A new dawn for RPG gamers and Mobile Suit fans alike.
The games story requires no previous knowledge of any Gundam or SD Gundam (which is uncommon for SD Gundam RPGs) and is highly engrossing. The story takes place approximately 50 years after an explosion that engulfed the entire earth killing almost every living thing on the earth. The explosion (called “the great fall”) didn’t mean the end of the human race so humans did what they always do, rebuild. As the game starts you take on the roll of Tristin (you can rename him if you wish) along with your friend Fritz. You and he find yourselves in a G system (the place where Mobile Suits are made) and make your first mech and the story takes off. Your story will take you too every corner of the earth which are quite distinguishable from the world map as well as the moon because sci-fi is no fun without going to the moon right? What is the motivation for Tristin and Fritz you ask? Well, I’ll tell you, something tragic happened in their past and they seek revenge. But that’s not all, along the way they make some good friends, lose some friends and discover all kinds of plot twists and secrets all while trying to save the world from another “Great Fall”.
The gameplay is awesome; it’s the classic turn based RPG we all love. Each turn you get a general idea of what the enemy will do by the warning system in the top right corner, you choose what to do based on that. You have many choices, fight: attack using equipped weapons or bare fists, boost: use a super powerful attack that consumes energy, technique: use a pilot skill, item: use an item from your inventory, defend: reduce incoming damage by 50%, charge: increase your energy, switch: switch to a party member in the back and finally, retreat: run away from a fight (you can’t always run and it takes all of your energy to try).
The exploration in the game is very well thought out. When you are in a town you are on foot and your party members go to random spots in the area and mingle. When you are on the world map you start with just running around in your Mobile Suit but later you can fly around in a Gaw (a really big plane) and even White Base!(a spaceship that can also fly)The dungeon exploring is also done while piloting your mobile suit, luckily during all of this there is a map you can check by pressing select.
The coolest game play element in my opinion is the ability to customize your Mobile Suits colors, armor, weapons and even it’s name! There are over 30 mechs to obtain and over 300 enemies you keep detailed data on (in the odd chance you need to know what they have for health, powers and weapons) and tons and tons of parts and weapons to customize and mix and match with!
The graphics are great, colors are vivid and blend well, every little detail is artistically realized, there is nothing 2D except the world map but it doesn’t feel 2D, the cut-scenes are brilliant, attack and boost animations keep your customized equipment and colors and look stunning and your customized suit even keeps it’s looks while exploring!
The sound is good, almost every weapon has a unique and accurate sound, the movement sound is dead on, the music is epic, the ambiance and random effects are great the only downside is the voice-overs feel only half done, it just puts text most of the time.
The replay factor is very low, other then 1 new dungeon opening up after you beat the game the only other thing to do is finish side quests, finish beating mini-bosses and hunt down stuff you hadn’t found yet. I found everything before I beat it once and after I beat the dungeon that opens after the game ends I changed all the Mobile Suits colors and equipment back to default and gave the correct weapons only and never plan to play again (like the 250+ hours weren’t enough, the clock stopped at 99:59)
As for the bang for your buck, this game is well worth it’s price tag, whatever that may be.
I would recommend this game to any and all gamers who like RPG’s and any Gundam fan as well as any mech junkie!