Part 46

While the game's story may be over, there's still a few things left to do.






After beating the game, you are given a choice to save your game. loading up that save will put you to just before your final showdown with Gabriel, and opens up the game's final dungeon.


It also gives us a few other bonuses, such as Hal being a permanent member, and we are no longer forced to keep Aeon, Fritz, and Tremmie in the party.


We also got the Twin Buster Rifle for beating Gabriel. I initially gave it to Aeon, but later give it to Bazuli since it's the perfect Shot Burst gun. Aeon got Bazuli's old Dobergun.


However, instead of heading right for Antarctica, I decided to make a quick trip back to Moon Base Beta.


You see, Moon Base Beta is the best place to grind your fucking ass off. So while I'm busy grinding up to the level cap (level 50), let's talk a little more about the game. specifically, what it does right, and what it does wrong.

First, let's talk about what it does right.

1. The Customization.
The Customization in this game is fantastic. Most of the fun in this game comes from mixing up mobile suit parts in order to maximize each suits capabilities. You can even paint your suits if you were so inclined. I just wish that you could switch around the heads.

2. The Combat
The combat in this game is great. having everything in combat be centered around a single resource (EN) was a neat mechanic, and made the battles in the earlier parts of the game more strategic since you had less options to build up your EN. Another great thing about the battle system is being able to tell what your opponent is about to do next, which allowed you to counter whatever your opponent was about to do next.

3. The Music
The music in this game is great, although the basic battle themes tend to get rather tiring.


Now let's talk about what it does wrong.

1. The Plot

The plot in this game is complete garbage. It's basically a check list of every Gundam trope put into game form. A Masked Man? Check! A Zeon-like organization? Check! People with strange psychic powers? Check!

2. The characters

I can only think of maybe five people who I actually like in the entire game (Hal, Rezner, Bazuli, Vargas, and the awesome old dude in the Eisengrad Army). A large majority of the characters are either extremely cliched (Li Fang, Aeon, Gabriel) or have such a minor role that they might as well not exist (Marie, Lapis, every single villain except for Gabriel, Hal, and the chick who blew up the orphanage).





It doesn't help that a majority of the character design is just godawful. The worst offenders being Tremmie and her eternal plumbers crack, Marie and her gothic maid outfit, and Fritz and his dick helmet.

3. The Late Game
This is mostly a personal gripe, and I've already touched on it earlier while we were fucking around in the 'Hory' Forest, but the late game is very boring to me. By the time you've beaten Hal at Eisengrad you've already been to every town in the game, so the only thing left to do is go to optional dungeons, or follow the terrible plot. there's also the chance that by this time you've either gotten extremely bored of the combat, or have your team set-up so that every random encounter in the game is a complete non-issue.

Granted, the same could be said for every JRPG in existence, but it still applies here.

Alright, with that said, let's see how the grinding is going.


Ah, excellent, every one is now at their final level. let's have one a more in-depth look at them before we head for the Antarctic G-System.

Katz






As someone had said earlier in the thread, Katz is a bit of a Berserker. He has the highest melee stat in the game, and his Boost attacks make great use of it. his ranged stat isn't terrible, but most of his damage is going to be coming from his higher tier melee boosts like Giga Crush and Final Impact that you might as well not even bother with guns. You might also want to give Katz' suit high armor, since he's going to be taking a lot of damage from counter attacks. He also has the highest Mind stat in the game, which helps increase the damage of Fin Funnel.

Katz also learns some fantastic techniques earlier than the other party members. He's the first to learn Repair all and Fin Funnel, and is the only person who learns the fantastic Full Repair All.

Fritz






Fritz has the highest Skill in the game, which helps increase the damage of his Bomb techniques, as well as increasing how much HP his healing techniques do as well. Fritz also has a very high Reflex and Ranged stat. Give him lots of guns and the Heavyarms and he'll serve you well for a very long time.

Fritz is also the only long-term party member who learns Chaff Field, which is absolutely critical for a large number of boss battles.

Aeon






Aeon has the highest ranged stat and the worst melee stat in the game. Don't even bother with giving her melee weapons, just load her up with guns and point her at the enemy. She also has pretty terrible reflexes, so giving her a speedy mech is a good idea.

Aeon learns every Funnel attack in the game, and is the only person who learns Barrier Field, which protects against melee attacks, and System Crack, which is absolutely fantastic. She's also the only long-term party member to learn Beam Field, which is just as important as Chaff Field, maybe even more-so.

Tremmie






Tremmie has the highest reflex stat in the entire game, as well as a decently high ranged and melee stat. even in slower suits she still tends to go first during battle. Her boosts also help to emphasize her speed, since most of her boosts will go before the enemy even has time to react. She is the first person in the game to learn the ever powerful Gatling Fire, so I tend to just load her down with guns and don't bother with melee weapons unless she has the room to spare one.

she's also one of the few people who can buff an ally's attack, and is the only person to learn Charge.

Bazuli






Bazuli has the second highest ranged stat in the game... and not much else. He is the only one who learns Explosion, though, and giving him the Double Zeta and setting him up so that he can fire off Shot Burst at the start of a battle can have some devastating results, as I've shown during this LP.

Li Fang






Li fang is terrible. she has the second highest melee, and decent speed, but that's all. everything she can do, some one can do either better, or has a better selection of techniques and boosts. Don't use her unless you just love punching dudes.

Rezner






Rezner is a second Katz. Her Charge boosts are extremely effective against enemies with high armor. she can also boost her allies power much like Tremmie can, and her shield techniques will protect against status ailments.

Lapis






As I've said before, Lapis is a poor mans Aeon. she is basically just there so that you still have access to System Hack while Aeon is off being kidnapped. Once you have Aeon back, dump her on the bench and then never use her again.

That being said, she does have better base stats than Aeon, with Aeon only beating her in the Range and Skill stats.

Vargas






Vargas is great because his boosts allow you to interrupt an enemies attack if you know what is coming. He also has decent stats. The best way to use him is to keep him in the back row, and bring him out whenever you need to use Counter or Intercept Snipe.

Hal






Hal has incredibly good stats, and some great boosts. He is also the only person to learn Negative Force, which will get rid of ALL buffs on the field, including your own. Unfortunately, I already have my main team decided (Katz, Fritz, Aeon, Tremmie, Bazuli, Vargas) so he won't be getting much use. He still is one of the my favorite characters in the game, though.

Next time, It's off to Antarctica.