the genre have been asking for. For those that wish for an updated version of Diablo 2, Grim Dawn is the game for them.
Pro Exploration
Pro Highly modifiable
Relevant in modern gaming because the community can keep products like this fresh and varied, even if the developers eventually decide to slow down their updates (which they have not!). The possibilities are great with modding, while the experiences in Diablo 3 and Path of exile are a lot more static.
Pro Drop-in co-op (online and local)
Co-op is pretty convenient as players can drop in and out of your gaming session at any time. This way there is no wasted time jumping out of ones game in order to find players to play with.
Cons
Con Characters have permadeath
If a character dies in a skirmish, they are dead forever, no getting them back.
Con Only some builds are fun
There is a definite meta, with superefficient vs non-viable builds.
It's easy to mess up a build, and attribute and spec-bar points are non-respeccable (you can use a cheat editor, but devs want you to reroll a new char).
Con Difficult to move when fighting, especially when you are ranged
Con Static pre-rendered levels
This may cut down on replayability a bit as all the levels in the game are pre-rendered, meaning that each playthrough will have the exact same layout, making for something that can get tiring and too familiar. Similar games have gone with randomized levels, which can keep the game fresh. While Grim Dawn is meant to be a throwback to earlier games in the genre, some newer features found in more recent released would have been welcome.
Con Lots of trips to town
The majority of loot in the game can be useless, with odd stat restrictions or repeats of vendor items. This means the user will need to make many trips into town to sell it all off in order to have room for even more loot they will not necessarily need.