Games for Lunch: Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier

In a nutshell: With a name like Super Robot Taisen OG Saga Endless Frontier, it's got to be incomprehensible and Japanese?
7/7/2009 5:20 PM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 3

Developer: Banpresto
Publisher: Atlus
Release Date: April 28, 2009
System: Nintendo DS
ESRB Rating: T
Official Web site

0:00 I know nothing about this game except for the fact that it came with a soundtrack CD in the mail a few months ago, and has since been making me feel guilty from the bookcase.

0:01 An old-fashioned sword and a futuristic robo-sword (?) clash on the top screen against a blue sky. Some entertaining pop synth plays as the title appears.

0:02 "What made the world the way it is? Some say it has existed for tens of thousands of years. Others say it was always like this. But no one knows the truth..." Apparently, our universe encountered people from another world decades ago. The war and confusion this brought ended eventually, but now, 23 years later, a place called Endless Frontier has people of different races and time periods living together. That's right, TIME PERIODS! Don't ask me, I just work here.

0:03 "Well, here we are. Let's get goin', Aschen," says a cowboy-looking feller named Haken. "Roger," is the reply from a busty girl in a futuristic green jumpsuit. Uh...

0:04 Just like that I'm in control, walking the cowboy around a gray spaceship-looking corridor from an overhead, RPG-style viewpoint.

0:05 Rocks are in my way, but I destroy them with a quick sword strike. I find a healing pill, a mind pill and a Power Drink amidst the rubble. Awesome-sauce!

0:06 There's a big computer at the end of the hall? Oh, no, it's actually an entrance hatch to an airship ... the airship that brought us to this world, apparently. After 23 years, we have permission to search the airship to figure out what was here.

0:07 Aschen has to go into "Overdrive" to hack the password to the airship door, which turns her from cold, precise robot to super-party girl. Of course, in this mode she decides just to break the door down, instead.

0:09 A wall of text tries to explain the battle system to me. Cancels, Frontier Gauge, Overdrive Attack, COM points, Cancelling, Hit Counters, Switching Characters Mid-Attack. No way I'm gonna keep all this stuff straight ... guess I'll figure it out as I go.

0:11 Well, that was interesting. My first battle starts with my characters sliding in from the side and speaking Japanese. I choose to attack one of the droid enemies, but the game just waits for more input. I hit A and do an attack, knocking the enemy into the air. Instinctually, I hit A a few more times to juggle the hapless droid with a variety of flashy gun/sword attacks. I eventually KO with a big combo finish that knocks him against the back wall. Aschen does similar juggling with an arm cannon and a robotic extendo-arm. She also says "Lyet's Gyo!" In the worst Engrish I've ever heard.

0:13 I found a Joss Stick lying under a rock. Does that call in Joss Whedon to make the game more comprehensible?

0:14 A locked door means a search for a key card. Another random droid battle... One of the robots does two burning attacks to Haken in short succession, knocking him out already. WHAT? I'm not supposed to die to the second pushover enemy! This is not how RPGs work! Luckily, Aschen uses a smelling-salts item to bring him back. It doesn't even use up her attack turn! Nice!