An Endless frontier of endless possibilities lies in the horizon...will you take off for a new adventure?
Thruthfully there is no need to be surpised,it is still a super robot wars game yet this is a totally new genre of Original Generation games developed by Banpresto and Monolith Soft.Some may recognise the system as the system from NamcoXCapcom.But let's move into the review without further ado.
Story : 10/10
Some may not understand japanese but since there are scripts of the story floating around the net,here i go.
The story starts in endless frontier,a world trully endless thanks to the crossgates called Portals that exist and chain worlds together allowing you to travel between worlds.Haken Browning and his partner and trusted friend Aschen Broedel travel endless frontier with his ship,the Zeit Krokodil stumble upon an abndoned ship called Red Automata and they find a slleping princess called Kaguya Nambu.Soon though they encounter trouble and their adventure unfolds in a humorus,light-hearted tone with heroes full of confidence and courage to match,as dark secrets are reaveled and plot twists nobody ever thought of are about to be unravelled.Slowly this spin-off game that didn't even seem to have any connection with th srw cosmos,has actually a much bigger link than anyone would ever think...Maybe something is about to begin that will really affect the whole universe and other worlds as well...
Gameplay : 10/10
The gameplay is pretty much one the greatest console-style rpg gameplay out there mixing turn based combat with some principals of super robot wars together along with twicks from NamcoXCapcom to create a great system for great game.
The gameplay is simple : you start based on who is faster(biger agility etc) and have the players in the turn they attack displayed on the bottom screen of the ds.When you choose to attack though don't expect your character to do a lame attack like other rpgs.When you attack your opponent a battle starts and the point of the battle is to pull big combos for big damage,by pressing A every time a combo ends or even prematurelly to chain combos together.As you attack or be attacked a special bar slowly fills on the side allowing you to do a character-unique sure kill move by pressing the Y button anytime during your character's attack.Each character has his/her own combo attacks that can be set in any attack order you wish,but beware!Each attack costs a percentage of the player's gauge that allows him to atack,so there are limits to your attack settings.Also if a player depletes the gauge in his/her attack turn then he/she has to wait one turn for it to recharge enough for a combo.Don't worry though , every time you have even a little of the gauge filled it recharges every turn.Also skills such as healing and recovering a percentage of your attack gauge are availiable as long as you have mp and you can excecute them as many times you want in your turn(as long you have sufficient mp).Also special attacks are availiable and range from attacking enemies to healing allies and much more...And let's not forget about support attacks.During your attack turn you can summon 1-3 allies with the < directional button depending your mp(don't worry they cost 3-5 mp each)resulting in lenghtier combos and bigger damage.Also if a fellow player has his turn right after you,you can call him to continue after you finish attacking by pressing the > directional button.
Sound : 10/10
Aside from having old and new tracks,remastered or not,the quality of sound is excellent.It's like hearing dark knight from the psp version of srw A in your ds.Finally,a title worth of the DS's sound capabilities.Also the voice acting during battles is pretty much outstanding even in comparison with other srw games.
Graphics : 10/10
While on the map,graphics aren't that great,in dialogue and most important of all in battle,the Ds proves it's awesome graphic capabilities with great and fluid animations combined with awesome character cutscenes during battles,are really eye candy and more.Even the backgrounds are pretty good looking.
Total Score : 10/10
This game trully lives up to the reputation of Super robot wars,dispite being a "spin-off"...What?You read all this,you are a fan of SRW and you still haven't gotten it?Games like this aren't meant to be left out.They are games that you keep for a lifetime.