Ok, so, this review is for the two kinds of people who are looking into buying this game: 1. People who are new to the Gundam video games and are looking to start somewhere or who are coming in from other strategy games 2. People who bought G Generation Genesis and are interested in what changed (spoilers: nothing at the basic, mechanical level, but a lot of the finer details have been swapped around; more on that in a bit) For those people who are new to the Gundam games or are coming in from other turn based strategy titles like XCOM, Phoenix Point, Jagged Alliance, Fire Emblem, and others, welcome! This right here is the latest entry to the SD Gundam G Generations lineup of games. Some things to keep in mind while you're here: --This game covers events and has mobile suits/characters from the After Colony, Cosmic Era, Anno Domini, and Post Disaster timelines (if you're confused by that, welcome to the Gundam franchise; basically these are alternate timelines that are, for all intents and purposes, independent of each but still part of the overall franchise). However, don't go in expecting a 1:1 blow-by-blow recreation of each series; think of the stages and campaigns of this game as more of a "Greatest Hits" album of each show; they'll hit the major story beats, but won't go into any finer detail than that. --This game was made before Witch from Mercury was a thing, so unfortunately you can't have Sueletta make-a the spaghetta. --There are TONS of mobile suits in this game, especially from the weirder/more obscure reference books that were only sold to five people and were only available at some niche convention somewhere in Timbuktu back in 1994. If you're that kind of turbo nerd, welcome to your nirvana. --You don't get to pick apart/mix and match your mobile suits. Sorry, but this isn't that type of game; you'll want the Gundam Breaker line if you want that sort of customization. However, you can upgrade/modify your suits' and pilots' stats, so you can definitely build out certain characters to be absolute monsters in certain situations, like having a close combat blender in a mobile suit specialized for getting up close and personal with another character basically becoming Simo Haya acting as long range support. There's tons of flexibility on offer; ya just gotta not be afraid to experiment. --There is no "god combo" in terms of pilot/suit/skill combinations (at least from what I've found). All builds are viable, even the goofy ones that require months to setup. All suits, therefore, are roughly comparable to each other in terms of power (though the "protagonist" suits are definitely stronger on some level as opposed to their more generic brethren); what sets them apart is their intended playstyles. --If you destroy an enemy unit, you get what's called a Chance Step. You can get up to two Chance Steps, for a total of three attacks. --You have two primary stats: HP and EN. HP is self explanatory. EN acts as your mana; you use it to activate attacks. --There is a unit-by-unit morale system that goes up and down depending on if you land and hit your attacks. If you get to Super High, your next attack is a guaranteed crit. Destroying an enemy unit while Super High gets you to Supercharged, which turns all attacks into super crits and can lead to you essentially snowballing your way across a stage (provided you have the Chance Steps). --Suits are unlocked via what's called "Development;" basically, once you level up your suit enough, you can "upgrade" it into a new suit. This is how you primarily unlock a large majority of the suits. --This game can be kinda grindy if you're the type of person who wants to 100% Full Clear No Savescum it, espiecally if you're looking to unlock every suit in the game. This is a marathon, not a sprint. --This game isn't really mouse and keyboard friendly; it's more geared towards controllers. You can definitely use the keyboard to navigate the menus and play the game (which is certainly recommended if you're on the fence about using a controller), but using the mouse isn't recommended; the native mouse sensitivity is weirdly floaty and icky, making for a poor mouse experience overall. --Goat Logan is him. Trust the GOAT. For the people coming over from Genesis... --You can import custom BGM. Now you can see Heero Yuy waste fools while The Hamster Dance blares out your speakers! And you can set which tunes play for which weapon animations! --None of the licensed/original OPs are in this game; you'll have to import it via the Custom BGM options. So, no, the game doesn't come with TM Revolution's Ignited or Zips, nor does it come with JUST-COMMUNICATION. --You can now mix and match skills for your pilots for capital, as well as manually modify their stats. --Designing new suits no longer uses up the two component suits; the designed suit gets added to the Production List. --There are now two types of groups to take on missions: Warship and Raid. Warship groups require both a master unit and a warship (plus crew) to be deployed and can field eight additional suits. Raid groups don't require warships to deploy and can field up to eight suits; they also cannot resupply at warships. You can only have one of each type of group deployed during a mission, for a total of 16 mobile suits plus a master unit and a warship. --XL and XXL units do not require upgrades to a warship to be deployed; however, they do take up extra space in the warship's hangars. --Created characters can now have faces instead of hidden eyes. --There are subtitles for the battle animations. --You can enhance/level up your suits outside of combat (you may have always been able to do this; it's been awhile since I played Genesis). --You can limit break suits and characters (ie you can go past the level cap of 99 if you pay enough capital to do so). Doing so will help unlock more passive ability slots. --You can't swap between variations of the same character once you unlock those variations; you have to scout each one. --There are no unique battle animations exclusive to canonical suit/pilot combinations (at least from what I've been able to find; if someone does find one, lemme know). --Some of the campaigns are SUPER short compared to the ones in Genesis (looking at you, Endless Waltz!). --There is only one "main" save file available; however, you can quick save multiple times during a mission; starting a new mission will override any auto save/stage suspension save data you may have. --You can send out teams to go on Group Dispatches; these are similar to the Dispatch Missions from Metal Gear Solid Peacewalker and MGSV, though they aren't multiplayer. --Goat Logan is still him. You can continue trusting the GOAT. If this is starting to sound like your bag, great! Pick this game up and have fun! (Edits were made to this review on 3/6/2024 for clarity, explaining/noting other features not originally covered, and to expand on certain points; nothing else was changed)
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