Today, during a livestream from its headquarters in Tokyo, Sega showcased the first live gameplay on PS4 of its upcoming strategy JRPG Senjou no Valkyria 4: Eastern Front, which will be released in the west as Valkyria Chronicles 4.

The gameplay was played live on PS4 and showcased two missions. The first is a mock battle against Minerva Victor's squad F. As you may have imagined, she appears to be the perfect tsundere rival.  Best girl detected.

The battle is set in a city map, and we get to see new squad members in action including Theresa (Scout. She doesn't last long), Rebecca (Engineer), and Zaiga (Shocktrooper.  He also doesn't last long), plenty of comments on Kai's backside (just watch the video it and you'll understand even if you don't speak Japanese), and Raz's alleged invulnerability getting immediately disproved. Unfortunately, Riley's Grenadier abilities don't get much spotlight.

Interestingly, we also notice how tanks can destroy wooden barriers, and a look at the squad roster reveals other squad member's names: Dan, Kurt, Godwin, Rosetta, Niko, Millenia, Seika, Scott, Viola, Furett, Ferrie, Kaigel, Jenny, Laurent, Britney, Oral, Rebecca, Aladin, Koner, and Iifa.

While the first mission was played (terribly) by the host, Battle Planner Sato-san took control for the second mission, so we get to see some proper gameplay. This mission comes much later in the game (squad members already have Elite status), and we notice immediately that Minerva is playable. Squad members Koner (Grenadier) and Aladin (Sniper) are also showcased.

The battle is centered about the newly-revealed Snow Cruiser Centurion,  which is being targeted by parachute bombs.

Speaking of grenadiers, they're definitely an interesting element to them. They are active during the enemy turn and can intercept. The same goes for your turn, so you can be hit by grenades suddenly while running around, adding a new element of unpredictability that was not present in the previous Valkyria Chronicles games. You can see it happen a couple of times in the videos.

Last, but not least, we get to see a glimpse of gameplay of the “Joint Operation with Squad 7” DLC mission that is included as a bonus in the Japanese Collector’s Edition.

You can enjoy all the nearly forty minutes of gameplay below, alongside a few slides showing the game's characters, retailer-specific bonuses for Japan featuring artwork by Character Designer Raita Honjou and special tank stickers, and the first look at the game's box. You can also watch the full livestream at the bottom of the post.

If you want to see even more about the game, you can check out a brand new trailer showcasing a wide range of gameplay features old and new, some recent screenshots and information freshly released just yesterdaythe first and rather awesome trailer, some recent screenshotsmore artwork and info, and the first screenshots.

Valkyria Chronicles 4 will release in both North America and Europe for PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One in 2018. It will launch in Japan for PS4 on March 21st, 2018 and for Nintendo Switch later in the summer.