It’s frustrating when you know more than your characters, and have to watch them struggle through trying to figure out what YOU ALREADY KNOW! I realize that in this case, we as the players have been privy to certain scenes and information which Claude and Riley in particular have not, but it’s still frustrating. At least the big reveal is over after this chapter.
Battle-wise, this chapter has Squad E walking into a painfully obvious trap. On my first playthrough, the only big question in my mind was what nature the trap would take. A pincer movement between Crymaria and Vulcan was definitely not what I was hoping for.
Crymaria seems to be invulnerable here, so the only option is to go for the Vulcan. Given that this happens to be the only victory condition, that’s what I did on subsequent attempts. I loaded the right side of my group with anti-armor lancers and grenadiers, and brought an extra tank along for good measure. Not that I ended up needing quite that much firepower for an A-Rank victory, but it’s nice to have backup.
And then we’re back to the story, with Riley, at least, finally learning who Angie really is. The bit with Kai/Forsetti at the end is interesting too. It implies that there’s a deeper reason behind his treachery, and also that the Federation really isn’t any better than the Empire in how it treats prospective Valkyr. It’ll be interesting to see if that theme gets any deeper exploration as we move towards the endgame.