So yes, I still play games. Kinda...
SD Gundam G Generation F:
Wow, okay. This beast took me about 5 months of playing to beat the entire main game. It was released back in early 2000s so it doesn't include any of the newer Gundam series. It starts with the original Gundam and works itself up to Gundam X. The way the main game is set up, each series or OVA represents a Campaign (8-10 stages) or a Sidequest (2-3 stages). Altogether, this makes up for a total of 110 stages, with some stages sometimes having a two parter. Each part to a stage can take a long time too, because even skipping battle animations, the game has to show damage dealt to each unit on each phase. Think of it as like FE9's animations skip. It skips the big dramatic zoom ups, but you still see the units of the map interacting. So that's why this took so long. It also didn't help I primarily played this game while on the subway to work, so my sessions were limited to 1-2 hours at a time.
Anyway, since the game held my attention for that long, you probably already realized that I think this game is pretty solid and that would be right. It's not as deep as XF or FFT, but it certainly has its own beauty and charm in it's simplicity. There are some obvious complaints - the biggest one being that the game doesn't do much of a damage forecast. SRPGs without this feature can be quite frustrating, but to it's credit, the damage formula is actually so simple that I was able to decode it years before even joining the DL. This means that while the game itself doesn't tell you how much damage to expect, you can certain easily calculate it if you wish. Still no excuse though. The other big complaint is that once you start a story, you have to play it to completion. You can't grind along the way and there's no way of knowing if a certain stage just gets you stuck and you have no way of beating it. This is mostly negative (ala FFT's infamous Velius lockout) but it also means that the game won't force you to grind unless you choose (or messed up in previous stages - see below).
You have a select group of guest units that you own and can take into every stage. Usually this only applies to the second part of the stage (which typically is more massive) but they are often required in campaigns as the game expects you to do certain things while playing. The chief amongst these is to do what it refers to as "ACEing" or getting the ACE data for a mobile suit (MS)/Gundam. Once you have the ACE data, you can add its blueprints to your factory, which you can then produce for your guest units. You get story units too in every stage, but just as it is in the series plot, sometimes you are massively outnumbered, outclassed or out-piloted, so guest units become mandatory. Certain stages add a "Home Base", which you can launch your warships and mechs from but you have to protect. Protecting this base is sometimes impossible if you don't have strong guest units since you may only get 2 story units in a level to do everything against 50+ enemies.
Overall, I think this sits somewhere at around 7/10 for me. It's pretty challenging at times and the added secondary goals can give each level a nice spin on the objective. AFAIK there is no English patch so if you want to give it a spin yourself, you're gonna have to deal with everything being in Japanese. Not a huge deal, but since this is a SRPG, it can be a little more annoying. Some other gameplay thoughts below:
- What's really interesting about the game is that it tends to follow a couple of rules in its design. One of these rules is that every MS has a weakness - whether it's bad attack/defense, bad weaponry, lack of movement, etc. This makes it such that the more units you ACE out, the more tools you have in your kit to deal with the threats. It's a way of constantly encouraging you to improve your armory instead of just using one or two suits, so this is neat
- The game has a lot of misleading objectives, which can be very frustrating. I remember one level in Zeta Gundam where the objective is to beat Four's Psycho Gundam - a MS with massive UA/UD and it's only weakness is that it cannot attack at melee range. The problem here was that there is not way for Camil to get into threat range without take a ton of damage. You get Amuro too in this stage but he's tied to a Warship zone and can't move outside of it, meaning for all intents and purposes, Camil's all you get. And his death or Amuro's leads of a defeat. I spent like 3 days on this stage along trying to figure out how to kill Four before I realized that Camil can outkite him. I then tried to lure Four back into a range where Amuro can help out. Even with Amuro, I could only deal about 65%, but I decided to go for it anyway. After one attack, Four retreated because I had taken him below 50%, which was the true victory condition. GDI
- On that regard with the above, there are bonus objectives that sometimes takes you to the true stage or the 2nd part and it plays a FMV when this happens. These are neat and the game rewards you with extra funds for triggering them. They aren't always easy to get so they can make for an interesting challenge too.
- The game is definitely designed for you to start with Campaigns first instead of Side stories. Most side stories have absolutely brutal part 2s that can be almost impossible (Char's Counterattack) if it was your very first series choice. Flip side, most Campaign's part 2s are relatively simple and give you time to build up your armory. The only part 2 in a side story that I can get through is GW's Endless Waltz.
- On Series challenge, as noted above, a lot of side stories are very tough without strong guest units. Chief amongst these include: Char's Counterattack, Gundam F91, Sentinel Gundam, Gundam Wing - Dual Story. On the easier side of things: Gundam Wing, Gundam Wing Endless Waltz, Crossbone Gundam, G Gundam
- Gundam Wing IMO is probably actually the easiest campaign and thus series to begin with. There are a couple of reasons for this. 1) The MS you get from story units often outdwarf the enemies in stats. So just like in the series, it is quite easy for Heero to take on 14 Leos without breaking a sweat. 2) The 5 Gundam Wing pilots all have high stats. Average stats in this game for the combat ones hover around 20ish. Many series protagonists or allied characters will be around there or in their teens. The Wing boys break this rule in that they all have stats that average to 30. All 5 have combat stat totals that add up to 90, which means they have 1.5x more stat points than average
- One of the things I still don't understand is Newtype level. It only appears for Newtype characters and can range from 1-9. However, it seems to be a stat multiplier instead of a flat increase. How much it increases by I'm not sure, but it's what makes certain pilots such as Amuro/Camil/Quattro really good as they have strong combat stats + a NT level
- Damage formula is basically Base attack damage (from selected attack) x Unit Attack / Unit Defense x Tension multiplier. If Tension multiplier is maxed, the attack always crits. Certain attacks have a randomized attack value which goes from it's minimum to the displayed number. I haven't figured out the bare minimum here since I rarely used them as they are often unreliable except as a finisher.
Some really good units that everyone playing this game should be adding to their roster:
- [-] Gundam - If you're playing from the earlier side of the series, this is a great suit to add to your blueprints. Strong UA/UD and has excellent weaponry.
- ZZ Gundam - 5000 base melee attack is nothing to scoff at. It also has a very powerful MAP attack (attacks that ignore evade and hit everything in their path - friendly fire be damned) and can transform into a plane for bonus mobility
- S-Gundam EX - See [-] Gundam. Very strong for what it is.
- Crossbone Gundam X1 - Each of the crossbones are worth adding for different reasons aside from their good UA/UD. For X1, it's because it has a range 2-3 melee attack, which amongst suit weaknesses, having poor range 2 weaponry is a big one. So the fact that it has a strong usable melee at 2-3 range is a big deal
- Crossbone Gundam X2 - X2 doesn't have the 2-3 melee range, instead it has the super range option. A huge ass cannon it can fire at 5-6 range for 6000 base damage. You can't use it that often but it works as a snipe as 6 range will outrange most enemies in the game. And that base damage is amazing. Not many attacks in the game will beat it.
- Crossbone Gundam X3 - X3 comes with a built in Ion Field (immunes Beam 1 attacks, halves Beam 2) and like ZZ Gundam, a base attack damage at melee range for 5000.
- Gundam F90 - F90 has a very unique advantage that many other suits do not have. It can change its auxiliary functions to fight more effectively in different environments, but it is also the only that has a very effective underwater mode. Underwater fighting is rare, but exists and not many suits are actually good at it. F90 scoffs at that and performs amicably where most suits have reduced effectiveness.
- Gundam F91 - Aside from strong stats and good weaponry, it also has a built in Flight mode, making it great at melee combat for any battles on earth. There are a few like this, but F91 is amongst one of the most balanced.
- Gundam Maxter - Average UA/UD but like Crossbone X1, has a strong 2-3 range melee attack. G Gundam series gundams have a "weakness" where once their tension is maxed, their weapons change and they all cost you your tension bar. Maxter however, retains a 2-3 option that doesn't drain tension, making it very effective at scoring consecutive kills.
- Master Gundam - Excellent UA/UD and has a great 2-2 melee range attack. When it reaches max tension, gets a ridiculous MAP attack that basically kills almost anything.
- Wing Gundam - Primarily useful for combining ACE data, which is a function at the end of a level that allows you to create additional blueprints. The suit itself is not bad, but there are better versions of it. You can do a comedy strat if you have enough money to blow to use its melee MAP attack. It deals 99999 damage but also destroys the suit itself.
- Gundam Sandrock/ Sandrock Kai - Sandrock the OG has a 2-2 melee option called Cross Crusher that deals 5000 damage at base. This is huge and makes Sandrock keeping on the roster despite receiving upgrades to it. Sandrock Kai, the upgraded form loses this weapon for a replacement uzi that deals only 2500 at base and is randomized. Huge losing trade. But in return, it gains +3 UA/UD, much better mobility in space and at least the uzi is cost efficient as an attack. The definitive Sandrock model to keep if you can only hold 1
- Altron Gundam - Altron has amazing weapons. That's what it comes down to. A 5-5 melee attack, a 3-5 Beam option that hits twice and even a randomized damage attack for the gamblers in you. Like Sandrock, basically the superior version of its MS family.
- Gundam Deathscythe Hell Custom - Gundam Deathscythe HC is basically superior to all its previous models. And it's absolutely retarded: Built in flight mode, 1-3 Melee attack that is almost 5000 at base (4800), innate Beam Coat, innate Hyper Jammer system (+10 Pilot evade) and good UA and UD. Definitely want to keep one of these on hand.
- Wing Gundam Zero/Wing Gundam Zero Custom - Both versions have innate Zero System, which adds +20 to both range and melee combat stats. Both machines are also very mobile and have good weapons in general. Wing Zero has a wide range map attack but its very difficult to set up without friendly fire that is its chief draw. If you don't care for it, Wing Zero Custom is better. For one, innate flight mode. Then it has the most damaging base attack that I'm aware of: Twin Buster rifle that does 4000 damage x2. So on a clean hit, it's 8000 damage, which is just ridiculous. In my completed game, this thing has 39 bonus levels, primarily because of this attack, making it an extremely effective nuke on almost anything.
- Mercurius - Mercurius has mediocre weaponry, but that's not why you use it. You use it because it has innate Planetary Defense Systems, which gives you ranged immunity. Due to AI quirks, this function makes your borderline immortal and is useful for training weaker guests.
- Tallgeese 3 - Tallgeese 3 is basically the best version of all the Tallgeese and technically a superior Epyon too. It loses 2 UA but gains 1 UD. It has 2 extra attacks, one of which is a useful map Support and ridiculous movement. No Zero System though. Great for any well trained guest.
- Gundam Leopard/Leopard Destroy - You will notice Heavyarms was not on the list. This is because Gundam Leopard exists. They basically have almost the same stats and weaponry except: 1) Leopard OG can fight better effectively underwater, giving it a unique niche. It also has +1 UD just for insult to injury 2) Leopard Destroy has much more cost effective weapons. It's missiles only comes around 10% of its energy as opposed to the 20% on Heavyarms Kai. It does lose 1 range, but the effectiveness more than makes up for it.
- Gundam Airmaster Burst - This thing has an attack in it's plane mode that does 2000 damage x4. Again, 8000 base damage is silly. AND it's mobile. It's chief weakness is that it has poor 1-2 range and none of it's attacks are classified as melee, so it gets stonewalled by Virgos and the like.
- Gundam Versago Chest Break/Gundam Ashterion Hermit Crab - Both suits belong to the Frost Brothers and it takes a little work to add these to your roster but its worth it. Great UA and UD and great weaponry in general, along with Flight mode and a good MAP attack for support.
- Beltigo - It's UA and UD are alright but similar to Maxter, it makes up for it in weaponry. Beltigo has 4 attacks and all 4 are effective in someway depending on the situation.
- Gundam DX - Great UA and UD but actually kinda underwhelming. You'll use it chiefly for the melee and MAP support. The other two attacks are a bit junky. Needs the G-Falcon combined Data to be a real nuisance.
- Psychoro Gundam - Ridiculous UA and UD (50 for both). Innate Ion Field. Huge HPs. However, getting one is another story. You basically need to capture an enemy unit, and then level it up repeatedly and upgrade it's model at every opporunity to the right path. Then you need to ACE that suite, get its data and combine it with another suit to get to the Psycho Gundam series. From there, upgrade the suit model like 5 more times and voila. It does kinda break the game with its stats, but given the effort, it better!
