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Cybuster's High Familiar or bust. 
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Jul 28, 2015 14:45
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Gyra_Solune posted:let us talk instead on which robot has the coolest weapon Everything the Dis Astranagant can do. Z.O. Scythe, Gun Slaves, Emeth Asher, Ain Soph Aur. And for ridiculous amounts of overkill, Valzacard's Exa Nova Shoot Overdrive. I'll never not love Sanger's Colossal Blade, though. In all its incarnations.
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Jul 28, 2015 16:39
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I'm probably biased because it was the first SRW game I ever played, but I'm really, really partial to the Valguard. More so than the Valcazard, even, that thing is just a giant block of mecha that should not function but manages to be completely badass anyway. I just love how brutal the Cross Proton Punisher is.
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Jul 28, 2015 17:15
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I always liked the Neo-Granzon for the ridiculous scale of destruction it can dish out. Takehito Koyasu smugging it up doesn't hurt either. The Astranagant is also up there for being a magic alien stealth fighter robot. Too bad that it never showed up in the OGverse.
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Jul 28, 2015 17:24
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My personal favorite when it comes to Big Finishing Attacks is DaiRaiOh's Jinrai. RIDER KICK!
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Jul 28, 2015 17:45
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MarquiseMindfang posted:I'll never not love Sanger's Colossal Blade, though. In all its incarnations. I'm more partial to the GBA version, where it looks like he's swinging a giant boat hull around.
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Jul 28, 2015 20:44
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Ending, Kyosuke Route   Meteor-3 is destroyed, and Kyosuke contacts the Hiryu Kai.   Lefina: "Lieutenant Kyosuke!" Kyosuke: "This is Assault 1. Dragon 2, we have successfully eliminated the target."   Kyosuke: "When we get back, I'll treat you to lunch, Captain." Lefina: "Heheh... I'm looking forward to it."  Same scene about Mai.  Same scene between Gilliam and Viletta.  Same scene between Sean and Daitetsu.   In the Hiryu Kai's hangar, Russell and Katina make ready for the departure. Tasuku will be going to Icarus with them. He likes the ship, it's nice and comfortable, although Katina's promises of training from hell aren't all that reassuring.   Leona hasn't made up her mind what she'll be doing yet, and so Tasuku summons his courage and asks her to go with him...   Leona: "You want to try more of my cooking?" Tasuku: "Yeah! Well, I mean, that's not the... well..."   Katina: "Alright, it's time. Let's get a move on. Russel, Tasuku... Leona." Tasuku: "Huh?" Leona: "Lieutenant, I'm not part of---" Katina: "Oh, you're not coming? Well, crap. I already registered four people for the squad." Russell: (Lieutenant Katina...)   Leona: ".....All right, Lieutenant. I'll go to the asteroid belt with you." Tasuku: "L-Leona... you really mean it!?" Leona: "Don't misunderstand. Without you around, things will be... boring." Tasuku: "Sweet! I'll show you all my magic tricks!"   Katina: "Guys. Didn't I just say it was time to go?" Radha: "Heheh... Katina, I think you'll do fine." Katina: "Yeah? Well... can't let them saddle us with somebody at the base. Better to fill out the headcount here, right, Russell?" Russell: (But you really did register her...) -----   Latooni tells Giado and Garnet that she'll be staying in the military to look for the other School kids. They're both saddened by the news, but if this is the path she's chosen, neither one will tell her otherwise. Kai tells them both not to worry; the Aggressors are being officially reestablished as a unit, with him as the new leader, and Latooni will be one of the first members. Latooni is the new Sanger. It is official.    Kai: "So I'll take proper care of her." Giado: "...I think she'll be taking care of you." Kai: "Did I hear something!?" Giado: "N-no. Not a word." Kai: "Hmph. Well, just be sure to invite us to your wedding." Giado: "You don't have to worry about that, Major." Garnet: "And thanks for looking after Latooni..."   Garnet: "Latooni, you know you can come home any time." Latooni: "Yeah..." Giado: "Then you take care of yourself, OK?"   Garnet: "The next time we meet, you'll have a little brother or sister waiting for you." Latooni: "Huh?" Kai: "W-Wait a minute! Are you saying---"  There was an extra little bit here in the original where Garnet asks Kai not to let Latooni get rid of her new clothes, because goth-loli is life or something. Latooni says there's nothing to worry about, because she treasures her frilly dress ever so much.-----   The Hiryu is prepared to depart, and Lefina makes one last contact with Daitetsu.   Daitetsu: "This is Daitetsu. Captain Lefina, Sean... you have my thanks. Without your help, the operation would never have succeeded." Lefina: "It's thanks to everybody we had serving under us." Daitetsu: "...You're right." Lefina: "And I've had time to learn from your example. So, thank you, Captain."   Daitetsu: "...Have confidence. You've grown admirably as the commander of the Hiryu Kai. Faster than I." Sean: "Is that flattery I hear?" Daitetsu: "Just the truth." Sean: "Hmm... well, if she took some notes from Excellen and Garnet, I have no complaints." Lefina: "Umm... XO?"   Daitetsu: "You never change, Sean. In any case, good sailing to both of you." Sean: "And you as well." Daitetsu: "Mm. Then, until we meet again." Lefina: "Yes... I look forward to it."   The transmission ends, and Lefina orders a course for Icarus. They receive a flash message from the Hagane, wishing them a safe voyage, and return in kind.   Lefina: "By the way, Commander..." Sean: "Yes?" Lefina: "Is it true that pretty women are supposed to wear stockings?"   Sean: "...Huh?" Lefina: "Ah, no... it's just something I heard. But is it true?" Sean: "Well, they are rather enticing. I shall refrain from asking who gave you the idea." -----   The mystical power of people elsewhere talking about her causes Excellen to sneeze - all over Lune, just as she and Masaki came to say goodbye. They're going their separate ways - Masaki after Shu, Lune to pretty much anywhere else, just as on Ryusei's route. -----   In the base cafeteria, Kusuha tells Bullet that she'll be going to the Tesla Reich Institute at Professor Kazahara's request; she'll be helping them to make adjustments to the T-LINK System and the accompanying man-machine interface.   Bullet: "But, you're not..." Kusuha: "I've been thinking, and... as long as everyone else is fighting, I want to do my part too." Bullet: "I... well, if you're sure..."   Kusuha: "I thought you'd try to stop me." Bullet: "No, I wouldn't. You've got a strong will, Kusuha. You're going to be fine wherever you go."   Kusuha: "I... do?" Bullet: "I've been watching you long enough, I know that better than anybody."   Kusuha: "Thanks, Bullet. I made my choice, and I'm going to live up to everyone's expectations." Bullet: "Kusuha..." Kusuha: "So... I'll see you again, Bullet. We'll be apart for a little while... but someday we'll work together again. Be watching me." Bullet: "Yeah. I will, Kusuha..."  Corresponding with Ryusei's route, in the original Kusuha's not planning to go to Tesla Reich, but rather returning to her original plan to become a doctor. She has a little speech about how she thought she became a pilot of her own will, but in reality she was just being pushed along by everybody else and she's done with that.Then OG2 rolls around and she's right back to piloting a Grungust, without warning.  -----   In the Hagane's hangar, Kyosuke and Excellen tell Rai that they'll be heading back to Langley, slated to be rebuilt now that the war is over.   Rai: "I see. It's going to be lonely here in Izu." Excellen: "That's not the sort of thing you'd ever say, handsome." Rai: "Heh... maybe, maybe not. You miss things once they're gone. And besides, Lt. Irm, Ryoto, and Rio will be leaving too." Excellen: "Oh? Where are you three going?"   Rio: "To Mao Industries on the Moon. And I promised my dad I'd come home." Irm: "They'll help design the next mass-production PT model." Excellen: "And you can try to smooth things over with Ring." Irm: "...I didn't say that."   Robert laments losing Ryoto's talent, given that he'd been planning to recruit the kid for Tesla Reich, but Excellen just laughs when she hears it; the power of love cannot be overcome!  Marion and Rishu enter, and we get the news about the ATX and SRX projects being frozen, while she namedrops a bunch of Alpha 2 units. Foreshadowing! -----   Kyosuke: "Excellen. Are you ready?" Excellen: "Yuppers! Got my things all packed, we can leave whenever."   Excellen: "Huh? I don't see Bullet." Kyosuke: "Looks like he's off with Kusuha somewhere on the base." Excellen: "Whoa! Should we let them have a few moments?" Kyosuke: "...Yeah."   Excellen: "Wait, really? Wow, that's unusual for you." Kyosuke: "It's not that unusual. I don't need to be just like our last team leader in every way." Excellen: "Heheh... the Boss..."   Excellen: "Where do you think he is, right now?" Kyosuke: "He did betray us. He may still be wrestling with his guilt over that; he's very... traditional. In the old days, samurai would cut open their stomachs over something like that." Excellen: "Ahaha, I heard of that. Seppuku, right?"   Kyosuke: "But, if something should befall the Earth... I think we'll be seeing him again." Excellen: "Yeah. Him, and that SRX hunk's big brother... Elzam V. Branstein." Kyosuke: "We can't be sure what they're thinking. But then again, maybe we shouldn't try." Excellen: "Sure. We'll find out sometime." Kyosuke: "Although he's not really the sort of man to act behind the scenes, like Shu Shirakawa. Always more... direct."   Kyosuke: "Well, it's time. Let's go." Excellen: "OK... actually, hold on a minute, Kyosuke." Kyosuke: "Hm?"   Excellen: "Y'know, Bullet and Kusuha get to have their moment... don't we get anything?" Kyosuke: "You'll have to hold out."   Excellen: "Come on. There's always time for a kiss... isn't there?" Kyosuke: "Heh... Yeah, I guess there is."  Roll credits. And that's Original Generation 1. Seyser Koze fucked around with this message at 04:48 on Jul 29, 2015 |
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Jul 29, 2015 04:44
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My favorite part of this ending is that screencap where Excellen's a ghost  And I like to imagine that 5 seconds after Latooni says she'll treasure the creepdress forever she's burning it in a barrel.
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Jul 29, 2015 06:01
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Wounded Land posted:My favorite part of this ending is that screencap where Excellen's a ghost Then you'd be disappointed come OG2.
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Jul 29, 2015 06:03
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Wounded Land posted:My favorite part of this ending is that screencap where Excellen's a ghost Don't drink and LP, kids. 
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Jul 29, 2015 06:19
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Seyser Koze posted:Don't drink and LP, kids. But that works great in some cases apparently. Like Saints Row. (I'm throwing my money but there is now "SRW: Saint's Row Wars" magically appearing)
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Jul 29, 2015 06:27
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Seyser Koze posted:Don't drink and LP, kids. Lie, Drink and lp constantly.
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Jul 29, 2015 06:32
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And with that, you've made it through all of OG1. Congrats! 
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Jul 29, 2015 06:36
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It's been said but I'm honestly stunned that you LP'd all of OG1 in less than a year. Excellent work man.
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Jul 29, 2015 06:53
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OG2 is a pretty awesome game, so I'm looking forward to it.
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Jul 29, 2015 06:59
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Seyser Koze posted:Don't drink and LP, kids. What? I have to rethink mine now 
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Jul 29, 2015 07:26
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Well I assumed you were getting smashed during the TM3 playthrough, so I don't think anything needs to change there. And I am also looking forward to OG2, mainly because I know a lot more about it than OG1. It's mainly because of the anime, but still.
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Jul 29, 2015 07:30
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Alacron posted:It's been said but I'm honestly stunned that you LP'd all of OG1 in less than a year. Anyhew, congrats on completing OG1, Seyser!
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Jul 29, 2015 20:09
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Good work on the LP: it really is nice to see how things "really" happened, as opposed to having to watch the Divine Wars anime.
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Jul 29, 2015 20:24
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AradoBalanga posted:That's probably due to how simple OG1 is (two paths, but both paths share 75-80% of the same stages with only minor tweaks; two SRW plots adapted) when compared to OG2's massive clusterfuck. That's still 70+ unique missions. Even with the extra missions that were added to OG2 for the remake, OG2 comes in at around 60. I'm actually about 8 missions into writing up the OG2 scripts, and OG2 does seem to get a lot talkier than the first game a lot more quickly. I probably need to find a better way to handle the updates, considering how long they get. I thought about just putting the pre/post mission dialogue in LPix and posting a link (like the Fantasy Maiden Wars LPs), but I'm paranoid about losing the links and not being able to find them again. 
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Jul 29, 2015 20:59
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Congrads on finishing half of this gigantic clusterfuck of a game!
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Jul 29, 2015 21:01
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That was an excellent read. I'm glad I didn't have to play it myself to see how it plays out :P Looking forward to OG2!
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Jul 29, 2015 21:08
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Seyser Koze posted:That's still 70+ unique missions. Even with the extra missions that were added to OG2 for the remake, OG2 comes in at around 60.
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Jul 29, 2015 21:26
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AradoBalanga posted:That's probably due to how simple OG1 is (two paths, but both paths share 75-80% of the same stages with only minor tweaks; two SRW plots adapted) when compared to OG2's massive clusterfuck. We're seriously going to need a faction flowchart for OG2.
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Jul 29, 2015 21:50
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So is it time to talk about Euzath, Ingram, Villeta and Cobray? Edit: Wait, that's actually the wrong question. Is there a NEED to talk about the absolute clusterfuck that is their combined story? Ashram fucked around with this message at 22:25 on Jul 29, 2015 |
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Jul 29, 2015 22:09
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AradoBalanga posted:Even with less stages, OG2 still manages to feel longer than OG1 to me. But, that might be my experiences with certain parts of the game talking. The harder-than-hard objective on that one mission in OG2 took me longer to beat than OG1. Okay, maybe it didn't, but dear god, you learn the meaning of Giblo on that map.
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Jul 29, 2015 22:36
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Seyser Koze posted:I thought about just putting the pre/post mission dialogue in LPix and posting a link (like the Fantasy Maiden Wars LPs), but I'm paranoid about losing the links and not being able to find them again. I just keep them all in a .txt file.
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Jul 29, 2015 23:38
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AradoBalanga posted:Even with less stages, OG2 still manages to feel longer than OG1 to me. But, that might be my experiences with certain parts of the game talking. Alternately, it might be your experiences with certain parts of the game, talking.  OG2's most succinct is a lot wordier than OG1's most verbose.
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Jul 30, 2015 02:03
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From what I remember, OG2 is a game that really should have only lasted maybe fifteen stages, but lasted waaaaay longer because like every single important boss retreats and people just let them because  .
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Jul 30, 2015 02:14
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BlitzBlast posted:From what I remember, OG2 is a game that really should have only lasted maybe fifteen stages, but lasted waaaaay longer because like every single important boss retreats and people just let them because
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Jul 30, 2015 02:53
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BlitzBlast posted:From what I remember, OG2 is a game that really should have only lasted maybe fifteen stages, but lasted waaaaay longer because like every single important boss retreats and people just let them because The worst part was knowing a specific boss is supposed to retreat but getting frustrated trying to get him down to his retreat threshold. Thank god for soft reset + quickload, even if the button combination was a pain to hold on a GB Micro.
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Jul 30, 2015 02:55
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KataraniSword posted:Alternately, it might be your experiences with certain parts of the game, talking. Out of curiosity, I once screenshot-captured every single bit of dialogue for each mission in OG2, both routes. I ended up having to make individual folders for every single mission, just so I wouldn't overrun the Visual Boy Advance's limit on photo files, and make it over-write everything (found out about this "feature" quite by accident on the first game.) Best I can recall off the top of my head, OG1 had about a thousand files worth. OG2 had about 5K worth of screencaps. 
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Jul 30, 2015 04:00
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Ashram posted:So is it time to talk about Euzath, Ingram, Villeta and Cobray? There probably is. I'll try to have an Ingram and Friends retrospective up in the next day or two.
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Jul 30, 2015 04:29
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Alacron posted:It's been said but I'm honestly stunned that you LP'd all of OG1 in less than a year. Holy poo poo, you're right. OG1 may be more straightforward and less wordy than other SRW games but it is still a whole SRW LP'd in under a year and following a pretty clear weekly schedule. That is fairly impressive.
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Aug 5, 2015 13:17
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So, now I have finally seen the game too. I must say there are still some scenes that I like more in the manga. But I can understand why everyone thinks so highly of the OG series. Now that I think about it, it's actually...weird...how much more "serious" they tried to make the plot of this game compared to the ones coming after it. They even tried to explain all the Super Robots away as prototypes for Real Robot some real robot series (most of the time anyway). But even as I say this it contains something this: Klick me (skip to 1:40...or don't^^) Anyway, since I also know the anime version of OG2, I am really interested to see how well the game was adapted^^
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Aug 6, 2015 17:30
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Ashram posted:Anyway, since I also know the anime version of OG2, I am really interested to see how well the game was adapted^^ Way better than OG1, for sure. The soundtrack was 95% game rips, unfortunately, but the animation was really good, the plot was compressed semi-competently into 25 episodes, and there were lots of shoutouts to fans of the games. It suffered from being compressed into something like half the length it should have been, there were a couple budget moments, and it was easy to get lost if you weren't already familiar with the source material. Also, not nearly enough Trombe.
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Aug 7, 2015 04:04
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OG1 Retrospective Before we all put our Vysaga capes on, let's have a little review of Original Generation and how it reflects the original games.  The Divine Crusaders Ryusei's first act is pretty much a faithful reenactment of Super Robot Wars 2, which had Bian Zoldark as its main antagonist. The other DC officers were all created for OG1 (with the exception of Thomas, who was created for the Lord of Elemental game in ‘96); in SRW2, the Divine Crusaders' ranks were filled with assorted Gundam/Mazinger/Getter baddies - so instead of having Elzam as an expy of Char Aznable, you actually had Char. In place of Ryusei's slow march across the sea to Aidoneus, SRW2 had a bunch of nods to various TV episodes, which could make it pretty disjointed at times. Especially when it's episodes like “manly robot falls in love with lady robot.”  Only a few missions can be traced directly from SRW2 to OG. At one point you're attacking a base when Masaki shows up and Cyflashes it for you, then takes off (Ryusei 11). A bit later Bian shows up to play with you in the Valsion; Masaki shows up again, and when he learns that Bian knows where Shu is, he decides to tag along with you (Ryusei 13). A bit after that, Shu shows up to smug at you (Ryusei 16), and eventually you fight Bian and Shu together in the DC fortress (Ryusei 19). Also, Carozzo Ronah (from Gundam F-91) is the leader of the Last Battalion in Elzam’s place. Go figure. That said, Bian's character and motivations are pretty much the same now as they were then, and after defeating him, he gives a speech about how now it's up to you to protect the Earth (and buy SRW3). The DCs remained a threat in SRW3 and beyond; following Bian's death, Gihren Zabi decides the time is ripe to take the reins of the organization and consolidate his own power. This is essentially what Adler does in OG1's second act, although the main antagonists of SRW3 won't be making their appearance until the next game. One mission from the third game is represented here: Mission 24, where Lune comes to get revenge on you, but ends up stuck between your forces and Siebel's. The exact same situation was in SRW3, except that instead of Siebel telling her to come to the dark side it was Mazinger Z's Baron Ashura. As for Kyosuke's route, the colonies' stories were pretty much all new. Rai had previously appeared in Alpha and Alpha Gaiden, with his family mentioned in some supplementary material, but the Branstein family and colonial politics got their first major development here. The Aerogaters: Shin SRW Shin Super Robot Wars brought the series into the PS1 era, and was mainly notable for being one of the only games with non-superdeformed robots. Of course, once you’ve gotten used to the chibified proportions, things look a bit... weird. Check out SRX.  Anyway, Shin was more coherent than the original series had been, and introduced us to the SRX team of Ryusei, Rai, and Aya, the dysfunctional trio who have to learn to work together and unite their SUPER ROBOT SOUL. The original villain of the game was some guy named Gozzo, commander of the Aerogaters, an alien invasion fleet here to conquer Earth and be generally nefarious.  He still wasn't the best developed of villains, and wasn't even the final boss of his own game (that honor went to noted psychopath Gostero from SPT Layzner, who got his hands on some Devil Gundam powers). Really Gozzo was notable for his totally badass mech, the Zfylud (picture here taken from SRW Alpha).  If the name sounds familiar, or those purple crystally things look familiar, that's because the Zfylud crystals are the things that let Septuagint grow to a huge size at the end of OG1. They're generally considered a very big deal, which is only really hinted at here in OG1. Ingram: Super Hero Operation Super Hero Operation is one of those games that nobody's bothered to put up much good information on, so this'll be iffy at best. SHO was basically Super Robot Wars with more of a sentai bent to it; it had plenty of Gundam stuff, but instead of Mazingers or Getters it had Ultraman, Kikaider, Kamen Rider...  ...And your choice of blue-haired protagonists. Ingram and Viletta put in their franchise debut as the pilot of the R-GUN, who ends up having to work with the SRX team (also present in the game) to - you guessed it - save the Earth. Their ultimate opponent?  Euzeth Gozzo. In his original incarnation, Euzeth began as a well-intentioned but desperate Earthling environmental scientist willing to go to any lengths to protect the Earth from the depredations of human growth and advancement. In the process he discovers the Hey, Let's Take All This and Smash It Together: SRW Alpha SRW Alpha, which brings us back to slightly more familiar territory, starting with its main characters. Alpha let you choose a male/female pairing to have as your avatar during the game, from four options: Kusuha and Bullet, Tasuku and Leona, Ryoto and Rio, and another couple we’ll be meeting early in OG2. They weren't so much distinct characters as personality types; their background was instead determined by whether you chose to be a Real or Super pilot. If you're a real robot pilot, your character and their significant other work for Anaheim Electronics; you're in charge of transporting the prototype Huckebein Mk. II, but get attacked en route by Yazan Gable of the Titans. You're forced to get into the mech to defend yourself, your transport is destroyed, and you end up hooking up with Captain Bright and the Argama (Zeta Gundam) for survival. If you're a super, your character is an "ordinary" high-schooler and classmate of Mazinger Z's Kouji Kabuto. An attack on your hometown by Dr. Hell brings down a military transport, which contains the prototype Grungust Type-2; you hop in to do your part and the rest is history. The SRX team is there too, and they're pretty much as you meet them in OG1; dysfunctional and needing Ingram to slowly beat them into shape. With the SRX team come the SRX villains: the Aerogaters, again. Instead of a robotic installation like the White Star, we get a full-fledged invasion fleet crewed by actual, honest-to-god Balmarians. To lead them, Banpresto brought back Shin SRW's Gozzo as the fleet's admiral (now re-dubbed Laodicea Judecca Gozzo) and Euzeth Gozzo, now a Balmarian instead of an Earthling, as his second-in-command. At this point we finally start to get some information about what the Balmarians are like. Essentially, their empire believes it has a divine mandate to bring order to the galaxy; to that end, they seek to subjugate, vassalize, and subsume all the galaxy's other peoples. You see some of this during Alpha; the Boazans (Voltes V) and Campbellians (Combattler V) are both essentially under the Balmarian boot and doing their bidding. Meanwhile, upon reaching Earth, the Aerogaters get the allegiance of both Shapiro Keats (Dancougar) and Paptimus Scirocco (Zeta Gundam) in conquering their own homeworld. All of this is supposedly in the name of the weapons that will stave off the ominous-sounding “gods of destruction,” about whom you don’t learn much, but of whom the Balmarians are pretty drat frightened. To that end, Earth turns out to be a gold mine, being a source of both telekinetically-gifted individuals and Tronium. This is sort of the-same-but-different than in OG, where the Aerogaters give the Tronium to humanity in the form of Meteor-3. The Alpha Aerogaters are looking to make a superweapon, while the OG Aerogaters are looking to raise an army.  The Aerogaters have another agent doing their bidding: a powerful psychic named Levi Tolar. During their ongoing battles, Ryusei and Aya realize there's something different about her, and before too long they figure out that she's actually a captured, brainwashed Earthling herself. Ryusei becomes determined to save her, and eventually they succeed (Euzeth, having decided that her usefulness was at its end, planned for her to die in battle anyway.) Afterward her memories are a mess (although they're pretty certain she's Aya's sister), but to show her gratitude, she actually ends up joining your forces for the remaining third of the game and comes back in Alpha Gaiden. Meanwhile, Ingram does the whole sudden-but-inevitable-betrayal thing, having been Euzeth's agent the whole time. In Alpha, he gets a completely different machine, however; taking the technology from various of our heroes’ machines (a trick he picked up from Euzeth, I guess) he builds the infinitely more badass Astranagant.  Aside from not having a fruity purple/magenta color scheme, the Astranagant has another important thing that the R-GUN Rivale lacked: a badass pilot cutin.  Look at that face.  Look at that face. Taking that out was a crime, Banpresto. Anyway, at the end of Alpha it’s revealed that Euzeth has actually been pulling the Aerogaters’ strings all along; in fact, the supposed leader Laodicea has actually been dead for ten years, and Euzeth proves it by bringing out a bunch of Laodicea clones for you to fight in the final battle. For Euzeth’s part, his endgame is to destroy the Balmarian Empire – not because they’re jerks, but because he thinks chaos and flux are preferable to the stagnant order they’re pursuing. Ingram is at the final battle in the Astranagant as well, and if Ryusei talks to him, it’s possible for him to throw off Euzeth’s mental domination and join you (saying “Long time, no see. Is it that time again?”) Together you fight and destroy Euzeth, who dies laughing about how he’ll be watching you closely from the wheel of rebirth. Then the subspace pocket you were fighting him in collapses, seemingly taking Ingram and the Astranagant with it. Beyond Alpha The Balmarians dropped out of the Alpha storyline for a couple of games, with Alpha Gaiden and Alpha 2 both being concerned with other matters. Then Alpha 3, the series’ conclusion, brought them back in force with all-out war between the Empire and the Earth, culminating in our heroes bringing the fight directly to the Balmarian homeworld.  For our purposes, Alpha 3 is mainly notable for one of its protagonists: the male real-robot pilot, a guy named Cobray Gordon. Real name: Ayin Balshem. If the name sounds familiar, that’s because he’s yet another Balmarian clone, meant to be part of the larger invasion of the Earth. While on a mission, he stumbles across what appears to be the wreckage of the Astranagant – which suddenly comes to life, latches onto his mech, and fuses with it. He loses his memories in the process, and through a twist of fate ends up joining the good guys under his Cobray Gordon identity, the only one he can recall. Before long it becomes apparent that his new mech is now possessed by the   And which Cobray uses to put paid to the Balmarians for good. So... what the hell was Ingram all along? Ingram, as it turns out, is a particular kind of being called a Time Diver. He’s kind of like a Super Robot Wars Luther Arkwright who guards balance across the universe. By “universe” here, we mean “various Super Robot Wars timelines.” He is aware, to some degree, of other lives and timelines that have taken place, and his role in them is to watch over our heroes – the SRX team, mainly – and ensure that they grow strong enough to combat various threats to the universe. Unless, of course, somebody is actively loving with him, which is what happens in Alpha. At one point in Alpha Euzeth refers to having “found” Ingram – by which we can assume he means Ingram’s soul, given that Ingram’s body was cloned from his own. Ingram’s soul is trapped, and unable to get free – until Ryusei gives him a proper kick in the rear in the final battle, at least. The Astranagant is seemingly destroyed at the end of Alpha, but Ingram’s soul persists until Cobray runs across it; his efforts to seize control of Cobray’s body throughout Alpha 3 are an attempt to regain a body so that he can resume his Time Diver duties. When he finally concedes, he also gives Cobray the mantle of Time Diver, meaning it’s Cobray’s job to do all the dimension-hopping crap now. As a result, Cobray ends Alpha 3 by heading off to the OGverse to help the SRX team there.  Except that somebody’s loving with him again!  Ingram is stuck, again, in a “false body.” But this time there are no real Balmarians around, and it’s just Judecca that’s going to be controlling him. At least, until Euzeth intervenes at the beginning of the game, seemingly freeing Ingram from Judecca, but now placing him under “the shackles of Gozzo” instead. It’s not immediately apparent what these shackles are, exactly, given that Ingram sets about helping the SRX team prepare to save the day, seemingly unhindered.  But we get a hint much later in Ryusei 35, when Ingram has a dream about a mystery man who Alpha 3 players would immediately recognize as Cobray. Here Cobray tells us that he’s unable to actually cross into the OGverse. He’s not explicit about why, but since he warns Ingram that he needs to break Gozzo’s shackles, it’s a safe guess that Euzeth’s shenanigans at the beginning of the game are doing something to keep Cobray out.   Things proceed, and eventually Ingram dies at the SRX team’s hands. During his final monologue he says that his nephesh (Hebrew for “soul”) has been freed from Gozzo’s shackles and his false body, and that now “all is finished.” It’s not entirely clear what this means yet, but considering that Ingram has already handed off his soul and Time Diver powers to Cobray in an earlier timeline, Euzeth may have forcibly bound Ingram’s soul to the clone-Ingram’s body in order to keep Cobray locked out (through a Soul Reaver-esque paradox, I guess). With Ingram’s seeming acceptance of his death, this may be it for him for good. So what’s next? Honestly? No idea. At this point, we have a couple dangling plot threads from the Alphaverse, and who knows what to make of them (at least until a game or two from now.) First of all, Cobray. Maybe he can come through into the OGverse now that Ingram is dead, although what he’ll be helping us fight now that the Aerogaters are crushed is anybody’s guess. If I were him I would’ve gone off to take a coffee break after failing the first time, so it could be a few years before he tries again. Then, Euzeth. He’s obviously around, and obviously Up To Something, but given the lack of actual Balmarians on the White Star, where is he now? And are we dealing with Super Hero Operation Euzeth, who wants to save the world by wiping people out, or Alpha Euzeth, who wants to destroy the Balmar Empire? Or someone else? And then, of course, there’s the Balmarians themselves. That should be pretty straightforward, after all. We just had Alpha, and we have an entire game’s worth of Balmarian baddies in the form of Alpha 3, so obviously we’ll be fighting them at some point, right? Well... maybe not. We’ve already gone over (and over, and over) the total absence of actual Balmarians from the OG version of events; instead of sending a fully crewed invasion fleet like in Alpha, they send an automated space station crewed by a grand total of two clones. Now, it could be that thanks to budget cuts the Balmarians have decided it’s cheaper to send robots instead of people. But there is another possibility...  When you deal the final blow to Septuagint, something noteworthy happens.  If somebody is powerful enough to destroy both Judecca and Septuagint, the poo poo has obviously hit the fan. So Septuagint tries to send a warning message about this “destroyer of order” and “danger to civilization.”  It fails – and before exploding, says something else: “I am the last.” That last what, exactly? Well... this might be the time to point out another detail from Alpha 3. You see, Neviim (the White Star) is in Alpha 3 as well – and in fact, a number of Neviim exist in the Alphaverse. They form a defense network around the Balmarian homeworld. At one point a character explicitly states that moving one of the Neviim from its appointed position is a crime amounting to high treason. Yet here in the OGverse, a Neviim has not only moved, but traveled across the galaxy to another planet entirely. Keep in mind that Alpha 3 came out a couple years after OG1, so Neviim’s role was firmly established by that point. Between this piece of information, the total lack of Balmarians aboard the White Star, Septuagint’s final message, and fact that one reason the Alphaverse Balmarians were such dicks was the imminent destruction of their homeworld... it’s entirely possible that there are no Balmarians left in the Original Generation timeline. But that’s neither here nor there. There are a lot of games and timelines in the Super Robot Wars franchise, and they’re going to get their time in the OG sun and then some. We’ll worry about the Balmarians another day – because for now, it’s on to Original Generation 2.
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Aug 7, 2015 04:41
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I'll probably take a week or two off before we get rolling with OG2, unless a fey mood takes me this weekend or something similar.
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Aug 7, 2015 04:49
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I have to admit, I find what they're implying with the Balmarians a lot more interesting then how they are in the Alpha series. The idea their entire system simply running on automatic, collecting soldiers and machines for a long dead empire is pretty cool.
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Aug 7, 2015 05:51
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Alacron posted:Well I originally assumed that the "True Balmarians" were just too busy to bother with a puny planet like Earth, or however many other planets they kidnap subjects from and they just set up this system of kidnapping people, brainwashing them, then using those to kidnap even more people to throw into their meat grinder wars. Huh, I might have actually been right on that one.  I swear though that I wasn't being coy or anything, I barely even remembered Septuagint when I played OG1 years ago
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Aug 7, 2015 05:58
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