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Chapter 1: 'Gladius Hispaniensis'
We open the game to be immediately greeted by these guys. We're going with Valans the option for 'advanced players'.
It was an evening like many others, as Imperia's greatest gladiator walked home with his son
Munio's looking a little old to be an amazing Gladiator in this picture...
Not even the Affinity Gods could have saved Imperia's chosen hero,
But whether is was luck or the divine will of the Affinity Gods, Valans the favored son of Imperia
And here is our glorious introduction to Valans in-engine
Are you sure you want me to go through with this?
And here we're introduced to Ludo, Valan's best friend, and his goofy hair
for as long as I can remember
In-game cutscenes have the best facial expressions.
And you've always treated me like a brother
It is almost impossible to take a picture of Valans and not have him look incredibly goofy.
Ludo is not nearly as co-operative on the funny-faces front.
Don't say that
Its the truth, nobody dies in the games anymore.
Way off in the distance is Munio school which looks a bit... different from the prolouge.
Probably the most serious shot of Valans we'll get during the entire LP.
Show me how much you want to be the leader!
And Ludo goes and pulls a sword on his best friend. In the middle of nowhere. Miles away from civilization and the awesome magics that protect gladiators in the arena.
The fact he's your best friend, almost brother, who you've trained alongside for years hasn't proven it already?
Valans can't take anyone seriously.
Well, I see there's no dissuading you
Suddenly, tutorial!
Don't worry, I won't hurt you... too badly.
You may have noticed black bars disappearing from the top and bottom of the screenshots. Thats because, for whatever reason, Gladius only goes full screen when you're actually in battle. Its a little bizzare.
This is a really basic combat tutorial, but it introduces one of the primary things that sets the game apart: The swing meter. With every attack the player is going to get some way to impact the strike. As we're forced to use the basic, no-frills strike here we get the most basic swing meter. Hitting X while in the yellow area does the hit for normal damage, hitting in the red will get you a critical hit and in the blue will make you wiff and do a pathetic amount of damage. The trick is, like many other strategy games you have a percent chance to hit on any strike determined by your stats and a few other things. This only affects your swing if you hit a normal hit or a wiff, a critical will always connect. Getting criticals, especially on regular swings, is ridiculously easy once you have the rhythm down. Of course for more complex moves there are more complex swing meters, and they can get pretty tough.
I will not be drawn in by your taunts, Ludo. It is the weapon of a weak warrior.
Then I'm surprised you never used them yourself!
He says as he tickles us with his sword.
Valans takes the opportunity to show off a move that doesn't involve beating your opponenet with your sword.
Empower Self is a move unique to Valans and Ursula which gives them some awesome stat raises in Damage, Accuracy and Defense.
Case in point, Valans dodges Ludo's strike here to drum into your head that the buff is a good thing to use. He then proceeds to knock Ludo on his ass.
And the stupid black bars come back 
Thank you Ludo, but remember its a team sport. I couldn't do it without you.
And on that heartwarming note, we change scenes.
To Munio's grave?
Which is apparantly right in the middle of his school. Who the hell thought that was a good idea?
There's an old man now talking to our plucky heros. He's Usus, one of the most integral characters in the game. While he never fights, he basically runs all the logistics and politics so that the fighters can compete and he's some kind of legendary trainer. He marks the big point of divergence between the Valans and Ursula scenarios as whichever one of the two he doesn't pick to help doesn't really end up getting anywhere with the whole 'I want to be a gladiator' thing.
Before I forget
What is this?
A Memento of your father's. I was waiting for an appropriate time to give it to you.
Its the amulet from the introduction. How the hell did Usus get ahold of it? 
"Blood sports will sate our bloodlust so we won't have to go to war! Hell they're better than war, you can bring your kids and really make a day of it!"
I'm afraid it was broken during the attack that took his life.
Valans, you were there. How can you possibly not know this?
He would be proud to see you wear it
Alright, let's get this show on the...
Or we could have another tutorial.