Ambitious sci-fi storytelling meets the best implementation of the active time battle system to date. If you are at all interested in this game, try to go in knowing as little as possible.
This game is essentially one part visual novel and one part real(ish) time strategy smashed together. The gameplay hook of having 13 characters really works since each story has a different focus. Some are more personal whereas others play directly into the central plot from go, allowing you to jump around as you see fit. The story hits on just about every sci-fi trope, but in a very self-referential way that is equal parts hilarious and compelling. Because of the amount of twists and the ways in which you can dictate which parts of the story you experience, you will eventually look like the Charlie conspiracy wall meme.
The second part of this game plays out as an RTS/tower defense battle. I mention above that its more of a "real(ish) time strategy" game because the battles pause when actions are being chosen, allowing you to strategize around the current situation. Although the rather abstract visuals are a little disappointing at first (compared to the beautiful visuals of the other half of the game) they really capture the sense of spectacle of a battle between giant opposing forces. This is especially the case later in the game when the enemy forces grow in size and sheer number. Aside from the primal exciment you get from blowing up kaiju, I was really impressed by the ways in which the battles play into the story, both through dialogue before and after fights and even in the mechanics of the battling itself. Since the visual novel half rewards you with this game's version of EXP, there is a really nice synergy between these two game modes that keeps you bouncing back and forth.
My only major gripe with this game is the way in which many of the women and LGBT characters were handled. I understand that this game is toned down compared to their last, but some of the depictions of women in this game (notably, Ms. Morimura) are extremely male gazey and the way that most of the men in the game talk to them is, at times, just gross. Couple this with the fact that most of the major characters are high schoolers (a fact which I try to just block out of my mind) and it feels even more inexcusable. Tsukasa Okina is a character I have a lot of thoughts about, but this review is already too long as it is. All I'll say is that it's ... almost ... good queer representation, which is a step in the right direction for Atlus, but they're still not quite there.
Overall, this game is a triumph for the visual novel genre and, as I mentioned in the opening, potentially the best implementation of the ATB system. If it weren't for some poor representation this would be a near perfect experience from start to finish.
This game is essentially one part visual novel and one part real(ish) time strategy smashed together. The gameplay hook of having 13 characters really works since each story has a different focus. Some are more personal whereas others play directly into the central plot from go, allowing you to jump around as you see fit. The story hits on just about every sci-fi trope, but in a very self-referential way that is equal parts hilarious and compelling. Because of the amount of twists and the ways in which you can dictate which parts of the story you experience, you will eventually look like the Charlie conspiracy wall meme.
The second part of this game plays out as an RTS/tower defense battle. I mention above that its more of a "real(ish) time strategy" game because the battles pause when actions are being chosen, allowing you to strategize around the current situation. Although the rather abstract visuals are a little disappointing at first (compared to the beautiful visuals of the other half of the game) they really capture the sense of spectacle of a battle between giant opposing forces. This is especially the case later in the game when the enemy forces grow in size and sheer number. Aside from the primal exciment you get from blowing up kaiju, I was really impressed by the ways in which the battles play into the story, both through dialogue before and after fights and even in the mechanics of the battling itself. Since the visual novel half rewards you with this game's version of EXP, there is a really nice synergy between these two game modes that keeps you bouncing back and forth.
My only major gripe with this game is the way in which many of the women and LGBT characters were handled. I understand that this game is toned down compared to their last, but some of the depictions of women in this game (notably, Ms. Morimura) are extremely male gazey and the way that most of the men in the game talk to them is, at times, just gross. Couple this with the fact that most of the major characters are high schoolers (a fact which I try to just block out of my mind) and it feels even more inexcusable. Tsukasa Okina is a character I have a lot of thoughts about, but this review is already too long as it is. All I'll say is that it's ... almost ... good queer representation, which is a step in the right direction for Atlus, but they're still not quite there.
Overall, this game is a triumph for the visual novel genre and, as I mentioned in the opening, potentially the best implementation of the ATB system. If it weren't for some poor representation this would be a near perfect experience from start to finish.