It's a robot, not a horse - Super Robot Wars: Original Generations

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Seyser Koze: Dec 15, 2013; Mucho Mucho; Nap Ghost

Mission 26

The disparate groups we've been dealing with for the past several missions have finally come together, and we have access to almost all of our former roster. I'm honestly a bit surprised that Kusuha's jumping in at the #3 spot on the killboard, but two missions of her as the primary killer-of-enemies will do that, I suppose.

Brief flurry of reassigning pilots into machines that aren't Gespensts. Bullet moves into the second Grungust and Katina inherits his tricked-out Huckebein Mk. II. Russell gets the Armorlion, Viletta moves into Ring's Huckebein, Kai moves into the Wildschwein, and Latooni goes back to the Wildraubtier.

Cybuster and the Astelion both get their mobility upgraded, since they both clearly need it. I shuffle a few other items around (Excellen gets the ~~Haro~~ High-Performance Cyberbrain this time around) and then disburse a couple of other toys we got from the Inspectors. Kai gets the G-Impact Stake, and for the lulz I give Ibis a Shishioh Blade.

Intro

quote:

Axel and Lemon talk about the Inspectors' swift takeover of North America - a situation familiar to them both, from past experience. Lemon is confident that the same troubles can be averted this time; she's been at work on the Rapiecage, an improved custom Ashsaber made from the data W17 has sent her.

Van and Vindel confer about the recent developments. Now that the Inspectors have arrived, Van wants to turn the Neue DCs' forces to repelling them, but Vindel urges him to take advantage of the Federation's troubles to strike at the capital. Ultimately Van chooses to ignore Vindel's advice and focus on the Inspectors as planned, which Vindel grudgingly accepts. Still, the exchange has Van doubting Vindel's loyalty, and he begins to think that joining with the Federation might be wise at this point.

Despite Van's refusal, Vindel feels that things are moving as planned - he now wants to go out and see the strength of the Hagane and Hiryu Kai for himself, and he'll be taking the Zweizergain to do it. Axel is surprised that System XN has been repaired, and is even more surprised when it's revealed that Egret Feff was the one who's been getting it working again. For his part, Dr. Feff doesn't seem the least perturbed by learning their origins, or their goals. In any case, Axel will be going out in advance of Vindel, taking the Rathgrith to do so. Vindel assigns him Seolla as a second-in-command for the mission.

Seolla relives her early memories of Arado - their first meeting, and how he surprised her by suggesting that they ought to have names instead of just numbers and designations. Agilla intrudes into these memories, telling Seolla and Bronzo 28 is dead and that she must forget all about him, over and over. Seolla resists, but with no relief in sight, her will breaks. Egret watches the reprogramming process with interest, but thinks that his own Machine Children are far superior to Dr. Setme's crude method. Still, when it's finished, it seems to have been a complete success; Seolla appears stable and, when asked about Arado, readily replies that he's the Federation soldier who kidnapped Latooni, and that her mission is to destroy him. Dr. Cero watches this in shock...

Seolla meets with Axel, who is surprised by her youth, but still willing to acknowledge her assistance. He tells her the mission - to lure out the Hagane and Hiryu Kai - and goes to make preparations. Ouka comes to speak with Seolla, and apologizes for not being able to go out herself, as the Rapiecage's adjustments need her full attention. Seolla promises to bring Latooni back, without fail.

At Aviano, the techs are scrambling to get all their units assembled. It's been decided, at Dr. Kazahara's recommendation, that Bullet and Kusuha will be the main candidates for the Grungust Type-3. That still leaves the Wurger open, but Marion has somebody in mind.

Arado is soundly defeated by Lamia in the simulators; as punishment, Katina sends him to run a lap. While he's gone, they discuss his capabilities with Marion, and it's generally agreed that he needs a melee unit with a bladed weapon. The R-Blade seems the logical choice, though Marion is no doubt looking into offensive options for the Wildwurger. Arado comes back with Kusuha in tow, and she's gone so far as to prepare health drinks for him and Lamia. Before anybody can warn Arado, he chugs one down - and then floors everybody by announcing that it's delicious. Curious, Lamia tries hers, and is immediately KO'd.

In the aftermath, the subject of Ratsel Feinschmecker comes up. He said he had to deliver the second Grungust type-3 unit to "someone." That would have to be Sanger, but does that mean he'll be delivering the mech to the enemy?

Lee receives a report of enemy contact and is disgusted to learn that Arado and Lamia are the ones doing reconnaissance for the Hagane.

Out on their patrol, Lamia is doing surprisingly well after her health-drink experience. Before long Seolla arrives, telling one of her people to warn Axel that they've made contact. Recognizing the Falken, Arado begins frantically trying to raise her, but Lamia engages her ASRS's jamming mode to prevent communication. Undeterred, Arado decides he's just going to have to see for himself, face to face. Faced with this, Lamia begins to doubt herself.

Mission 26: Shadows Revealed

Objectives. Get Arado next to the Wildfalken to proceed, no battle mastery yet.

We've got Arado in the R-Blade and Lamia in the Angelg versus five of the mysterious souped-up Gespies and Seolla in the Wildfalken.

There's actually a secret condition here that requires us to put "victory" off for as long as possible. Arado takes cover in the trees a bit outside of Seolla's movement range.

He can handle himself just fine in the R-Blade. This is without Focus, so he'll be even better off once I remember to cast it.

Arado: "I've got to get to the Falken! Get out of my way!"

The RNG is unusually kind to me today and Arado hits everybody without getting tagged in return, though it'll take three attacks each to put the Gespies down.

On the second turn, Seolla gets close enough to attack. I think Arado will be fine.

Seolla: "If I take this one down, the Hagane will come to investigate!"
Arado: "W-wait! I don't want to fight you!"

Point of interest about the enemy pilots. We've seen these guys with the purple visors before - notably during the opening missions with Raul and Fiona, then again when we fought Echidna during the first route split. At that time they were listed as "Unknown Fighters." Now they've suddenly become "S-Mirror Soldiers."

On the enemy phase of turn 3, Arado plants the last of the Gespies.

Secret Mech
On Mission 26, Arado must kill at least four Gespesnts before moving next to Seolla

And on Turn 4 we wrap up the first objective. If Lamia had fought Seolla during this segment, we'd see this:

quote:

Seolla: "I know about you. I need to buy time until the Captain gets here!"
Lamia: (No covert transmissions from this one... the mission continues.)

Scene

quote:

Arado makes contact with Seolla, only for her to immediately recognize him as her hated enemy and attack. Lamia realizes that she should simply let him be killed, but again the urge to help is conflicting with her instructions. Before this can cause any more troubles, Axel arrives with his people. After some initial surprise at Lamia's speech issue, he learns from her that the Hagane and Hiryu Kai will be coming, and decides to kill some time by having a duel with W17. After all, their last encounter ended in a draw, and he's been itching for a rematch. He makes it a direct order; Lamia realizes that Arado needs her help, and despairs that she's thinking about these things instead of obeying her orders.

So now we're facing down Axel in the Rathgrith, flanked by two squads of Gespensts, a squad of Landlions, and a squad of R-Eins, some of which are twinned with Randgriths.

Axel wants a duel with Lamia, but he's a bit too far away to reach, so she'll pass the time by attacking these guys. Axel's underlings will obediently defend against attack rather than interfere with the duel.

We don't do much damage as a result.

Meanwhile, Arado is still tied up with the Wildfalken.

Arado: "Seolla! What did the old lady do to you!?"
Seolla: "Don't act like you know anything about me!"
Arado: "I was at the School! We were both there together! Why would I kidnap Lat?"
Seolla: "Shut up! I'm not listening to you!"
Arado: "Then how do I know so much about you, or the School!?"
Seolla: "You forced Lat to tell you, obviously!"
Arado: (She's gone crazy... isn't this the same way Ouka was!?)

Seolla: "I'm going to kill you, and then bring Lat back to our mother!"
Arado: "M-Mother? You're talking about Agilla?"

"Arado Balanga! I must destroy you!"

Arado will be fine dodging Seolla for a while. Incidentally, the Falken has 34,000 HP on this stage. If you manage to plow through that, she just does a full heal and the fight continues.

Meanwhile, the Rathgrith has long weapon range but tiny movement range, and also has no post-movement attacks. Axel's underlings sit back and do nothing.

Rather than fight, Lamia falls back and chips away at some more Gespies. There's a reason for this, and it comes on the enemy phase when Axel attacks.

Lamia: "Captain, I a-also expected to fight you one day. Prepare yourself."
Axel: "Couldn't have said it better myself. But I'm still not letting a doll surpass me."

Lamia gets bruised up a bit, and doesn't even get any payback.

On the next turn I have her run away some more, far enough that Axel has to move instead of attacking again.

Secret Mech
1. On Ethiopia Mission 17, force Echidna to retreat, then move Lamia to the square she occupied
2. On Mission 26, Lamia and Axel must have exactly one battle encounter

This is a fun one because there are actually two secret mechs for Lamia with the same set of requirements. This is the point where they diverge; if Lamia and Axel have two or more encounters here, you end up with a different mech. Since Axel is guaranteed to attack you if he can reach you, the only way to get this is to let him strike first and then run away from him. Which we did here.

The things we do for awesome capes. Anyway, where were we?

Scene

quote:

The carriers arrive, and at once Lee accuses Arado of trying to contact the enemy; when challenged, he points out that Arado hasn't been responding to communications. Tetsuya calls him on this, resulting in a heated exchange between the two that is only stopped when Daitetsu roars at them to shut up and focus.

Axel immediately recognizes the Alteisen; he tells himself that his grudge with Beowulf has no place here, but he can't shake his misgivings - what if he threatens their plans down the road, again? Kai orders Arado and Lamia to rendezvous with the group, but Arado yells that he can't when Seolla is in front of him. Realizing what's happened, the pilots resolve to push forward quickly.

But then a new mech warps in, and it's not an Inspector or an Einst or an Aerogater. Vindel is impressed with what he sees of their foes, though he's rather less impressed with Lamia's speech issues. He wants to test the Zweizergain, and he expects W17 to do it for him. In the meantime, he'll be sending Axel and Seolla back. Seolla protests, and Axel tells her the importance of being able to judge which orders need to be followed. Reluctantly, she agrees to go, and Lamia prepares herself to face Vindel.

Now that the gang's all here, we finally get to see the battle mastery: take out everybody but Vindel within the next three turns.

Which is sort of a good thing, because the Zweizergain is what you get if you take two of the Inspector mechs and stitch them together, then decide you need more abilities and firepower on top of that. 320,000 HP, an AB Field, 10% HP regen, and After-Image. Also a poo poo-ton of weapons and an attack range of up to 12 spaces. Vindel himself has a command aura, Prevail, Counter, Revenge, Guard, and Break Morale Limit, letting his morale go up to 170.

I'm scared. :ohdear:

Anyway, I grabbed a relatively random assortment of people to deploy, since our roster size now vastly exceeds the number we can send per mission, and we start to rush forward and do the killing.

Kyosuke's taking point when he really shouldn't be.

Arado and Lamia approach the left side, since they're already out there.

All the enemies on the right side of the field converge on Kyosuke. He resorts to dodging most of the fire and pulls through looking like this.

Meanwhile, Vindel goes after Excellen.

Excellen: "What a pompous-looking mech. You must be a boss unit!"
Vindel: (What? This woman...)

�Tsk,tsk,tsk... isn't that cute?"

"It's B mode, as in 'Bullet-kun!' ...You don't buy that, do you?"

Great! 150 more of those and he'll go down!

And yes, she really does tsk-tsk-tsk him for missing. Here's a video for your listening enjoyment.

Setting aside the 320,000-HP-AB-Field-and-After-Image-equipped elephant in the room, there's not much else remarkable about this mission. Rush forward, kill things.

Of note is that Ibis has finally traded in her weird support spirit set for one that's actually useful to a pilot. Trust and Faith were replaced with Strike and Focus. Ironically, I found myself wishing that she still had Faith to heal Kyosuke up after the drubbing he took the first turn.

She heads over to help Arado and Lamia with the farthest enemies, and we immediately see that even with Focus and a maxed-mobility Astelion, she's plenty capable of getting hit.

Zan through the night, Shooting Star. :kamina:

Explosions in the middle, explosions on the right.

Kai needs some kills for a secret of his own, so let's have a look at the G-Impact Stake.

Looks a bit underwhelming. More like a hot glue gun than a stake, really.

This is with Valor, but completely unupgraded.

And this is what Kai gets on a regular old critical, when somebody goes after him on the next enemy phase. I think I know where my upgrade money is going.

By the end of the second enemy phase we've almost killed our way through the entire Shadow Mirror force. Just a couple Randgriths, one Gespenst for Ibis to kill, and a Landlion for somebody else.

And Vindel, of course.

Vindel: "W17. Lemon is quite fond of you... but I believe worth must be proven. If your capabilities are state-of-the-art, then show them to me."
Lamia: "State of the art... I have begun to wo-onder about that."
Vindel: "...?"

Lamia: (Mistress Lemon... am I defective? Or...)

:smith:

Don't worry Lamia, punching your boss in the face will have you feeling right as rain in no time!

"Maximum drive! CODE KIRIN!"

.....

I should probably point out that Lamia was using Guard here. Vindel did almost 10000 damage with that attack. If he hits you and you haven't taken precautions, you are dead. If he targets somebody and somebody else jumps in front to do a support defense, they are probably dead.

Basically, the Zweizergain will make you all kinds of dead and I'm not sitting around tempting fate any longer.

Quite a few characters have special reactions to Vindel.

quote:

Kyosuke: "Mass-produced Gespensts and R-Blades, a man named Wodan, warp technology... this guy seems like the key to all the NDCs' mysteries."
Vindel: (You hold the strength of this side. Show it to me, Beowulf...)

quote:

Viletta: (This mech... it's like the Moustache Man? Could this be what Major Gilliam was researching?)

quote:

Arado: "You're Seolla's new superior? I never saw you in the Mecha Cradle before!"
Vindel: (The recipient of Dr. Setme's physical enhancements. Even if he knows nothing about us, I should deal with him here.)

quote:

Ibis: "If I can't beat you, I'll never get back to the Institute to help Filio either!"
Vindel: (Project TD's unit. You let them keep it, Rose? What were you thinking?)

quote:

Masaki: "Hey, rear end in a top hat! You remind me way too much of Shu!"
Vindel: (Cybuster, the Elemental Lord of Wind. If the Inspectors are acting, it stands to reason that it would be here.)
Masaki: "Hey! Say something, drat it!"

quote:

Lune: "Are you and those other troopers part of the Neue DCs!?"
Vindel: (The Valsione. On this side, it's not aligned with the Neue DC...)

quote:

Irm: "Looks like you've got your hands on a warp device."
Vindel: "....."
Irm: "I doubt you built it yourself. Who gave it to you?"
Vindel: (Heh... he's not entirely wrong about that.)

Vindel: "Now I see. Even here, they stand in our way. Still, this will be a fine test of the Zwei."
Lamia: "I..."
Vindel: "But not yet. Just a little longer - the world that eluded our grasp before can be made reality, here. Do you understand, W17? Await your new orders."

The Zweizergain warps out, and everybody wonders who the hell was piloting it. Irm doubts it was an alien, since the Gespensts and R-Blades were obeying it, but...

Lamia: (You're correct, he was human. Not... not like me...)

Closing

quote:

Vindel is satisfied with what he's seen thus far and tells Lamia to await her future orders. The experience has shaken her, however.

Back aboard the ship, Radha asks Latooni for information about the manipulation used by the School. What she has to say isn't encouraging, but Arado recognized enough of the old Seolla to believe that she's still there underneath - a belief corroborated by Radha herself. That would suggest that this is similar to what's already happened with Kusuha, which also suggests that it may be possible to free her.

The other pilots try to puzzle out the Zweizergain's origins. This encounter is making it clear that the strange human forces they've been meeting are not affiliated with the Divine Crusaders, but there's little other information to go on. Rai, however, took note of Lamia's odd behavior during the mission...

Tetsuya apologizes to Daitetsu for his outburst during the mission. Daitetsu warns him about the consequences of dissension in the upper rans, but has something else to talk about. When the battles are over, he wants Tetsuya to leave the Hagane - and take command of his own Space Noah vessel. Tetsuya hesitates, but Daitetsu is firm that it's time for him to leave the nest and stretch his wings.

Lamia's covert transmitter is working; she'll be ready for any orders when they come her way. But the thought brings her no joy, and nothing about her has seemed right lately - is she defective, after all?

So we're halfway through the game and the LP, this was by far the talkiest mission we've had thus far, and I've burned through all the scripts I'd done in advance. Things will be interesting.

Next time:

# ? Feb 29, 2016 04:02

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# ? Apr 25, 2024 11:17

AtomikKrab: Jul 17, 2010; Keep on GOP rolling rolling rolling rolling.

Yep, entirely over the loving top, Dr. Zoldark wishes he was that cheesy.

# ? Feb 29, 2016 04:53

AradoBalanga: Jan 3, 2013

Yeah, the special weapons are kind of bugfuck insane. Especially when you give them to the right people, like giving the G-Impact Stake to the melee/raw power-focused Kai. :allears:

Fun fact about "CHAOS": Even though A Portable (released shortly after OGs) reused OGs' sprites, music and animations for the original units, Banpresto still felt the need to remix it yet again for A Portable. Why? It doesn't matter because I enjoy both OGs' and A Portable's take on the theme.

As for the whole stage, god drat this one is heavy. Not only is it the introduction for Axel and Vindel, but also where Arado's plot kicks into gear. And yet, I feel this is where Arado's plot should not be starting but getting ready to end, because holy gently caress is this plot going to get drawn out way, way longer than it loving needs to be. Seriously, gently caress the School plot in the ear.

# ? Feb 29, 2016 05:01

Blaze Dragon: Aug 28, 2013; LOWTAX'S SPINE FUND

The first part of this update showed how nice OGs is to the player in comparison to the original OG2. All of those changes that Seyser Koze did? None of those are possible in the original GBA game. While obviously you don't get the Armorlion there, being an OGs-exclusive, you also never get the Grungust Unit 2, Huckebein, Wildschwein or Wildraubtier. And while none of these will be useful for long, they make a giant difference in this part of the game where you don't need to rely on mass-produced Gespensts or Huckebeins anymore.

# ? Feb 29, 2016 05:26

Weissritter: Jun 14, 2012

Lamia posted:

Come. You requested a combat test? I'm in a foul mood, after watching your manner. I don't know why this noise clouds my processes... so please don't hold this against me.

They are definitely rubbing off on her.

# ? Feb 29, 2016 05:30

Digital Jello: Nov 2, 2012; Now I have a machine gun. Ho! Ho! Ho!

Does old Egret have any portraits that don't make him look smug as gently caress?

# ? Feb 29, 2016 06:15

KataraniSword: Apr 22, 2008; but at least I don't have
a MLP or MSPA avatar.
I am my own man.

Digital Jello posted:

Does old Egret have any portraits that don't make him look smug as gently caress?

The requisite "stunned shock" picture that makes him look :byodood:

as gently caress instead.

# ? Feb 29, 2016 06:17

legoman727: Mar 13, 2010; by exmarx

Machinery Children, huh? Surely that won't come into play any time soon. :suicide:

But yeah, I'm not really fond of the Axel re-write in this game. He's gone from lovable lunatic to Evil Kyosuke and become so much more boring for it.

# ? Feb 29, 2016 06:45

Onmi: Jul 12, 2013; If someone says it one more time I'm having Florina show up as a corpse. I'm not even kidding, I was pissed off with people doing that shit back in 2010, and I'm not dealing with it now in 2016.

legoman727 posted:

Machinery Children, huh? Surely that won't come into play any time soon.

But yeah, I'm not really fond of the Axel re-write in this game. He's gone from lovable lunatic to Evil Kyosuke and become so much more boring for it.

He's definitely no Silly Axel, but I really hated his OG2 presentation. Since that had absolutely nothing to DO with Axel even when he was a villain in Advance.

# ? Feb 29, 2016 07:43

Alacron: Feb 15, 2007; -->Have tearful reunion with your son
-->Eh; Fun Shoe

I found OG2 Axel less amusing and more annoying to be honest. He never had any memorable lines (I mean, besides "BEOWULF!!! :byodood:

" which got old fast) and was basically just a giant rear end in a top hat with an overpowered mech and an inflated ego and The Inspectors do that shtick way better than he did.

It's the type of thing where you know they're trying to make you want to see the character get their rear end kicked, but most of the time you just want them to go away and stop taking up screentime.

# ? Feb 29, 2016 09:34

MarsDragon: Apr 27, 2010; "You've all learned something very important here: there are things in this world you just can't change!"

Yeah, Zwei will gently caress you right up. I had to restart this mission when I played a few months back because I forgot he had a MAP attack and just got wrecked. Which meant doing all the careful Arado and Lamia secret stuff all over again.

Basically, gently caress Vindel Mauser.

# ? Feb 29, 2016 19:47

GimmickMan: Dec 27, 2011

AradoBalanga posted:

Yeah, the special weapons are kind of bugfuck insane. Especially when you give them to the right people, like giving the G-Impact Stake to the melee/raw power-focused Kai.

Fun fact about "CHAOS": Even though A Portable (released shortly after OGs) reused OGs' sprites, music and animations for the original units, Banpresto still felt the need to remix it yet again for A Portable. Why? It doesn't matter because I enjoy both OGs' and A Portable's take on the theme.

As for the whole stage, god drat this one is heavy. Not only is it the introduction for Axel and Vindel, but also where Arado's plot kicks into gear. And yet, I feel this is where Arado's plot should not be starting but getting ready to end, because holy gently caress is this plot going to get drawn out way, way longer than it loving needs to be. Seriously, gently caress the School plot in the ear.

Quoted because people should listen to the the AP version of Chaos and not just the OGs one.

IIRC in the original SRW Advance you got to hear Chaos even when you were duking it out with Gespensts, so it got a bit old fast. On the other hand, you were fighting Mass Produced Gespensts in one of the game boy titles and they were Mysterious Enemies (this was before Original Generation was a thing and so far Gespensts had only been protagonist units) so giving them their own boss music made running into them a lot more memorable.

Vindel showing up to introduce himself will wreck your units in every version of the game if you so much as glance in his direction. This, original GBA, and (especially) A Portable. The Zweizergain isnot to be taken lightly. It is possible to beat Vindel in either version of Advance, though it is unlikely to do so in a first playthrough, and he even drops a Haro if you pull it off! Considering they already had the Inspectors doing this same stunt, I figure they decided to make him unbeatable for his OG appearance.

Strangely enough, the Haro is not even the best item drop in Advance. That privilege goes to the W-Up unit, of which there is only one of and you get it by beating your Rival (Axel if you are Lamia, Lamia if you are Axel) the first time they show up, which is easier (though still quite difficult) to pull off during your first playthrough.

# ? Feb 29, 2016 21:24

Neo_Crimson: Aug 15, 2011; "Is that your final dandy?"

I forgot how cool the Zweizergain was, boss music included.

# ? Mar 1, 2016 04:35

AradoBalanga: Jan 3, 2013

MarsDragon posted:

Yeah, Zwei will gently caress you right up. I had to restart this mission when I played a few months back because I forgot he had a MAP attack and just got wrecked. Which meant doing all the careful Arado and Lamia secret stuff all over again.

Basically, gently caress Vindel Mauser.

Zweizergain is more or less the capstone to the difficulty spike that the past few missions have thrown at us. You have nearly everyone back, probably upgraded some people, and think everything will cool down for a bit? Well have another endgame boss with all its bullshit thrown at your face yet again!

# ? Mar 1, 2016 05:02

Seyser Koze: Dec 15, 2013; Mucho Mucho; Nap Ghost

MarsDragon posted:

Yeah, Zwei will gently caress you right up. I had to restart this mission when I played a few months back because I forgot he had a MAP attack and just got wrecked. Which meant doing all the careful Arado and Lamia secret stuff all over again.

Basically, gently caress Vindel Mauser.

He actually used the MAP weapon on this mission, and I just realized that I skipped over it while grabbing screencaps because animations were off. He missed everybody, so I'm sure we can get a more "appropriate" introduction for it later.

# ? Mar 1, 2016 06:08

Jegan: Nov 5, 2009

Seyser Koze posted:

For some reason I always had the impression that the Zweizergain was a lot bigger than it is, but no, it's just slightly bigger than the Soulgain, even before counting the spiky bits. It makes sense considering its SRW64 counterpart, but the GBA sprite doesn't really seem like something around the size of a Grungust. That said, it has had a bit of a redesign since OG2.

# ? Mar 1, 2016 07:03

Ashram: Oct 20, 2013

legoman727 posted:

But yeah, I'm not really fond of the Axel re-write in this game. He's gone from lovable lunatic to Evil Kyosuke and become so much more boring for it.

Beowulf is EVIL Kyosuke, Axel is more like Shadow Mirror Kyosuke. But it's still closer to the truth then one might think...

Welp, I am sorry Vindela and Axel, Lamia caught a terminal case of protagonism. Well, at least her "mother" might be happy.

I find it funny that they decided to change Axel's character, but Lee just continues to be an rear end in a top hat (and he STILL seems to think he is in a Real Robot show).

Ashram fucked around with this message at 00:12 on Mar 2, 2016

# ? Mar 2, 2016 00:09

Glazius: Jul 22, 2007; Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.; Clapping Larry

If that's a non-functional machine I suppose it'll be the end boss when it's finally finished. Or near enough to one.

# ? Mar 2, 2016 03:42

AtomikKrab: Jul 17, 2010; Keep on GOP rolling rolling rolling rolling.

Glazius posted:

If that's a non-functional machine I suppose it'll be the end boss when it's finally finished. Or near enough to one.

Oh no, the crazy train is not done here, he ain't no endboss.

# ? Mar 2, 2016 04:28

Seyser Koze: Dec 15, 2013; Mucho Mucho; Nap Ghost

AtomikKrab posted:

Oh no, the crazy train is not done here, he ain't no endboss.

I mean, really. He only has double the health of any of the other bosses we've met thus far. That's not nearly enough for an endboss.

# ? Mar 2, 2016 04:37

KataraniSword: Apr 22, 2008; but at least I don't have
a MLP or MSPA avatar.
I am my own man.

Seyser Koze posted:

I mean, really. He only has double the health of any of the other bosses we've met thus far. That's not nearly enough for an endboss.

His HP is still in six digits instead of seven, and Guard still prevents the potential of a OHKO.

Clearly he's the endboss of the first act, like the Granzon and Valsion were in OG1.

# ? Mar 2, 2016 06:47

BlitzBlast: Jul 30, 2011; some people just wanna watch the world burn

I always thought it was kinda weird that the Zweizergain's finisher has it create all these clones that surround the enemy... and then they just kinda hover there while the real one finishes the attack.

I guess it's the "float there and watch your explosion" pose but x1000?

# ? Mar 2, 2016 08:31

Seyser Koze: Dec 15, 2013; Mucho Mucho; Nap Ghost

BlitzBlast posted:

I always thought it was kinda weird that the Zweizergain's finisher has it create all these clones that surround the enemy... and then they just kinda hover there while the real one finishes the attack.

I guess it's the "float there and watch your explosion" pose but x1000?

Maybe he just likes having an audience?

# ? Mar 2, 2016 14:52

GimmickMan: Dec 27, 2011

If there's one faction in SRW that would make its own audience and turn fights into a big show, it would be the Shadow Mirrors.

# ? Mar 2, 2016 23:40

Wounded Land: Nov 27, 2007; Living in a greenhouse, growing crops that we can't eat...

I was *really* expecting this to be the moment where Lee finally snaps, but alas.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 04:40

Seyser Koze: Dec 15, 2013; Mucho Mucho; Nap Ghost

Interlude

Mitsuko: "Things have taken such a sad turn for North America, haven't they, General?"
Kenneth: "....."
Mitsuko: "Is something on your mind?"
Kenneth: "You were the one leaking information to the DC remnants, Mitsuko Isurugi. The thefts of the Huckebeins and the Wildfalken - those were your doing!"

Mitsuko: "Oh. Finally figured that out, have you?"
Kenneth: "And now you're supplying the Neue DCs!"
Mitsuko: "Naturally. I never miss an opportunity to close a sale."
Kenneth: "You damned minx---"
Mitsuko: "Oh my, your face has gone all red. I might be a minx, but you look more like a boiled octopus yourself."
Kenneth: "You watch your mouth, bitch!"

Graien: "Enough of this. It's unbecoming of you."
Kenneth: "My... apologies, sir."
Graien: "Major General Kenneth, what do you know of Operation Plantagenet?"
Kenneth: "It's the Defense Committee's plan to strike back at the Inspectors. Laker Randolph at the Far East Base will be spearheading the operation."
Graien: "Mm. Our own plan, the Harpe Initiative, will need to execute before it."

Kenneth: "Then we'll need to act quickly."
Graien: "The Inspectors' arrival has given us an opportunity. We can swiftly have Brian and his sympathizers arrested; with them gone, we can declare a state of emergency and begin to act in earnest."
Mitsuko: "A grand charade, in other words."

Kenneth: "...And the rest of Command?"
Mitsuko: "Oh, don't worry. We've been working on them behind the scenes. A lot of people aren't very happy with the President's soft approach. I've hardly needed to bribe anyone!"
Kenneth: "....."

Mitsuko: "And if your plans for the Defense Committee go as well as those for the government, there's nothing standing in the way of your coup d'etat."
Graien: "It's not a coup. It's necessary reform."
Mitsuko: "Oh? My sincere apologies."
Graien: (Hmph. Damned profiteer...)

Kenneth's own role in the Harpe Initiative will be to serve at the Far East Base as an observer for Operation Plantagenet. Once Harpe begins, he will detain Laker Randolph and take operational command. Mitsuko comments that Laker's command was the one place she wasn't able to make any inroads; ever since Hans Weber's betrayal, they've been on their guard. Kenneth sneers at Mitsuko's failure, which she takes in stride.

The topic turns to the NDCs' actions in all of this, and surprisingly, Van seems to be turning his full attention to the aliens. Mitsuko suggests that they may even be willing to participate in Operation Plantagenet. Kenneth is aghast at the thought of joining hands with the enemy, but Graien is intrigued by the possibility. To safeguard humanity, he needs their full military might under his sole control.

Graien: "After Harpe succeeds, I expect you to cooperate with the Neue DCs, Major General Garrett. If, that is, you want a place in the new order."
Kenneth: "Understood..."
Mitsuko: "....."

Mitsuko: (Well, everything's going according to plan here. Now, to open negotiations with my new prospect...)

-----

Daitetsu takes a call from Laker on Operation Plantagenet's status. They're lacking the power they need; between intermittent Einst attacks and the NDCs, their forces are stretched thin, and the Inspectors could begin making strikes against them at any time. Laker has made arrangements with Commander Dunst at Aviano, and the Hiryu Kai will be going to the Far East Base.

There's some news of a cease-fire and possible cooperation with the NDCs, but the unknown force they've just encountered has Laker concerned. And there are ominous rumblings from the upper levels of command; not anything he can confirm yet, but enough that he warns Daitetsu to take care.

-----

The pilots receive the briefing on their next movements. The Hagane and Shirogane will be remaining at Aviano for their current mission, which is to recapture Riksent and North Africa. Rai thinks that Archibald will surely be in Riksent, and that he'd better be deployed there. Lefina announces that the ATX team, Katina's team, Masaki, Lune, Ryoto, and Rio will be with the Hiryu. Excellen tells Latooni to fight well and recapture Shine's home.

Kirk asks to go to Izu as well so that he can continue with adjustments. He should have the Type-3 ready to go by the time they arrive, although he'll need Robert's help to finish the AM Boxer and install a Tronium engine. Meanwhile, Ring will be heading to Mao's Paris branch office, then to the facility in Orleans to oversee the modifications being made there. For her part, Marion will stay at Aviano to continue her work on the Wildwurger.

:eng101:

For whatever it's worth, Ring doesn't mention going to Orleans in the original.

The crews break up; Excellen is ready to go with Kyosuke, but first he takes Arado aside and gives him a copy of the Alt's combat data, having a feeling that he'll make good use of it. Excellen worries that under Kyosuke's tender guidance, Arado's going to get even more reckless. Bullet tells Ryusei to keep an eye on the kid for him.

Sean laments that he and Daitetsu won't get a chance to share a glass after all, but Daitetsu says it'll just have to wait until after Plantagenet is done.

Everybody's about to leave when Leona speaks up with a request: reassign her to the liberation of Riksent. Sean can guess that it has something to do with Archibald Grims, and Leona confirms that she wants to prevent a repeat of the Elpis incident, at any cost. Lefina gives permission, but warns Leona - and Rai - not to let their personal feelings get the better of them.

Leona apologizes to Tasuku for walking out on him, but he just promises her that he'll be waiting in Izu, and that she should focus on recapturing Riksent.

And it's time for route-split number two. As before, we'll be side-by-siding the routes.

Aviano (Hagane)
Kai
Irm
Viletta
Ryusei
Rai
Leona
Latooni
Arado
Ibis
Radha

Izu (Hiryu Kai)
Kyosuke
Excellen
Bullet
Kusuha
Lamia
Masaki
Lune
Katina
Russell
Tasuku
Ryoto
Rio

# ? Mar 3, 2016 05:08

Seyser Koze: Dec 15, 2013; Mucho Mucho; Nap Ghost

Wounded Land posted:

I was *really* expecting this to be the moment where Lee finally snaps, but alas.

The best part is that by jamming Arado's communications, Lamia inadvertently made his behavior even more suspicious to Lee.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 05:13

Onmi: Jul 12, 2013; If someone says it one more time I'm having Florina show up as a corpse. I'm not even kidding, I was pissed off with people doing that shit back in 2010, and I'm not dealing with it now in 2016.

Even though we're side by siding, Aviano is the better option.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 05:14

KataraniSword: Apr 22, 2008; but at least I don't have
a MLP or MSPA avatar.
I am my own man.

Onmi posted:

Even though we're side by siding, Aviano is the better option.

Pound for pound, the characters in the Riksent side of the scenario have much less :japan:

than the Izu squad, even if there's one bit that stands out. Plus, most people playing along have spent most of the game babysitting Lamia anyway, so it's not like there's a huge rush to get the thresholds for her secrets at this point.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 12:27

Rigged Death Trap: Feb 13, 2012; BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Izu is team 'got a girl/boyfriend'
Except for Lamia.
And well, Lefina.

Antics will ensue.

Voting for route that can make the highest damage numbers.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 13:07

Oblique Angle: Feb 11, 2011; God or the devil? Why not surpass them both?!

If I recall, Aviano has the most :sparkles:

and the most :argh:

so it's probably the most fun. But really, whichever route gets to stage 35 fastest is best. ~Capes...~

# ? Mar 3, 2016 13:36

Ashram: Oct 20, 2013

Rigged Death Trap posted:

Izu is team 'got a girl/boyfriend'
Except for Lamia.
And well, Lefina.

Antics will ensue.

Voting for route that can make the highest damage numbers.

Leona also left, so Tasuku is gonna feel left out. *insert "taking care of himself" joke here*

Riksent, eh? Soon we are going to see the combination with the second highest gay subtext in the game. So i am voting for Aviano.

Sean and Daitetsu, you old fools! Never say things like that in a Robot show!

# ? Mar 3, 2016 16:33

Alacron: Feb 15, 2007; -->Have tearful reunion with your son
-->Eh; Fun Shoe

Rigged Death Trap posted:

Izu is team 'got a girl/boyfriend'
Except for Lamia.
And well, Lefina.

Antics will ensue.

Voting for route that can make the highest damage numbers.

It's kinda weird sometimes how paired-off the cast of these games are. I get that most of them come from other SRW games where the OG characters consisted of "Player Character + Love Interest" but even the characters who debuted in this game get that treatment to at least some extent. You've got Garnet and Giado, Katina and Russell, Lefina and Tetsuya, even Eun and Eita for Christ's sake.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 19:44

MonsieurChoc: Oct 12, 2013; Every species can smell its own extinction.

Onmi posted:

Even though we're side by siding, Aviano is the better option.

I made the wrong choice on my first playthrough.

GimmickMan posted:

If there's one faction in SRW that would make its own audience and turn fights into a big show, it would be the Shadow Mirrors.

I love them. :allears:

Why can't we get Neo-Shadow Mirrors instead of Triple-Neo-DC?

# ? Mar 3, 2016 19:50

MarsDragon: Apr 27, 2010; "You've all learned something very important here: there are things in this world you just can't change!"

Alacron posted:

It's kinda weird sometimes how paired-off the cast of these games are. I get that most of them come from other SRW games where the OG characters consisted of "Player Character + Love Interest" but even the characters who debuted in this game get that treatment to at least some extent. You've got Garnet and Giado, Katina and Russell, Lefina and Tetsuya, even Eun and Eita for Christ's sake.

I'm guessing because with a huge cast like this you have to make subgroups to bounce off each other, and pairs are a good way to do that. There's a lot more jokes and banter you can do with characters that have a relationship of some sort with each other. It doesn't even have to be romantic, see Katina and Russel. (but romance does sell)

# ? Mar 3, 2016 20:45

AradoBalanga: Jan 3, 2013

MonsieurChoc posted:

I love them. Why can't we get Neo-Shadow Mirrors instead of Triple-Neo-DC?

Because, unlike the Divine Crusaders, we effectively kill ALL of the Shadow Mirrors (both human and W-Series soldiers) in this game, save for one transport ship that gets destroyed in 2nd OGs.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 23:05

legoman727: Mar 13, 2010; by exmarx

Oh please say we're doing Aviano first. We get the best robots there.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 23:29

MonsieurChoc: Oct 12, 2013; Every species can smell its own extinction.

AradoBalanga posted:

Because, unlike the Divine Crusaders, we effectively kill ALL of the Shadow Mirrors (both human and W-Series soldiers) in this game, save for one transport ship that gets destroyed in 2nd OGs.

Because they've never retconned people into being part of a group before?

# ? Mar 3, 2016 23:30

GimmickMan: Dec 27, 2011

I remember exactly one stage for each of these routes, and while Izu gets something pretty cool, Aviano's unique thing amuses me a lot more.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 23:38

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# ? Apr 25, 2024 11:17

AradoBalanga: Jan 3, 2013

MonsieurChoc posted:

Because they've never retconned people into being part of a group before?

Regarding the Shadow Mirrors, no, they have surprisingly not done that yet.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 23:46

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > It's a robot, not a horse - Super Robot Wars: Original Generations

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