Geek Review: Super Robot Wars X

Super Robot Wars is a classic series of turn-based tactical RPGs, where the player gathers an army of robots and pilots from the many robot anime series, to save the world. For Super Robot Wars X, Bandai Namco crossovers 23 anime series into a single game, with popular mechs from franchises such as Gundam ZZ, Gundam Wing Endless Waltz, Daitan 3, Mazinger and Cross Ange reimagined in the game’s signature super-deformed art style. New to this latest version are suits from Gundam Reconguista in G, Mashin Hero Wataru, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water and Buddy Complex.

Unlike previous Super Robot Wars games which follows a timeline, Super Robot Wars X‘s story is a stand-alone one. This makes it easier for newcomers to enter the game. Super Robot Wars X also features an original magic wielding mech, and a sorcerer as a pilot created just for the game. The is unique as it gives the game a fantasy theme.

The game’s story is told in a traditional Japanese RPG style, where players read conversations off the screen with a highlighted character portrait. Events are described in the battle scene by moving the robots around with animations and descriptive text. As the game has many different characters from hero factions and villain factions, some of which might not be from an anime series you are not familiar with, it can be difficult to follow.

However, with so many anime series being featured, this game is still a great way to preview and discover new anime series.

Like all Super Robot Wars games, the voice-acted battle animations for Super Robot Wars X never fail to impress. More so when you see robots smashing each other in the game’s super deformed art style. During battle animations, pilots are also able to recognize certain enemy mechs and will say something more personalized instead of their generic battle cry. It’s a pity the game does not allow you to take screenshots pass a certain point of the game. I am guessing it is due to license issues, or to prevent spoilers.

The game’s mechanics still uses the grid-based map system, and robots take turns to move and attack. Upon being attacked by an enemy unit, you can command your robots to counter-attack, evade (reduce enemy hit rate by half) or defend (take half damage). Robots can also be boosted by spirits to perform better in combat or heal themselves.

The game’s campaign is lengthy and has 42 missions, but players can select which difficulty level to play with. There are a variety of missions in there. Usually, it’s to either to destroy all opposing forces, defeat certain bosses, survive a number of rounds. Sometimes, there are certain factors to up the difficulty level, such as a turn limit to clear the objectives or to ensure certain units are not destroyed.

The most effective way to clear missions is to focus and max out your the robot’s stats on certain powerful robots, such as Wing Zero Custom Gundam or Mazinkaiser, and teach the pilot “Full Counter” and send the robot right in the middle of the enemy forces. The enemy will tend to attack that powerful robot, who will attack the enemy and destroy the enemy first before the enemy has a chance to attack. Just be wary when a boss unit is nearby, as usually, they need multiple full attacks before they are destroyed. Also, you have to make sure your robot does not run out of energy to attack by refilling it with energy-restoring items.

As mentioned earlier, there are certain missions which will end when a particular robot is destroyed. This happened many times and after numerous failed missions, I found two methods to reduce the chances of it happening. The first one is to simply put the mission objective robot into a battleship, while the second method is to ensure a pilot with the support defend ability is beside the mission objective robot.

All in all, Super Robot Wars X is a fun romp that enables fan to take out their favorite Gundam robots for a spin, and putting them into the thick of the action.

Super Robot Wars X is available on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita.