Welcome to Day VII of the Community BLiTZ! Since it’s day seven, today we’re dedicating almost all of our time to the heroes of Squad 7, and to seeing what they’re all up to two years later. (On a related note, Alicia’s bread is delicious.)

Besides that, I also wanted to throw out one more call to action for fans who want to support the series: if you’re going to pick up the game, and if you’re excited about it, please pre-order the game if you haven’t already!

We’d like to say thank you to the many fans who already have for helping out, and now we’re going to try and beat the expected numbers to prove that this series is truly deserving of all the praise. If you haven’t yet, pre-ordering at Gamestop will also net you two bonus DLC codes, but likewise, every pre-order, no matter where, will help! (The way it works, every pre-order actually counts as multiple sales of the game, so each bit counts.)

Time for Day VII!

Community BLiTZ Day VII: Familiar Faces

For all the members of Squad 7 in the original Valkyria Chronicles, everyone had a favorite. Mine were definitely Vyse and Aika from Skies of Arcadia, but we’ve heard many people answer with Jann, or Rosie, or Largo. Even characters like Homer Peron and Edy get a lot of love, and all because each had a personality and a feeling that we could connect with. (Personally, I feel that Skies of Arcadia was legendary for a similar level of masterful storytelling.)

And, similar to Skies, many of the characters that we grew attached to in Valkyria Chronicles hold a special place in our gaming hearts. For all of you, Valkyria Chronicles 2 includes a number of unexpected moments that will make you smile. Some characters will get references in text or newspaper articles, while some might actually just visit the Lanseal campus. We’ll start off with the two most common – and perhaps two of the most important people from Squad 7. Welkin and Alicia:

We’re going to try our best to avoid spoilers here, with some in white (highlight to reveal them) but some basic items will be covered off early in the game, so if you haven’t beaten Valkyria Chronicles yet, stop reading and do so right now! You’ll thank us later.

What I found most interesting about Welkin and Alicia is that the game takes place in between the ending of Valkyria Chronicles and the Epilogue. (I was very glad for this, because the Epilogue to VC was sort of the perfect happy ending for me.) As a result, you can see Alicia and Welkin early on into their marriage,  and also before the birth of their daughter, Isara.  Welkin has taken up his dream of becoming a teacher, and Alicia, likewise, is on the road to becoming a baker.

As Lanseal is a large academy with many cadets and a life of its own, the store there becomes a common visiting place for Alicia to sell her bread – and, now and then, for Welkin to visit.

When Welkin visits, he’ll actually offer to teach you orders if you have enough experience saved up to use. I smiled amidst chills when this first happened, because 1: I felt old suddenly, 2: It was kind of awesome, and 3: I wondered silently about the old man in the graveyard from the first game. I personally hope that someday we’ll get to know more about him, as well.

But Welkin and Alicia aren’t the only familiar faces that will appear in the VC2. We’re going to leave some to surprise you, but one in particular has been poking us every single day since the BLiTZ started to finally – woah, wait -

Hey, Edy! Stop that! Those art books aren’t for you to draw on! Those are special!

… Anyways, all of you who love Edy and her terri – I mean beautiful – singing voice, will be happy to see her return in the second game. The self-proclaimed idol of Squad 7 is far from the only one, though – rumor has it that fans of Rosie should use Vario as much as possible, and explore his side story to see what happens. A promise is a promise, right?

That’s all for today, but tomorrow we might just have something special in the works for all of you attending this year’s PAX! It’s not edible (sorry, Avan!), but if you’re going to be there, you might just be able to get something very special and exclusive to the convention.

Special Thanks

Today’s special thanks go to the guys and gals over at Gamespot, who awarded Valkyria Chronicles II the Best RPG of E3 Award, and Best PSP game of E3 Award! Those are no small tokens to roll a tank at, and our entire team was stoked to see the game getting the attention it deserved.

Yesterday’s Winners

• On the blogs, D4rths1D, who wrote:

Gotta go with the ol’ reliable with the heavy, anti-armor tank, Edelweiss!

• On Facebook, Alika Q, who wrote:

Most definitely the Edelweiss. Not only is it Welkin’s tank but it’s a great shield to cover my infantry’s advances across the battlefield.

• On Twitter, @mjliangco, who wrote:

Definitely Isara. Just wanted to kick some Empire butt.

Congrats to all three winners!

Edy’s Giveaway of Goodness

…My stuff… is gone?! Wait, there’s a letter here… from Edy?

“Hello, darlings! I’d like all my fans to know that I captured three special artbooks for you, and you can enter to win one by telling us who your favorite member of Squad 7 is! ( P.S. : There’s only one right answer, and it starts with E-D-Y!)”

Well, apparently we’re taking a popularity poll.

• Cast your vote for favorite squad 7 member in the comments below for your chance to win another pre-order artbook here on the blogs today!

(If Edy doesn’t win, something tells me I might never see the rest of my Valkyria swag ever again. I’m not telling you to stuff the ballot, but please, please: think of my stuff.)

Other giveaways are also going on at Facebook and on Twitter, so check them out, as usual!

Coming soon…

Tomorrow things go blue as we bathe in a wealth of knowledge about an ancient, mythical race known as the Valkyrur. We’ll also explore the role of a new, curious young girl near the academy who seems to hold such powers…

Just for kicks, we’re also going to include two videos: our new story trailer that went out today, and a trip back to one awesome cinematic from the first VC that gets our blue blood boiling. We might also have a special VC2 announcement exclusively about PAX!

We’ll see you then!