We got a taste of Gundam Breaker 4 during a recent Open Network Test (ONT) and, afterwards, were able to speak with producer Masanori Tanaka about the game and our experience playing it. While we’ll be coming out with a review of our own, we want to share with you our first impressions of this game because this game was waaaay WAAAY more fun than I expected. Here’s our Gundam Breaker 4 ONT First Impressions.
First off, let me explain what the Open Network Test entailed. During specific days, the game would be open to players for a specific amount of time. All in all, there were 3 “sessions” each lasting for roughly 5 hours each. In the ONT, players were given access to a lot of the game’s features like quick mission quests, Gunpla Assembly, and the Diorama mode but we were also blocked off from certain things like the game’s Story Mode. Despite those few limitations, the ONT definitely gave us a proper sense of what Gundam Breaker 4 was all about and, while this was my very first experience playing a Gundam Breaker title, this experience definitely surprised me!
Building Up Awesomeness, Piece by Piece
Allow me to put a little context to where my perspective is at. I’m somehow who grew up with Gundam but I never religiously followed all Gundam titles. I was a huge fan of Gundam Wing, Gundam G, and even the most recent The Witch from Mercury show but I did also miss out on some of the Gundam titles in between such as Seed and Iron-Blooded Orphans. Most importantly, I never really got into Gunpla. So coming into the ONT, I admittedly wasn’t expecting to enjoy it so much because it seemed like I was pretty lukewarm with Gundam. Oh, how wrong I was. Please don’t think this as a shill statement but this game unearthed the excitement and passion I had for the franchise – and I mean that statement with all my heart. This game felt like a celebration of the franchise which you got with every piece.
You see, the ONT starts you with a normie looking Gundam and that’s fine but, quite quickly, the game instructs me to try out a quest and I get into a battle (more on this later). And yeah, it was cool fighting familiar looking mobile suits but the joy really came AFTER that first fight. I got Gunpla parts as part of the reward from that fight and I was quickly shown how I could make new Gundams / Gunpla by sticking those parts into mine — and I could make it look like WHATEVER I wanted. I could have a Gunpla which had a Zaku Warrior’s left arm and a Zeta Gundam’s arm on the right. I could, of course, recolor these to my preference but I could also shrink and oversize them! Yes, I could make my Gunpla look amazingly goofy and silly BUT I could also make it have it’s own epic look by mixing and matching parts just right. AND THERE ARE A LOT OF PARTS as Gundam Breaker 4 features so many Gunpla kits that you can encounter.
“We have 250 [Gunpla] in which the head, the body and the legs could be interchanged so that unique Gunplas can be created.”, Masanori Tanaka-san reveals. “Among the many Gundam games that are available, this is the only one that allows for original Gunplas to be created. They are highly customized [and] are truly unique and individual. And using this Gunpla to fight in a battle is a joy that we want to highlight.”
This goes beyond the aesthetics though. Out of the 250 Gunpla kits featured in the game, parts will drop with different rarities, stats, and most importantly, MOVES. This was one of the biggest hooks of the game for me. Some parts would come with a special move that you can use and add to your load out. In the game, I was able to face off against a Destiny Gundam and I happened to be able to break off its wings of me to collect. Yes, the wings looked WAY cooler than the thrusters I had on my backpack but, as I equipped it, I saw that it also came with TWO equippable skills – the High-Energy Long-Range Beam Cannon skill and the Wings of Light (Destiny) skill. The latter of which allowed my Gundam to go into this hyperspeed mode making me deliver some really sick melee combos to my foes while having this cool prismatic looking wings shining at my back! I literally said “LET’S GOOO!” out loud as this happened. This is the magic of Gundam Breaker 4 – There’s legitimate excitement when you get parts because you get that really nice looking piece that can complete the look of what you were going for PLUS you discover and unlock combos as you go.
I will be fair though and say that there was an initial downside to this system – the overwhelming amount of STATS. Each piece basically came with various stats like Thruster Capacity, Close-Range Resistance, and so much more which may make it feel like an information overload. We brought this up with Masanori Tanaka-san to which he reassured that the game is paced in a way where it allows you enough time to get used to certain parameters and stats and understand what they mean for your Gunpla. After some time, they’ll ease you in to a new set of stats.
The Gundam Fights of your Childhood Dreams
Okay, let’s talk about Combat in closer detail. Simply put, the combat is FUN. It’s akin to that childhood activity of when you would bump your toys together to make them fight. The difference now is that your toys are engaging in a combat style that’s so smooth and fast-paced that it’s just so exciting to do. The pace is comparable to that of an arcade game and you just do these cool chain attacks and air juggles – and they’re pretty easy to pull off too! Control-wise, I did have a few issues with the lock-on system as it did feel, at times, that it wasn’t locking on to the unit I wanted it to causing me to kind of clumsily move through the battlefield. I’m willing to attribute this to me not being fully used to it yet but we’ll definitely see if this is the case in our full review. Movement-wise though, when you’re doing combos, it feels so hype and amazing. I did enjoy the more melee-based moves than the ranged ones but maybe that’s also because I didn’t get to encounter the right ranged parts for me… and maybe I enjoyed the melee combat way too much as well.
Then you have these epic Gundam match-ups. There’s a certain level of dread and excitement when you encounter a Gunpla model of a unit you know so well. It’s a mix of “Oh my god, I’m going to die. How am I going to survive against the God Gundam??” and “I NEED THAT PART. I want the Shining God Finger!!” It’s a very simple gameplay loop but it’s so effective in bringing out that excitement in you.
While this didn’t occur to me during my gameplay, I do imagine that the quest for hunting parts and getting them to drop MIGHT be a bit tedious and repetitive in the future. We also brought this up to Tanaka-san, who replied “Parts can be obtained not only from mission drops, but also from the in-game store, where you can purchase them with GP. By using the store, you can obtain specific parts, strengthen them, and use them…etc. You can also use the Breaker Booster, which is also available in-game, to increase the drop rate of items, so we hope you enjoy collecting parts while making use of such items.”
A World of Gunpla Worth Living in
The other strength of Gundam Breaker 4 that we noticed during the ONT was how they made a nice world of Gunpla that fans and enthusiasts could really enjoy living in.
In addition to showing off your Gunpla designs, one of the things that the devs are really proud of is the Diorama mode where you can use your Gunplas to create awesome scenes. Here, you can set your backgrounds, Gunpla poses, additional effects like explosions and more! Masanori Tanaka-san himself even says that he hopes that players will come up with various expressive works in Diorama mode as well as very customized Gunplas so they can share it with their friends.
Another thing that stood out for me was how they had online events during the play sessions. During my session, I saw an online event where the best Gunpla Designs that players could submit would have a chance to win GPs, an in-game currency they can use to buy more parts for themselves. I honestly like this idea because, done right, this could be used to further ease in players to specific game aspects / mechanics. We actually asked for more details on their plans for these online events which Masanori Tanaka-san replied to by saying “As for the in-game events, we plan to hold them after launch. Specific timings will be announced as soon as possible. We plan to have three types of events: battles, diorama/photo, and Gunpla customization.”
Gundam Breaker 4 ONT First Impressions Summary
I said this earlier and I’ll say it again – this game is just simply FUN. The simple game loop of fighting other Gunplas for parts that gives you more materials to work with to create your very own unique Gundams while discovering new moves to fight with and do iconic moves that you’ve watched in the anime is just so effective. The combat system has enough complexity in itself that makes it worth mastering. Finally, you have that strong social aspect where you can participate in online events and even show off your own works and designs.
In the end, I can’t wait to see what the full game has in store for us but, with what we saw during the ONT, we’re very hopeful and excited!