Valkyria Chronicles‘ recent release on PC was nothing short of a small miracle. No one would have ever suspected that Sega would actually give the fans what they want, let alone the release of a game that is nearly 7 years old on a different platform. That said, the massive amount of sales they made was hopefully an eye-opening experience for Sega and they’ll do more like this in the future.

As for the game, the PC version is more of a port than an actual remake or update. Despite the supposed updating to higher resolutions and 60 fps, the graphics don’t seem any crisper, the movement doesn’t seem any smoother, and the controls and gameplay aren’t any tighter. The Steam release feels like a port—but that’s not a bad thing.

While I would have loved to see the graphics improved (as long as they don’t lose their style), the game’s art style is stylized enough that it doesn’t really need updated graphics to capture what it’s after. While making them sharper would have been a nice upgrade, they still look great on PC.

I do have a minor gripe with them, however, in that they are supposedly updated to run at higher resolutions, but some of the lines and edges on PC seemed rougher than on PS3. The only thing I can even guess at as the cause would in fact be the much larger resolution I play on my PC at.

The game has dual-audio so you have easy access to the English and Japanese audio. The music and sound is still the same, with very little difference (if there is any at all); therefore, the complaint I had with the PS3 version is unfortunately still accurate.

During the voice-acted scenes, all of the lines sound completely disjointed. It doesn’t sound like they acted a scene, but rather acted the line. This makes much of the voice-acting feel sub-par, even if it’s not. It’s a minor thing that you’ll get over quickly enough, but it does still bother me some.

As for the gameplay, the PC version of the game still boasts the kick-ass Valkyria Chronicles Experience. The game remains unchanged, so any strategies and the like you used in the PS3 version will still be just as effective here.

And if you’re one of the lucky few who haven’t yet gotten to experience this game, you’ll get the same original experience that everyone else was talking about. When I was live streaming, I actually had a rude awakening when I pulled a stupid stunt and moved the Edelweiss too far out, getting myself killed. Lesson learned: never be cocky.

The default controls for PC aren’t bad, but they require a full-size keyboard. By default, your camera controls are mapped to the keypad. In addition to that, the controls on PC are a little tough to acclimate to. You can’t really do a half press in the movement keys to walk slower like you can with a joystick, so instead you use the WASD set up for normal movement and the arrow keys for slower or more precise movement.

While it’s not difficult, it takes some getting used to. Aiming your weapons works the same. Larger, sweeping movements with WASD, and smaller more precise movement with the arrow keys. Thankfully, while you’re aiming, you don’t get shot at so you can take your time there at least. The same doesn’t hold true when moving, though, so you need to be careful.

Either way, whether you played the original or didn’t have the option, I would highly recommend grabbing the PC port. The DLC is all included, and for $20, that’s a steal. The game is absolutely worth it, so if you like strategy style and thinking games, you’ll probably love Valkyria Chronicles.