SRW OG1: Up through chapter 32 now. At this point, I more or less have my final team setup, the only thing I haven't actually gotten to play with yet is the actual combined SRX. I'll go ahead and evaluate what I thought of the cast in my run (remember, Ryusei route) so far, nonetheless; I doubt my opinions will change much between now and endgame.
Ryusei (Gespenst 2-TT -> Wildraubtier -> R-1): Weirdly unimpressive for an SRW main protagonist. Both of his mechs are notably better than he is, really. He's not utterly terrible, and most of the time you don't have anyone better to deploy on his route anyway, and his availability is solid at least. Shishioh Blade has done wonders for his effectiveness in the late-game.
Rai (Schutzwald -> Huckebein 009 -> R-2): Probably the best of the SRX team. Good stats, great seishin set. R-2 is a bit of a mismatch for him (hampers his good dodging stats) but the weapons are right up his alley and you can fix it with upgrades/parts, so I left him in it. Never disappointed me; even during all those water stages in the Schutzwald, I could fall back on (upgraded) Autocannon for solid offense.
Aya (Gespenst 2-TT -> R-3): Ugh. She's just not very good, and spent a lot of the midgame benched. Very clearly the third wheel of SRX. Only really worth deploying for R-Formation and the eventual SRX combine, even in this route.
Garnet (F-28 Messer -> Lion F): My favorite support pilot in the game. Huge SP pool and 20 SP Trust is just amazing and lets you play extremely aggressively, which is fun. Ryusei route also gives you time to get her kills and pilot points; if you can get her up to SP Regen (I didn't) I suspect she'd be absolutely insane. She's terrible at combat, in the long run, but that's not what she's there for. Deployed her in every map I could and never regretted it once.
Giado (F-28 Messer -> Schutzwald): Filler PC and little else. I had to use him a bit again in the lategame, and he does perform better than an empty slot, at least. The mech is a mismatch, but he's not getting any of the things that he'd actually be better in as they go to better pilots to him. Felt like a liability in the plane.
Latooni (F-28 Messer -> Wildraubtier): Really good, although I actually don't think she was my MVP in this run. Overcosted Valor hurts her a little, and the enemies didn't like targeting her as much as usual. She also did a bit of time in the 009 and performed well there. Really, she's good in just about anything you put her in. But she wasn't whoamg amazing this run, either.
Ryoto: Only got used in one or two stages (in a Gespenst 2-TT) and was generally a liability. Probably would have been okay if I hadn't stolen his mech to use as a support bot, but I don't like him much as a character type.
Rio (Gespenst 2-M -> Huckebein 009 -> Huckebein 2): She was decent, and only that, once she got real mechs. I feel she'd be better used in a different mech, but other PCs would be better used in that same mech, so she ends up with this.
Irm (Gespenst 2-M -> Huckebein 009 -> Grungust): Man everyone went through the 009. Anyway, he was pretty awesome in this run. I don't think I'd call him MVP but he's definitely one of my better PCs.
Ingram (Wildschwein): Solid while he's around.
Tasuku (Giganscudo): The Giganscudo's lack of range sucks, but what the hell else is Ryusei going to deploy? Didn't see play on every map, but performed okay when it did. Filler, but pretty good filler. I equipped him with the +10 starting will part, which helped a lot.
Katina (Gespenst 2-M -> R-Gun -> Valsion Custom): Pretty great once she got the Valsion. I don't think I'd bother deploying her if I hadn't gotten it, it plays hard to her strengths (and covers her weaknesses extremely well).
Russel: Only used him in one map where he was forced, where he was an okay supporter.
Radha (Schutzwald -> Guarlion): She saw a bit of support use lategame. I like Garnet better in general, but Radha's less helpless in combat, so that's a thing. Probably my pick for second support PC when you can afford to use two.
Bullet (Huckebein 2 -> Wildschwein): He sucks in the Hucky 2. Like, really badly. He's still not that great in the Wildschwein. He wants a super robot and there aren't enough in this game to give him one. Bleh.
Kusuha (Grungust Type 2): Pretty good, but I don't get the huge DL hype for her. 12 SP Guard would be ridiculous in most SRWs, but by the time you can field her most enemies are frankly not that threatening, and Giganscudo/Valsion Custom can tank them admirably without blowing away SP on it. She misses most of the fights you'd actually really badly want that 12 SP Guard in, frankly. Still, overall I'd say she was in the top half of my PCs? Maybe.
Leona (R-Gun): Basically a second Latooni. Equally good at it.
Gilliam (Gespenst 2-S): Decent lategame filler I guess.
Kyosuke (Alteisen): Solid. Game liked putting him in the back of the formation all the time, which held him back. I miss newer SRWs letting you control your starting formation.
Excellen (Weissritter): I'm glad she can equip weapon modules to get a P attack that isn't terrible. That said, solid PC. Kyosuke makes her better, of course.
Masaki (Cybuster): Probably my run's MVP. Bless + Valor + Cyflash on a pile of weakened grunts = tons of cash, and I did this again and again over the course of the game. He can boss kill with the best of them too, using either Akashic Buster or spamming Cosmo Nova with Garnet parked next to him.
Lune (Valsione): The other MVP contender, for exactly the same reasons as Masaki.
Hagane: The better ship of the two, but with worse pilots. Overall it saw more use than...
Hiryu Custom: The worse ship of the two, but with better pilots.
