As part of the Xbox Game Pass for PC I downloaded Valkyria Chronicles, the first one. I had already started that one once on the PS4, but never gotten far. And on paper it ticks all the right boxes for me to like it: I love games with turn-based tactical combat, I like Japanese role-playing games, and I have no special dislike towards the WWII setting. But again I'm a few hours into the game, and have problems finding the motivation to continue. Why don't I like this game?

I think it might have to do with the scripted nature of the battles, and the way the game keeps score. You get xp and money based on in how few turns you finish the battle. Now if you play a battle for the first time, you don't know the enemy positions, and might run into some surprises, like a scout hidden in the grass somewhere. So your battle result probably isn't going to be perfect on the first try, and you might get something like a "C". You can't replay story battles, but you can reload a save game, and with the added knowledge from the first try, maybe the next run you get a "B", netting you more xp and money. Or you go on YouTube, and find a video explaining how to get an "A", which usually involves rushing the battle with a single scout, and takes much of the variety out of battles. In other words, if you want to play the game "well", you need to play it like a puzzle game, not like a tactical battle game. If you insist on playing it like a tactical game and don't save-scum, the game punishes you with giving you less xp and money.

I think I will use a work-around. I'll play the game as a tactical game for fun. And now that I have it on PC, I can use software like Cheat Engine to grant myself the xp and money I would have gotten if I had played it as a puzzle game. I don't object to cheating in a single-player game, it basically just is a way to redesign the game, if you use it right. I don't regularly do it, but in some cases cheats and mods can make a game I don't enjoy so much more enjoyable.