Alright it’s time for the ultimate super robot wars experience. I have never seen animation like this before in an SRW game. Some of the action looks just outright drawn and the moves look more forceful and smooth than ever before. During this PV there were times that I just sat there in awe. Most of the robot favorites will be returning in this, including but not limited to:
UC Gundams
Getter Robo Armageddon
Aim for the Ace: Gunbuster
Dancouga/Dancouga Nova
Full Metal Panic/Fumoffu/The Books
Armor Trooper Votoms
And many many more.
It’s actually really impressive what they are doing here because it seems that the roster is staying about the same in terms of size, but the fight animations are just getting a complete overhaul. They are really pushing the graphics on this one. This looks like it will truly be the best Banpresto can make so I’m more than looking forward to it.
Super Robot Wars Z3 Tengoku-Hen will be released April 2.
That’s right, Banpresto really doesn’t know how to not be in the middle of making a Super Robot Wars game. This time their ending off the Masou Kishin series with a game that has an obsurdly full title, Super Robot Wars OF Saga: The Lord of the Elemental F Coffin of the End, or SRWOGF for short, or whatever other shortening of the title you want to call it by. Here’s the PV:
So does anyone else feel like the fighting is just really off? I know that they want to try new things from time to time, but with the way the animations look here it’s really weird. It’s like they’re going for a faux 3d prerendered/hand drawn look and it just doesn’t work because the movement doesn’t flow as well and the various robots don’t feel like they are actually connecting when one hits another. This is a really big issue because the main draw of SRW has always been the aesthetic which as time goes on has been less about getter and mazinger fighting together and more about making totally sweet battle animations. It’s the reason SRW is so popular and well, if that’s not present it’s actually more so a really hard and repetitious RPG.
Either way, this is definitely worth a look because it’s both the end of a saga and a bit of an experiment. Plus you get Masaki Andoh and Shu Shirakawa fighting together alongside the entire Ra-gaes group from the other Masou Kishin games, which is always good.
Look forward to Super Robot Wars F Coffin of the End coming out for PS3 on august 28th.
It’s finally been announced. The third in what is probably the most prolific of Super Robot Wars sub-series. Super Robot Wars Z3 is here with quite the extensive cast list for just the first PV. I mean, freaking look at it:
Yeah, that’s a big list. Not that Super Robot Wars isn’t known for having a metric ton of robot series that it pulls from, but this is only the first PV. It’s filled with a lot of mainstays and faces you’ve seen from SRWZ before. You have your Getter, your Mazinger, your Gundams upon Gundams, the old super and the old reals, and a few new faces both to the Z sub series and the overall series. Full Metal Panic! is coming up from W and the black sheep J, and while the original Z had Aquarion, Z3 is bringing EVOL and its ilk to the table. I look forward to banana punching and Andy finally getting to lead the helm.
Super Robot Wars Z3 will be coming out on April 10 2014 for Vita and PS3. That’s the signal for region free, so everyone get ready.
These two games really can’t seem to escape each other.
Alright, well, the list of characters introduced in the Infinite Battle PV is pretty massive, so I won’t go into any details beyond who they are and the robots that come with them.
Ryusei Date, pilot of the R-1
Kai Kitamura, pilot of a standard Gespenst Mk II
Tasuku Shinguji, pilot of the Giganscudo Duro
Aya Kobayashi, pilot of the R-3
Arado Balanga, pilot of the WildWurger
Ibis Douglas, pilot of the Astelion AX
Sanger Zonvolt, pilot of the DyGenGuard
Excellen Browning, pilot of the Rein Weiss Ritter
Kouta Azuma, pilot of the G-Compatible Kaiser
Brooklyn “Bullet” Luckfield, pilot of the KoRyuOh
The following robots were either shown in the background, or were showcased without their pilot’s portrait appearing first.
The R-2, piloted by Raidieses F. Branstein
The Vysaga, piloted by either Lamia Loveless or Axel Almer
The R-Gun, piloted by either Viletta Badam or Levi Torah
The RyuKoOh, piloted by Kusuha Mizuha
Note: There are other robots that are shown in the video, but I’m not quite sure who they are.
That’s quite the number of robots and pilots to introduce to the game at once. You have some more notable ones such as Sanger, Ryusei, and Bullet (my personal favorite) and then you have some still notable, but less important characters such as Ibis and Arado. What’s more important about this character list though, is that it includes the entirety of the parts of the SRX, which could mean we have a super boss in the works.
Aside from that, we also received a lot of information on just how the game is going to work. Within the game there are multiple modes. First there is Arcade Mode which will function like most arcade modes in most fighters do. Free Battle Mode which will allow you to fight in any situation that you want. Mission mode which will feature a variety of missions in the game’s own story. This will also include the upgrade and equipment system that SRW has always had. Lastly there is Online War Mode, which will just be the online fighting mode that we all want.
Battles can be up to 3-vs-3 combat with one main character leading the squadron on each side. Robots will function much like they do in a normal SRW game. Aside from basic combat that the robot may have, special moves will either require a set amount of energy, or have a limited amount of ammunition. I believe that these stats will be congruent with the base stats of the robots in other SRW games.
Last big thing that has come from this, we now have a theme song for the entirety of the game. Instead of the normal Jam Project song, we get a Granrodeo theme, “Baby Bad Boy.” It damn sure sounds like a robot theme, so I’m into it. There’s a lot to look forward to, and we haven’t even gotten into the notable OG Villians that I’m sure they have to put in. Shu Shirakawa will not be kept out of this game.
Speaking of Shu…
I love the progression of this PV. Shu starts doing his new ultimate move, some vaguely evil guy talk about how evil they are, Shu breaks out into the middle of a battle to aid his new allies, and then screw all that dramatic stuff it’s time for the Shu Brigade to kick ass.
There’s not too much new stuff to talk about. Shu has a new move that destroys everything…again, his new team does have some new members though. I like to think that the first new member, Ahaado, is Shu getting a speedy wind based team mate so that he can piss off Masaaki even more than he did when he murdered his parents. Really it sorta looks like he’s trying to create his own version of the La Gias team considering their basic arrangement. I don’t know why Arbaad has his own custom Grungst though, that’s kinda strange.
The game does seem like it’s going to be a bit strange, so any weird moments or robots are to expected. It’s still going to be quite fun running around as Shu being an immortal god man that can kill everyone because Volkruss gave him too much power. That probably made no sense to anyone that doesn’t already know the entire story of Shu, but that’s why Dark Prison is being made in the first place.
Look forward to these games being released on Nov. 28
First things first, let’s get in some new characters for Infinite Battle.
Another PV, and a whole new cast of characters to be introduced into this game. First up is Lune Zoldark, pilot of the Valsion R. Logically she would be more of a long ranged character that might punch you…sometimes, but her robot was known more for looking kinda messed up, so she might be a little limited. Next is Irm Kazahara, pilot of the Grungst Kai. He would logically be more of a slow tank, what with the long rocket punch and giant sword. After that we have Seolla Schweizer, pilot of the Wild Falken. She should be a more mobile heavy hitter. Sort of a glass tank in the style of Akuma, if Akuma were a several story tall robot with laser swords.
The next two go hand in hand if you know their backstory. First is Leona Garnstein, pilot of a generic lion mech. She would be a faster robot with a bit of strength. She’s likely to be very balanced. Our last introduction is a big deal though. It’s time for Ratsel Feinschmecker, aka Elzam V. Branstein, pilot of the Aussenseiter. He would be a bit of a trick character since the Aussenseiter can turn into a horse. Aside from that though, he could be a long ranger with the occasional “ram gun into enemy’s face” attack.
That’s quite the introduction of characters we have there. I wasn’t really expected either Irm or Seolla since their fairly unnotable compared to many others, but maybe this is just a sign as to how many characters we’ll eventually get.
This is apparently being paraded around as an introduction video to the game. I’m not quite sure what they mean by that since it clearly wouldn’t be an opening cinematic, but it’s still cool all the same. The most notable part of this would be the two characters they introduce in the middle, Serena and Arbaad (I’m not sure about that translation). I don’t know much about the characters themselves, but it is always nice to see more characters added to the OF repertoire.
The other aspect of this that caught my eye was the section that showed what happened at the end of OG Gaiden. This leads me to believe that this game will elaborate on the trials Shu had to go through to resurrect himself after he was killed. If I’m right, then good. However, this is only speculation, and I may be wrong in the long run.
That’s right, it’s time for the sword that cleaves evil, Sanger Zonvolt…or Zenger Zonbolt…or whatever other romanization of his name you want.
Sanger is another one of those OG characters everyone should be able to recognize pretty easily. In the context of the story he is an old man, because he’s 29 as opposed to everyone else who is no older than 24. His personality is similar to that of a samurai. Sanger is a tenacious man who values honer and valor above all else. He will not belittle his oponent and always give them an honorable demise. He is a wise man that can very quickly judge the potential of enemy and friend alike. And what waits for his enemies? Well his trusty Dygenguard awaits them.
The Dygenguard is the robot Sanger is known for using. It was the last gift to him from Bian Zoldark, his former commander. It is a variant of the Grungst type series, and it has a sword so large it rarely fits on screen. Seriously, the sword only fits on screen when it’s either pointed at the camera or when it’s in a shortened form. One of the cooler aspects of it is that it uses the mobile trace system to control. That means that all of the movements the Dygenguard makes are actually being made by Sanger as well. I don’t know how his intense samurai training allows him to do that, but it does seem to give him some awesome moves.
I just want to make the point that yes, that last move does in fact blow the earth up everytime. I don’t think I really need to tell you how awesome he is after that. It’s pretty self explanatory. I mean, his theme kicks ass, and one of his quotes is “Real men ride each other!” but nothing quite compares to hitting someone with a sword so hard the earth explodes. He’s just always awesome. Here’s hoping that soon he gets announced for Infinite Battle.
So, this is just a little idea that’s been running around in my head for a few months, and with the trailer for two new OG games, I figured I might as well start doing this. SRW OG Break Down will be a little series i do where about once a week i showcase the awesomeness that is the Original Generations cast, normally one character per post, with a few exceptions. Today’s character is Kyosuke Nanbu and his robot the Alt Eisen.
Kyosuke is one of the most prominent characters in the OG series His first appearance was in SRW Compact part 1. In the context of the Original Generation timeline, Kyosuke is a 22 year old pilot that tends to be the cool, calm, and reserved guy that rarely shows emotion. He’s a formidable pilot because the Alt Eisen Reise is designed to heavily tank anything in his way. His biggest flaw is his terrible gambling habit that tends to affect his fighting habits since he bets on the lowest possible odds in a fight. It’s during those times that an oddly hot-blooded pilot begins to emerge from his calm exterior.
His robot, the Alt Eisen Reise, has the best design philosophy among all robots in the OG series. “You know those spare robot legs we got…let’s put a bunch of guns on them.” There was even a point where Kyosuke thought it wasn’t strong enough, so he made plans to put more guns on it. Seriously, the robot is about 22 meters tall and weighs about 100 tons. To put that in perspective, Combattle V weighed 100 tons, but was 2.5 times as tall. It’s so heavy that it needs a flight module, called a tesla drive, in order to stand up without collapsing into itself. But man it it isn’t worth it, just look at what this thing can do.
So why is Kyosuke so awesome? Well, aside from the moves above that are so awesome my brain explodes evertime I see them, he’s just a pretty cool character. Seriously, no one other than Kyosuke can say the word “bunker” and make it sound threatening. His VA, Toshiyuki Morikawa, is really good at voicing him. He sounds cool and collected, but when it’s time to get hot blooded, he can do it like no other. It helps to note that Morikawa voice D-boy from Tekkaman Blade, a role that has led him to scream so loudly he broke the microphone… twice, so you know he’s an experienced robot pilot voice actor.
Aside from that though, Kyosuke Nanbu is just one of the more memorable OG characters. He’s cool, sounds intense, has one of the best moves ever, and has a rockin’ theme. He’s a mainstay of the series, and it’s always good to see him included in characters lists.
Look forward to seeing Kyosuke Nanbu in SRW OG Infinite Battle.
It’s been a bit since any super robot news has come out, so I guess it’s time to mention the new SRW games. A few weeks ago a PV for two SRW games came out, OG Infinite Battle and Dark Prison. These flew under the radar for me at first, but now it’s time to show their glory.
The first game shown is SRW OG Infinite Battle, a game that looks like a Virtual-On style robot fighting game, with gameplay more similar to the Another Century’s Episode series. I just have to say this really quickly. It has long been a dream of mine to get a robot fighting game featuring a large cast of super robots. I wanted it to be just a large amount of robots from the 70s and 80s like Getter Robo and Mazinger, but this just as good. A fighting game with the OG cast will be great. It’s especially nice to see some lesser known OG characters to be shown like Russel Bergman in the Gespent Mk. II and Wodan Ymir in the Thrudgelmir. Hopefully that means they’ll add in more prominent characters between now and the release date.
The second game in the video is SRW OG Dark Prison. It will be a little bonus for those that buy the special edition of Infinite Battle, though it can still be bought separately. I don’t have the details, but it looks to be a little gaiden about one of and arguably the number one antagonist of the OG series, Shu Shirakawa. The name comes from Shu’s theme, and considering both that and how prominent he is in the PV, I believe it’s safe to assume its entirely about him. I look forward to this because it means that we’ll have a little exposition on a very oddly effective villian. Shu’s very chilling and his demeanor makes you almost believe that he could be your friend, at least until he explodes you with the sword he just teleported into your face. Though that might just be Takehito Koyasu’s excellent voice work.
Infinite Battle and Dark Prison will both be released on Nov. 28
One Pixel Jump 