I HAVE FURY!!! Lets Play Super Robot Wars Judgement!

[Gundam Optimal]

Note: Entries on this thread will be crossposted to another site, and votes from both sites will be counted together.



Super Robot Wars Judgement, or SRWJ, is a Strategy RPG, part of a long-running series of similar games for pretty much every major console and handheld since the NES and Gameboy. The concept is that of a crossover between multiple Japanese mecha anime (and some manga occassionally). Teams of do-gooding robots join together to face the various threats to the universe, kick ass and take names for Love and Justice. Exactly which robots are involved varies from game to game, but the casts tend to be widely varied.

SRWJ is one of the last SRW games for the Gameboy Advance, coming out around the same time as Original Generations 2, one of the two games that have been officially translated (3 if you count spinoff Endless Frontier). Its the 4th game to be translated by fans, after the Gameboy original (not very good), SRW3 (Good for the time but NINTENDO HARD, and Alpha Gaiden, which I've previously LPed on a local site and which is likely to be the one most people are familiar with. Compared to these other entries, J is likely to seem quite different, as it abandons many of the traditional robot series that tended to feature in earlier games. Getter Robo is nowhere to be seen, and the only Gundam series one display are fan favorite G Gundam and the then-brand-new Gundam Seed. The more usual Universal Century Gundams and the Gundam Wing boys are absent: There will be no Puru or delicious Duo Maxwell, I'm afraid.

I will be explaining things as we go along, in addition to my extremely snarky commentary and tendency to rant when science is being abused. Feel free to ask me anything in the comments.

Right, on to our setup. This game has a feature that we may want to think about before proceeding: New Game Plus.



Here are the two save files that I have, for my first two playthroughs. The money is that which is left over after the final level, but what you don't see is the money SPENT throughout the game. Unlike Alpha Gaiden, which gives you starting money depending on what difficulty you finished the game at, SRWJ is set up to be played multiple times, and each time, the upgrades to mechs and the stat points earned by pilots carry over, so the more playthroughs you have, the more powerful pilots become and the more ridiculous units you have to play with. This can be fun...or it can kill the challenge of the game stone dead, depending on which units we use and how we adjust the difficulty.

So our first major decision will be whether to start a fresh game, or to use a new game plus file with 1 or 2 game clears. But for now, lets continue with the setup.

Heres a basic introduction to the plot, which is created by stapling several of the series together to create a new universe:







Ya get all that? Good. There'll be an exam later. Its called the plot.

Anyway, now the game allows us to take some actual decisions. Because unlike Alpha Gaiden, SRWJ has a main character, of your choice.




One protagonist of each gender, one teenage boy with purple-red hair, and one mature silver-haired beauty. Not exactly Champions Online, but its something.

[spoiler]The overall plot for both is the same, but they have different character arcs throughout. Touya is a traditional coming of age story: He starts out as a whiny brat and gradually matures over the course of the game. Calvinas is more a tale of betrayal and loss: I'd almost say she's angstier, but if you can call what she goes through angst, its at least deserved angst. Niether really impact the other storylines, so their mix of drama and comedy will still be present.[/spoiler]

• If we pick a New Game plus, both characters will have additional stat points, mainly in their Melee stats to increase melee damage. Touya is built to tank, Calvina to dodge.

After picking that, we get to choose their mech, from one of three.



The Belzelute, a high-speed Sniper mech, meant to move fast and engage from long range.



The Coustwell, slightly heavier then the Belzelute, and designed for mixing it up with the enemy up close.



And the Granteed, a massive Super Robot, heavily armored and equipped with high-powered weapons, but not designed to dodge anything, and a little less accurate.



Their in-game stats. Note that these are for two game clears, so the Granteed and Coustwell are both fully upgraded. In a fresh game, their stats would be less insane.

[Opinions]Obviously, having tried the Coustwell and Granteed already, I'd be looking to try the Belzelute this time around.[/Opinions]



Once pilot and mech are picked, we get to rename them however we like, as well as the mechs attacks. Its not a feature I've tried using, but could lead to unusual roleplaying, or some interesting hilarity.



A special feature for New Game Plus is the ability to change the Spirit Commands that our pilot has to use. Spirit Commands are a key part of SRW and make up a lot of the strategy of the Strategy RPG gameplay. Editting your pilot to use different ones can lead to some pretty ridiculous combos. I'll translate that list of command names into actual effects on request.



And finally, we pick our favorite series. Units from the three chosen series would gain several effects: 15 upgrade bars to all stats rather than the normal maximum of 10, and bonuses to EXP earned, and to money earned from kills made by those units, depending on how many units that series has (Series with only one unit get 1.5x money and exp, series with 8-10 units only 1.2x). Since the final team will only have 14 mechs to go with the two battleships, this could be important, but if we end up discarding our favorites along the way, we can compensate.

• If we go for New Game Plus, then the Main Characters mech, G Gundam, Mazinkaiser, Fullmetal Panic, Brain Powerd, and Tekkaman Blade will already be favorited, and you'll be picking from the other options I'll be explaining in the second post.

So: What are peoples initial desicions? And who wants more details on things?

(Also....do people mind the size of the screenshots? Because I'm using a GBA emulator, its hard to use a conventional screenshot program without expanding the emulator window to full size, which would be horribly grainy. Does anyone know of any good alternatives I might use?)

[Prime32]

I'm playing through with Granteed myself, so my vote is for Bellezute. For which Calvina is the hotter more optimised choice.

If you go New Game Plus, make your first Seishin Valor or Soul so you can kill the hell out of things.

And will you be ignoring most of the secrets to go for Great Zeorymer or not?

[Gundam Optimal]

will you be ignoring most of the secrets to go for Great Zeorymer or not?

Thats a decision that I'll be leaving to the crowd once we get to the appropriate route splits. I'm trying not to give too much away right now, but I'll be clueing the audience in to what each decision might mean.

[Stealthyboy]

Gonna have to second Bellzelute/Calvina (though I wouldn't mind seeing Touya's route, since I've played Calvina's...)

And I'd suggest doing a fresh game, because I like to see suffering so that the game isn't too easy.

Favourites: Originals, Zeorymer and SEED (Because I'm gonna suggest we spend as much time with those idiots as possible for all the inevitable snark at the lolgendumscience )

[Gundam Optimal]

SERIES INTRODUCTIONS

The Banpresto Originals will be introduced to us during the game, so I'll concentrate on summarising the other series on display in a non-spoilery fashion.
[spoiler]Choosing the Banpresto Original as a favorite would be, in a word, 'tech', since its one of the mecha we'd be using the most and is a must-use for the final chapters. So it'll kill a lot of dudes, and upgrades won't go to waste.[/spoiler]

BLUE COMET SPT LAYZNER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OygA_pCGch8

A Real Robot series of high-speed aerial and space combat in small Super Powered Tracers, with appropriate levels of angst, quirky minibosses, and a older, more stoic protagonist than many such series, balanced out by a group of kid sidekicks.
[spoiler]This would be a good show to favor, since it gets a fair chunk of plot, and its boss characters can be some of the most annoying in the game.[/spoiler]

BRAIN POWERD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IOmP0Ipu2M&feature=related

One of the new-agey anime that followed Evangelion, Brain Powerd (and yes I'm spelling it like that) was made by Yoshiyuki Tomino, the mind behind the original Gundam series. Its organic mechs and constant references to life energy and the like make it a rather unique show, as does the racy artistic opening sequence, which I won't post here. Has possibly the biggest cast in the game, and the most varied.
[spoiler]This wouldn't be a bad series to favorite, since it gets a fair bit of plot in the midgame, and it has a lot of units which are pretty versatile.[/spoiler]

SUPERELECTROMAGNETIC ROBO COMBATTLER V

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcA1wA8xW6o

Thats a 'Vee'. While its not the first Combining Robot show, Combattler is probably the most archetypical: 5 kids are given powerful machines that combine together to make a Super Robot, laden with crazy weapons like killer Yoyos and hurricanes made of magnetism, to fight aliens invading the earth with giant monsters.
[spoiler]While Combattler itself isn't bad, its probably not the best choice to favorite unless you intend to use it throughout the game. It gets little plot of its own, and is unavailable for significant lengths of time.[/spoiler]


SUPERELECTROMAGNETIC MACHINE VOLTES V

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-wJjRApwws

Thats a 'Five'. Made by the same company the year after Combattler V finished, Voltes is very much a refinement of the same idea. The kids are older, the aliens are more humanlike and relatable, and there's more swordplay, but in general it uses most of the same tropes. I like it better though, because Voltes looks better to my eyes than Combattler as a robot design.
[spoiler]While it gets a bit more of the story than Combattler, I wouldn't reccommend Voltes as a favorite either unless you want to use it all game.[/spoiler]

Full Metal Panic!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z54QdWhWFcE

One of the two big 'Dramedy' shows in the lineup, FMP combines a pulse pounding action series with Real Robot-using mercaneries battling over super-technology, with a wacky high-school comedy.
[spoiler]Favoriting FMP is an either-or situation. The series gets a fair bit of plot, but its concentrated in the middle of the game, and by the late game they can be obsoleted. Still, they're not bad by any means.[/spoiler]

MOBILE FIGHTER G GUNDAM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjthxRnmFM0

After the poor reception of Victory Gundam, the producers at Sunrise began changing up the formula for their landmark series, moving away from the Universal Century universe into alternate realities, and shaking up the 'young boy falls into cockpit of gundam and is thrust into the grey morality of war' plotlines just a tad (not too much though, people fear change). The greatest departure was the first, the popular but incongrous G Gundam, where Gundams and their super-kung-fu pilots are the champions in battles which decide which country rules the solar system. So unusual is the plotline that only parts of it can be used in crossover like this, so the Gundam Fight setting is discarded, but the true story of G Gundam is fully intact...
[spoiler]While they may be tough to use effectively, the G Gundam units are some of the most powerful in the game, especially if they have the right upgrades. So Favoriting them would work well.[/spoiler]

MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM SEED

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeAUardKfMY

If G Gundam was an attempt to break away from the tired Gundam formula of the 80s, then Gundam SEED is the attempted revival of the formula for the new millenium. It hits basically all the beats of the original Gundam series, with a young boy with special powers being thrust into a war where he's not sure what the right side is, with a powerful mech that only he can handle, leading to much angst and many battles with pretty explosions and stock footage. Its plot is probably best described as average, but it maintains high popularity in Japan, with the western reception being much less positive: A trait magnified for the sequel, which thankfully we don't have to deal with here.
[spoiler]Favoriting SEED would be a fairly good move mechanically, because SEED gives us one of our Battleships, a unit we have to use for most of the game, no questions asked. And the other units are pretty good at well. It depends on whether you can tolerate the characters more than any mechanical concern...[/spoiler]

HADES PROJECT ZEORYMER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66_SezdUwrY

One of the last of the 80 OVA boom, Zeorymer was based on an incomplete comic from an adult magazine, yet managed to get to 4 episodes in a time where OVA series finishing their run wasn't a certain thing. I can't really talk much about it without giving too much away, as its short and every battle sequence is plot-critical. Its a dark little tale that, while it might not be the best anime out there, does manage to turn some anime cliches on their heads.
[spoiler]Its only one unit, but as a favorited series, Zeorymer can kick some serious ass and rake in the cash and XP with the various upgrades.[/spoiler]

MOBILE BATTLESHIP/MARTIAN SUCCESSOR NADESICO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_BxHEvuA2M

The second of the Dramedies, Nadesico is the story of the crew of an advanced battleship and its mecha fighting desperately against alien hordes, while struggling against bueracracy and the true nature of their hidden enemy....But its also a beloved sendup of many of the tropes that defined the Mecha genre in the 70s and 80s, with a tone that goes from serious to irreverant and some sharp jabs at saturday morning cartoon morality that are relevant even today.
[spoiler]Adding Nadesico as a favorite would be a very good idea for the simple reason that the Nadesico itself is one of the best units in the game, and will probably get the lions share of all the kills whether you mean it to or not. The other mechs of the series aren't bad, but aren't the most spectacular. They can be made good with the right care, however.[/spoiler]

MAZINKAISER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zfoimqzm8Lw

Mazinger Z was one of the very first mecha anime, and is a beloved classic of the Monster of the Week format, with brave Kouji Kabuto fighting against mad scientist Dr. Hell and his Mechabeast army. As such, Mazinger Z and its sequels were natural inclusions into the SRW franchise, and have featured in virtually every game in the franchise. However, as the weakest Mazinger, and usually the first super robot the player gets, Mazinger Z started to fall behind compared to other super robots. So creator Go Nagai designed a new robot for Kouji Kabuto, specifically for SRW, and the Ultimate Mazinger was created. This new robot eventually got its own series, which then featured in SRW itself, completing the cycle.
[spoiler]With two high-powered Super Robots and 3 useful support mechs, Mazinkaiser is a solid pick for Favorite Series.[/spoiler]

SPACE KNIGHT TEKKAMAN BLADE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmX564UTabE

A modern update of 70s anime Tekkaman, Tekkaman Blade is a dark tale of humanity on the brink with only one man, the 'Dangerous Boy', who can save them, but who is unpredictable and holds many secrets. Its made slightly more cheerful for the game, but is still pretty intense. This is the first time a Power Armor type show has been featured in SRW (though not the first time human-sized units have been used, mainly thanks to previous appearances of G Gundam).
[spoiler]While it has some of the most powerful units in the game, I'm not sure Blade is the best choice for a favorite series, as after enough upgrades, enemies just don't want to attack Blade anymore. Something to do with the waves of mutilated dead...[/spoiler]

SUPER BEASTIAL MACHINE GOD DANCOUGAR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ugmx8OQIfs

A late 80s OVA series, Dancouga/Dancougar is an odd mix of Super Robot and Real Robot tropes. While the actual robot is a combiner, the Cyber Beast Team operate with just their base machines for most of the series, and the series has more of a military feel to it. Sadly, a lot of the series plot is excised in this game, leaving just one of the major subplots. It integrates nicely into the games universe, however, without sacrificing characterisation.
[spoiler]While not the most optimal choice, Dancougar would be a fine unit to favorite, as its one of the more powerful super robots.[/spoiler]

So, which of these series would you like to get favorited?

[veekie]

G Gundam, gotta have it. Not much opinions on the others though.

[Prime32]

Mazinger Z was one of the very first mecha anime

Screw "one of", it was the first Super Robot. It invented the Rocket Punch and the Chest Blaster. Tetsujin 28-go (aka Gigantor) existed before it, but it was remote controlled and had no weapons.

[Cubey]

Here are my choices!

Original character: Calvina. Touya is more generic and mecha need more female leads.
Original unit: Coustwell! Melee dodgers are my favorite.
Favorite series: G Gundam, Full Metal Panic, Nadesico. Not the most optimal choices, but these are my favorites from this game. Runner up: Tekkaman Blade.

Secrets: Screw Great Zeo.

[GoddamnSandwitches]

My votes are:

Character: Calvina
Unit: Bellzelute
New Game Plus: Yes
Favorite Series: Remind me, do favorite series carry over?

[Gundam Optimal]

My votes are:

Character: Calvina
Unit: Bellzelute
New Game Plus: Yes
Favorite Series: Remind me, do favorite series carry over?

Yes they do. My first game clear used Banpresto, G Gundam and Mazinkaiser, the second FMP, Brain Powerd and Blade.

[Prime32]

To clarify my vote

Character: Calvina
Mecha: Bellezute
New Game Plus: Yes
Favourites (NG+): Gundam SEED, Nadesico
Favourites (otherwise): Originals, G Gundam, Nadesico

[NHOrus]

Well, lets put it this way.
Series: SPT LAYZNER, Gundam SEED, Nadesico.
New Game Plus: Yes
Character: Any will do.

[Gundam Optimal]

Current vote tally from the two sites combined:

Calvina 6
Bellzelute 5 Coustwell 1
NG+ Yes 3 No 3

Faves:
*G Gundam 2
Nadesico 5
FMP 2
*Originals 3
Zeorymer 1
SEED 4
*Blade 1, 1 conditional
Layzner 1
*Mazinkaiser 2

* indicates a series already chosen in New Game Plus.

Depending on how things go, I might either continue tonight or let things run until tomorrow. Are there any suggestions for name changes or different spirit commands, as a matter of interest?

[Gundam Optimal]

An explanation of the various spirit commands for the uninitated.

SCAN: Reveals the stats of an enemy you haven't battled yet, and gives it a -10 penalty to dodge (not stackable). A useful feature for fighting the more annoying bosses. Costs 5 SP (SP starts at around 30-50 and is usually around 200 by the end of the game. Certain equippable items can boost a pilots SP or reduce the cost of spirits).

ACCEL: Short for Accelerate, this gives a unit +3 movement on their next action, in a game where 5 movement is about average before booster parts. Costs 5sp.

WALL: The next time this unit take damage, the damage is reduced to 10, which can further be nullified by forcefields. Usually given to pilots of tough Super Robots, its actually most useful on Real Robots, which dodge most attacks but can be badly hurt by any shots that land. 15sp

BREAK: The next attack the unit makes ignores special defenses like forcefields or Beam Coating. A rare and sometimes handy spirit, it doesn't nullify After-image abilities, those require Strike or high pilot Ability to get around. 20sp

SNIPE: All non-range 1 weapons on the unit get +2 range for a turn. As the name implies, this is best for sniping dudes at extreme range. 20sp

ASSAULT: Allows you to move and fire weapons that usually require you to stay still to fire. Incredibly handy, the kind of command you wish you could give to some units, though the Hit And Away skill which lets you move after shooting can be about as good. Doesn't work with map weapons. 25sp

GUARD: Until its next turn, this unit takes only 1/4 damage, which is applied before the reduction from forcefields. This costs 30SP but makes many super robots essentially invincible for a turn, able to wade into hordes of enemies.

GAIN: This unit gets double XP for its next attack. While normal attacks give some XP, this is best used when you're sure of killing the enemy unit. 15sp

CHEER: This is Gain, but the unit that casts the spirit can give the benefit to another ally instead. A staple of support units, this is best cast when an attacker is about to take down a boss. 25sp

LUCK: Similar to Gain, this gives double money reward on your next attack. However unlike XP, money only drops on a kill: theres nothing more frustrating than casting luck and having the enemy survive with a sliver of health. Often best used with Map Weapons to kill multiple enemies at once. 40sp.

BLESS: Luck, but grantable to any ally. 45sp

VIGOR: This allows a unit to regain 30% of its lost hitpoints. Useful for supers and battleships who need the health boost. In other SRWs I rarely find myself using this too often, as my repair units can keep my units in fair shape. In J, however, Repair units are rarer and theres not as much space on the roster for them, so often I have to use them to resupply instead and rely on spirits like this to keep my units going. 25 SP.

GUTS: This fully recharges health. 40sp.

TRUST: Gives 2000HP to any ally. While less useful fixing up battleships and 10000hp Supers, its incredibly useful for fixing reals that took a hit and are hovering in the red. 30sp

FAITH: Recharges any allies health to full. 50SP but a lifesaver.

AID: For 30SP, you can grant 10SP to an ally unit. Useful for giving a safe support characters SP to a unit in the front lines thats almost dry. Best used on a multi-pilot unit so that each of the pilots gets the bonus: A subpilot can recharge the other pilots of her own unit this way.

RENEW: Recharges an allies EN and ammo, something that usually requires visiting a resupply unit (which are rare in this game) or spending a turn on a battleship, both of which drain a units Will, an important fighting stats especially for Super Robots, SEED and Nadesico units. 70SP, but very handy in a pinch.

ALERT: Automatically dodges the next attack. Useful when facing bosses whose improved accuracy and damage stats can threaten both reals and supers. 10sp

FOCUS: Until its next turn, this units dodge and hit rates increase by 30%. The staple of any Real Robot pilot, not having the needed 15sp in reserve can often be a worrying prospect during heavy fighting.

STRIKE: Raises a units hit percentage to 100% automatically, and ignores After-image abilities. Almost vital when fighting some bosses who will literally have 0% chance to be hit by certain units otherwise. Also useful for some of the smaller grunts if a unit doesn't have accuracy-boosting items. 20sp

DAUNT: Reduce the hit chance of all enemies by half for a turn. At 70Sp, its a powerful effect, but one you rarely think to use.

TIRE: Reduce an enemies Will by 10. This spirit is rarely that useful in the early game, but lategame when you have SP to spare, it can really help against bosses: Spam Tire to reduce their 150 will to 100 or less and they'll take much more damage and lose their best attacks until you beat them back up to 150 again. 40sp.

SPIRIT: Raises the units will by 10. A spirit command for when you're in a rush and you need your higher-end attacks now, rather than building it up naturally over the course of a map. Typically used to activate map weapons to take care of groups of dudes. 40sp.

ROUSE: Increase the will of all ally units surrounding this unit by 10. Can be useful for when you're waiting for the enemy to come to you: Arrange your units around your Rousers and by the time the enemy arrive, you're already buffed out. I rarely have the patience for such things, preferring to just have everyone charge, but while playing Alpha Gaiden and trying out the GP02, arranging 4 Rouse-using units around a hefty unit with a big 140-Will attack, and adding layers of other units around them, was a pretty effective strategy. 60SP.

FURY: Until its next turn, all attacks of this unit are automatically Critical hits, for +50% damage. A very useful command for fighting grunt units, less pilots have this than you'd think. 25SP, a steal.

VALOR: The next attack does double damage. The staple boss-killer Spirit. 40SP

SOUL: The next attack does 2.5X damage. 60SP

ZEAL: This unit can move again after attacking. Its a powerful effect but I rarely use it, because its 50SP cost means less Valors to go with the extra attack. Still, a very handy thing to have, especilly when abusing Map weapons.

ENABLE: The ultimate support command, this reactivates any ally that has already had a turn, and lets it act again. 90SP but worth it.

LOVE: As any anime fan or reader of 8-Bit Theater knows, love is the most destructive force in the universe. For 90sp, a pilot with Love gets the benefits of Strike, Alert, Accel, Spirit, Valor, Luck and Gain. Perfect for finishing off bosses or abusing Map weapons.

[Cubey]

Ah, I forgot to add the most important part to my vote.

New Game plus: No. Let's at least try to pretend this game is challenging.

[oslecamo]

Woman pilot

Shooty mecha

No  game plus.

Gundam G, Originals, Zeorymer.

[Prime32]

Woman pilot

Shooty mecha

While I can understand this, don't let Excellen find out.

[Gundam Optimal]

PART 1-1: TRAGEDY! TRAGEDY FOR BACKGROUND XP!!

I'd like to once again thank Gadwin Software for their freeware Printscreen program, for making this LP possible. And for teaching me that if you restore a window using the taskbar, the taskbar still counts as the currently selected window. That was annoying.




So it is decided: A fresh game, with Calvina in the Bellzelute, and the Bellzelute, the Nadesico and compliment, and the Gundam SEED guys as our Favorited series. Right, lets do this.

First, some ominous dialouge by anonymous figures:














...Damn, the small text window size is annoying. It takes 5 screencaps for them to say anything.






'Milady' is quite the poet, isn't she?
Anyway, we move on to something slightly more important: A Tragic Backstory! Yay!














...Welp. Guess that sets the tone for our heroine. Pretty bleak.



YAY! ANTI-BLEAK!







Almost immediately, the Nadesico cast start hanging lampshades on the fourth wall.






This sounds like a job for...PLAYER CHARACTERS!
One quick scene change later:




Convenient that. GM must be eager to get started.









Typical. You say you're making a mecha action campaign with lots of fighting, and everyone makes a support character.







And thus we are drawn in...

[Gundam Optimal]

PART 1-2: BUT THOU MUST

We zoom to our heroines hospital bed, as she gets a visitor:












Because all quest-giving NPCs must know everything about the PCs by law.










[spoiler]Despite it being made to sound ominous here, the plot point of Calvina being in the army and fighting on Mars, and being shipped back to Earth under mysterious circumstances, never really comes up again. A few characters recognise her as the White Lynx, but all of her plot is the Ash'ari-Kreutzer stuff. Its *possible* that this dangling plot thread is meant to be used elsewhere, perhaps if they ever make a fourth Original Generation game with Calvina included, but it might just be something from the first draft of the script they forgot to take out.[/spoiler]




Silly Calvina, expecting anything but the stock answer.








Prospector drops the first warning flag about the incident, but Calvina isn't in the mood to listen.







Oh no, a realistic wounds and recovery system!! A PCs one weakness!!





The IFS appears to be some kind of nano-machine-based nueral interface system that most of Nergals employees, and seemingly a lot of the Martian population in general, was fitted with as a matter of course. Wonders of the new frontier and all that. But as we'll see, 'earthnoids' aren't as big on human modification as spacedwellers and Martians.






They're not allowed to just say 'Giant Robots', it has to be 'Mobile Weapons' or 'Personal Troopers' or 'Special Units' or something.



Because he's desperate got an eye for talent.






Ah, the one sure way to a PCs heart: A massive quest reward.

We cut to elsewhere, to meet some of our other heroes:





....And I mean that in the loosest sense.








This little couple is interrupted as they literally bump into the first guy.














Not the strongest as plot hooks go, but it gets our hero protagonist going in the right direction.

[Gundam Optimal]

PART 1-3:I realise its taking forever to get through the setup and onto the action, but thats just another way of knowing this is just like a tabletop game.

Akito runs on after the pair, and finds himself facing Calvina and Prospector as they arrive:







...Huh. Looks like Akito might have something up with him after all.
[spoiler]And isn't it a little convenient that he's already in Nergals system?[/spoiler]










Maybe its less that Prospector is desperate and more that he has OCD for giving people jobs...
Akito heads into the Nadesico:














Yup, Gai, you've definitely outsmarted us all.




No, you fool!! Now he'll be able to cast Truename Magic on you!!




Oh yes, it hurts. Its hurts a lot.












Theres a flash, and a CRASH sound effect (Thats all you get, this is SRW, the rule is Tell, Don't Show).









I like Ruri, but I fear we're going to clash often over the course of this LP, since we're both aiming for the Deadpan Snarker position in this game.
Calvina and Prospector arrive on deck and start introducing the bridge crew:















Calvina can sometimes be polite, it seems.





They might be support characters, but everyone optimised anyway, thanks to all the bonus XP from the character flaws.











"Tactics run off Intelligence, and Leadership runs off Charisma, so I just need to dump Wisdom to increase them, right?"



Already, no-one cares about Jun. Isn't it sad, Jun ;_;?




Boriiiiing, explosions instead.






Get used to this, because the UEFAs one job in this game is to die in their hundreds for no adequate reason except that they really, aren't any good at this 'army' thing.
More explosions rock the ship:







You can just hear the gears turning in Prospectors head. "...Wait, you're not a Player Character, are you? OH GOD, WHAT HAVE I DONE!?!"
















Typical players, getting themselves injured right before they're actually needed to fight.





Hey, the Nadesico quite a nice deathtrap I'll have you know.
Fukube asks the runaway who he is and why he's running for the hills in their prized prototype mecha:













It takes a lot of people a few seconds to process this, to be fair to the lad.




See that oncoming plane of failure and loneliness, Jun? Thats the Friend Zone. Population: You.

















I can't help but feel Calvina is making fun of Akito with that last line...