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[Bebpo]

Anyway, that particular Eva enemy hasn't been done as a regular attack the icon enemy because of its sheer size, as I recall. In fact, I think in MX it was just an event and not an actual stage but I could be remembering wrong. The fact that it got a special cut-in was quite nice, lol.

Everything after Stage 40 really starts to fit into place the only enemy that I would say is kind of episodic is Eva but that's because that's always the case with it. Never know how it all fits in until like the last stage and even then it's weird.

Ok, I think I worded that wrong. I meant

Spoiler

that in stage 41 it seemed like the OG main plot was finally starting, that everything was coming together to get the real OG story started of searching for the triggers to restore the dimension.

That lasted 1 stage, maybe a couple if you count the Mazinger gods as part of the OG plot, but then by the 46 split it's back to being stories about the individual shows and their enemies and it's like the OG plot is totally forgotten again.

What I'm waiting for is the OG plot, AKA the MAIN STORY OF THE GAME to actually begin moving forward. A good plot has arcs where there's a problem and they try a couple of things and then a resolution. I just want to see them do something about the OG plot. I'm 49 stages in out of 60 and it still hasn't really moved much at all. That's just...lame! If it starts now, then it better be full substance filled stages every stage for the rest of the game because there's so few left.

 

[CorvoSol]

Mission 56 Spoilers

Spoiler

Is that the TDD-1 in space? AM I FLYING THE NUCLEAR SUB IN SPACE?

Fuck yes. I have always dreamed of this moment.

 

[Lucis]

Mission 56 Spoilers

Spoiler

Is that the TDD-1 in space? AM I FLYING THE NUCLEAR SUB IN SPACE?

Fuck yes. I have always dreamed of this moment.

check out that deep space attack animation

 

[CorvoSol]

check out that deep space attack animation

I normally don't use battleships, but I am definitely going to use this battleship.

 

[Bebpo]

Got the route 50 choice, yay! Will be able to finish the scenario chart this playthrough which should carry over to some bonuses in Z3-2. Gonna blow through the rest of the game on the good ending route and then will go back at some time later on and do the "accept fate" stages.

I wonder how many people on the final route split missed

Spoiler

that they had a new song in their BGM list after re-grouping from Eva 2.22 from the Eva 03 fight. Nice that they added that song in. The one route that actually does the fight did a pretty good job of it.

Kind of torn in that it's been a long ride and it's nice to finally get it over with, but at the same time I'm not a big fan of them finally giving you some of the good toys to play with at the very end with only 10 maps to use them on. I sure hope that in Z3-2 everyone starts with all their endgame units and all attacks present so you can use them the whole game. I think Aquarion Evol's tunnel bullet was probably the first attack animation I've actually like for it since it has good cut-ins.

 

[Bebpo]

A bit annoyed about Quan[T]. I get that it's going to get some more attacks and will be stronger in Z3-2, but it'll still probably have all these existing attacks so dunno why they are so half-assed.

It's weird because nerfed 00 Raiser has a way better sprite (seriously, what's up with Quan[T] standing sprite that's hovering at a 45 degree angle? I can't think of any other units that start posed like that. I want a normal cool looking standing sprite!) and way better animations (Trans-am is soooo much smoother with 00). Plus even maxed out, Quan[T] is pretty weak, which annoys me because Setsuna is my favorite character in all the Z games (and UX) so I use him the most.

They probably shouldn't have even given him Quan[T] in this game. 00 Raiser would've been fine. He better be god-tier ultimate destruction next game.

 

[CorvoSol]

Just finished Mission 60. It was a great way to end the game, except

Spoiler

I guess the game isn't over. Really feeling fatigue with this now, especially as someone who can't read the story at all. Having everyone team up to stop Axis from falling and defeat the Anti-Spiral was awesome. Now we still have to slog through some ridiculous OG shit. This had better be the last mission in the game.

 

[Beckx]

Just finished Mission 60. It was a great way to end the game, except

Spoiler

I guess the game isn't over. Really feeling fatigue with this now, especially as someone who can't read the story at all. Having everyone team up to stop Axis from falling and defeat the Anti-Spiral was awesome. Now we still have to slog through some ridiculous OG shit. This had better be the last mission in the game.

I had the same feeling, but it was a cakewalk.

 

[Lostconfused]

Spoiler

There is also a totally rad theme in that stage http://tindeck.com/listen/bael

 

[VanillaCakeIsBurning]

Spoiler

There is also a totally rad theme in that stage http://tindeck.com/listen/bael

Spoiler

I thought Shikuu's design and mech were pretty cool. He gives off this slightly unsettling feel. I wonder if he'll ever take off those glasses in Z3.2.

 

[CorvoSol]

Finished the game! Question about the ending, since I know I didn't get the good one:

Spoiler

Are those scenes of characters talking at the end meant to be hints at the route I needed to take, or stuff that'll happen next game?

 

[Shouta]

Finished the game! Question about the ending, since I know I didn't get the good one:

Spoiler

Are those scenes of characters talking at the end meant to be hints at the route I needed to take, or stuff that'll happen next game?

Next game. It's a preview.

Anyway, in regards to Z3-2, if they go the route of keeping all the old series from Z1 and Z2 out of this game, I was thinking of a few games that should finally get the SRW treatment, mainly Vandread and Zegapain.

I actually ended up watching Vandread again last night because it's been ages since I saw it. The plot of that game would work in Z3-2 with the dimensional element and the space the likely space focus. It's a surprisingly decent story too with a lot less pandering than I remembered. It's dark too despite the cheery attitude, lol. Would be interesting to see if they could link the two too, lol.

 

[Bebpo]

Next game. It's a preview.

Anyway, in regards to Z3-2, if they go the route of keeping all the old series from Z1 and Z2 out of this game, I was thinking of a few games that should finally get the SRW treatment, mainly Vandread and Zegapain.

I actually ended up watching Vandread again last night because it's been ages since I saw it. The plot of that game would work in Z3-2 with the dimensional element and the space the likely space focus. It's a surprisingly decent story too with a lot less pandering than I remembered. It's dark too despite the cheery attitude, lol. Would be interesting to see if they could link the two too, lol.

GIANT ROBOOOOOOOO...needs to happen soon in SRW. Now that the licensing seems cleared up since it's only the best super robot show ever.

Anyone still think they're going to do Ideon in Z3-2?

 

[Beckx]

Next game. It's a preview.

Anyway, in regards to Z3-2, if they go the route of keeping all the old series from Z1 and Z2 out of this game, I was thinking of a few games that should finally get the SRW treatment, mainly Vandread and Zegapain.

I actually ended up watching Vandread again last night because it's been ages since I saw it. The plot of that game would work in Z3-2 with the dimensional element and the space the likely space focus. It's a surprisingly decent story too with a lot less pandering than I remembered. It's dark too despite the cheery attitude, lol. Would be interesting to see if they could link the two too, lol.

Can I dream of ever getting Five Star Stories? I want chibi Knight of Gold and Schpeltor!

 

[Shouta]

GR would've made a better choice for Z2 if anything but it would be nice. FSS, I don't even know how it would work, lol. Vandread and Zegapain work because of the human extermination/space plot elements which seem to be a thing for Z3-2.

 

[squall23]

Next game. It's a preview.

Anyway, in regards to Z3-2, if they go the route of keeping all the old series from Z1 and Z2 out of this game, I was thinking of a few games that should finally get the SRW treatment, mainly Vandread and Zegapain.

I actually ended up watching Vandread again last night because it's been ages since I saw it. The plot of that game would work in Z3-2 with the dimensional element and the space the likely space focus. It's a surprisingly decent story too with a lot less pandering than I remembered. It's dark too despite the cheery attitude, lol. Would be interesting to see if they could link the two too, lol.

I can see them not bringing back unimportant series like Xabungle (which is a shame but clearly it has the smallest contribution to the overall story) or Zambot 3, but things like Turn A, Gundam X and original Aquarion are essentially necessary to complete the story with everything that's been hinted at.

If a new series was to be used, Gosaurer would make sense since the Kikaika are very old and extremely powerful galactic conquerors but unlike the STMC and Invaders, they're also highly intelligent. Their only blunder was literally

Spoiler

losing a war against dinosaurs and Eldoran.

 

[Bebpo]

Five Star Stories and Gothicmade won't happen since Nagano is such a control freak and won't ever let anyone else touch his material again.

 

[Beckx]

GR would've made a better choice for Z2 if anything but it would be nice. FSS, I don't even know how it would work, lol. Vandread and Zegapain work because of the human extermination/space plot elements which seem to be a thing for Z3-2.

Well, part of the beauty of being illiterate is that nothing has to make sense.

 

[Bebpo]

Wtf at them not giving Tetsujin 28 a single new attack when he's one of the major story arcs in this game!

I figured they were just saving his new final attack animation for his final boss but...nope!

Spoiler

he beats the boss with a map flash instead of a nice animated ultimate move.

Just another mistake to add to the list for this game. Even if he gets a new final attack next game, this is the game where he should've got it since Z3-1 is partly his story. Booooo

 

[Bebpo]

Also, considering his full power attack is just a combo of his other attacks, I find it pretty hard to believe that for the entire 51 episode anime run all he did was punch, throw, rolling spin attack and dive kick enemies and never did a single other attack for 51 eps. There has to be more attacks they could've given him

 

[Shouta]

I actually think that's all Tetsujin 28 did in his series, lol. It's been awhile since I've seen it though.

 

[Bebpo]

Eh, even if it was they could've made up something like they've done with a whole bunch of characters in the Z series. Just seems lame to have him such a main character in the story and not give him a single damn attack.

 

[Shouta]

Most are based on something in the original series though. I can't think of very many series where it's actually totally made up for the game.

 

[Bebpo]

Most are based on something in the original series though. I can't think of very many series where it's actually totally made up for the game.

The new attack they gave Aquarion for Z2-1. Fist tree punch thing. Pretty much everyone from z1 who got new moves in z2 and everyone from z2 who got new stuff in z3-1 since they did all their canon attacks in z1, z2 respectively so new stuff is kind of pulled from nowhere like Dai-guard's double drill arms.

For Tetsujin though

Spoiler

they should've just done suicide energy nuke finale as an attack and then after Tetsujin is saved, next map talk about how Tetsujin can control his energy release now without killing himself. You can do a cool animation out of a mech grabbing an enemy and doing a super nuke on them.

. Seems more just the whole budget/time thing preventing them from doing certain animations.

 

[Shouta]

The new attack they gave Aquarion for Z2-1. Fist tree punch thing. Pretty much everyone from z1 who got new moves in z2 and everyone from z2 who got new stuff in z3-1 since they did all their canon attacks in z1, z2 respectively so new stuff is kind of pulled from nowhere like Dai-guard's double drill arms.

For Tetsujin though

Spoiler

they should've just done suicide energy nuke finale as an attack and then after Tetsujin is saved, next map talk about how Tetsujin can control his energy release now without killing himself. You can do a cool animation out of a mech grabbing an enemy and doing a super nuke on them.

. Seems more just the whole budget/time thing preventing them from doing certain animations.

That move was from the Aquarion OVA, as I recall. The double drill arm is the one that's really new since they didn't show a second drill arm, lol. Most everyone else got like replaced weaponry or team attacks that should've been in there in the first place. Always amazed me that Airmaster and Leopard got the shaft until Z2-2.

Watch Tetsujin get that attack in Z3-2 though, lol.

 

[Jubern]

I finished Z3-1 yesterday and the last 4-5 stages were pretty dope. As someone who never really agreed with how CCA went and a sucker for Gurren Lagann stuff, I couldn't really have asked for anything better.

Now the waiting game begins.

 

[distantmantra]

My copy of the Perfect Bible shipped from Amazon this morning. Looks to be about twice the size of the Complete Guide (639 vs 320 pages).

 

[Lostconfused]

A visual aid https://twitter.com/srw_bng/status/471874371632373760

 

[distantmantra]

My Perfect Bible will be here tomorrow. Damn that's some fast DHL shipping.

Funny how the smaller one costs more.

 

[Lostconfused]

Huh looking at the Z3 bible there aren't that many secrets in the game. Somehow I managed to get pretty much all of the ones I would want on the first playthrough.

 

[Shouta]

They've been scaling back on them a lot more in recent years but I guess it's also because a lot of the series they have don't have too many that could make it in as a secret. A lot of the older series had alts up the wazoo or events that you'd want to avoid that could become a secret.

 

[Lostconfused]

I'd rather have multiple protagonists back before more secrets. Unless they are on the tier of SRW UX. That game did one thing well, and that was secrets.

 

[Bebpo]

Cutting back on the secrets is a budget thing as the games get more expensive to make. Not worth animating a cool unit that a lot of people won't ever see. Cheaper and more budget- affordable to just make the secrets "BOSSES TURNED PLAYABLE"


I was actually pretty surprised that 2nd OGs had the D super hidden since it was really detailed and full quality. Best secret unit since Alpha 2's Hi-Nu.

 

[Lostconfused]

On the other hand its pretty clear Banpresto wouldn't ever think of sparing the budget when it comes to Amuro.

Spoiler

And possibly anything related to Dynamic Pro

\/\/\/\/\/\/
They can always let you use them in the next OGs game when its not a super secret hidden unit.

 

[Shouta]

Well, they even cut the budget on the D Super too. It only separated for an attack and was a single unit otherwise, lol.

 

[distantmantra]

Waiting at home on the front porch.

 

[VanillaCakeIsBurning]

Cutting back on the secrets is a budget thing as the games get more expensive to make. Not worth animating a cool unit that a lot of people won't ever see. Cheaper and more budget- affordable to just make the secrets "BOSSES TURNED PLAYABLE"


I was actually pretty surprised that 2nd OGs had the D super hidden since it was really detailed and full quality. Best secret unit since Alpha 2's Hi-Nu.

I ditched Josh and Rim's machines once I got it. MVP on my end-game team.

 

[Bebpo]

Up to stage 56 now. Hmmmm...

Spoiler

So there's 5 stages left in the game and Gurren Lagann still hasn't started yet the trailers made it seem like almost the entire space arc is covered in this game, the main OG character's plot still hasn't really advanced since the mid-point stages (we don't know anything about his first encounter with Gadlight, we don't know anything about how he relates to the sphere, we don't know anything about the DEM Corporation or Genion), almost no bosses have "died" meaning we're going to be fighting against the Mazinger Gods and their same sprites and animations and grunts and bosses a whole bunch more times in Z3-2 and maybe even freaking Mikage and the blue robots and Vajira again in Z3-2.

...yeah, I don't really see how the final 5 stages are going to be so great and immense in their story material coverage to make up for the fact that so little happens in this game and everything is so repetitive (fighting same grunts/bosses over and over and it'll continue with more fights against them in Z3-2!). Feels like they really blew it with this game by saving EVERYTHING for Z3-2 and leaving this game with so little to actually accomplish.

And the "good" route fighting against fate wasn't even anything particularly interesting. Yeah you got Jin/Shirade/Zeus but otherwise zzzz. Would rather the "good" route have been a split regarding how CCA is handled.

About to do CCA and then I guess OG plot and then some Gurren Lagann. Better be freaking good.


Also fuck the trailers. I'm going full media blackout for Z3-2. A lot of the "new" stuff in the trailers happens in the last 10 maps of the game like Zeus and GL. It's like there's so few playable units in this game that the trailers showed them all. Kind of disappointing and I'll stay away from Z3-2 media other than checking out the initial lineup.

 

[Sakura]

Currently around stage 20~
Enjoying it quite a bit. Though I wish they give players the ability to choose sides like say play on Neo Zeon side or Z-Blue side. It'd also be cool if you could interact with other characters more, maybe in between missions or something. The game play in this series is very static.

 

[Bebpo]

Stage 56

Spoiler

That was pretty solid CCA. I feel like despite the half-assed feeling of a lot of Z3-1's plot (looking at you Votoms OAV & Aquarion Evol plot <.<), Char's plotline and his character are one of the things they've done really well.

When Gyunei and Quess didn't die, it was the first SRW non-death in Z series that I was glad happened. Not so much for Quess but I liked the camaraderie that they built up with Gyunei and Kamille in Z3-1. The arc where Gyunei/Quess/Marida join your team for a few maps gave them some nice development so I'm glad they weren't just tossed away like Gyunei/Quess are in CCA film.

And with that stage ending of Full Frontal showing up as a 2nd tokuiten and Axis being the origin of the new giant dimensional quake along with the earth president about to announce the eternity flat...it seems like the story is finally about to get moving...with 4 stages left.

Also 4 stages left, 80-115 hours in, and Gurren Lagann still has no plot and a worse unit than he did at the end of Z2-2 :\ At this point I'd really rather they just don't cover GL at all in this game, because rushing through the greatness that is SPACE ARC GL in the span of just the last few maps (vs all the other plots getting 50+ hours to enjoy in the game) is going to be disappointing.

Tbh, I actually feel like Gurren Lagann screwed up the Z series completely and they totally blew their chance at using it in a mainline SRW. Instead of being an awesome popular mecha series that everyone would totally enjoy in SRW and couldn't wait to see throwing universes, they spread it out across 4 games and because of the power imbalance it brought for 2 games now (Z2-2 and Z3-1; Z2-1 was fine because the earth arc of GL works perfectly fine in SRW, so interestingly Z2-1 was the only satisfying SRW entry covering GL so far) they've basically locked it away until the last couple of maps, which is no fun. They also had to make a huge chunk of the Z2/Z3 OG plot centered around it because the enemy threat in GL is so large it's just near impossible to top that with anything else OG.

At this point I hope we either never see GL in a SRW again, or if they do put it in the next mainline series, that they cover its whole plot in a single game, deal with the threat and get back to the rest of the plots the next game.

Oh well, 4 stages + epilogue left and then 1 year wait.

 

[Shouta]

GL plot has to be kept to later on in the series because it's a universe threat and the only thing more threatening than a universal one is a dimensional one lol.

 

[Bebpo]

GL plot has to be kept to later on in the series because it's a universe threat and the only thing more threatening than a universal one is a dimensional one lol.

So then they shouldn't have even put it in the series until Z3-1 & Z3-2. Was bad planning imo as it's had a negative influence on the structure of the OG plot and GL as an entry.

 

[Shouta]

I think it's fine in Z2, particularly because it had chemistry with quite a few series in there. If I had to change anything, it would be to cut the series off at Ep 17 or before they did any of the space stuff. That's probably the largest problem. The did space stuff in Z2-2 and now they're continuing/finishing it which makes it seem weird.

But that goes to show that the way folks say it was an arc in the original series was dumb too. =P

It'd also be really forced to introduce GL in Z3. Eva was forced and Evol was almost forced if the events of that series didn't already fit so perfectly with the Z-series.

 

[Bebpo]

Eh, I doubt it'd feel forced. I still stand by that almost nothing happens in 75% of the 60 maps of Z3-1 and it's a wasted potential game.

Stage 57 though:

Spoiler

That was a great ending/climax. The one thing Z3-1 did right was CCA, Unicorn and UC Gundam. All that stuff and its characters were integrated so perfectly and the way they wrote in the ending of CCA...fantastic. That scene at the end with everyone pushing on Axis and Char giving the smack down to stupid fucking Full Frontal SO GOOD. Love how they built Full Frontal into a good villain in this. And then smash through the time prison.

Plus even throwaway characters like Gyunei are made interesting here. I like that he's a cool bro; was nice seeing him work with Kamille holding up Axis.

I don't even need any stages after this. All the rest will just be bonus because I got a damn good satisfaction with the ending here and have my man Char back in my party.

Also, so ZZ Gundam is pretty much confirmed for Z3-2 with Haman leading Neo Zeon? ZZ Gundam + Diebuster + E7 Ao as the new entries most likely I'm guessing (plus 00 Movie storyline, Eva Rebuild 2.22/3.33, Unicorn 5-7, Votoms OAV2, more Shin Mazinger, finish GL, more FMP).

Actually FMP was done pretty well too, and Big O's usage for the 2 maps or so was pretty good. But everything else in the game has been weak though:
-Evol's coverage was lazy; so many stages yet outside of Jin's arc, they didn't do anything good with it.
-EW's coverage was lazy; like 2 stages and has no point in the game.
-They did a surprisingly shitty job with Votoms here after doing such a good job with it in Z2. I didn't even realize the OAV was done and Votoms material for this game was done with Fiana died since the final Votoms battle was nothing dramatic and ended halfway through the story.
-Eva Rebuild wasn't mixed in very well.
-Tetsujin 28 story was ok, but starts halfway and ends kind of on a whimper.
-Mazinger story was short lived, a bunch of filler until the Mazinger gods show up and then they're taken care of 10 maps later. Not much of a real threat.
-Gunbuster has no story.
-00 has no story.

It'd be one thing to say...well, there wasn't many licensed anime story scenes because the focus was on the OG plot...but there was hardly any OG plot either! Hell, there was more OG plot in one of the last DLC stages (where you play as Gadlight) than there was in the last 25 maps of the game to this point! The game has been so slow at revealing anything of substance about the DEM corp, the Gemini, Gadlight's sphere, Hibiki's past...it's pretty ridiculous. Now they'll explain all of it really quick in a map or two I'm sure before the game ends, but this stuff should have been paced out through at least the 2nd half of the game, building up the OG story by giving more background and moving its plot.

Anyhow, I sound like a broken record when I talk about what a waste this game was plot-wise, but I guess it's just because it's the most disappointed I've been with a SRW since I started playing the series at W/Z1/OGs. The story of the time prison and UC gundam and basically everything covered in Z3-1 was more like a short story arc and could've easily been done in a 30 hour rpg. So when it's done in 80+ hours for a single branch run...just feels like the game wasted a ton of my time on nothing.

 

[Bebpo]

Stage 58

Spoiler

That was intense.

 

[Bebpo]

Also, gameplay is amaaaaazingly lol in these last few stages. With Zechs ACE bonus, and the one Emblem on Basara that lets you move twice per turn so you can spam morale up on first round and then hot blooded to 8 people a turn combined with system TEU and almost everyone starting with multi-action....

Yeah.

For the last few stages I've been getting most of the team across the entire maps and like 40-50 grunts (aka, all grunt units on the map) taken care of in the first or 2nd turn. Then you have a whole group of 170 morale monster units with Zero's stat buffs and Basara's hot blooded and near full seishin and items and lolololol any boss gets torn down in a round.

The game definitely started out more challenging than Z2, but by the last 10 maps or so it's the easiest SRW I've ever played. I would never ever guess I'm on the "hard" route as it's jokingly easier than @3 on normal difficulty. Tag system and a lot of these Z-chip parts and Emblems are so broken. But definitely makes you feel like a team of badasses! Hell, Zero/Karen's post-move Map attacks can take out almost entire maps full of grunts in a single turn with multi-action lol

 

[Lostconfused]

Well yes, I'd imagine most games are easier than alpha 3. Thanks to how incredibly tedious those last stages are the difficulty lies in forcing yourself to play the game.

 

[DangerMouse]

A bit annoyed about Quan[T]. I get that it's going to get some more attacks and will be stronger in Z3-2, but it'll still probably have all these existing attacks so dunno why they are so half-assed.

It's weird because nerfed 00 Raiser has a way better sprite (seriously, what's up with Quan[T] standing sprite that's hovering at a 45 degree angle? I can't think of any other units that start posed like that. I want a normal cool looking standing sprite!) and way better animations (Trans-am is soooo much smoother with 00). Plus even maxed out, Quan[T] is pretty weak, which annoys me because Setsuna is my favorite character in all the Z games (and UX) so I use him the most.

They probably shouldn't have even given him Quan[T] in this game. 00 Raiser would've been fine. He better be god-tier ultimate destruction next game.

Yeah, waiting would have been fine.

Next game. It's a preview.

Anyway, in regards to Z3-2, if they go the route of keeping all the old series from Z1 and Z2 out of this game, I was thinking of a few games that should finally get the SRW treatment, mainly Vandread and Zegapain.

I actually ended up watching Vandread again last night because it's been ages since I saw it. The plot of that game would work in Z3-2 with the dimensional element and the space the likely space focus. It's a surprisingly decent story too with a lot less pandering than I remembered. It's dark too despite the cheery attitude, lol. Would be interesting to see if they could link the two too, lol.

Loved Vandread, I agree it would make a great addition.

I still need to watch the rest of Zegapain now that I've finally gotten all of the volumes after the set got cancelled back before Bandai Ent closed.

 

[Shouta]

Well yes, I'd imagine most games are easier than alpha 3. Thanks to how incredibly tedious those last stages are the difficulty lies in forcing yourself to play the game.

Yeah, Alpha 3 wasn't hard, just tedious, unless you used Ideon, lol. It'd be really hard for me to get back into it aside from just blowing through maps with squads with maxed money/parts. I don't think I could go back and play it straight. That's not including the story reasons for me not to go back.

 

[Bebpo]

Errr, I wasn't trying to say @3 was hard. Thought @3 was the current bar for "easiest SRW game ever that you can beat blindfolded"

Maybe W is that bar, so in that case endgame Z3-1 is easier than W by a good amount


Btw, here's my bet for Z3-2 lineup:

Spoiler

Ok, so let's say there are 11 story threads in Z3-1 and there will be the same amount in Z3-2.

Z3-1 plot threads & their Z3-2 equivalent:
1. Aquarion Evol -> E7 Ao (continuation of Z1 series to its sequel finale)
2. CCA -> ZZ (Can tie into Unicorn with Audrey like how CCA tied into Unicorn in Z3-1; wrap up Haman and Neo Zeon; plus Prototype Plie makes this even more likely)
3. EW -> 00 Movie (one shitty gundam movie to another)
4. Tetsujin 28 -> Diebuster (Diebuster seems assured otherwise there was no point in Gunbuster)
5. Votoms OAV1 -> Votoms OAV2 (duh, they're doing pretty much all Votoms in Z2/Z3)
6. FMP S1/S2/Fumoffu -> FMP Novels (they've built up Tess' brother/sister arch-enemy; they're going to do something further with FMP in Z3-2)
7. Eva Rebuild 1.11/2.22 -> Rebuild 2.22/3.33 (only question is how they end it)
8. Unicorn OAV1-4 -> OAV5-7 (might use "NOVEL VERSION" for ep7)
9. Shin Mazinger -> Shin Mazinger (hopefully they do something interesting like Shin Mazinkaiser)
10. Gurren Lagann -> Gurren Lagann
11. OG plot -> OG plot

I guess if you want to add in Big O as a plot thread in Z3-1, there will probably be an old cast series that gets a bit more meat in Z3-2 (most likely bet is Turn A with all the Black History stuff; but could be Orguss). But that's it. I think the Z3-1 has pretty much defined the series in Z3-2 and there's almost no chance it can vary from the list I just posted. I'll eat my hat if that list is off by more than 1 or 2 entries. FMP Novels is the only iffy one and maybe by some fluke they'll add in Star Driver since by this point it should be in a SRW; but I don't think they have room with that list; so I'd be surprised if it's in.

Also the only thing that could change since I still have stage 59/60/Epilogue left in Z3-1 is GL could completely finish in these next 3 maps and maybe in that case Star Driver would replace that plot thread. But I really really doubt they're going to do all the remaining GL movie 2 plot in these 3 final eps. I'm guessing they're saving the final battle on a universal scale for the endgame of Z3-2.

Also re: Spheres

Spoiler

I was wondering how they were going to get around the Highlander premise that there can only be one holder of all the spheres since you have to kill people to get their sphere. Because this creates a problem if you want to up the stakes where the bad guy has almost all the spheres at the end and the good guys have to stop him and some good guy has to get all the spheres to show off the power of the combined spheres. It's a problem because that would require killing off all the protagonists besides Hibiki in Z3-2. And SRW is not Game of Thrones. It's teenage fun for the mainstream audience.

But now that there are ways to "steal spheres" without killing the users...there you go. It's a bit of a cop out and definitely makes the Z storyline a lot less dark and high tension since it's not a bunch of people battling to the death until only one survives. But eh, I guess it works.