Today's issue of Weekly Famitsu included a new spread on Valkyria Revolution, which will be released in Japan on January 19th for PS4 and PS Vita, with a western launch announced today and scheduled for Spring 2017, adding an Xbox One version to the mix.

We meet Richelle Ludorf, a historian who knows the true story of the Liberation War, and who is also the narrator of the game, telling the tale of the Amleth and Ophelia's battles happened a hundred years before.

The game's narration will proceed as she tells the story to one of her students at the "tomb of the grave sinner" (which is obviously one of the Five Grave Sinners, whom, including  the hero Amleth, play a central role in the story. Unfortunately the definition appears to be lost in the western localization, that simply refers to them as "The circle of five") in the forest of Molda near the capital of the Kingdom of Jutland.

By selecting Richelle, the story missions will launch, as she tells the truth of the Liberation War in response to the questions of her student, explaining how the Jutland Kingdom declared war on the Rushien Empire a hundred years before.

The setting is quite appropriate, as the first mission will bring players to the Molda forest, where Amleth will lead his unit to strike on a Rushien base. This mission will also serve as a tutorial.

By selecting the history book the student is holding, titled Archives of the Revolution, you can check the episodes corresponding to the battles that the player has already cleared. Furthermore, you can read what recorded history says about the events narrated by Richelle, adding another layer to the story.

There is also an encyclopedia  that describes the setting and the various elements that make it unique, like Ragnite and other technical terms, allowing the player to enjoy the depth of the game's world.

On top of that, a notebook from the time of the Liberation War includes the stories of the men and women who fought with Amleth. A side story for each character will be playable when certain conditions will be met.

Incidentally, Richelle is voiced by Masako Ikeda, who many will remember as the legendary Maetel from Leiji Matsumoto's Galaxy Express 999, while more recently she lent her voice to Hydaelyn in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.

Last, but definitely not least, we learn that a new demo of the game will be made available on the Japanese PSN on December 22nd (which incidentally is exactly the same day in which we're getting the NieR: Automata demo as well). It will include the whole prologue, and save games will carry over to the final game. An in-game item will also be awarded to those who will complete the demo. At the moment no western release has been mentioned for this, or any of the two previously released demos.

You can check out the screenshots below, but keep in mind that they come from magazine scans, so the game will definitely look better on your screen.