Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation taps the premiere minds of Banpresto's super robot think-tank to craft a sci-fi
Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation represents a branch off from the traditional Super Robot Taisen formula. Traditionally, Banpresto (the gaming subsidiary of Bandai, a company which owns over half of the licenses of the giant robot anime genre) would feature its own licenses in the tactics game, Original Generation features an entirely new and original roster of super deformed robots for you to command.
OG Sucka!
Original Generation allows you to choose between two characters, Ryusei and Kyosuke. Both characters have unique storylines and owe their allegiance to varying warring factions which add a little replay-ability to the already robust title. Original Generations sports a total of 41 missions per character, plus a secret mission, for a grand total of 83 scenarios!
Original Generations follows a rather typical anime inspired sci-fi plotline. Aliens invade, various warring human organizations backstab each other to gain power instead of combining forces for the good of mankind, and it's up to a small but elite group of robot pilots to save humanity from itself and extraterrestrial annihilation. 83 Scenarios, Oh My!
The game engine seems pretty straight forward. You'll navigate through the prerequisite dialogue boxes, setting up the scenario for the upcoming battle and instituting various plot devices, and then you'll be presented with the Preparation Screen which allows you to customize you're units, make last minute equipment changes, and assign pilots to robot units.
Once you've done all that, you'll enter combat. Original Generations presents a rather diametrically opposing presentation than most turn-based tactics games. Instead of sporting an intricate movement map and a graphically limited battle screen, Original Generations sports a very sparse movement map and beautifully animated battle screen. While the objectives is to eliminate enemy units and secure your objectives, you'll get more pleasure watching your mecha units executing their attacks --yes, it's 2D limited animation, but it's still really cool. Plus, you can command up to 20 units on the battlefield at once!
Pretty, Pretty Robots
Scenarios aren't straight forward objective based either. You'll be surprised when other factions make appearances, boss characters show up on the fly, and objectives change periodically --it's all about your adaptability and tactics
Another surprising feature in Original Generations is the amount of customizability featured in this game. You'll be able to level up character attributes, learn new skills, customize your mechs, switch weapons out, and even assign pilots to specific mechs. There's so much to do that it can actually get rather confusing.
This brings me to the caveat list of this title. Firstly, the movement map is bland and the icons for units are nondescript. You'll lose track of what the status of each character is and what character is piloting a certain unit in battle, which can be a pain if a certain character has a unique skill and you have to go check the status screen multiple times for your entire battle group. Guess Who?
Secondly, there needs to be a tutorial on customization or a better description on what attributes and skills do. It's rather confusing when you don't have an optimal equip button or equip a unit with a weapon that can't be fired because your pilot's Will power won't allow him to use it. Even with these minor flaws, Super Robot Wars: Original Generation is a pretty cools title and if you're a veteran of turn-based tactics games, you'll have no problem adjusting to the titles deficiencies.