How do you know that for sure? because of the voices here or Youtube comments?
I know that because of the voices here who had hands on time with its Battle Demo 1.0, as well as those who have watched full videos of playthroughs of that same demo.
Action RPG's have a much lower entry point to get into, and are alot more friendly to new gamers or those who are unfamiliar with the genre than traditional RPG's as the strategy game elements are what could have turned people away from the original games.
Your first point - that Action RPGs are easier to get into - is an opinion; and even if Action RPGs are objectively 'easier' - which is difficult to measure - the fact that they are more attractive to players will always depend on the player themselves.
My statements were never about inviting new players into the series - they were about staying true to the series core values and roots, and presenting those strengths once more in a new, updated entry into the series; one that doesn't completely swap genres and buckle under the lofty possibility of new players/sales.
Why bother making the changes then?
They are already committed to releasing this game...at this point and seeing the feedback from the original Demo put them in sort of tough spot. They could not afford to waste all their efforts with the current engine by discarding it and retooling the old engine to work with the new game...
I fully understand what you're trying to say here, and I agree with you, but...
they could not make the deadline by doing so.
... if this is the case, then they should have delayed it and worked to make sure that the changes do enough to encapsulate what players want. Even if VAR is a spin off, every commercially 'failed' release in the 'Valkyria' series is another nail in the coffin that SEGA is building around the IP.
Special care should be taken with it to make sure that - even if it's a spin off - it helps the IP rather than hinders it further. It simply can't take much more abuse, in my opinion.
So I'm going to go out on a limb and believe that they had to make some sort of compromise with in the development cycle to make this game appeal to long time fans by making it feel/seem familiar and keep some of their original ideas/goals they had initially planned.
That seems to be what they're doing now, but like I said above, if time is a factor, a delay would be safer for the continued longevity of the 'Valkyria' IP than continuing on with the originally planned development cycle and releasing it 4 months after its final 2.0 Battle Demo.
Unless there's a complete 180 on the public's opinion of the game from Battle Demo 1.0 to 2.0, there will be very little time to implement changes to the point where the final product will be worthy - again, in my opinion - of the 'Valkyria' series IP. I can almost 100% guarantee that many other players feel the exact same way.
There's a level of quality that needs to be achieved for VAR to be seen as 'worthy' by veteran Valkyria Chronicles players, let alone new players, and if the bar isn't met, it's another nail in the coffin, like I mentioned before.
Vita Port?
If it's possible, then they should attempt it. We do not know how intensive this game was for it to be "watered down" to fit the Vita port, there is no way in knowing until it's released, however I think they wanted to keep in the good spirits of the fans they gained during the handheld era of Valkyria Chronicles.
The game - with all it's post processing effects and such - likely needed to be watered down a fair bit during its porting process between the PS4 and Vita, but like you say, we don't know the degree to which that occurred. You may also be correct about 'keeping in the good spirits of the fans they gained during the handheld era of Valkyria Chronicles' but I personally don't believe that to be the case.
The sudden announcement of the port and release date at the same time comes off as a strictly business decision to wrap up production on the project due to the fan reaction, and push it out to the two biggest platforms it can to reach maximum exposure without dedicating additional resources to a complete reworking of the project.
No one quite understands what Sega is doing in the grand scheme of things, but regarding this franchise, they at least acknowledge the western audience and if we take that into consideration, they maybe planning to release VAR into the west to see if the franchise is still viable here. The game being released on PS4 does help improve those chances and if Sega keeps their expectations low, we just may see future titles here as well...granted that VAR isn't a complete POS.
This all goes back to what I mentioned above - the success or failure of VAR will dictate the future of the franchise, and based on the videos and feedback and sudden changes/announcements I've seen, I do not feel comfortable with the odds as they are now.
Essentially, there are a few possibilities of how this will play out, all based around the possible plans SEGA has for the franchise.
- VAR is critically panned, fails to reach sales targets for SEGA, and was planned as a 'test' of the franchise's future viability. Future 'Valkyria' releases are shelved.
- VAR is critically panned, fails to reach sales targets for SEGA, and was always planned as a spin-off. SEGA takes its failure as a sign of what not to do, and while listening to fan feedback, work begins in earnest on a new mainline 'Valkyria Chronicles' title.
- VAR is well received, succeeds in reaching sales targets for SEGA, and was planned as a 'test' of the franchise's future viability. Future chances off 'Valkyria' titles are bolstered, either as an ARPG or SRPG.
- VAR is well received, succeeds in reaching sales targets for SEGA, and was always planned as a spin-off. SEGA takes its success as a sign of renewed interest in the IP and dedicates proper, full resources towards a new, mainline, 'Valkyria Chronicles' title.
Like most things, of course, there will always be other possibilities - but I believe those that I've outlined above are four of the most likely situations to come out of the possible success and possible failure of VAR.
I sincerely hope that VAR is simply being treated as a spin-off - as has been hinted at through the development team's use of the separate 'Revolution' and 'Chronicles'/'War' naming schemes for the titles during interviews - and work on a proper SRPG sequel/reboot to 'Valkyria Chronicles' is underway, or begins as a response to VAR.