Following on from the last batch of disappointing DLC for Gundam Side Stories, we now have a new set released. Featuring the YMS-15 Gyan this is at least a new mobile suit rather than just cheap re-skin. Focused around close combat, the Gyan was a formidable mobile suit in the original Gundam series. It’s also more of a classic design for the fans and so that is at least something to be happy about. There’s also a new VR Mission available now too and it looks like a decent challenge as well.

Well we now have some cheap knock off DLC, as the G3 Gundam is a playable DLC unit in Gundam Side Stories. The reason this is basically a knock-off DLC pack is because the G3 is basically a re-coloured version of the standard RX-78-2 Gundam. Used at the end of the novel version by Amuro Ray, it’s just a higher performance version of the regular Gundam. Normally the G3 is given as an unlockable unit but clearly Bandai Namco are just being lazy/greedy this time around. At 400 yen it’s also a bit ridiculously priced too. A video of it in action is linked below.

Following on from the Gundam Unicorn themed DLC for Gundam Side Stories we now have the second set released today on PSN. This includes some new VR missions as well as two new mobile suits; the Pezun Dowadge and the Efreet Nacht. We’re sorta meh on the former but the later is cool as we enjoyed Gundam Senki 0081. This could also mean we might get some 7th Gundam DLC too, which would be pretty nice. Talking of VR missions, the game is actually better without all the story stuff getting in the way. Much like the older PS2 Gundam games, the core gameplay on its own holds up much better than when it has to tell a story. This was true in Journey to Jaburo with the Tactics Battle setup, that later basically made up the backbone of the far better Lost War Chronicles. Without all the manky cutscenes to ruin the ambiance, Side Stories is actually really solid.

So since Gundam Side Stories launched it’s been getting pretty terrible user reviews. Now in Japan these tend to have more weight with fans, more so than press reviews in fact, but this also means that we’ve already seen some initial price cuts. Whilst this is not an official reduction, a 40% decrease in price is pretty massive. Admittedly this is for the standard edition of the game, as the limited edition is still at full price, but even then this is pretty serious. It’s likely this has happened because outlets like Amazon have excess stock they need to shift, as the user reviews have relegated the game to the online bargain bin. Whether this price cut will shift over to importers is unlikely though, at least for the interim. In terms of sales, the game has done sorta average (at around 80k in its first few days). In any case, we ‘re hoping Bandai Namco will learn from this episode and either give these games a bigger budget or focus the scope to use the budget they already have.

Now that our review for Gundam Side Stories is up, we wanted to add a few more bits that cover the narrative. The reason why these aren’t in the main review is that these are pretty hefty spoilers. Whilst we don’t really care about spoilers some people lose their shit, so this concession is for them. This is by no means comprehensive but more the parts we thought worth mentioning.

Some of the finest Gundam games ever made have been the “gaiden”, or side story, entries. These are on the whole admired by fans of the Gundam saga, as they place the player as grunts on the front lines. Understandably, when a collection such as Gundam Side Stories was announced many people were obviously overjoyed. As modern day remakes of these classic games would be a wonderful thing indeed.

It then transpired that these classic games wouldn’t actually be remade, instead they would use a new game setup and only be recreated in a narrative sense. Despite this obvious disappointment, the new game is actually rather good but the overall package is very patchy and inconsistent. As such this is one of the more challenging games we’ve had to review over the years.

After much wait Gundam Side Stories is released today in Japan. However, because we’re awesome we got a copy of the Limited Edition a day early (pictured above). So from playing about fifteen or so missions on the Slave Wraith side of Missing Link this is what we think of it thus far. In terms of controls and gameplay, it’s actually pretty great. It’s fluid and simple but with some nice weight to it. It feels like an amalgam of the old Blue Destiny games mixed with Lost War Chronicles and Zeonic Front. In terms of the latter, you have three units per team and you can switch mid-combat between them (like in Zeonic Front somewhat). These also act as your “lives”, as once one is taken out it has to recharge and you can switch to the others in the team. Once all units are down then that’s game over. Missions are short and simple but still quite varied. The game is quite focused as a whole, in that you don’t really have to customise the mobile suits or their load-out. You also have access to two weapons from the off, normally a machine gun and a bazooka/beam rifle but this varies from unit to unit. All this makes the controls and combat feel very direct and almost arcade like. The story and voice acting is also good and suitably interesting. All this aside though, this game looks really quite ugly in places. The majority of the cutsenes clearly weren’t done by an animator and the engine itself looks very dated indeed (worse than 0081 did in fact). The terrain especially looks like something from the PS2 era. We’re guessing this is because the budget was small and the content in the game as a whole is pretty massive (as they had to make seven games in one package). Once we’ve played it some more we’ll post our review but in the meantime it plays well but looks pretty disappointing. There are also some new gameplay videos, which we’ve linked below. You can buy the standard edition here.

What with less than a week until release, we now finally have the full blown Cross Dimension 0079 promo for Gundam Side Stories. This was the first Gundam Gaiden game and was released back on the SNES, it was also a turn based strategy game. In addition to this, we also have new promos for both Rise from the Ashes and Space, To the End of A Flash. The promos are shown below. You can still pre-order the standard edition here.

Well that didn’t take long; Masoukishin F now has its first promo video (shown below). This will indeed be the final entry to the Masoukishin saga and the engine has had a fair bit of improvement. Now with a modified forced perspective, it makes the 2D models almost appear 3D. It looks quite impressive in fact. That aside, the game has been scheduled for a release on August 28th. There will be two versions available; a standard release at 7,120 yen and a limited edition at 10,930 yen. The latter will have a full soundtrack set for the series and a 100 page artbook included. The standard version will also be available to download from PSN on the day of release.

As we saw at Tamashii Nations recently, a Full Action Crossbone Gundam X2 is on the way. Released this September at 4,800 the figures looks to have had considerable work done on it compared to the original Robot Damashii release. The ABC mantle is noticeably absent however, though that might end up as an option set. Talking of option sets, the X1 Ka Kai we reviewed recently is getting an option set to match its setup as seen in the Skull Heart manga. In addition to the X2, we’re also getting a majestic God Gundam figure released at the same time and price. So it looks like September will be a costly month.