SUPER ROBOT TAISEN OG SAGA:
ENDLESS FRONTIER
Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier - the name just rolls off the tongue, right? Makes me think of a Mary Poppins song that was rejected or as my friend Kevin said ' how did they fit that title name on the tiny cartridge!?" Well, let me begin this review by explaining the background of the game and its name as well as by stating that I am doing this review in honor of Project X Zone's release in the US on June 25th of this year.
You may or may not be familiar with a title that came out years ago in Japan only called Namco X Capcom. NxC was a Role-playing game utilizing original characters as well as trademark characters from both Namco and Capcom such as their leading ladies K.O.S.-M.O.S. and Morrigan Aensland, respectively. The game sold VERY well in Japan and despite protests from Namco to send it overseas, Capcom felt they did not have a big enough fanbase for the game. Enter Atlus - best known for their partnership with Nippon Ichi Software in the Disgaea Series - who joined in the fray in NxC's sequel. Now, with Atlus and Namco against Capcom it was 2-to-1 and X-Edge, NxC's sequel came out for PS3. I actually pre-ordered my copy of that game and months later bought the PS3 to use it. Didn't really like the game for numerous reasons, but that is another story, albeit there is a reason I make that statement, which I will further explain shortly.
*Above: Namco X Capcom for PS2
*Above: X-Edge for PS3
While this aforementioned debate was going on as to whether Namco x Capcom and X-Edge should stay regional only to Japan, Namco set to work making this DS game that uses the Robot Wars Gundam-style mechs as well as characters and partial storyline from Namco X Capcom. I only found out about the game per chance before it came out due to researching what happened to Xenosaga 4 (Xenogears for PSX which takes place after it -in a way - states "END: CHAPTER V" when you beat it.) and found that K.O.S.-M.O.S. was in a DS game. The game was limited in supply and VERY tough to find. In fact, it took me over 4 years to track down a USED copy in which Stonewoot was nice enough to go and grab then ship to me recently.
*Above: Super Robot Wars for Nintendo DS
So, the lengthy name comes from the Super Robot Taisen (Wars) series mixed with Namco X Capcom and the Endless Frontier is the TRUE title for the game itself. So with that being said, I'll refer to it as EF from this point on.Let me begin by stating "T for Teen"? Yeah, um, no! M for mature is more like it! HOW this game got a T rating with SO much vulgar, innuendo, perversion, and sexual graphics I will never understand. Someone must have been payed off over at the ESRB. This game is a T & A Matinee The main female of the game even had a figure made of her with a removable top!
*Above: The figure of Princess Kaguya Nanbu
STORY
The story in a nutshell is there is a realm where all other worlds can connect through Cross Gates - electronic-like portals that open and close like a door. All the worlds are combined and each has its own theme. Elves and furries are from Elfetale. Japanese style buildings and outfits adorn the people and towns of Kagura Amahara. And so on and so forth, you get the idea. Problems arise when these crystals of red and blue known as Mild Keil start popping up all over the place in every world as well as people not from the Endless Realms begin to show up as well.You play as a Cowboy-clad bounty hunter named Haken Browning and his Android side-kick Aschen Brodil to begin with. Along the way you will meet characters unique to this game as well as some from Namco X Capcom and of course, K.O.S.-M.O.S. in true Namco style (she was even in Soul Calibur 3, don't forget).
Oh, and a side note, if you are wondering why I keep typing her name as K.O.S.-M.O.S. and not KOS-MOS it is because her name is an acronym and ACTUALLY has periods in it. Even on the figure that TigressStar bought me for a birthday gift one year it is spelled as such with the full wording of the acronym under it.
I'll explain a bit about the dialogue and characters so you can get an idea as to what I mean about the M rating. Haken is a pervert with little to no tact. It doesn't help that as the game progresses the other characters begin acting like him in that regard. Look at the above to see when you meet K.O.S.-M.O.S. the dialogue that is the LEAST perverse from that scene. Whenever a character mentions or talks to another, they do not use their names, but rather perverted pet-names based on the character's overly exaggerated anatomy flaws / merits. See the blue-haired flat-chested woman, Suzuka, on the right in the above photo? The characters won't call her Suzuka, instead calling her things like "Surf-board Princess". The Princess Kaguya Nanbu who I posted the figure of is constantly being refereed to as a cow do to her black and white outfit if not being called something like "Big and Bouncy Princess" or "Juicy Princess". Trsut me, I cut those actual descriptions short but there are more adjectives thrown in before "juicy".
The characters are somewhat cliché but fresh and new at the same time and the game made me laugh all the way through. I openly admit I am a pervert and I love perverted humor, so I am the perfect target audience for games such as this. I had no idea what I was in for when I originally picked it up, simply thinking I was buying a game that was an RPG with my favorite android in it. I truly love each character and wish the voices weren't just in Japanese so I could understand all the dialogue. Fortunately, I caught MOST of it from my learning the language, but I am still not as well-versed as the natives of Japan with Japanese, so a lot of the character interaction after or during combat - they talk to one another before and after battles - was lost on me.
This game goes above and beyond to appeal to all types of Otaku. Have a catgirl fetish? Furry fetish? how about a gay Egyptian / Persian cat-man with the head of a cat and fur all over his body? Overly large-chested mermaid pirate captain who is a thief as well as merchant? This game has no shame and will even use dialogue to insert mental imagery as seen in the image above. I obtained a "Cat Ear Unit" for K.O.S.-M.O.S. and the description read "An attempt to pander to all you freaks out there." Yeah, they don't even deny it. The game is self-aware.
GAMEPLAY
Okay, so gameplay! While traveling through the overworld it controls as a typical Super Nintendo or NES RPG would. It uses a lot of elements from Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest for the SNES where there are objects to search or break, and walls to climb, blow open, or pass through to find hidden objects. Battles are your traditional random encounters save for when bosses appear as they are always on-screen beforehand.Combat in EF is what REALLY makes this game shine! Besides the bouncing boobage, I mean. If you take away the perverted layers of the game you still have a VERY unique and interesting combat system. Pressing the A button sets your character into action with a series of attacks - a combo, if you will - known as a SKILL. Hitting left D-pad jumps in a character for a brief moment and raises your special meter gauge 5% but costs you 5 SP (the magic points of the game). You can only pop a side-character in 2-3 times per turn depending on character and level. Pressing right D-pad jumps your next playable character into the combat, swapping out your current one, assuming the enemy isn' next on the turn list after the character on screen. This gives your now-entering combatant 20% more COM (which I will explain in a moment) as well as fills the Tech Gauge (special meter) 10%. Your characters can only use up to 5 SKILLS a turn, even if they are the same SKILL 5 times. The point of combat is to juggle the enemies until they are dead. Drop an enemy and you may end up forfeiting your turn, losing your combo chain, having to break through an enemy's protective shield before dealing damage, getting counter-attacked, or all of the above at once!
Each SKILL acts differently and has a different amount of damage or speed at which it raises the Tech meter. When the Tech meter is full, you can press Y to set the currently chosen character off into a devastating all-out attack - and if they are female complete with clothing being removed or some sort of breast jiggle. The catch, however, is that SKILLS are learned as you level up but also use COM at seriously high rates depending on which one is chosen. A strong damage and high-building tech gauge SKILL will cost 35% of your characters COM. COM is their COMMAND meter and each character begins the battle with it filled at 100% and gains 50% more as their turn comes around. So if you set your SKILLS to equal 100% depletion with their 5 SKILL chain, on turn two the best you can hope for is 70% COM recovered unless your character, like Haken, has a small chance to recover 30% at random.
As you can see from the official trailer above, the combat looks complicated and more like a fighting game than an RPG but it really is not at all. There is no 'correct' way to set SKILLS and it all comes down to personal preference, which I truly love most about the game - there are SO many ways to customize your characters through weapons, armor, accessories (two at a time are equitable) and even the SKILLS.GRAPHICS
What can I say here other than "they are beautiful and fitting"? The graphics have that nice SNES top-down look and feel to them on the overworld but when in combat they really shine. As I always say, I am a fan of sprites over computer graphics and the sprites here are done beautifully. The colors are bright and vibrant or dark and dreary and set the mood accordingly. Objects really stand out and only in the case of larger trees was I ever confused as to whether it was an object I could destroy, walk over, or had to go around (apparently, you can walk over a forest or a tree but not the medium-sized trees that are in-between on the overworld).
*Above: The very beginning's overworld.
The Japanese anime is smooth as can be and even the sprite-based animations are also very smooth flowing. They REALLY did a remarkable job with every form of animation during combat. Apart from that, I don't think there is much I can say about the graphics.SOUND
The sounds are clear and voices are easily heard. I love how each character has their own specific theme song, just as you would find in an anime, that lets you know they are present when talking even if not on screen other than as a name of "???" and dialogue. The ditsy comic relief catgirl, Koma, for example has a catchy little rhythm whenever she appears as a shop or as an opponent or ally - she is free-lance and goes where the money is.
Extra Content
Yep! Extra content! When you beat the game you get to carry over your items and gear to a new file (but not character levels, which disappointed me) as well as you obtain the music test mode so you can use the game as a mini OST (Original Soundtrack for those who do not know the acronym).
In Conclusion...
Apparently, whilst writing this review I just learned of a sequel that was released only in Japan despite it selling remarkably well. They kept the same name but added EXCEED to the end, making it an even lengthier title. So for people outside of Japan, the next in line in the series will be Project X Zone, as seen on this forum in announcements (that say it is a tactical RPG but it is not at all, although tactics are needed it is not of that genre).If you want a good, solid, 30+ hour game with lots of humor, a great and original combat system, sexy characters with lots of "assets" or "movement" *cough*, a great story, anime-esque scenes, splendid music, and visually appealing environments (I actually mean the terrain and landscapes, not the women this time, folks) then this game is perfect for you! And if you can't grab a copy of this game and can do without all the jiggle and bounce, be sure to pre-order Project X Zone as it looks to be very similar!
Oh, and anyone who knows me or is familiar with my reviews knows I will only review a game if I have fully beaten it as well as I hardly label anything a 10 out of 10 as I reserve those for truly remarkable games that take my breath away on all tiers. With that being said...
-- SCORE 10 /10
That is my first 10 I have ever given even off of this site, by the way. Now if anyone needs me, I'll be working on my second playthrough of this great game!
