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GUNDAM EXTREME VS FORCE
Genre: Team Battle Action
Platform: Vita/PSTV
Developer: Bandai Namco VSTG
Release Date: December 23, 2015 (JP)/TBA 2016 (Asia/NA/EU)
Players: 1P/2P Ad-hoc
PV 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou93uPzFtpY
FEATURES
- Over 40 playable mobile suits and possibly more with DLC
- Rebalanced gameplay and mobile suits
- Brand new Extreme Force mode with robust single player focus
- New Force System where you lead 5 CPU units and Ships/Mobile Armors with multiple squad commands
- Customized soundtracks!
- 2p Ad-hoc
- Receive Gundam Barbatos 4th Form and Heine Westenfluss' Destiny Gundam playable units as a first pressing bonus
- T.M. Revolution provides the title track "Inherit The Force" and reprises his role as Heine Westenfluss from Gundam Seed Destiny!
And if you were lucky to order one of these awhile back...
WHAT IS GUNDAM EXTREME VS FORCE?
As the 13th iteration of the Gundam VS series, EXVS Force is a spinoff of the EXVS series focusing on single player content on the Playstation Vita. While the game does have a versus component, it is put to the side to feature larger scale battles where you control squads with your ace unit to either to complete mission based objectives such as capturing zones and defeating specific enemies.
While it isn't what most people were expecting when it was announced, this can be a great way for newcomers to experience the solid gameplay mechanics of the EXVS series without worrying about getting wrecked online. ^^
WHY SHOULD I PLAY THIS?
While this might be a bit of copypasta from the other EXVS thread... Do you kinda like Virtual On or maybe even Gotcha Force? Do you enjoy footsies and playing the neutral game in fighting games? Do you like playing EXVS games by yourself? Hell, do you like Gundams or mecha in general? Well this is probably the game for you!
On top of having a rather robust single player mode, this can be a gateway to an amazingly competitive game that an easy to play, but deep learning curve as you get into it more. Not only does this game still use the highly popular 2v2 arena mechanics the series is best known (and is still extremely popular in Japan as one of the top 3 arcade games monthly), Force adds the Force system to bring more depth with 6 unit squad mechanics in both single and multiplayer experiences.
On top of that, you don't need to be a combo or execution master to be decent at this game. While the focus of Force is primarily the single-player content, it still holds the true to the great mechanics that made the EXVS series so popular.Is Bandai Namco going to localize this game?
Yes it is! Not only is it being translated to English, Bandai Namco have recently announced it is coming to the West in 2016!
While this might be a test again, remember they did something similar with Sword Art Online and that turned out very successful. Double dip if you must, but getting this game is the best way to let them know we want more Gundam games in the West, especially with future EXVS titles like Maxi Boost or even Maxi Boost ON.
No more Rise of Incarnates, pls.Do I need to know Japanese to know how to play?
Nope. The game is very playable without the knowledge of any Japanese. The main screen is generally in English anyway and people will begin to translate mission mode requirements as the game comes out. It's not that hard to navigate through the menus.
And it's being localized if you want to wait for that as well. :3Now that we've got that out of the way...Okay, okay... so where can I buy this game?
- Play-Asia - JP version, Normal, Asia English
- Ami-Ami - JP Version
- NCSX - JP version, JP Premium Limited Edition Vita, JP Premium Limited Edition Vita TV
- JP PSN points - Solaris, Play-Asia, Japan-Codes
READY... GOOOOOOO!!!
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GAMEPLAY SCREEN
Map:Shows the distance between yourself/partner/enemy. Partners are in blue and enemies are in red. Always keep your eye on this.
Warning:Yellow if youre currently locked on. Red if an attack is coming in towards you. Flashing red if very close. Appears on the screen relative to the direction youre facing, i.e. top of the screen if in front of you, bottom if behind you.
Ammo:Shows the amount of times you can use a specific unit attack. Charge gauges below some ammo means it can use a Charge Shot attack which is done by holding down either A (CSa) or B (CSb) until the gauge reaches MAX, then releasing. Ammo replenishment can either be through reload wait time, reloading via button press once its all depleted, or no reload at all.
Target:Green when your target is not in range, Red when target is in range. Attacks in red-lock range will track the enemy whereas attacking when you have a green-lock on the enemy will not. Ensure that you are maximizing your attacks by performing them in red-lock range. Red-lock range differs from unit to unit.
Timer:The match timer. Force Battle matches last for 15 minutes. In 2v2, If no one wins before the time runs out, everyone loses.
Cost Gauge/Base Indicator:In 2v2 battles, each team has 6000 health. Yours is in blue and the enemy's is in red. Whenever a unit gets destroyed, the cost gauge will decrease according to that unit's cost. Once it hits 0, that team loses.
In Force Battles and Extreme Force mode, you'll have base indicators with letters. If they're red, that means the enemy has occupied that particular area/target. If they're blue, they are yours. Make sure to keep as many your color for as long as you can!
Unit Health:Your units corresponding health.
In Force Battle, when it reaches zero, your unit will die and will have around 30 seconds before it respawns into the match again.
In 2v2, when it reaches 0, you will obviously die, your unit cost will be subtracted from the team cost gauge, and you will respawn if you have any remaining cost gauge left. If the left over cost gauge is either greater than or equal to your unit cost, you will return with full health. If the remainder is less than your unit cost, you will go into COST OVER (explained below) and your health will be penalized. If you die and your cost gauge reaches 0, you lose the match.
Partner Health:Your squadmate's corresponding health. It follows the same guidelines as your unit health in both Force Battle and 2v2 mode.
GAME SHORTHANDS
EXVS players generally reference the following shorthands as the game has arcade roots. So if you're not familiar with them, please take the time to learn it. It will make your EXVS Force referencing much easier in the future.
a - Shoot
b - Melee
c - Boost
ab - Sub (subweapon)
ac - Special Shooting
bc - Special Melee
CSa - Charge Shot A
CSb - Charge Shot B
BR - Beam Rifle (usually the main attack A)
BZ - Bazooka (referencing units that have bazooka attacks)
Main - Whatever is the main attack of the suit (A), i.e. BR, Gatling, Dragon Fangs, etc.
>> - Step
cc - Boost Dash
Directions use numpad annotation
4/6 - left/right
8/2 - up/down
5 - neutral
CONTROLS
Shoot:Fire off your units main weapon. Is usually a ranged attack such as a Beam Rifle (BR) or Machine Gun (MG) type weapon. For melee units, they will tend to have a limited ranged attack, i.e. Dragon Fangs
Melee:Use your units close range attack. Tap multiple times for a fighting combo. Hold the lever in a direction and press melee for different types of combos.
- 5b - Neutral Melee
- 4/6b - Side Melee
- 2b - Back Melee
- 8b - Forward Melee
- cc8b - Boost Dash Melee
Boost:Press to perform a short hop. Hold to fly straight up. Double tap to perform a boost dash.
Search:Change your target lock on. Can be used with some moves to do a multi lock-on attack (i.e. Strike Freedoms CSa).
Guard:Tap 2, 8 quickly to block any attacks to the front of your unit. Holding up will continue to block until your boost runs out. Cannot block pressure type moves such as The Os or Quebeleys newtype pressure.
Transform:Some mobile suits like Zeta or Wing Zero TV can transform by holding boost then quickly double tapping a direction and holding said direction. Once transformed, your unit will glide in the air conservatively consuming boost while giving access to a different set of attacks. You will return to normal form when either the stick is released to neutral or you run out of boost.
EXTREME ACTION - BOOST DASH & STEPPING
As the meat and potatoes of EXVS gameplay mechanics, these two actions are key to being successful as they open up many offensive and defensive options. Remember, these two cannot be done without proper boost gauge.
Boost Dash:Double tap C to perform a BD to propel you forward and uses boost to initiate. Hold the lever in a direction and BD while holding down C to dash in said direction. This will generally be your primary mode of travel during a match. Beware as this does not cut weapon guidance. Units have different levels of boost consumption and speed.
This can be used to not only get to your destination quicker, but to perform Shooting Combos (aka Zunda). Attacks usually have a recovery period after they are used, but doing a BD can immediately set your unit back to neutral and allow you to input another attack. This is called a Boost Dash Cancel.
For example, the zunda for the G-Self would be the following:
BR, cc BR, cc BR
You can see it being done below:
Once the G-Self fires its main weapon, you input cc (boost dash) immediately afterwards. This will cancel the recovery animation of the shot allowing you to fire once again. The process is repeated, increasing the damage given while not allowing the enemy to recover from previous shots.
Although this is a very universal mechanic, beware of suits that might have different timings such as Unicorn's beam rifle. This also doesn't apply much to suits that have gatlings as their main such as Gouf.
Step:Double tap the d-pad/left stick either up/down/left/right. This will make your unit quick step in the chosen direction. This also cuts weapon guidance directed at you the moment you input it, so this maneuver is used as a dodge as well. Cannot be used if the boost gauge is empty.
Stepping is also used to cancel melee attacks. This is called the Step Cancel/Rainbow Cancel. While still keeping the properties of the step, you can enter another attack or movement immediately after inputting the step cancel. This is generally used to string melee attacks together for a melee combo.
For example, a typical melee combo would be the following:
6bbb >> 6bbb >> BR
Here's a clip of Heine's Gouf Ignited extending its combo with steps.
This example shows Gouf Ignited using its boost dash melee then step canceling into another melee attack. This is then step canceled into another melee attack to finish off the combo. The rainbow trail signifies a step cancel has been performed.
For both shooting combos and melee combos, be sure to watch your boost gauge because you cannot perform any of these if you overheat. Maximize your damage potential with these techniques!
Remember, you can also use the boost dash cancel and step cancel as a defensive maneuver if you feel like your actions have made you vulnerable.
The TLDR Version of Fundamental Techniques of EXVS
Since the mechanics of Force are very similar to the main games, please check out the videos below for more information about the techniques above.
Shooting Combo (Projectile Zunda) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlJidOS8RIE#t=84
Melee Combo - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXlY4nfIpOA#t=65 (N notates neutral melee, also there's a step cancel between each melee string)
Boost Dash Jump - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlJidOS8RIE#t=84
Step Cancel - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlJidOS8RIE#t=178
Fuwafuwa - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlJidOS8RIE#t=324
As the gameplay appears to borrow heavily from Full Boost, these moves will carry much more momentum in Force than in vanilla EXVS.
Kirinfang and Brett also go into detail into what these techniques mean for you, including the very useful Amekyan, Fuwafuwa, muzzle correction, etc. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=XWu2rrbsefY#t=1642
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Gundam Series Listing
- Mobile Suit Gundam
- Zeta Gundam
- ZZ Gundam
- Char's Counterattack
- 0080 War In The Pocket
- 0083 Stardust Memories
- 08th MS Team
- F91
- Victory
- Unicorn
- G Gundam
- Gundam X
- Wing Gundam
- Turn A Gundam
- Gundam Seed
- Gundam Seed Destiny
- 00 Gundam
- Gundam AGE
- G no Reconguista *new*
- Iron Blooded Orphans *new*
Media
- Original Soundtrack PV - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1ohSIhk57U
- The VAs of Bellri (G Reco) and Mikazuki (IBO) play EXVS Force - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT_ZOyHDFVk
- Extreme Force Mode Gameplay - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LYdL9XxlKE
Haro medal requirements for each stage (thanks SonicTHP) - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QQOfoGXW7AmM3szNMjkmYHP03CThCHtPmAmsPEZ1FzI/edit?usp=sharing
Will update when I play the game more and have more info and when a move list comes out. Thanks to Parakeetman for translation help! Enjoy!