All in all, a commendable game. The contrived premise for bringing together a team of Gundum Pilot Waifus is overshadowed by excellent world building and attention to narrative. Even the team of female pilots is explained in the story and the lore well enough to make it more than unusual. Your character, a newly minted captain fresh out of the academy, is okay as protagonists go and only makes a few errors you can fault him for. As for the plot itself, it can be at times draining. It a standard fare Japanese plot of neutral power invaded by one of two larger warring powers in the galaxy (ala Valkyria Chronicles). The story is good, though set aside some weekends if you’re going to binge it – or just set it on easy mode the first time and play through it once and then go at it if you really want to do it again on hard. Don’t go in expecting a Fire Emblem set-up of pick your love interest, the romance plot is railroaded although you’ll be so invested in the characters that you’ll just go along with it. The game’s not exactly a case-study in the creation of expansive fictional cultures, but it does enough to get the job done. Did I like it? Yes. The IP could have stood on it's own without the fan service or the anime tropes all over the place, but that just draws people in. All in all, you can get the first part free and the second part on sale for less than $10. Not a bad deal.
