Mini-Review: Super Robot Wars 30 (PC, Steam, 2021)

I wrote an introductory article to Super Robot Wars a while back, and it's probably best if you read that. Some 99% of the comments made there apply to this new iteration, and that's possibly a problem. SRW30 has exactly the same vibe and appeal as the fan translations I played on SNES, GBA and GameCube, just with various subtle gameplay improvements. I'd imagine any long running strategy game series, or even the Championship Manager games, finds a very definite niche. They are usually excellent at what they choose to do, but what they choose to do is quite narrow, and any difference between games tends to be iterative and gradual. This is just how 30 feels. However, on reflection, I would have expected more tangible differences between games with decades between them. While nobody expects a turned based strategy game to be any kind of graphical powerhouse, 30 isn't trying. I knew this going in, but outside of the battle animations, the game is almost entirely presented by static art. It's a style which would have been considered outdated two decades ago, and even by the standards of its genre its quite minimal. This is not to say its ugly, but compare this art direction to Into the Breach? Or the similarly, and spectacularly, weebish Disgaea series? It looks rather basic, and I was faintly bewildered to discover I was running it on maximum resolution by default. I feel a few idle animations would have helped immensely here, and it undermines the games value proposition. There is definitely a humongous wodge of content, but this game starts at £40, more for the version with licensed music rather than covers, and then there's DLC. You aren't paying for the engine, is what I'm saying.

What you are paying for is licencing. Perhaps a better comparison to make than with other strategy games is with annual sports franchises, given how SRW games tend to overlap. I'm hesitant to use the term "roster update", but you could make that case with 30, and indeed other instalments. I suppose we can give 30 a pass on this as a rare global/English-language release in the series, but Japanese fans and linguists may not. That said, I do not wish to understate the sheer joy of seeing some of these characters in a tried and true game format. This is the entire appeal of the exercise, a vast, fanfictiony crossover extravaganza. My personal enjoyment of the game shot up whenever something I knew appeared, and there's a welcome sense of knowing irreverence. Like the Lego Movie. Obviously, it helps to know who some of these daft beggars are, but 30 offers great introductions if you don't. The cast of Brave Police J-Decker became an immediate favourite of mine, being a bunch of extremely wholesome boys, made more so by a plot connection to GaoGaiGar, which makes a notable showing here. Another highlight is SSSS Gridman, a series that would take far too long to explain, but basically boils down to a kaiju-punching, superhero-adjacent, giant dude rather than a robot. It fits right in though. Mind you, with a grab-bag of animes like this, there's guaranteed to be something that you just don't like, while the wider narrative stalls for another introduction. It's an obvious and unavoidable consequence of jamming so many casts together, as even with the ability to choose missions, you will get stuck with your unfavourites occasionally. Like the nut flavoured choccies in a selection box. While the base game didn't feature anything I disliked previously, I've seen more compelling line-ups. The infamous Victory Gundam is present, and Majestic Prince didn't exactly endear itself to me either. 

 

Observant readers will note that I haven't actually mentioned how the game plays. My apologies. I would find this like trying to explain how something like Doom 2016 works. Yes, there's polished and elegant systems under the hood, but it's a blur of cathartic violence for me. 30 is an archetypal turn-based strategy game, with numerous subtle mechanisms and tactical depth. In practice, I'm usually too in-the-moment to engage that deeply. I tend to be intuitive and impulsive with stuff like this, but 30 is not punishing or obtuse for its own sake. The game goes out of its way to present information to you, so you'll know what the odds are going into a fight, and the interface benefits from thirty years of refinement. Mechanically, its perfectly sound, and I can't conceive of any improvement that isn't already here. Maybe that's why the games are so similar, although better production values would be nice. One observation I would make however is that its functionally impossible to keep everyone combat ready, but you don't really have to. You get a load of units to field, Gotta Catch 'em All, and while you can have "mains", you aren't locked into a play pattern. Find something that works for you, and if you have a fave, you can make it work.

Conclusion

While I've made some mild complaints above, I'm immensely pleased that this game both exists and got a western release. For what flaws there are, I kept playing, and there is so much more to do. It's totally up my street, so I must acknowledge that. Possibly wait for a sale, if you have doubts, but it's worth a punt if you're in the target audience.