Support NeoGAF

[duckroll]

It's almost here, the biggest mecha fan game in the longest time. 27th Jan is just shy of a week away so I figured it's time to unite everyone who's interested in this or has already pre-ordered this to start talking!

Official Site: http://www.ace-game.jp
Developer: From Software
Publisher: Banpresto
Genre: Ace Robot Action

Series:
Aura Battler Dunbine
Heavy Metal L-Gaim
Mobile Suit Z Gundam
Blue Comet SPT Layzner
Metal Armor Dragonar
Mobile Suit Gundam Char's Counterattack
New Mobile Report Gundam W
Brain Powered
Nadesico the movie: The Prince of Darkness

Guest mechs:
Gespenst Mk-II Mass Production Model (Banpresto)
Cloud Breaker (From)

Over 38 playable hero mechs and over 100 enemy mechs will be featured in this tour de force 3D action game from the creators of Armored Core and the creators of Super Robot Wars. This is going to be a dream come true for any oldschool mecha fan.

Another key point of the game is that everyone is the game is realistically scaled for the first time, so in this awesome crossover you can actually see the difference between a Dunbine and a Nu Gundam in combat!

This is the first-press only premium package (not a seperate more expensive limited edition version) which looks awesome. Too bad chances that play-asia will have any is pretty low considering this: http://www.video-fenky.com/archives/000349.html

Here's a 12min preview of the game (includes the opening FMV, 2 TVCMs, and quite a bit of gameplay footage) on a 69meg avi: http://www.dra-mata.com/misc/ace2.avi

 

[chespace]

Nice!

Holy shit, look at that nu-gundam... what a beast.

Also, I didn't know the Dunbine insect mechs were so tiny.

 

[bloke]

Gameplay looks like ZOE2 with oldschool mechas and inferior graphics. No Eva, fuck that. And wth is Cloud Breaker doing there, that's mech out of Murakumo, right? :lol

 

[Bebpo]

Gameplay looks like ZOE2 with oldschool mechas and inferior graphics. No Eva, fuck that. And wth is Cloud Breaker doing there, that's mech out of Murakumo, right? :lol

Well one thing is that the Eva units couldn't fly, whereas everyone else in this game can. Since a lot of the game seems to be taking place in space, that seems a good enough reason to drop them (for that reason I wouldn't expect to see things like the Guntank either).

To add to this thread, Famitsu stated that From Software says ACE2 is something they're interested in doing if ACE sells well.

 

[duckroll]

Gameplay looks like ZOE2 with oldschool mechas and inferior graphics. No Eva, fuck that. And wth is Cloud Breaker doing there, that's mech out of Murakumo, right? :lol

To clarify. The gameplay is actually more like Armored Core than ZoE2. It's not a level by level action game but a mission based one. You also have a selection of mechs which you can gain points and increase stats on various areas to customize it. Oh and if you want top of the line graphics and Eva, you obviously don't belong there.

 

[Spiritreaver]

Holy freaking crap, when did this slip under my radar? Those FMV sequences are amazing, some of the best I've ever seen, especially the one with the ships being attacked, gave me chills the first time. The roster on this is awesome as well, and for obvious reason for me personally (where was Shenlong though???). Plus the story sequences where you reenact missions from the actual anime series, awesome. Simply put, I WANT THIS GAME.

Question though, any word on the voice actors lined up for this game, and how intact they are to the actors from the animes? I know the old ones would pose issues, but I'm curious nonetheless.

 

[duckroll]

Holy freaking crap, when did this slip under my radar? Those FMV sequences are amazing, some of the best I've ever seen, especially the one with the ships being attacked, gave me chills the first time. The roster on this is awesome as well, and for obvious reason for me personally (where was Shenlong though???). Plus the story sequences where you reenact missions from the actual anime series, awesome. Simply put, I WANT THIS GAME.

Shenlong's there, don't worry. The Wing roster is very complete and the touched up models for them look excellent and a lot more Katoki-ish than the anime designs. Pure wuv, gotta love the textures.

Question though, any word on the voice actors lined up for this game, and how intact they are to the actors from the animes? I know the old ones would pose issues, but I'm curious nonetheless.

Pretty damn complete. Most of these shows are from the 80s, so most of the actors/actresses are still in the business. I can't speak for the Layzner and Dragonar ones since I've never seen the series, but the Gundam (Z, CCA, Wing) casts are all back (kinda easy since Char's VA is voicing Gilbert in SEED-D and the Zeta leads recently reunited for the movies) as are most of the other series. We're talking Banpresto here, kings of Super Robot Wars, do you doubt their licensing muscle?

 

[Shouta]

I think the Dragonar and Layzner casts are intact (I'll have to check the vid again, I've seen most of both).

I do like that this is the "military" style of mecha and not the "Super Robot" mecha. XD

 

[Spiritreaver]

Haha, no I wouldn't doubt them, not after how long running the SRW series has been going. Only making sure. Thanks though duckroll, now I've really got to get my hands on this somehow, I normally don't think about importing games, but this is too good to pass up. To think I would have completely missed out too.

 

[Gorey]

Sigh, I assume there is absolutely zero chance of this ever coming out in the US, is there. I'm not really a fan of importing, but geez, does that ever warrant it. Wow.

 

[bloke]

To clarify. The gameplay is actually more like Armored Core than ZoE2. It's not a level by level action game but a mission based one.

I was reffering to actual ingame video, with all the fighting in the sky/space it looked lot more like ZOE2 than AC. Sorry for not being oldschool mecha fan, I like that CloudBreaker design though.

 

[duckroll]

Nope, no chance in the US. Blame licensing.

Ok here are the confirmed voices featured as seen from the official site and they're all the original cast:

Dunbine: Mika Doi as Marvel Frozen (Operator), Shigeru Nakahara as Shou Zama
L-Gaim: Chieko Honda as Amu Fannellia (Operator), Hirokazu Hiramatsu as Daba Myroad
Z Gundam: Miyuki Matsuoka as Fa Yuiry (Operator), Nobuo Tobita as Kamille Bidan, Shuuichi Ikeda as Quattro Bajeena
Layzner: Eriko Hara as Rei (Operator), Kazuhiko Inoue as Eiji
Dragonar: Kayoko Fujii as Linda Prat (Operator), Masami Kikuchi as Ken Wakaba, Houchu Ohtsuka as Tapp Oceano, Kenyuu Horiuchi as Light Newman
CCA: Mitsuki Yayoi as Chan Agi (Operator), Tohru Furuya as Amuro Ray
Wing: Chisa Yokoyama as Lucrezia Noin (Operator), Hikaru Midorikawa as Heero Yuy
Brain Powered: Shiho Nagoshi as Irene Carrier (Operator), Tetsu Shiratori as Yuu Isami
Nadesico movie: Noriko Hidaka as Hari Makibi (Operator), Yuji Ueda as Akito Tenkawa, Chisa Yokoyama as Subaru Ryoko
AI Operator: Fumiko Inoue

Also of note is that the ACE Soundtrack was announced some time back. 3 CDs, one with "inspired by" music by popular artists (which means they're not in the game), one with 16 tracks of remixed music from the shows rearranged for the game (yum yum) and finally one with 16 original tracks of the game's musical score. J-pop artist Hitomi Shimatani will be performing both the image song and ending songs for ACE as a cross promotion for her new single/album.

 

[Bebpo]

Also of note is that the ACE Soundtrack was announced some time back. 3 CDs, one with "inspired by" music by popular artists (which means they're not in the game), one with 16 tracks of remixed music from the shows rearranged for the game (yum yum) and finally one with 16 original tracks of the game's musical score. J-pop artist Hitomi Shimatani will be performing both the image song and ending songs for ACE as a cross promotion for her new single/album.

That sounds pretty cool although it'll be interesting to see if the 'inspired by' cd is awful like the Casshern one

 

[ferricide]

NU GUNDAM COME TO ME

must ... resist ... throwing ... away ... seventy ... dollars

 

[SolidSnakex]

That sounds pretty cool although it'll be interesting to see if the 'inspired by' cd is awful like the Casshern one

If its anywhere near as good as Cassherns then i'd definetly buy it.

 

[radios shipping overview]

L-Gaim looks so damn cool. The game looks a lot more fun and fluid than I remember AC2 being. And don't make fun of the Murakumo mecha! It's cool that they've adapted it and brought it into a (hopefully) kickass game.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Also of note is that the ACE Soundtrack was announced some time back. 3 CDs, one with "inspired by" music by popular artists (which means they're not in the game), one with 16 tracks of remixed music from the shows rearranged for the game (yum yum) and finally one with 16 original tracks of the game's musical score.

So, basically, one remixed track of a Yoko Kanno song? Strangely appealing.

I'm still sort of befuddled as to how Brain Powerd managed to show up again, though.

 

[shuri]

That looks incredible, in concept. The screenshots look neat, but way too japanese heavy. I just dont get it. Is it a fighting game? An action game?!

 

[Dead]

Holy shit!


Holy SHIT!


damn even Brain Powerd! Time to put that awful liscence to good use!

 

[Shouta]

Damn, just watched the movie again. I want this but I don't want to spend the moneyz XD.

 

[Bebpo]

For all the people on the fence, I'll just chirp in to say that the in-game footage in the video is sped up. I saw it playable at booths in Akihabara and the two things I noticed (besides the gorgeous mecha models) were 30fps and that the movement speed is closer to AC than ZoE.

I'm excited about the game but I have little faith that it'll play any better than From Soft's other mecha games.

 

[Brandon F]

Is that a mech from Frame Gride? Are the load times better than Frame Gride? Did anyone else besides me actually somewhat enjoy Frame Gride?

 

[Dead]

Damn, just watched the movie again. I want this but I don't want to spend the moneyz XD.

I dunno, $59 at lik sang. Im going to give in and order this.

 

[Bebpo]

Is that a mech from Frame Gride? Are the load times better than Frame Gride? Did anyone else besides me actually somewhat enjoy Frame Gride?

I enjoyed it I think it may have been my first From Soft. game. The whole Virtua On with customization idea and bigger environments made for a fun ride. Sure it still wasn't as good as Virtua On and it was 30fps (is there any From Soft. game that's not 30fps?[Otogi/FG/AC/MWC]) but it was still a neat game to have early in the DC's life.

 

[Brandon F]

Yea, in many ways Frame Gride was a much more palpable experience than VOOT; in that it made arena robot fighting fast, intense, and pretty without committing to crazy control contraptions. I swear those sticks did little to dampen the challenge of playing the game.

Plus the whole fantasy medieval slant FG went for is always cool. Mechs with swords! Shame about those load times though... Apparently Milkman liked it too, 8.6 on Gamespot.

So, yea...are Frame Gride mechs included here?

 

[duckroll]

Damn Bebpo hasn't been properly "conditioned" to understand From yet. Maybe a day or two tied to a chair playing King's Field 1 on the PSX will make him appreciate how far they've come more. :lol

Seriously though, there's nothing wrong with 30fps and slower AC gameplay. These are oldschool mecha and dude, they're just not that fast!

 

[duckroll]

Ok so the first ACE review has come in from Weekly Famitsu and it doesn't look too good. 8/7/7/7 - 29/40. Some minor weaksauce quibbles about the interface and controls. But it does sound rather positive.

The word on 2ch is now that The Playstation has reviewed ACE with a score of 9/10/9/10. That's unconfirmed at the moment but quite the score difference. I wonder if it's simply a case of Banpresto's check to Famitsu bouncing. :lol

 

[Shouta]

Hey duckroll, Remember to be careful with your usage of scanned magazine pictures. You almost got us in trouble for Castlevania =P.

 

[duckroll]

Hey duckroll, Remember to be careful with your usage of scanned magazine pictures. You almost got us in trouble for Castlevania =P.

Oh, sorry about that. I posted them because Amir0x had a cropped comparison too and he asked if it was okay and no one indicated anything negative. This is from Famitsu though, I was asking around the last time in another thread about why posting mp3s and Japanese mag scans were okay versus US scans and someone said something like Famitsu being too far away and hence no one gives a shit and it's okay on GAF.... if it isn't I'll remove it.

 

[Shouta]

Famitsu should be fine unless we get a letter from them (like asuki and Media Factory =| ). Just make sure you check clearly ahead of time if you can or not.

 

[duckroll]

3 days before release, let's get the engine going again! Here are more pics from the recent update:

 

[duckroll]

And here are are two special wallpapers! Click to enlarge!

 

[Bebpo]

Put an hour or so into the game and quick thoughts:

--I was wrong, 60fps! The ground textures suck and the areas are empty but man do the mecha look good.

--wtf awesome music. The ost so far sounds like the MWC one, all big heavy basslines to get your kill on...I like!

--camera is shit If you're locked onto an enemy and then they fly low it keeps looking forward where they used to be while your mech is shooting downwards at the invisible enemy. I'm sure there's ways around it, but so far the camera seems pretty awful at keeping up with the action.

--Long range weapon battle system seems to work alright. You have to wait a few secs after shooting to recharge/cool down and then you can shoot some more. You can dodge the enemies bullets/beams by double tapping in any direction. Though double tapping with the analogue pad is not so easy.

--Short range weapon system is meh. Seriously, besides ZoE and Virtua On none of the mech games have ever gotten the fast speed close up sword/beam saber fighting just right. In this you do an attack, kinda pause, do an another attack. Dunno maybe there's more to it.

--Did I mention that the mecha are AWESOME You get a main weapon + subweapon at long range and then a close up attack. Not only are the mecha modeled with perfection but even their weapons and attacks look badass. From Soft. did a great job in the presentation department.

kinda fun, kinda meh-ish like all the other Gundam-type games. But at least this has a great roster and just being able to kick ass with the Nu Gundam should make it worth it in the end.

 

[Troidal]

I read some threads on 2ch and it seems like half-assed game. They did say the mechs and music are great so your right on the spot Bebpo

Ah well, one less game to think about.

 

[EGM92]

No chance of this being released in NA? I love these mech games SRW series and such but problem is I hate having my friends translate the damn story for me (i can only read a little jap)

I'm a AC Fantatic, and this game is right up my ally

EGM92

 

[duckroll]

Nope, no chance of a US release.

Play-asia STILL isn't shipping yet so I guess my impressions will be next week-ish.