Super Robot Wars; Or How I Learned to stop Logic and Punch Evil into the Moon!

[ES-Anthy]

So I realized we didn't have much of a general Super Robot Wars thread about here  :derp:

The SRPG series of nearly all the mecha ever in the existance of Japanese Animation is soon to come out with its newest title in early April, known as Super Robot Wars Z 2 Saisen-Hen, acting as the follow up for Z 2 Hakai-Hen.  The two together form the entirety of the Z 2 on the PSP, which in itself is the follow up to Super Robot Wars Z 1 on the PS2.

One can find all of the series going into this beast of a cross up here.

And for extra hype! Edit: Lower Quality version but has the in-game BGMs playing for each attack clip.

Any Discussion is Welcome and hypothesize to your heart's content on the insanity of this massive crossover game series!

[DarkslimeZ]

I can't WAIT for Saisei-hen. I have to remember to ask N-Forza to preorder it for me this weekend.

I've played almost all of the SRW games; my favorites have to be Alpha 3 and W. Z is awesome too, but I kind of feel like the large series list came at a cost - most of the series in Z2 especially have been more complicated than the older shows that featured in older games, so I feel like older games had more time to delve into cross-series character relationships than Z has. There's still been a good amount of it, but still. Maybe I just miss old UC Gundam shows. :p

Also, I'm planning on attempting to do a "Let's Play" kind of thing with Saisei-hen where I explain the story and dialogue as I play. Would anyone be interested in that? I've never heard of a let's play + translation combo before, and I'd have to practice a bit, but I think it's a cool idea.

[theshirn]

I've never heard of a let's play + translation combo before, and I'd have to practice a bit, but I think it's a cool idea.

I have.  It's a hell of a lot of work.  It would be pretty cool, but you'd best have a ton of time.

[DarkslimeZ]

I have.  It's a hell of a lot of work.  It would be pretty cool, but you'd best have a ton of time.

I've been playing Tales of Destiny Director's Cut with a friend of mine and translating all of the story, so it's not like I'm going to have to write much down - I'm pretty comfortable reading SRW. And I'm not going to translate line for line, except in parts I find really interesting. I don't actually plan on doing my first run like this, but rather have a second game go along for the videos a lot more slowly(so... I guess it's not really a let's play? i dunno)

I don't see a single stage being more than an hour. Maybe an hour and a half later on, I guess, but probably less than an hour for earlier missions.

[ES-Anthy]

That would be rather cool, but yea translation lp combos are quite a task.  As for the games I've dabbled about, I'm more of a general mecha nut myself . 3 . Personally I was tempted to do one of the gba titles ( possibly D cause I like my shin getter armageddon and I'm a maso for these kinds of things)

[theshirn]

Maaaaan...

Despite being an absolute SRPG nut, I could never get into the SRW games.  I'm not a mecha fan, that probably had something to do with it.

I feel like I should give them a shot again.  Any suggestions on a good one to start with?

[Hanzo K.]

I suggest J, for the GBA. There's a translation patch floating around out there too.
Other suggestions are SRW OG2, also for GBA. As well as SRW OG1, again, for GBA. These two have been localized though, unlike J.
Though if you can read Japanese, SRW K, SRW W, and SRW L are also good from what I hear.

[DarkslimeZ]

I suggest J, for the GBA. There's a translation patch floating around out there too.
Other suggestions are SRW OG2, also for GBA. As well as SRW OG1, again, for GBA. These two have been localized though, unlike J.
Though if you can read Japanese, SRW K, SRW W, and SRW L are also good from what I hear.

J is bad. Like, really bad. Not sure why they decided to translate that rather than R or D. If you don't care about translations, go for W instead. W is like the amazing form of J, and L is pretty much the great form of K. (What I'm saying is, don't bother with J, or K unless you really like fafner/gunxsword/whatever)

A, R, and D are fun too, depending on which series you like.

If you don't care for mecha series that much, you might get more out of the OG series though, since like Hanzo said they have been localized, and don't generally require knowledge of any anime.

[Hanzo K.]

I figure they probably chose it because it had smoother animations than the rest. All the others were largely static and stuff, like the older ones for SNES and such.
Though I will admit, they really should have done A too, because it's got one of the most badass OG Series characters around, Axel Almer. (Lamia too, but that's beside the point.)
I hear it's got Getter too, as well as the traditional Mazinger and such.

But I actually liked J because of the series that show up in it. But that's probably just me.

[DarkslimeZ]

I figure they probably chose it because it had smoother animations than the rest. All the others were largely static and stuff, like the older ones for SNES and such.
Though I will admit, they really should have done A too, because it's got one of the most badass OG Series characters around, Axel Almer. (Lamia too, but that's beside the point.)
I hear it's got Getter too, as well as the traditional Mazinger and such.

But I actually liked J because of the series that show up in it. But that's probably just me.

Yeah, A is fucking awesome in general. I really need to pick up the remake one of these days. It's got 0079 Gundam through CCA, and the old Mazinger/Getter guys... and a whole bunch of other old stuff. OCs are awesome too, of course.

W had almost all the series J had and more, though. Tekkaman? W added the sequel. FMP? W went all the way to TSR. Seed? Don't care, Astray. Nadesico? W was Nadesico's last and most awesome hurrah in all of SRW. Mediocre original characters? W has the best OCs in the whole franchise(IMO). If you liked J because of the series, then trust me, you will absolutely love W, I guarantee it. Give it a try when you have the chance~

it's probably a lot harder to do a romhack translation for w though :PPP

[Hanzo K.]

If I could understand the dialogue, I would. (Though I heard of a menupatch in the works, I might look into that.)
Because it's the dialogue that makes a game like that.
And one of the things that drew me to J, because it also had Brain Powerd, something that W or K notably lacked.
That, and it gets fun once you unlock the Secret Mech(Allrange Super, REALLY strong when fully upgraded.) by clearing it once each with the other three original mechs.
I recommend the Coustwell(Melee Real) for the first play, then the Granteed(Allrange Super) for 2, and then the Bellzelute(Ranged Real) for the third.
Sure, Seed's annoying as ever, but there's also SPT Layzner! LAYZNER.
This is actually one of the only three games that Layzner actually appears in, aside from SRW OX(Wii? GC? I dunno.), and that one other older one I can't remember.

[orinrin]

SRW F/F Final is a great starting place if you are new to the series.   


On another note, I think I prefer the OG series to the other ones, mostly because of the fact that it is much easier to understand in terms of plot (Alpha 3 confused the heck out of me back then).


SRW Alpha 3, Z, and OG Gaiden are probably my favorite ones at the moment.  I don't think there will be another game that comes close to Alpha 3's scale though (at least not for a while).

W had almost all the series J had and more, though. Tekkaman? W added the sequel. FMP? W went all the way to TSR. Seed? Don't care, Astray. Nadesico? W was Nadesico's last and most awesome hurrah in all of SRW. Mediocre original characters? W has the best OCs in the whole franchise(IMO). If you liked J because of the series, then trust me, you will absolutely love W, I guarantee it. Give it a try when you have the chance~

W is pretty much a polished version of J.  I'd play it over the newer iterations on the DS (K, L).  It's such a shame that they don't bring back the Nadesico crew though.  I miss this attack.

[Mew seeker]

I feel like I should give them a shot again.  Any suggestions on a good one to start with?

The PS2 version of MX is relatively easy from what I have heard.
I have to go back on it and finish my game. X D
In the PSP version, they apparently doubled most of your opponent HPs so it's a bit harder.
Also, in MX you can get the SP regen skill (which is basically a Magic Points recovery).
And the TFO in MX is godly. Seriously.
You know something is wrong when a LV 99 Berserk EVA which act twice per turn,
have Level 9 Potential and a 30% HP is eventually defeated because of it. X D

Anyway, I want to see how they will animate
the

Spoiler:

Super Tengen Toppa

Giga Drill Break in Z 2 Saisei Hen. ^^

[Hanzo K.]

Oh yeah, you can get SP Regen in OG1 and OG2 too, almost forgot that. (It's actually a prerequisite for beating some bosses in a reasonable amount of time!)

[Moerin]

Anyway, I want to see how they will animate
the

Spoiler:

Super Tengen Toppa

Giga Drill Break in Z 2 Saisei Hen. ^^

Personally I'm wondering how they're going to actually do the final battle from Gurren Lagann without either making all but one unit obsolete or turning everything into a Tengen Toppa machine thus making it look just the same as any other space-based fight. >.>  But I trust the developers, they always seem to pull through and make everything ten times more awesome than it was in the anime.

As for a good starting point for the series... I'd have to go with OG, myself, especially if you're more of an SRPG fan than a mecha fan.  That, and it was officially translated so it's much easier to get it in English than the others, ahah.

[Kasu]

The only two I've played so far are J and the GameBoy Advance version of OG, though I got OG2 at the same time as OG and I just haven't played it yet because I want to beat OG first.

Out of the first two, I'll probably beat J for the second time soon, and I'm more or less procrastinating on the last mission of OG because of the

Spoiler:

Rivale's HP Regen.  I am also aware that there's another boss after the Rivale, but I'm just too lazy to get it over with for some reason.

Agh, I really want to play W and Z now, but I'm always hesitant because I like to understand what's going on with the plot...

[Mew seeker]

Last mission of OG?
You must be on Ryusei route. If you're going for the skill point,
don't bother too much with the small fry and focus on bringing your group in the boss range.
If you have SP Regen, you might want to use a few spirits on your way too.
In any case, when you have enough people in attack range, attack, attack, attack.
If you have people with the attack support skill, make sure they are in position to use it.
I wouldn't be surprised if the boss actually run out of ammo for one of its attack.
Make sure to have units positioned in the blind spot it might leave then.
As for HP regen, what it really means in Super Robot Wars
is just that you must keep keep the pressure on.
That being said, if the boss have the Potential skill
and that it becomes a problem toward the end,
use Fury to override it.
Actually, consider using Fury and Armor Breaker at the beginning of turns.
It won't go to waste. ^^

In lot of case, when I saw difficults stage in Super Robot Wars,
I was often "Aww, come on, do they expect me to go through this?!
Those guy were bosses in the previous stage!" X D
But often it's not that bad when you actually do it.
In OG, I was usually able to go forward as much I could not stopping,
attacking the opponent as we got into each other range.
SP Regen was allowing it, being able to cast stuff like Focus every turn.

Anyway, if you're not going for the skill point, just do it slowly and clean the trash.
Use the Spirit commands of those with SP Regen to gain morale, heal, recover ammo,
give SP to those without SP regen and lower the boss's morale.
It's a general effective strategy through the whole game.
Then, force the boss to make it use it's Ammo attack until he run out of it.
Replenish yourself, lower the boss morale, recover your SP.
Then, unleash all you got on him.
Abuse blind spots left by his lack of Ammo.
You could also consider draining his EN at this point but that might be overkill.

Spoiler:

When you'll clear the first half, save.
Consider upgrading as much as possible at this point.
Use the same strategy for the last boss of this stage.
You made it this far and thus are strong enough to finish it.
I wouldn't be surprised if both bosses went down in 3 or 4 turns of constant fire.
If you use the SRX, make sure that you uncombine,
use the combo attack with Rai and Aya, recombine and then attack with the SRX.

Good luck. ^^

[Kasu]

Advice.

W-wow.  I wasn't expecting that kind of response, but it helps a lot!  Thanks for the advice!

[DarkslimeZ]

I remember OG Gaiden's final boss. Fuck that guy.

I spammed SRX's best attack four times per turn. Taught that thing a lesson. Was fucking annoying the first time I tried though.

[orinrin]

I remember OG Gaiden's final boss. Fuck that guy.

I spammed SRX's best attack four times per turn. Taught that thing a lesson. Was fucking annoying the first time I tried though.

I found Shu to be easier than Dark Brain, mostly because of the fact that Shu doesn't have retarded health regeneration.

[Yog-N'yggoth]

Only played the translated ones.

J was fun, although everyone kept targetting the tanks, and if I didn't feel like switching to dodge or something, they would've probably clear the enemy before my turn started. On the other hand, there's tons of reinforcements everywhere.

Also playing the first OG game on the GBA. Accidently took the "real" route, so going with Kyosuke. Doing alright though a bit dizzy with multiple weapon selections, although I should try not to go for every single battle mastery/secret for a first playthrough.

Played a bit of Alpha Gaiden, but stopped. Not sure why.

Finished Endless Frontier which does have connections with SRW. It's more like a traditional RPG, but the battle system is pretty fun, although FORCED EVASION comes up often in boss fights. Too bad the sequel isn't coming too.

[Hanzo K.]

It's not as common in the sequel, which has a menu translation patch out.
It translates all the skills and spirits, and most of the items, and the in-menu options.
Of course, it doesn't translate the dialogue, and it still misses a few things, and there's typos here and there.
Overall though, it's not too bad. And if you train Aledy(The hero) enough, you get a skill around Lv20-something that can smash though shields like nobody's business.
And it hits like a truck too. Nothing like a S+ rank attack to brighten up the fight I say.

[DarkslimeZ]

I found Shu to be easier than Dark Brain, mostly because of the fact that Shu doesn't have retarded health regeneration.

Wait, which came first? I was referring to Dark Brain :x I don't even remember Shuu

[orinrin]

Wait, which came first? I was referring to Dark Brain :x I don't even remember Shuu

Shu was the final boss in his glorious Neo Granzon.  Dark Brain was the faggot that kept regenerating 400k health every turn.  Seriously, I had to restart several times because I wasn't able to deal enough damage.


Edit:  Now I remember why Dark Brain was such an ass, his level 9 potential gives him retarded amounts of armor at low health.  I vaguely remember Zengar hitting him for 8000~ damage after using hot  blood.  >_>