Gundam Battle Universe and the opposite Artdink Gundam video games on the PSP are nonetheless thought-about to be among the greatest entries within the franchise. The difficulty is, it’s been over a decade because the developer stopped making them. Once I noticed it was hooked up to SD Gundam Battle Alliance, this shortly grew to become one of many video games I used to be most hyped about this 12 months. I imagined what Artdink, which made nice mecha video games with extraordinarily weak {hardware}, should be able to with fashionable tech. However after taking part in the sport, I principally simply really feel upset. This isn’t a nasty recreation, per se. But it surely’s a far cry from what the dev achieved on a lot, a lot weaker {hardware} and it doesn’t provide the satisfying recreation really feel I hoped for.
SD Gundam Battle Alliance has an terrible lot of dialogue sequences. Too unhealthy the story is simply type of there. Juno Astarte and a random commander are pulled from a simulation of the EFSF’s struggle in opposition to Zeon within the 12 months 0079. An AI representing G:Universe, a repository for Gundam-related struggle knowledge, has pulled them out of their simulation to assist restore “breaks” within the simulations. These breaks trigger the information of unrelated Cell Fits and their pilots to manifest within the simulations of different histories. There’s, naturally, a deeper thriller behind all of this, but it surely’s by no means attention-grabbing.
Honestly, I learn the story sequences as shortly as I might. They’re all totally voiced in Japanese, however the few characters are so banal and the narrative loop is so boring and repetitive that I couldn’t stand any of it at occasions. “Why are you continue to speaking?!” I’d ask the characters as they continued to prattle on (a sentiment a few of you might share after studying my many complaints about this recreation). They’re all archetypes, from the tasteless AI Sakura Slash to the boastful bespectacled Hermes Mercury who randomly exhibits as much as annoy the opposite characters. I did discover some amusement within the characters instantly evaluating the Kamille/4 state of affairs from Zeta with the lazily similar Shinn/Stella one from Seed Future. God, I hate Gundam Seed.
Higher get used to these combos, child
There are three classes of Cell Swimsuit within the recreation: melee, ranged, and balanced. There aren’t an enormous quantity of Fits included, and lots of of them play equally. The melee and balanced ones are likely to have only a three-hit combo and a powerful assault that you simply’ll must chain to get a combo going. You too can use a launcher to knock enemies into the air. The fight normally feels similar between a whole lot of fits. Plus you may’t improve or change out any of your weapons or expertise, so the gameplay for every Swimsuit by no means adjustments. In the event you performed any of the Gundam Breaker video games and need extra of that quick, satisfying, correct motion, you additionally gained’t discover it right here in any respect. The fight right here is way, a lot worse, that includes sluggish, clunky gameplay.
That is compounded by the truth that, if you unlock new Cell Fits in SD Gundam Battle Alliance, they begin at stage one. It’s true even in the event you unlocked them from a stage 30 mission. This implies you need to dump a large quantity of foreign money into them earlier than you should use them in your most up-to-date missions. I performed because the Exia for practically the complete recreation, because it was simply an excessive amount of of a ache to stage a brand new Swimsuit as much as the extent I wanted. Not that the brand new Fits would play all that otherwise, thoughts you.
Artdink’s different video games don’t actually have this downside. The Fits you unlock in these video games are usually robust sufficient to take into battle instantly. You could possibly additionally swap out weapons to maintain issues recent. It’s an odd misstep.
You additionally convey alongside two AI companions which you’ll must have on the acceptable stage. However they stage on the similar velocity as your pilot stage, which means that you simply’ll additionally must grind them up from scratch, so I caught with Mikazuki and Tieria.
You achieve entry to new pilot expertise that you could equip each two ranges. Nearly all of those are both underwhelming or borderline ineffective. All of this could be significantly much less of a difficulty if the fight was nice, but it surely’s principally simply mediocre. The combos and motion can look suitably flashy, however the motion is clunky and doesn’t really feel fast. Urgent the usual assault buttons doesn’t see you assault instantly. As a substitute, it strikes your Swimsuit into a lift and sends you careening towards no matter enemy you’re locked onto.
This has the added impact of giving melee assaults stamina, which you’ll run out of in the event you assault an excessive amount of. The lock-on is computerized, and made me really feel like I used to be barely in management. It’s absolutely the last item you’d need in a recreation that’s nearly solely motion.
What’s the deal?
However that’s not the one subject I’ve with the lock-on. It’s surprisingly sluggish, because it’ll swing round a beat later than you’d in all probability anticipate. It’s additionally horribly inaccurate at occasions. I can’t inform you how usually I went to assault an enemy, solely to observe as my Cell Swimsuit went zooming previous it, lacking fully. You have got a brilliant assault with a two-minute cooldown, and I’ve used it just for it to utterly enhance off in the other way from the boss I used to be going through. It nearly jogs my memory of the shoddy lock-on from 2001’s Journey to Jaburo recreation, which was the primary 3D Gundam recreation we bought within the West.
I additionally felt prefer it was essential to nearly solely use melee assaults, which is bizarre for a Gundam recreation. All Cell Fits have a gun, but it surely solely has 5 or 6 photographs earlier than it has a prolonged reload. Ranged Fits can instantly refill your photographs and expertise, but it surely requires half of a talent bar. You gained’t have the ability to make use of it frequently throughout boss fights. Ugh, the boss fights. The common enemies that populate the degrees are principally fodder. You stroll as much as them and hit them till they die. It jogs my memory of a Dynasty Warriors recreation.
However the bosses are worse. They do a whole lot of harm and might’t be flinched. As a substitute, there’s a bizarre break gauge that depletes after they use expertise. It is advisable wait till their break gauge is nearly empty and assault with a talent of your personal to get them right into a weak state. However they’ve a ton of well being and don’t keep down for lengthy. It provides the fights a bizarre begin/cease rhythm that I couldn’t get into. You are able to do further harm to enemies by hitting them within the again, plus you may excellent guard to dam all harm and use a counter to do further harm of your personal. There are alternatives, however the fight they’re a part of is clunky and boring. It doesn’t essentially do SD Gundam Battle Alliance a whole lot of favors.
No want to leap
There’s on-line multiplayer, after all, which the sport is constructed round. However I couldn’t get it to work after I tried it. It’d day trip with an error as an alternative. SD Gundam Battle Alliance is locked to 60 fps by default regardless of being made with Unreal Engine 4. You’ll be able to screw with sure config paperwork to take away this, but it surely needs to be accomplished each time you go to play the sport. Regardless, the degrees are principally a bore. Invisible partitions are all over the place and the Cell Fits can’t leap excessive sufficient to make it to larger floor, so motion feels constrained and the areas really feel nearly claustrophobic.
More often than not, you go right into a stage, struggle some senseless peons after which struggle a boss. Some ranges make you struggle three bosses. These fights are tough solo as your AI compatriots aren’t helpful and you may’t give them any orders past “use your tremendous” — which can or might not hit. The particle results if you and your AI companions hit enemies are additionally usually so massive and flashy that, throughout boss battles, I couldn’t even see the boss half the time, which made it exhausting to dodge or block lots of their assaults. I’d simply be taking a look at a ball of sunshine earlier than being hit by an assault I couldn’t see coming. The digital camera additionally principally sucks, because it wouldn’t let me see after I bought too near geometry, or it might begin wigging out making it inconceivable to get my bearings.
SD Gundam Battle Alliance could be price taking part in for giant Gundam followers who simply need one other hack and slash. The fight and customization are sorely missing in comparison with Gundam Breaker 3 from 2016 and the sport design can’t even maintain as much as Gundam Battle Universe from 2009. That is in all probability essentially the most disappointing recreation of the 12 months for me and I’m simply truthfully shocked at how a lot Artdink missed the mark, contemplating the way it developed among the greatest video games within the franchise.
