SRW @3 – Stage 3 « Let's Play Super Robot Wars! (Shrinemaiden Edition)

SRW @3 – Stage 3

Posted in Alpha 3 by timediverrabbit on April 2, 2010

Whew, another update! I was stuck at home with nothing better to do. Plus I’m all caught up with the main LP now. Isn’t it great? Now unfortunately, there’s not much new content in this stage as it is functionally the same as the Stage 3 of every other route, just from the point of view of the four different Originals. Instead of covering a lot of the story, I will try and provide some tactical and gameplay commentary to liven things up a little. Of course, the story is important too.

So, what's that coming out of the ES Window?

Look, Primevals! PRIMEVALS!!! OUR ENEMIES HIDE IN METAL BOXES, THE COWARDS! THE FOOLS! We...we should take away their metal boxes. And that's exactly what happens as GGG uses unique sound-based technology to create a beam of destruction that wipes out around half of them. Wait, sound? In space? Son, I am disappoint.

The bottom text on the screen is what we call the Battle Mastery or Skill Point. Basically, it's an additional challenge to complete. Doing these increases the game's difficulty level but will also give a bonus 5 Pilot Points to every pilot who participates in the battle, regardless of what they actually did. These generally boil down to "complete the mission in X turns", like so.

The closest Primeval is easily within striking distance of your team, so you can really take it down with whomever. For this task, I chose Kouji Kabuto's Mazinkaiser.

Mazinkaiser is an upgraded form of the original Mazinger Z. It actually started life in Super Robot Wars, believe it or not, created by Banpresto with Go Nagai's blessing. It was meant to be what happened if Mazinger Z were exposed to Getter Rays (the power source from Getter Robo). Go Nagai liked the idea so much that he eventually decided to steal it. Err...steal it back. Well it was never really stolen in the first place. Anyway, modern day Mazinkaiser is the pinnacle of Juzou Kabuto's research, so powerful that he had to seal it away...until now.

Of course that's not to say that the Primevals in this form are completely defenceless. However, there's a nasty little trick that can allow you to come out of this fight with surprisingly few scrapes. Always check the enemy's weapons, either with the Scan spirit or by launching probing attacks at them, and see if there's any blind spots in their most powerful moves. In this case, you can stand right next to one of the METAL BAWKSES and the Primeval will be unable to retaliate.

Be careful how many times you attack with a single squad at range. Your squad leaders are pretty tough but your squadmates may not be. The Primeval cannons are ALL attacks. Oh, even your Reals can take a few hits but just watch their health.

In addition to being larger and tougher than Real Robots, many Super Robots have the advantage of having multiple pilots that can all use their Spirit Commands to aid in the fight. Combattler V and Getter Robo are great examples, with multiple pilots that can cast things like Strike and Valour.

Here's another classic attack for all you Super Robot fans! It's Thunder Break! THUNDERRRRRRR BRREEEEAAAAK! Great Mazinger's a pretty regular fixture in Super Robot Wars. The main concern with Thunder Break is that it's pretty spendy on energy but is often very powerful and can sometimes be used in combination with the Space Thunder attack used by Grendizer (not appearing in this game).

If you ever decide you want to play Super Robot Wars for yourself, here's one set of characters you should learn to recognise on sight: Alert. I believe Flash is the literal translation, probably a reference to the Newtype Flash from the Gundam series (which often preceded incredible feats of evasion). It allows the user to auto-dodge the next attack used against them and is typically very cheap.

Ah, the 70s. They were simpler times.

That's Pagliaccio. My guess is the artists tried to make her pretty, in a disturbing sort of way. Well, they certainly succeeded in the disturbing part. She tends not to get involved personally but directs the actions of the Primevals from behind the scenes, mostly with vaguely cryptic probability values that don't actually mean anything.

Hah! I caught you! The Mouth Primeval pops up in a space left of the farthest point the J-Ark can move, when it first turns up. I moved left one column which reduced the amount I could go forward but you get the picture. So, now that it's caught in my trap, MEGA FUSION!!! Wait a second...why can't I do anything?

The J-Ark also has a blind-spot on most of its attacks. Other attacks require a lot of will to use and so very few of the King J-Der's attacks will be usable at this point. For fans of the show, the first attack is the ES Missiles, then the Anti-Neutron and Anti-Meson cannons, then the J-Quath.

He shoots his teeth as missiles, and wears a bedsheet. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Mouth Primeval!

I've covered a lot of the main attackers, but not really touched on the squad system much. The basic principle is that every other member in the squad will first do a basic attack for somewhere between 1000 and 3000 damage. Then the squad leader will use their attack. This is great for stacking on damage but unfortunately Primevals have this Zonder Barrier that prevents all damage below a certain amount. To break it, you need to use strong, sharp attacks.

Tactics-wise, there's not much else to say, so have some shots of Steel Jeeg using his Mach Drill attack. This is the classic Jeeg, not the remake, so some of his attacks look a little silly. The Mach Drills are surprisingly powerful given the mech's size (it does have an effect) and the actual strength of the attack.