Thoughts on SRWK

General:

• A lot of BGM and interface sounds were recycled from W.
• Difficulty is a step up W, in which the hardest parts were the Lambda Driver AS. Stumbling block: Stargazer stage.
• No voices. Drat.
• The anime cut-ins are all superbly done.
• /m/ said this is only 35 stages, with 10 more after 1st playthrough. Short game is short.
• The world map looks very different, owing to alternate worlds like OKG, Gun x Sword and Zoids Genesis. But I believe there’s no dimension-hopping or the sort.
• Partner Unit System is great. It allows you to deploy almost every unit, and is easier to manage than the Squad Systems of the Alpha series.
• The repair/resupply units can help themselves. No more whining about how Aphrodite A is defenseless!
• No SP Regen ;_;

Godannar:

• You can only use the Dannar base mechs. Shame, no MUSHIN ITTAI GODDINER!
• Lou joins and leaves, don’t know if she’ll return (and if her sugar daddy joins too).
• I <3 Neo Okusaer’s barrier, which can nullify most attacks.
• Godannar has INSANE offensive power.
• Shizuru and Kouji are very decent, too.
• Funny that the pilot cut-ins have no bounce, but the mechs do.

Gun X Sword:

• Rumor: you can save Michael and Fasalina. Haven’t gone that far yet.
• Dann of Thursday is made of RAPE. Van’s morale acts as a damage multiplier too, and he does virtually double damage on 150 morale.
• Brownie and El Dorado V appear early on in one stage, but don’t actually join. I hope to get them soon.
• Infierno y Cielo, best homage attack ever.

Koutetsushin Jeeg:

• Jeeg is built like a Real with the strength of a Super. Awesome combination.
• AMMO-BASED COMBINATION ATTACKS OH GOD
• Bronze Bell powerup is cash.
• Unlike the Alpha version Jeeg, blown up = death. No surviving Jeeg Heads, sorry.

Mazinger Z

• The lack of Great, Mazinkaiser and Grendizer is appeased by buffing Z up in terms of stats.
• Once it gets Mazin Power and new attacks, Z transforms into a powerhouse.
• Boss is as funny as ever and has his own Dynamic Special attack now.

Gundam SEED Stargazer:

• Stargazer story proper is resolved in 1 stage, which is very hard unless you know what you’re doing. Tip: Cast Accel on everyone and rush towards the DSSD units. Take on the van, not the rear.
• The Phantom Pain unit is annoying with the Variable Phase-Shift Armor, and dishes out a lot of damage.
• Rumor is that you can save Blu Duel and Verde Buster along with its pilots, but I didn’t get them.
• Stargazer is rather disappointing, but it can nullify beam attacks, oh joy! (Also, final attack works like in the anime, hohoho)

Gundam SEED Destiny:

• Fuck, Kira and Athrun are even more overpowered here than in W. Both can OHKO grunts in the stage that they appear.
• It’s the return of Angry Lacus and her dodging Eternal! As for the Eternal, it counts as a deployable unit. And can repair/resupply stuff too.
• Cagalli can actually pilot something.
• DOM Trooper \o/
• No Shiho Hahnenfuss boo~
• Recruitable Heine, if you get to convince him with Athrun on the stage he appears in. I didn’t.

Virtual On:

• Unlike in Alpha 3, you actually get to fight Virtual On enemies. And they’re quite strong with MAP attacks to boot.
• I have Temjin, Hatter and Fei-Yen right now, don’t know if I’ll get more. All are pretty solid.

Dangaioh:

• Pretty underwhelming. Its only real asset is the massive amount of pilots.
• That said, Cross Fight is a great theme.

Gaiking LODM:

• Goddamn Gaiking has a lot of combination attacks. And I mean A LOT.
• Face Open animation is the Goldion Hammer of this game. Too much win.
• The support units are all decent.
• Daikyu Maryu is pretty powerful, even without the Gaiking face. I use it as a front-liner too.

Zoids Genesis:

• I’m not sure what the “V” label in some of their attacks mean.
• Overall pretty solid, but pales in comparison to the CE units.

Soukyuu no Fafner:

• I know next to nothing about this series except for the Hisashi Hirai character designs, but the mechs are more than pretty.
• LOL at the masked guy. Reminds me of Rom Stoll.
• At any rate, I hate the Fafner baddies, they’re annoying.

Overman King Gainer:

• YASSABA GET. Also, that blonde S&M chick too. Just got them.
• King Gainer packs a lot of punch but is fragile as hell. I use him for the Chain Attacks.

Banpresto Originals:

• The main mech (orange) looks really good, and its attacks are all lovingly animated. However, I get the feeling that it’s uninspired. Final attack is like Shine Spark + Akashic Buster + Code Kirin + random shooting. Overall great stats, but still inferior to, say, Strike Freedom.
• The other mechs are strictly repair/resupply units.
• You can choose between the meganekko or the brown girl to gattai with. You know who I want.
• The villain mech looks like a Katoki-fied Devil Gundam. Pilot doesn’t look all too human either complete with shit-eating grin.

How this relates to my anime viewing:

• I’m rather sold on Fafner so I’m going to check it out real soon.
• Gaiking LODM seems to be a testosterone-charged kid’s show. Want.
• Remind me to continue OKG too. It’s a fun show.
• Gun X Sword might be okay enough for a few shits and giggles.