Why did it have to be more niche suits

The latest issue of Famitsu Weekly has revealed the next DLC suits that will arrive for Gundam Versus. Those suits are Gundam Pixie and the Efreet as they appear in the game Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: Missing Link. They'??ll be arriving in early?? February and will be going for the usual price tag, however other details are unknown at this time.

Needless to? say, it's a st??????????????????????????ep in the wrong direction.

To give a brief history lesson to those that are not hardcore Gundam fans, Gundam Pixie and Efreet first appeared in a Super Nintendo game called Cross Dimension 0079, which never left Japan. In it, the Efreet was considered to be a rarer standard issue machine, and would become more common in various Gundam media after. Meanwhile, the Pixie held a similar role to the Alex from War In the Pocket, where it was an updated Gundam model meant to be given to the protagonist of the original series. But while the game focused on the one intended to be handed over, it's never explained what happened to it or the two others made afterwards. In Missing Link, the Efreet appears ?in its usual portrayal and is partly customized, however a Pixie just kind of shows up midway through with no real explanation as to how it was obtained. The connection feels very shoehorned in and leaves a bad taste for many ?as a result.

This is a very disappointing announcement when you consider G Gundam is arriving this month. The game does not need more niche suits as DLC, as that's been a large portion of the DLC since day one. At this point in its life, it needs more big names to keep it going with casual fans, as we're seeing with how people reacted to the G Gundam DLC announcement. Where is Seed Destiny, where is Endless Waltz, and where is 00's second season? Why isn't the momentum from G being followed up on? Furthermore, can we finally get more Iron-Blooded Orphans content? It wouldn't kill you to add a fifth character from the hottest property the series has ha?d as of late.

Given that the two suits are going to launch in early February, we will likely be hearing more details soon. Hopefully those details include new single-player content the game also de??sperately needs.

[Via Esuteru]

The post Gundam Pixie and Efreet coming to Gundam Ve?rsus in February appeared first on Destructoid.

Doesn't quite stick the launch

Gundam is in an odd place. The franchise is currently going through a resurgence on the international stage with the success of Unicorn, Iron Blooded Orphans, and Thunderbolt. It brings in millions of dollars every year?? with its wildly successful model kits. However, its game??s struggle to gain traction outside of Japan, always having the misfortune of the select few chosen being mediocre to good at best.

So when Gundam Versus was announced for an international relea?se, it seemed like things were looking up. A new entry in a long-running series that is highly praised for its rost?er, gameplay, and content? Surely this would be the one that changes the trend!

Turns out, we somehow ended up with a???nother mess of a game.

Gundam Versus (PS4)
Developer: Bandai Namco
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Released: September 29, 2017
MSRP: $59.99

Gundam Versus at its core is a 2v2 game with a unique mechanic. Every character is given a point value of 500, 400, 300, or 200, which in turn determines their overall strength with 500 being the strongest. However, each team has a total health bar of 1,000 points, and each time a player dies, the value of their mobile suit gets taken from the team health. If you are shot down, and it brings your tea??m's life below the point value of your character, another mechanic called overcost occurs, and you’ll respawn with less? health. When a team's health bar reaches 0, that's the match. This in turn leads to an interesting dynamic of picking a suit that clicks with your partners’ coverage, while also having to balance the point values for longevity. On an advanced level, this develops into roles of back and front, as well as who dies first in regard to potential overcost.

One of the most impressive features of Gundam Versus is the roster. Over 90 mobile suits spanning 19 different shows, movies, manga, and games are included. In addition, every single suit manages to stand on its own, with only the two Sumos from Turn A being the closest things to full clones. But that does not mean it’s a perfect roster. A total of 13 different entries included in the previous home console game, like G, Endless Waltz, and SEED Destiny, did not make it into the base roster. What's more, 00 is missing its entire second season, SEED is missing deuteragonist Athrun, and recent hit Iron Blooded Orphans only has two sui??ts?. While it has problems, the significance of the inclusions and cuts will vary from person to person.

The game itself controls extremely well, with the controls being entirely remappable, and special moves can be used via via a single button or via a combination of specific ones. At its core though Versus is about mobility and meter management. Many specials and ranged attacks are tied to an ammunition amount, which is what helps each unit feel unique from one another. Some passively regenerate when not in use, some reload after the clip is emptied, and some are only once per life. The mobility tech, which are boost dash, boost step, and boost dive, will be your main means of movement and evasion, but also the greatest part of combat for Gundam Versus. You can cancel your moves with these, meaning you essentially have a build-your-ow?n-combo system, while also being able to evade attacks mid-combo by a potential rescuer. The matter of applying pressure to limit their options and striking at the right time is even greater as a result. Combined with the roster variety it is singlehandedly one of the most unique fighters on the market, and it feels so satisfying to play.

Unfortunately, the single-player content is rather barebones. The three primary modes for solo players are Ultimate battle, Trial battle, and Free battle. Ultimate battle is a survival game type, comi?ng in 15, 30, and 50 wave variants, ??and a 15 wave boss variant. Every 10 waves players will get to play a random bonus wave, such as who can kill the most enemies or a special round as the infamous Big Zam. Meanwhile Trial battle is the game's version of arcade mode, with 10 different routes of varying length and difficulty. Both of these modes have a major issue: A lack of replayability. Every battle in Trial is static, and will never change with an exception we’ll discuss later on, and it's the same case for Ultimate. The harder trials do have alternate paths, and scoring an S rank or higher will unlock another alternate path for some of them, but those paths will never change as well. The only reason to replay them outside of experience and GP for unlockable content is to achieve a faster clear time and score. There is also no split-screen so it's online only for you and your friends if you want to play.

Free battle is the versus/practice mode, where players can set the AI difficulty, the units, the strikers, the stage, and even the music. It’s even possible to set teams that are normally impossible, such as 1v3, but the mode cannot be used to gain currency of any kind for the games unlocks. Players will spend a lot of time here for practice as the game's tools for teaching are pathetic. The ‘tutorial’ is just an info dump, and you don’t even have to do the information displayed in order to progress to the next ‘lesson.’ Additionally, the move lists are actively missing info, which is unforgivable for a fighting game. Moves that have follow-up i?nputs or have tilts for variations, such as the X1's screw whip, are missing those details. And the transformation mechanic, which only applies for certain suits, is not even listed, meaning suits like G-Self or Zeta Gundam have a third to half of their movesets hidden and are unknown barring experimentation by the player. It’s unacceptable for a series that is over a decade old.

The online suite isn’t exactly the strongest, either. While Ultimate battle can be played online, if at any point either player disconnects, the entire thing ends. You don’t even get to continue with an AI partner, meaning a disconnect at wave 49 of 50 will cause that god-tier run to end in anger. The online itself is divided into five queues: casual 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3, and ranked 2v2 and 3v3, with private lobbies being an option with a large amount of control in them, including locking people with poor connections out. However, the netcode is potentially a major problem. If for whatever reason, whether it’s you or someone else joins with a poor connection, the room slows?? to a crawl, and potentially crashes entirely. This risk increases with more people in a match, meaning 3v3 can often be an unstable mess. If you can’t secure a good connection for yourself, the online portion may as well be useless, which also means an effective method of earning experience for individual characters along with GP.

Now it should be mentioned there is a fair amount of fanservice for Gundam fans here. The game has 40 tracks from the series included, among those songs being music used for openings like Raise Your Flag. Every mobile suit, pilot, and series has a profile that gives some information on each, as well as a cool little intro that happens when you start a trial battle. This is on top of a huge amount of unlockables such as strikers, navigators, titles and emblems, in addition to iconic locations to battle at such as the colony laser from Zeta Gundam. However, the biggest thing that holds all of this back is the minimal job at adapting the game for international audiences. The majority of the songs have their titles in Japanese and for whatever reason the notorious Gundam 00 character Ali al-Saachez had his name changed to Gary Biaggi. To top it off, there is a complete lack of subtitles, from the intro movies to the win/loss screen. This lack of subtitles means casual players not into Gundam are less likely to latch onto any specific character as a result, while actual fans miss out on a t??on of fanservice. The only thing translate?d are the navigators and that’s it, so it’s really disappointing so little was done for the actual playable cast.

Now it’s interesting to note that Namco has promised support for Gundam Versus. All characters will be paid, but all future stages and modes will be free. Beyond that, Trial and Ultimate battle get updated in different ways whenever DLC characters are released. For instance, the bonus round in Ultimate battle to play as Big Zam was patched in before launch as part of patch 1.05. That same patch also changed the third stage of trial route 4 to be completely Gundam AGE themed, using the AGE-1 DLC character and strikers along with the free Minsry stage. Finally, every time DLC is released, there is a chance in the extr?a wave of Ultimate battle to play a bonus round as one?? of the latest DLC characters, which as of this writing was Phantom Gundam, Nightingale, or AGE-1. It feels odd to say it, but the main reason to replay either Trial or Ultimate right now is to potentially experience playing with or against the latest DLC characters in a more controlled setting, even if for a brief time.

Overall, Gundam Versus is great gameplay hampered by the content, or lack thereof, meant to support it. A solid roster is brought down by questionable absences, while the offline content lacks the kind of replayability that an arcade mode would have. Meanwhile the unstable online means those with poor connections can't get the most out of the game, and the lack of teaching tools will not properly prepare people for it regardless. The end result is a package that's only alright in the end, and hard to recommend to even Gundam fans.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game purchased by the reviewer.]}

The post Review: Gundam Versus appeared first on Destructoid.

13 mobile suits, baby

Gundam Versus released on Friday and, as was partly expected, Namco also released part of the DLC without a word. To make matters worse, each DLC page only uses generic terms to describe what each downloadable suit comes with, and in some cases is wrong about what content is exclusive to which character. For the sake of your wallet an??d time, we'll be going through exactly what each mobile suit comes with, along with showing the two leaked ones.

Keep ??your wallet secured, as we have a lot of DLC t?o go through.

So, as of this writing, every mobile suit available as a separate purchase will come with? at least the following by default: the mobile suit itself, said mobile suit as a striker/assist, and three titles. They also come with a pilot, however there's no guarantee it's a new pilot and, since there's little to no subtitles, they may as well be a glo?rified sound effect pack.

However, some of the DLC mobile suits can act as alternate unlock methods for already-included content such as strikers, but you'll still have to work for it. Every available mobile suit currently runs a standard 5 USD, with no option for ?a cheaper bundle or season ?pass as of yet.

We're g?oing to break the DLC down into chunks, based on their Japanese release date, to make things a bit more diges??tible.

Pre-order bonus DLC

Available at time of writing?: Yes and No.

• Hot Scramble Gundam
• Gundam Virtue
• Gundam Barbatos Lupus

All three of these mobile suits were bonuses for those that pre-ordered the game, both in Japan and internationally. They only include the bare minimum content. However, it should be noted that Gundam Virtue can purge its armor to turn into Gundam Nadleeh during a match, so it could be viewed as two characters in one, like Samus in Smash Bros Brawl.

In terms of unlocking content in the base game, Gundam Virtue can be used to unlock the three oth?er Celestial Being Gundam strikers, an emblem, and a navigator. Hot Scramble can be used to unlock Nu Gundam and Zeta Gundam as striker?s. Barbatos Lupus cannot unlock any content other than an emblem.

However, Hot Scramble is not available on its own. It was exclusivel?y pre-order only, at least for North America. If you had hopped on PSN yesterday, you could have grabbed it for free, even if you didn't have the game. There is a good chance it will never be available again, as even Japan is unable to purchase it separately.

August DLC

Available at time of writing?: Yes

• Pale Rider
• Baund Doc
• G-Self (Perfect Pack)
• Perfect Strike Gundam
• Gundam Gusion Rebake

For the month of August, everyone is just as barebones for exclusive content. While the Baund Doc is the only mobile suit that allows Rosamia Badam from Zeta Gundam to be used as a pilot, due to the lack of subs, her value is minimal to nothing. However, G-Self (Perfect Pack) does include an exclusive navigator who is fully subtitled. While it doesn't affect gameplay, it is something worth considering if you liked the navigator feature of Persona 4 Arena and how it works in Gundam Versus.

In terms of unlocking content in game, every mobile suit from this month (except Pale Rider) can act?? as an alternative unlock method for 1 to 3 strikers. In addition, only Perfect?????????????????????????? Strike and Pale Rider cannot unlock an emblem.

On a separate note??, if you do your homework before buying, you will find a lot of videos, posts and tier lists saying Pale Rider and Gusion Rebake are two of the worst characters in the game. A lot of those tier lists are about to become outdated, as a patch scheduled for October 3 will be providing a lot o??f buffs to the weaker cast members.

September DLC

Available at time of writing?: No

• Phantom Gundam
• Nightingale
• Gundam AGE-1

Sadly, the best DLC set is not out internationally, despite releasing in Japan on September 26. While Phantom Gundam is barebones, Nightingale and Gundam AGE-1 come with some extras. Nightingale will be coming with a second striker, the Pscyo Geara Doga, while AGE-1 will include a total of 5 strikers, an emblem, and music from Gudam AGE.

In terms of unlocking content from the base game, only Nightingale can do that, acting as an alternate method for the Sazabi striker and an emblem. Phantom and AGE-1 are the first ones from their respective series in the game, and as such are unable to act as alternate unlock routes. It's unclear if future DLC for characters from Gundam AGE will share any of the strikers that ??came with AGE-1.

Of the three however, Phantom Gundam is a interesting case. It marks the first time anything from Crossbone Gundam: Ghost has appeared outside of the manga, let alone outside of Japan. There's not even a model kit for it, that's how niche it is. If you're interested in more new series and characters for the game, or to show support for Crossbone: Ghost being in future games, it would be worth considering?? putting 5 USD down for Phantom Gundam.

Leaked DLC

Credit to reddit user hericbss for the image

When international fans booted up their versions of the game for the first time, they were treated to a lovely surprise. Not only did the character select screen show all DLC to date, both released and unreleased, but it also showed previously unannounced content: the Alvaaron from Gundam 00, and Buster Gundam from Gundam SEED. Of t?he two, Alvaaron is already in the game to a degree, as it acts as the second stage for the Alvatore boss fight. If it is released at the price of 5 USD with the bare minimum, then Namco is trying to scam you.

With that, that's? all the current DLC covered for Gundam Versus. Remember that with a base roster of 90+ characters, the impact of the DLC is smaller, and you should consider whether you really need mo??????????????????????????re at 5 USD per character. In addition, the DLC train is likely nowhere close to stopping, and this series has a history of "super" versions, so please heavily consider if you're OK with that possibility, before spending money on more characters. Better to be careful now than to regret all the money you spent a year or two down the road.

The post PSA: A quick rundown of the released, missing, and leaked DLC for Gundam???? Versus appeared first on Destructoid.

Char did nothing wrong

Bandai Namco has released new trailers for the latest DLC for Gundam Versus. While Phantom Gundam's trailer was previously shown off at a tournament last month, the trailer for Nightingale is brand new. Both trailers confirm that the mobile suits will be releasing on September 26 in Japan, which is three days before the?? international launch.

You can check out the Red Comet in action below.

Needless to say, Nightingale looks to be an intimidating mobile suit, with impressive ranged options while having dangerous close combat combos. However, the most notable part of the trailer is what comes with the DLC. Alongside the standard three titles, and the ability to use the Nightingale as a striker, it will also be coming with a second striker. The Psyco Geara Doga, which usually shows up only when material from Beltorchika's Children is involved, will be included as a striker. Once unlocked, it can be u??sed by any cast member in the? game.

Despite releasing so close the the international launch date, and with just two weeks to go before launch, Bandai Namco has not said what will happen with this DLC outside of Japan. They join the five mobile suits that launched in August that also share?? an unknown fate. Namco really needs to expl??ain what is going on, as the lack of info for this isn't doing anyone any favors.

Gundam Versus releases in North America and Europe on Sep?tember 29.

The post Che??ck out the new Gundam Versus trailer for Nightingale appeared first on Destructoid.

This beta isn't just for show!

When it comes to video games starring the Gundam franchise, it stands in an odd spot.

Despite the anime being popular around the world, the games, which cover numerous genres and come out frequently in Japan, are nowhere to be seen internationally. With the last home console game, Dynasty Warriors Gundam Reborn, having been released three years ago, fans have been hungry for more Gundam. Namco appears to have heard their cries with the release of Gundam Versus for PlayStation 4 planned for later this month. As you can pro??bably tell, I'm very excited for it.

A beta was released that ran over the course of September 2 to September 4. I roped in our own Bass to give the demo a try. He hasn't tried anything in the franchise whatsoever, only heard snippets through me, so I thought it'd be interesting to get an outsider's opinion on the matter. That way you can get the perspective of someone who likes Gundam, and someone who?? would be more focused on whether the gamepla??y appeals to him.

I swear I'm the unbiased one in this case.

Mike: So, Bass, as someone who has not watched or played anything Gundam, ho??w would you describe your experience with the demo in one word?

Bass: Overwhelming. There is a lot to take in here!

Mike: I&rsq??uo;m?? not surprised. There are a lot of mechanics to take in, yet someone at Namco dummied out the tutorial for the demo!

Bass: Right? On one hand, I do want to give props to the developers for including so much content in this beta/demo. It’s not every dev that w??ould give you survival modes, quests, and functional multiplayer in a free product, and the roster here was absolutely massive. But at some point, I feel like less could have been more here? When you give me a roster this large right out of the gate, with so many mobile suits looking alike, that’s one hell of a learning curve.

Mike: Y?eah it definitely is. Choices are good, but after a certain point it becomes more of a negative than a plus for some people. That being said, was there any particular mobile suit you settled ??on after you spent some time with the game?

Bass: Buddy, ?you’re the expert, not me. I ended up going for the few names I recognized, like Turn A and Char’s stuff, but the overwhelming majority of the cast I haven’t given a shot to yet. For a 3D fighting game, I did find it interesting how different the movesets were. On one mobile suit, the square button would fire bullets towards the enemy, while with another you’d end up throwing spiked balls. But that in itself was another element of complexity, as it meant I couldn’t reliably know how to play a character after learning the basics with Turn A Gundam the hard way.

Mike: Understandable. I was the same way, generally staying away from stuff I also didn’t really know. I don’t know if you experienced it, but I had a hard wake-up call on a couple of mobile suits that turned out to be ranged or melee only beside two I had known previously. I eventually on a couple, such as the Turn X and Quebely MK-II, which you saw in action when we did Ultimate battle. Speaking of the mode, what are your thoughts o??n it?

Bass: I liked it! Especially in co-op, it feels like it’s currently the best way to get a hang on the characters. Regular battles ended up destroying me, but Ultimate Battles (which is just a fancy way of saying survival) is more lenient by letting you recover every five rounds or increasing y???our stats the way you want. I still have a few gripes, however.

Mike: I have a feeling I know what some of those gripes are. Would one of them happen to be a complete loss of progress if you disconnect from your partner at any poi?nt? Because that happened in our first run and oh boy was I not happy. We were doing so well!

Bass: Yeah… In general, the online elements in this game felt ??fairly unrefined? Like you said, losing your connection makes both players l??ose their entire Ultimate progress, but there were also concerning lag spikes. Normally, you’d expect a game to have one of two behaviors when lag’s involved, either the characters start zipzooping around, or there’s a desync between players that gets fixed at a slow interval. But here it seems the game just slows to a ridiculously low framerate when the connection is poor… Not exactly pleasant. Considering this game already released in Japan, I’m not sure being a beta is a good explanation for these issues. Though at least, the majority of the time it felt smooth and responsive enough. As responsive as it gets for a game where I’m just button mashing because I don’t know what anything does!

Mike: I half wonder if the online portion was built with only Japan in mind, before the decision to launch internationally happened. I actually took the 3vs3 mode for a spin, which is new to this game, and every single time the room crashed. It’s like polar opposites for all intents and purposes. When you’re offline or p?laying with a f??riend with a great connection, it’s perfect. But the moment you get into a six-player situation, and even with the standard 2vs2 mode sometimes, the experience just takes a nose device off the deep end. I have a bad feeling that in the full release online regulars will retreat to the private rooms, where they can restrict who joins based on connection strength.

Bass: The??re’s that option at least! Beyond the online issues and general confusion, I had fun ?though. There’s a satisfying weight behind melee attacks, and fighting multiple enemies at a time means you always have to be mindful of your surroundings. The skill ceiling seems high for the elite competitive gamers out there. How was it as far as roster and fanservice goes? I’m totally out of my league here, but I did appreciate the little description snippets that came with every mobile suit. It did a decent job at quickly explaining their origins.

Mike: It’s a good roster in my opinion. Yes, some series like G Gundam and SEED Destiny are missing, along with some prominent characters like Athrun from SEED. But what’s there is a very solid selection, and there’s stuff there that isn’t in the beta, such as alternate pilots for each suit. One of the Victory mobile? suits has four unlockable alternate pilots in the final game for instance. I just wish though that opening lines and win/lose quotes were subbed, because I heard characters say the names of their partners sometimes, and in some cases those characters never interacted before. Just one of those little details that, if it existed, would go a long way? for fans and helping establish who characters are for non-fans.

Bass: I’m glad you mentioned that. The lack of subtitles (or English voice acting) really sucks! I’m sure I’m not losing on too much with the quotes at the start of battles, but I like to understand the dialogue I hear. Hopefully the final game will feature that… Assuming I didn’t miss that in the options to begin with. Without it, then… I feel l??ike there’s little advantage in having a western release over importing this game? Apart from the availability, of course.

Mike: You’ve pretty much summed it up. Outside of availability, the only advantages would be translated menus as well as not needing a Japanese account for DLC. Although I did find it extremely odd that the Navigator feature, which for the demo was limited to the character Haro and was forced on during Ultimate and Trial mode, had every line translated. I get the sole purpose of the feature is to talk and commentate, like Rise in the original Persona 4 Arena, but it j??ust helps ?make the lack of subs elsewhere stand out more.

Bass: Huh, I didn’t realize that. How strange! Now for something totally different, I want to talk about the one thing that confused the most in this demo. All the mo??bile suits have a number value associated with them, right? And when you’re playing in a team with an AI in survival mode, their value is halved. And lower-value mobile suits have bios that describe them as being weaker. So I just thought that meant that the game had a built-in tier system, and that I should always go with a higher-value suit!

Except that wasn’t it at all. I didn’t realize because I didn’t die enough yet, but the game has a super weird life system where there’s a point total and every time you die, you subtract ??the number associated with your suit and respawn again. That’s a cool mechanic! But also not the most intuitive one… I hope the in-game tutorial, when it arrives, gives a proper guide on how to pick a good suit for maximum survival depending on your play style and team composition and what not.

Mike: I really like the system, as it helps maintain the status of power certain mobile suits have compared to others. Halving the AIs point value in modes like Trial and Ultimate is also smart decisions by the developers, as it lessens the chance of the AI wrecking a good run you had going on. However, like you said, without?? a tutorial, it’s not immediately clear to the players how it works,what an ideal composition is, or even what point va?lue a newcomer should start as. Without knowing what the tutorial that was left out has, it’s hard to say how well the final game does at teaching the mechanics.

Now for the final and hardest question. As someone who took the beta for a spin, and has never experienced anything Gundam before, would you consider picking the final game up at some point down the road? If not?, what more do? you feel the game needs in order to convince you to pick it up?

Bass: Personally, I’m not convinced yet. Recent years have been packed with fighting games, and ??I don’t have the fanservice element working for me either. But, the base combat did seem fun, especially if I put enough hours in to get past its scary learning curve… My main concern that I absolutely want to confirm with the game at launch is the quality of its online mode. It doesn’t look like the retail game will have a story mode, so once quests are over I’d want to play online as much as possible both co-op and competitive, and if I’m going to end up with similar disconnect issues or tanking framerates that this beta has, I will be disappointed. What?? do you think?

Mike: That’s definitely the case. If the online improves for day one, everything will be fine. However if it isn’t, then I can see many players, both casual and competitive, ignoring it for other options, like the upcoming Dissidia Final Fantasy NT or Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite depending on their tastes. I’m personally in the boat of I'm getting this regardless, because I like Gundam, I like what I've seen, I like how the beta played, and I want to support it in hopes that we get more Gundam games like the Breaker series.

Bass: You want to make me buy your game, Namco? Just confirm my favorite mech warrior ?as DLC.

Mike: And just who is your favorite mech rider?

Bass:

The post A Gundam fan and a ne?wcomer try out the beta? for Gundam Versus appeared first on Destructoid.

They nailed it!

When we last reported on the most recent news for Gundam Versus, we were going off of early reports about what Bandai Namco revealed as a recent tournament. As it turns out, a bit more was announced at the tournament, although it didn't necessarily cater to the interest of those present. Specifically, a brand new mode for the game, as well as the debut trailer for the previously announced Phantom Gundam.

You can catch ??the t?railer in the upload of the tournament below, at the 55:28 mark.

Needless to say, they pretty much nailed Phantom Gundam. It stands out from the four other mobile suits from Crossbone Gundam already included, and the sound design, especially the unique sound for when the Phantom Light system activates. I don't mind the voice actor either, which is a good thing, as they will likely voice Font Baud, the pilot, for all future Gundam games.

The biggest news is the new mode. In addition to the one-on-one private matches, a new game type for Ultimate mode will also be included in update 1.05. While Ultimate mode normally pits up to six pl??ayers against a single boss, the new game type will pit up to five players against a boss controlled by another player. This means that mobile armors that are normally not playable, such as Big Zam and Psyco Gundam, are now available to be used, however only for this mode. While more competitive players may pass on it, the more casual players will definitely be getting into this mode.

Overall update 1.05 is looking very good, and further shows that Namco is keeping its promise to constantly update the game with more than just paid DLC. Whether or not the update??, along with most of the announced DLC, will be ready for the upcoming international launch remains to be seen.

Gundam Versus releases in North America and Europe on September 29. If you're interested in the game or looking for something different to play, an open beta will be running this weekend from September 2 to September 4, and does not req??uire a PlayStation Plus subscription to take part in.

The post Playable boss mode coming to Gundam Versus, witness the debut trailer for Phantom Gunda??m appeared first on Destructoid.

Give me Pale Rider already

While the rest of the world awaits the beta and full release of Gundam Versus, Japan has had the game since July 6 and Bandai Namco is slowly rolling out the DLC. In addition to the release of G-Self (Perfect Pack) today, the company has released new trailers for two more upcoming mobile suits: Baund Doc from Zeta Gundam and Pale Rider (Ground Type) from Missing Link.

You can catch the two mobile suits in action??? below.

Both suits show off their stuff, as well as any unique mechanics they have. Of the two, Pale Rider?? comes off as more unique due to its HADES ability, as not many units in the roster have anything like it. However, both appear to sit in a solid mix of melee and ranged combat so it will come down to personal preference as to whether to buy them or not.

Now when it comes to content included, the two suffer a similar problem as the rest of the DLC, and we're going to include G-Self (Perfect Pack) in this discussion. Pale Rider only includes three titles and itself as a striker in terms of extra content, much like the initial three DLC mobile suits we have as pre-order bonuses. However, this is the first time Pale Rider has ever been in a Gundam VS game, is only the third playable mobile suit from Missing Link??, and as pr?eviously mentioned is rather unique in terms of mechanics.

Baund Doc on the other hand faces a much larger hurdle. There are already thirteen mobile suits from Zeta Gundam in the base roster, and it's just as light on content. In addition, the main pilot for the suit, Jerid, is already playable via four of them. The main selling point for buying this would be the unlockable pilot, Rosamia Badam, who is currently not playable in the base game. Only a hardcore fan of Zeta Gundam can really justify this one as a result.

G-Self (Perfect Pack), from Reconguista in G, has something better going for it. While it is also light on content, it's only the fourth mobile suit from the show. In addition, it has an  unlockable navigator, which functions like the navigators from Persona 4 Arena. Once unlocked, it can be used by any ?mobile suit in the cast, meaning you can get more mileage out of it.? It can be useful for breaking up any monotone you may be experiencing, such as during practice or grinding a mobile suit for locked content.

Currently Amazon has the DLC mobile suits Barbatos Lupus and Gundam Virtue priced at $4.99 USD, which is slightly lower than the price in Japan. Given that every single one is priced the same, it is likely that the three mobile suits, and anymore upcoming ones, will release at $4.99 USD. Pale Rider (Ground Type) and Baund Doc will be releasing together on August 24 in Japan, and will likely be available day one when the game releases internationally on?? September 29.

The post Baund Doc and Pale Rider (Ground Type) ta?ke off in new Gundam Versus trailers appeared first on Destructoid.

That's a lot of mobile suits

Following up on the announcement for Southeast Asia, Bandai Namco has announced that the open beta for Gundam Versus will al?so be happening on the same dates for North America and Europe. It will be ??available for pre-load starting on the August 29, and will begin on September 2 at 12:00am PDT. Fun times will be had afterwards until September 4 at 12:00am PDT, at which point the beta will stop.

Namco also provided new d??etails on what will be in the beta.

The entire playable roster included in the retail game, which is a grand total of 94 mobile suits, will be available during the beta. The only absent units are the eight mobile suits announced as DLC. In addition, every striker in the base game, which act like assists and have over 180 different ones to choose from, will be available to use in the demo. However, it was confirmed that only five pieces of music will be included, at least two of which will be from Missing Link and Crossbone Gundam, which are a video game and manga respectively that are both exclusive to Japan. I don't understand why they went with those choices for music, but Crossbones has built up some great music in ?its?? various game appearances over the years so that's not too bad.

With the confirmation of what's included in the beta, which is most of the base game, I just want to emphasis this again. Give it a shot, as there aren't many games out there like this and you don't need to know any Gundam shows to enjoy it. However, if you play it and you have major complaints that are not 'I wish there was more content in the various modes,' then do not buy it on day one. Wait to see if Namco does anything down the road that helps with your concerns, such as updates or DLC. You don't need a review because you'll already know what the retail game is like due to how much is? in the demo. I want this game to succeed, don't get me wrong, but I don't want it to succeed while burn?ing numerous people.

Gundam Versus releases in North American and Europe on Sep?tember 29.

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Top tier beta inbound

While the rest of the world patiently waits, and while Japan plays with the actual game, Bandai Namco has announced the date for the open beta for Gundam Versus i?n Southeast Asia. The beta will be running from September 2 at 15:00 (GMT +8) to September 4 at 15:00 (GMT +8), and the pre-load will start on August 29. Namco confirmed that having a PlayStation Plus membership is not required in order to join in on the fun.

They also covered what mo??des will be in the beta, and oh boy what a selection.

Unlike most demos, which contain only a fraction of the mutliplayer portion, the beta for Gundam Versus will be quite in dep?th.? The company confirmed that the beta test will feature the following content:

• Player Match (Online mode)
• Casual Match (Online mode) – 1vs1, 2vs2, 3vs3
• Ultimate Battle (Online / Offline mode) – 15 missions, 30 missions
• Trial Battle (Offline mode) – 1 Route
• Free Battle (Offline mode)
• Tutorial

To put this in perspective, this is basically the entire game in terms of game modes. To give a quick run down for those that haven't been following along: Player Match ??is private lobbies, while Casual Match is random people. Ultimate Battle is a survival mode, and the final game has a 50 missions variant. Trial Battle is the game's equivalent of arcade mode, with set enemies and branching paths. The final game currently has 10, however, Namco has promised to add in more down the road and will patch in DLC units as enemies to existing ones. Free Battle allows players to battle against CPUs to their heart's content, ??with full control over the units picked and the stage selected. The only modes missing are the recently patched in Ranked Match and Boss Survival modes.

The only details not available at this time are what mobile suits out of the 80+ available in the final game will be in, or if all of them will be there. Either way, if you play the demo and your biggest problem with it isn't 'I just wish I had more content in each mode' then Gundam Versus most likely isn'??t for y??ou or it's something roster related that only DLC can potentially fix.

The date for Southeast Asia is likely the same date for the beta for the rest of the world, and we'll keep you posted for when it's confirmed elsewhere. However, if it happens to fall on a separate date, and you want more time with the beta, it is very easy to make an PSN account for that region, and their storefront is in English. I would know this, as I have an account for region t??hanks to the joys of the PS4 being region free.

The post Gundam Versus open beta b????egins the fight on September 2 in Southeast Asia appeared first on Destructoid.

Gundam Fight Set! Ready, Go!

As part of the whirlwind of announcements at Anime Expo 2017, Bandai Namco has announced that Gundam Versus will launch in North America on September 29. No date has bee??n given for a European release, however the game is still expected to release in the Fall for that region.

Unfortunately, Bandai Namco at the time did not provide details on how any DLC released in Japan before the international launch, which includes Gundam Virtue and Gundam Barbatos Lupus, will be handled. Gundam Versus launches July 6 in Japan, so expect footage and early impressio?ns from importers to start emerging around the net soon. For those wanting a refresher, check out the gameplay trailer that?? was released in April below.

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Gundam Nadleeh is here too!

Hot on the heels of the Gundam Barbatos Lupus trailer, Bandai Namco has released the trailer for the pre-order mobile DLC Gundam Virtue from Mobile Suit Gundam 00. The trailer shows off not only Virtue and the content it comes? with, but also the hidden surprise of Virtue: Gundam Nadleeh.

Virtue looks like a blast to play. It's a bulky unit with hard-hitting ranged abilities, along with a defensive field that lasts a set amount of time while allowing Virtue to setup some of its more risky abilities. Virtue has the option to purge its armor at any point, switching its moveset to Gundam Nadleeh. Nadleeh appears ?to be the exact opposite of Virtue, in that it's a more nimble unit that's more focused on getting in close, with a dangerous ability that stuns enemies, creating potential setups for Nadleeh or its teammates. Overall, Virtue/Nadleeh looks like it will require a higher skill lever than most mobile suits in the game.

However, much like Barbatos Lupus, Virtue is also a little skimpy in the extras department. Those who download Virtue will receiv??e three exclusive titles as well as the opt??ion to use Virtue as a striker, but there is no striker option for Nadleeh which is a shame.

Currently, Gundam Virtue has the same window and price as Gundam Barbatos Lupus. It will be released in Japan in late July for 602 yen, which is approximately $5.49 USD. Those who purchased the Premium G Sound Edition, exclusive to Japan, will have access to Barbatos Lupus, Virtue, and Hot Scramble Gundam for free and on launch day. At this time Bandai Na?mco has not shared how it will be handling the DLC whe?n the game is released internationally.

Gundam Versus releases thi?s Fall for North America and Europe, and July 6 for Japan and Asia on PlayStation 4.

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Robotto Wars

The cast of playable mecha in Gundam Versus is pretty damn extensive. Covering the revealed series thus far, when the game launches this fall, it will come with 94 different characters to select from. That ??must be hell for balancing, ?but it certainly means you'll never run out of interesting match ups.

This new trailer from Bandai Namco's Japanese YouTube account shows off every playable mecha in an extensive 14-minute trailer. You better set this aside for your lunch break, because you're in for quite the ??demonstration.

PS4 Exclusive Gundam Versus Gets Giant Gameplay Trailer Showing its 94 Mobile?? S?uits [DualShockers]

The post This ??14-minute Gundam Versus tr??ailer shows off the entire cast appeared first on Destructoid.

This Hi-Nu Gundam isn't just for show!

It's been a busy week for Gundam Versus. After the debut of its first TV spot, this week's issue of Famitsu has ??revealed new information about the upcoming game.

A total of 11 new Mobile Sui?ts were confirmed for the game's roster. The additions ar??e:

• Hi-Nu Gundam, Pilot: Amuro Ray (from Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack - Beltorchika's Children)
• Slave Wraith, Pilot: Travis Kirkland (from Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: Missing Link)
• Gelgoog High Maneuver Model, Pilot: Vincent Gleissner (from Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: Missing Link)
• Guntank, Pilot: Hayato Kobayashi (from Mobile Suit Gundam)
• Dom, Pilot: Gaia (from Mobile Suit Gundam)
• Rick-Dias, Pilot: Apolly Bay (from Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam)
• Methuss, Pilot: Fa Yuiry (from Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam)
• High-Zack, Pilot: Sarah Zabiarov (from Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam)
• GM Custom, Pilot: South Burning (from Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory)
• ReZEL, Pilot: Riddhe Marcenas (from Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn)
• Vigna Ghina, Pilot: Cecily Fairchild (from Mobile Suit Gundam F91)

With this announcement, the total number of Gundam works in Gundam Versus, ignoring DLC, rises to 19, and will mark the international game debut of Mobile Suits from Side Story: Missing Link, a PS3 game that never left Japan, and Beltorchika's Children, a novel that was based on the original rejected storyline for Char's Counterattack. The roster size has now also grown to a stagg??ering 82 Mobile Suits, with? only a few slots remaining.

The magazine also goes into detail about "Casual Matches," which allows player to fight against each other online in 2v2, 3v3, and also in 1v1 battles. At this time it is unclear if it's for public or private matches, but judging by the name, it will most likely be for non-ranked matches at th?e very least.

Finally, Famitsu revealed that a private online trial will be happening ?for Japan. The trial will take place over a limited period in June, with more details to come in the future. This will likely result in more footage of the game floating around online, giving us a further idea ??of how the it's shaping up to be before launch and how the various Mobile Suits play.

Gundam Versus releases this Fall for North America and Eur?ope, and July 6 for Japan and Asia for PlayStation 4.

Gundam Versus adds Hi-v Gundam, Slave Wraith, Gelgoog H?igh Maneuver Model??, more [Gematsu]

The post Gundam Versu??s reveals 11 Mobile ??Suits, new online mode appeared first on Destructoid.

Gundam fight set! Ready, go!

For Europe and North America, Gundam Versus will be c?oming out this fall. However, for Japan and Asia, the game launches much sooner, on July 6. Namco is slowly rolling out the marketing campaign, starting with a new TV spot for the game. The most interesting part of the trailer happens at the end however.

That's right ladies and gentlemen, Gundam Versus has pre-order DLC in the form of Hot Scramble Gundam from Gundam Build Fighters AR, piloted by Tatsuya Yuuki. The appearance of this Zeta/Nu Gundam hybrid is expected, as it has been showing up in recent Gundam games, such as SD Gundam G Generation Genesis, as part of the Gundam Game 30th Anniversary Collaboration project.

There's also more potential DLC in the works. A while back, Japan also had a limited edition announced for the game, with one of the bonuses of said LE being "a product code to play on release day as Mobile Suits planned to be made availa??ble after launch." It's unclear at this time what those Mobile Suits are, whether it's missing series like G Gundam or After War Gundam X, Mobile Suit Variations such as the Hi Nu ?Gundam, or more from the 17 series already included.

It's unknown how Namco will handle the DLC outside of Japan, as the Hot Scramble Gundam was mysteri??ously absent in international trailers and PR releases. Hopefully we'll hear more info on this in the coming weeks, with E3 right around the corner.

Gundam Versus Japanese release date announcement trailer, limited edition de?tails [Gematsu]

The post First Japanese TV spot for Gundam Versus debuts, pre-order DLC app??ears appeared first on Destructoid.

Why can't I kill her?

Gundam Versus is a game I didn't know I needed in my life. I've never been that big a fan of the anime series, but I really love Virtual-On from the arcades and I could definitely go for a giant robot fighting game. Versus will be releasing in a few months in Japan (July 1), but Bandai Namco has c??onfirmed it will be making its way West for a Fall 2017 release.

The game includes 2V2 and 3V3 fight modes along with over 90 robots. I'm going to just link you to this wiki, because I have no idea what any popular ??mobile suits are. There doesn't seem to be any single-player campaign, ??but I'm almost certain online capabilities are included.

In another interesting tidbit, this is the first mainline console Gundam game to be released in the West in over a decade. The last game we've seen in this Gundam Vs series was Gundam Vs. Zeta Gundam on the PS2 and GameCube in 2004.

Gundam Versus Headed Westward In Fall 2017 for PlayStation 4 [Siliconera]

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