Square does it again. Simply amazing!
You are a innocent bandstander of an explosion at a military base. The plot unfolds from here of a sinister governmental plan. Political overtones are everywhere.
There is a lot of reading to do in this game as the story unfolds, but the story stays on its toes and doesn't get bogged down.
Gameplay is where this game stands out. You are in control of giant war machines called Wansers. Wansers have five parts to them: body, left and right arm, legs, weapons and a pilot. Wansers can carry different types of weapons or shields. Battles take place on a giant grid. Your wanser moves on the grid at your command, each space consumes your AP points. Attacking or counter attacking also takes away AP points.
Randomly during a battle, your wanser will preform a special attack. These attacks can be stored on your wanser's computer. Computers can be upgraded with higher memory. Different wansers produce different types of special attacks. Some specials will only activate with certain criteria, like having a non-grenade based shoulder weapon. Your enemies also will randomly use special attacks.
Money is given after every battle. Money can be used to upgrade each component of your wanser, purchase better weapons, shields or computers. You can even store items with a backpack.
Graphics are OK, but not bad. I like the music on this game. Sound effects are pretty good.
There are two totally different story lines in this game, each taking about 50 to 70 hours to finish.
You can totally customize your wanser using different parts of different wansers. Later in the game, it will take you about 15 to 30 minutes to customize each player of your wanser. It may sound a little boring, but once you get into the game, you will quickly realize that the more time you spend in customization, the better your wansers will be in battle.
I highly recommend this game, and it's a definite buy.