Super Robot Wars Complete Box (PS) Review

SRW Complete Box is a remake of three SRW titles using the Playstation F/FF engine: 2nd SRW for Famicom, 3rd SRW for SFC, and SRW EX for SFC. Many issues of 2nd and 3rd SRW were addressed or fixed, mainly being able to choose individual unit response on enemy turn, equippable items, unit upgrades, and a better UI. Animations are still unskippable, of course.

The 2nd SRW remake is very different from the FC original, owing to the evolution of the series. It's so different that you might as well consider it a completely different game, similar to the SRW 2G remake on Gameboy. Yes, this makes 2nd SRW Complete Box the second time 2nd SRW has been remade. 2nd SRW is a fairly difficult remake where you'll mostly rely on your supers, somewhat reminiscent of SRW F. Seishin pools are even smaller than F/FF and your Gundam pilots don't get much in the way of good seishins or robots. Most of the game is spent throwing Getta, Mazinger, and Grendizer at enemies while your Gundams soften up the grunts a bit with underpowered weapons. 2nd SRW Complete Box is the best of the three remakes, owing to the large improvements over the original, and the original's strong campaign.

3rd SRW Complete Box brings some notable gameplay improvements over the original. It's easier than the original all things considered, but you still shouldn't expect a cakewalk. The most difficult scenarios are still the scenarios vs the inspectors. All of the same criticisms of the original apply, including a somewhat bland campaign with far too many grunt waves and not a lot of interesting scripting - a significant step back from 2nd SRW. The campaign doesn't really heat up until the last 5-10 scenarios, leaving the other 3/4 of the game as grunt slaying filler.

SRW EX Complete Box is the least different from its original SFC release. It's still an easy SRW mostly designed for beginners, designed as a reaction to 4th SRW's punishing difficulty. It's of the same difficulty where you can rush ahead and wreck everything in your path with little risk. I can't help but feel that it lost some of its graphical charm in its switch to the F/FF engine.

Overall SRW Complete Box is best left to those interested in SRW history. I'm hesitant to say that the Complete Box remakes are worse than their originals, but they feel a little lacking. They don't have the charm the original games had, and they don't have the variety, depth, and polish of SRW F/FF's roster and campaign. If you're really interested in getting to SRW's early roots, it's probably better to play the originals rather than these somewhat cold remakes.

Gungnir Preview (PSP)

Gungnir is a turn based tactics games that superficially most resembles other speed based isometric games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre. However, being a Sting game, Gungnir has an above average number of mechanics and systems working in the background to complicate things. Below you'll find a fairly concise overview of how Gungnir plays and what mechanics are involved.

Gungnir's turn order is speed based, similar to FFT/TO, but with one major difference. While enemies and NPCs all have their own individual speed and turn icon, you only have a single icon on the speed bar to issue orders to your entire army (it looks like a yellow P). Whenever it's your turn you can choose from any of your units to act with. This generally means that enemies have a significant turn rate advantage over you, especially in large numbers. Every action your selected unit makes (moving, attacking, waiting, etc.) causes delay which will set your next turn back by a certain amount on the speed bar. Units have a delay stat that subtracts some delay during their actions, and by choosing an Ace unit at the start of the mission some class types will benefit from a further delay reduction bonus.

2012 Tactics Game Preview

Let's take a look at the major tactics games announced for 2012 thus far. New: The [P] link will bring you to an affiliated Play-Asia order page.

Fall [PC] [NA] [1] X-COM: Enemy Unknown
X-Com is back! Well, it's X-Com remade and simplified, but still technically X-Com. In X-Com you're tasked with fighting off an alien invasion by engaging in randomly generated levels until you've earned enough resources and power to complete the final mission. I am fond of squad based military tactics games such as Front Mission, Jagged Alliance, or the much maligned Operation Darkness, so I hope they put together a decent game that fixes up the UI and balance issues.

06/12 [PSP] [NA] [P] [1] [2] Gungnir
Gungnir is another 2011 release being localized for NA. It's a traditional isometric tactics game, but since it's being developed by Sting, you can expect some complicated underlying mechanics to geek out over, if you're inclined to do so. I like the added depth and difficulty settings, but Gungnir's campaign feels a bit generic.

Masou Kishin II (PSP) Review

Masou Kishin II for PSP is a direct sequel to Masou Kishin I, released on the SFC in 1996. Despite the passage of 16 years, Masou Kishin II plays nearly identical to its predecessor. The developers have added a few new mechanics to try to liven things up, but they end up not having a significant effect. Terrain effects were added, but they are rarely an issue when most of the terrain in the campaign is neutral. You'll very rarely come across patches of unavoidable water or lava with significant terrain effects. Even then terrain effects are largely ignorable as the RPS element chart, unit height, and unit facing is far more important.

Pilots can now equip and swap skills instead of learning a fixed set as they level. Skills can be leveled up as they're used and new skills are learned as you progress through the campaign. There's not much in terms of depth or strategy for skills - the choices in most cases are fairly obvious. You equip damage dealers with damage or critical rate skills, healers with support skills, and fill in the remaining slots with defensive skills like Mirror Image or Sword Cut. In a few exceedingly rare instances you might want to use some movement altering skills, but otherwise you'll just want to stack the damage or critical boost skills. On the plus side, annoying random skills such as Double Attack have been removed.

Jan 2012 News #1

More X-Com: Enemy Unknown for PC screenshots. From what I'm seeing, it's a simplified version of the original X-Com. What they really need to improve from the original is the AI, UI, game balance, and bugs/stability issues. I honestly don't have much hope for this game. The mechanics and difficulty are being dumbed down, and the developers are cluelessly referencing Dark Souls as a difficult game instead of anything from this list. If anything it will be a generic, easy, simple, and streamlined tactics game for mass market appeal.

With all the attention on X-Com, I learned about a commercial X-Com style tactics game called UFO Legacy Defense: Xenonauts. It will probably be closer to the original X-Com than the reimagined Enemy Unknown (with a cleaned up UI, of course). Looks pretty good.

2nd Super Robot Wars Z Saisei-hen for PSP will be released on 4/5/2012. This is likely to be the PSP's last big tactics game release. It's likely going to be a relatively easy game like Hakai-hen, but I expect the production values and scenarios to be good. Here's an article in Famitsu with some screens.

In this article a computer algorithm is used to solve Sudoku puzzles efficiently and find complex patterns. Just another example of how computers could theoretically solve or play strategy games much better than humans in the future.

More Pokemon x Nobunaga's Ambition screenshots and info. I really want nothing to do with Pokemon so I won't be discussing it much if at all. Apparently it's getting its own press conference.

X-COM: Enemy Unknown announced for PC

Firaxis Games is working on X-COM: Enemy Unknown for PC, a turn based strategy game similar to the older X-COM games. Enemy Unknown has nothing to do with the X-COM shooter announced a while ago. I think much of the X-COM and Julian Gollop worship is a mixture of nostalgia goggles and lack of perspective due to limited localization. It was a good game for its time, but it hasn't aged all that gracefully, and X-COM adherents exhibit the same kind of blind zealotry that characterizes Final Fantasy Tactics/Tactics Ogre worshippers.

Apparently the strategic level is going to be real-time. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a WEGO style tactics game as well, because those player/enemy phase games are just so outdated.

Julian Gollop is apparently not involved in X-COM: Enemy Unknown. We'll see about that!

Tactical Insights 2011 Awards

Welcome to the 2011 Tactical Insights awards. You'll notice there are import as well as localized games given awards. However, I'm not averse to rewarding the same game a second time in the future if it's localized for North America. Each system will have a winner and a runner up, with some other deserving nominations mentioned. Unfortunately, systems like the PS3, 360, and Wii frequently only have 1-2 games per year, so I've combined them. Some systems will also have a "Dunce Cap" award. The Dunce Cap award is not necessarily for awful games, as you can find those in abundance, but awful games that have been given undue prominence or praise.

Please note that the scope of these awards only covers turn based tactical level strategy games, generally keeping within the guidelines of the frequently updated tactics game list.



3DS/DS: The 3DS hasn't been out for long, but the tactics games are already coming in. Expect the 3DS to be a haven for tactics games in the coming years. The DS is on its last legs, but remains one of the best systems for tactics games.

2011 Best 3DS/DS Game: SD Gundam G Generation 3D (3DS), Trailer

SD Gundam G Generation 3D is one of the best yet in the G Generation series, the best tactics game on the 3DS as of yet, and a good SRPG in its own right. It plays a lot like a modern Super Robot Wars game with spirit commands (seishins) for pilots, a morale system, and generally similar stats and combat mechanics. You'll find plenty of content variety, depth, units, pilots, equipment, and overall mechanics. Several challenge conditions and end of mission rankings help encourage efficient play. Other features include unit capture, group assignments, MAP attacks, and building your own space colony/base. While there's no chance of this arriving in NA, it would be nice to see a port to a region free system such as Vita, PSP, or PS3.

2011 3DS/DS Game Runner Up: Devil Survivor 2 (DS), Trailer

This sequel to the original Devil Survivor on the DS is a bit formulaic and doesn't change the core game play much. What you do get is a new storyline, new characters, skills, demons, enemies, and everything else that comes with a numbered sequel. Devil Survivor 2 includes the improvements from Devil Survivor: Overclocked including an end of game ranking system, easy mode, and demon compendium. If you loved the original Devil Survivor, you'll find more to enjoy here. Devil Survivor 2 will be arriving in NA in 2012, which will almost certainly be the DS's last tactics game hurrah. More than likely you'll see Devil Survivor 2 awarded again next year when it's released in North America.


Other 3DS/DS nominations: Devil Survivor: Overclocked (3DS)

Dec 2011 News

2011 has been a pretty good year for tactics games. It's encouraging to see indie developers continuing to give the genre a try, and if you're willing to import you can play some fairly big releases. Working on an end of year award post for the next few days.

This Gundam Guy post covers lots of gameplay details about SD Gundam G Generation 3D. I'd like to play this but I don't feel like shelling out for a Japanese 3DS at this time. Maybe when Fire Emblem 3DS is released. It's the only noteworthy tactics game this month that I'm aware of.

Super Robot Wars Masou Kishin II 10 minute trailer.

Info on the Vita Disgaea 3 port.

Atlus is localizing Gungnir for NA, estimated 6/12/2012. Here's some gameplay footage. It's a fairly generic SRPG. Hopefully I don't see too many copies in the bargain bin next year. Maybe they'll announce Blaze or Gloria Union next? Or maybe the PS3 Super Robot Wars.