As Captain Kayto Shields, embark on a galactic voyage of heroism and survival. With his home world destroyed and his nation conquered, the inexperienced Captain Shields, and his newly minted vessel, the Sunrider, are left as the only hope against a galactic evil intent on subjugating all sentient life.
Also in series
Reviews View More
Replaying through the entire Sunrider series in order to take off "Liberation Day" from my backlog has actually been more fun that I anticipated.
Sunrider was the VN I was obsessed with during middle school so I was afraid of it not holding up but while the bad is there, it's bad I already knew of.
Divided into two sections, First Arrival and Mask of Arcadius, this game contains the first two chapters of the Sunrider story.
The art is ok, with the characters being a bit overly animated and with everyone seemingly having enough hair to cover everyone's ears, but the mecha design is very nice and the look of the Sunrider itself is etched into my brain since I was a teenager.
The story follows Kayto Shields, captain of the prototype ship Sunrider; during the maiden voyage, though, his home planet of Cera is attacked by a group called PACT and is forced to escape with his crew.
This initial moment, not to dissimilar from the beginning of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, kicks off Mask of Arcadius's story, a sci-fi narrative spanning roughly 10 hours where, after collecting different Ryder (these universe's name for mechs) pilots from around the galaxy and somewhat exploring their background, the crew of the Sunrider will find itself thrown into the midst of the Alliance-PACT War.
While the characters all fall within a specific stereotype, the banter is cute at times and the worldbuilding, while not exactly inspired, was interesting to me.
The presentation is ok with the music being a standout (the OST was surprisingly good even though they used the spinning monkeys music for the beach event) and the OP, while showing a bit too much fanservice, was good enough.
The gameplay is quite simple, a barebones tactical grid based system, but that did not make the enemies less annoying; what really pushed me to finish this game for the second time was the story itself and the world it is set in.
That being said, the story doesn't deviate from cliches of the war mecha genre like nobody being fully good, a lot of politics and the lone spaceship changing the tides of war, but it just so happens that I really like those tropes so it wasn't much of a problem for me.
While I enjoyed my time with Mask of Arcadius I am now ready to move on with its sequel "Liberation Day" and continue the story.
I have also reviewed the initial part of the game, First Arrival, but I'll just copy-paste it here for good measure:
So, my initial idea was to replay the original Sunrider to better review the sequel, Liberation Day, which had been sitting on my backlog for the best part of almost a decade.
Imagine my surprise, then, when I open Mask of Arcadius and see this new option, First Arrival, on the menu.
That being said, consider this a surprise review of Sunrider: First Arrival.
The OST is very cinematic and recalls the sci-fi soundtrack vibe of things like Mass Effect.
The battle theme is good but the fact that it abruptly stops any time it's PACTs turn is very jarring.
The plot of the single out spaceship with mechs inside is very reminiscing of Gundam.
The character development for Icari was so fast, she was ready to shoot you adn then BAM she's with you, not that well paced.
Asaga showing her true identity was a good idea very badly paced but still, the tie between her and Sola was actually a really cool idea.
Sunrider was the VN I was obsessed with during middle school so I was afraid of it not holding up but while the bad is there, it's bad I already knew of.
Divided into two sections, First Arrival and Mask of Arcadius, this game contains the first two chapters of the Sunrider story.
The art is ok, with the characters being a bit overly animated and with everyone seemingly having enough hair to cover everyone's ears, but the mecha design is very nice and the look of the Sunrider itself is etched into my brain since I was a teenager.
The story follows Kayto Shields, captain of the prototype ship Sunrider; during the maiden voyage, though, his home planet of Cera is attacked by a group called PACT and is forced to escape with his crew.
This initial moment, not to dissimilar from the beginning of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, kicks off Mask of Arcadius's story, a sci-fi narrative spanning roughly 10 hours where, after collecting different Ryder (these universe's name for mechs) pilots from around the galaxy and somewhat exploring their background, the crew of the Sunrider will find itself thrown into the midst of the Alliance-PACT War.
While the characters all fall within a specific stereotype, the banter is cute at times and the worldbuilding, while not exactly inspired, was interesting to me.
The presentation is ok with the music being a standout (the OST was surprisingly good even though they used the spinning monkeys music for the beach event) and the OP, while showing a bit too much fanservice, was good enough.
The gameplay is quite simple, a barebones tactical grid based system, but that did not make the enemies less annoying; what really pushed me to finish this game for the second time was the story itself and the world it is set in.
That being said, the story doesn't deviate from cliches of the war mecha genre like nobody being fully good, a lot of politics and the lone spaceship changing the tides of war, but it just so happens that I really like those tropes so it wasn't much of a problem for me.
While I enjoyed my time with Mask of Arcadius I am now ready to move on with its sequel "Liberation Day" and continue the story.
I have also reviewed the initial part of the game, First Arrival, but I'll just copy-paste it here for good measure:
So, my initial idea was to replay the original Sunrider to better review the sequel, Liberation Day, which had been sitting on my backlog for the best part of almost a decade.
Imagine my surprise, then, when I open Mask of Arcadius and see this new option, First Arrival, on the menu.
That being said, consider this a surprise review of Sunrider: First Arrival.
The OST is very cinematic and recalls the sci-fi soundtrack vibe of things like Mass Effect.
The battle theme is good but the fact that it abruptly stops any time it's PACTs turn is very jarring.
The plot of the single out spaceship with mechs inside is very reminiscing of Gundam.
The character development for Icari was so fast, she was ready to shoot you adn then BAM she's with you, not that well paced.
Asaga showing her true identity was a good idea very badly paced but still, the tie between her and Sola was actually a really cool idea.
"A Very Poor Visual Novel/Strategy Hybrid"
I'll keep this review short - I thought this game was boring. I know it is free and many people ease up on their criticisms for games like this, but I value time over money, and I wasted my time playing this game. I just don't see what many other people see in this game: the VN portion is generic and predictable with the SAME types of characters in 90% of these games; the strategy portion is not just tacked on, it's the MAIN part of the game, and yet totally lacks in depth or interest while being unclear, unintuitive, and difficult; and the story is pretty forgettable to me as well. Granted I played an hour, but do I really have to wait until the five hour mark to reach a point where the game starts developing a smidge of a coherent plot device? I didn't see the value in that, and stopped playing it altogether.
There's "no waste" in at least trying this game if you like simple VN's or strategy games that are free, but if you value your time just as much as you value your money, if not more, you might want to try any number of VN's out there with a more cohesive and memorable premise. The art is alright, and is really the only redeemable aspect of this game to me. I would Not Recommend this game unless you are a HUGE VN fan or are extremely bored and trying to avoid spending any money.
Final Verdict: 2/10 (Bad)
I'll keep this review short - I thought this game was boring. I know it is free and many people ease up on their criticisms for games like this, but I value time over money, and I wasted my time playing this game. I just don't see what many other people see in this game: the VN portion is generic and predictable with the SAME types of characters in 90% of these games; the strategy portion is not just tacked on, it's the MAIN part of the game, and yet totally lacks in depth or interest while being unclear, unintuitive, and difficult; and the story is pretty forgettable to me as well. Granted I played an hour, but do I really have to wait until the five hour mark to reach a point where the game starts developing a smidge of a coherent plot device? I didn't see the value in that, and stopped playing it altogether.
There's "no waste" in at least trying this game if you like simple VN's or strategy games that are free, but if you value your time just as much as you value your money, if not more, you might want to try any number of VN's out there with a more cohesive and memorable premise. The art is alright, and is really the only redeemable aspect of this game to me. I would Not Recommend this game unless you are a HUGE VN fan or are extremely bored and trying to avoid spending any money.
Final Verdict: 2/10 (Bad)