Morpheus Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Hi guys, recently I stumbled upon some mecha design from SRW OG, and at the same time starting to watch SRW OG: Divine war. The mecha design is nice (Hajime Katoki is one of the designer and I'm a fan of his design) and the story is somehow about invasion by alien. All I know that this is different from the rest of SRW series. I also saw the CM for SRW OG game in television (forgot for which platform it was), but currently I don't have any gaming console (I'm planning to buy a PSP for my wife birthday in mid November). So which one is best to explore the SRW OG, by playing the game or watching the TV series and OVA? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fort Max Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Now is a good time to get into it, there isn't loads out there but the OG franchise has only just started expanding. Games: Game Boy Advance has two, these are where OG started, 1 is out now in english and teh secodn will be out in a few weeks. PS2 has a game coming soon in Japan that is a combination of the two GBA games with chagnes/tweaks etc. No word yet on whether it might an english release, it all depends on sales of the GBA games so buy those! Anime The OVA is set after the GBA games (I belive), is three epsiodes long and doesn't really achieve much. The TV series (Divein Wars) is a straight animated version of the first GBA game that follows Ryusei's story but will have some minor differences for fans who have allready played both to look out for. Toys There are some but they're sporadic and expensive, search HLJ for info. Kits Kotobukiya has done a fair few already in nice affordable plastic kit form, they are already nearly as accomplished as Bandai's kits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpchi Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 (edited) I'll fill in some that Fort Max haven't mentioned. From the look of the TV anime Divine Wars, the quality is pretty low. The robots are nice in 3D cell shaded (similar to Zoids), but the action suffers. Nothing dynamic and interesting. Very mediocre stuff. The human character scenes are worse. Looks very low budget and so many stills. Drawings don't even look on model a lot of times. As a SRW fan, I feel quite disappointed. Compare to the OVA, the OVA looks a lot better, even though the OVA itself is not really that great. Fun to see the robots in action, with a bit of story, but its far too short and ended far too easy. Where are the tough bosses in the games? The entire OVA is fighting pawns. No epic plot there. In terms of toys, you can go cheap and get the Kotobukiya model kits. They are decent, and don't look bad even without paint. But they are model kits and mostly just real robot types releases, and not that playable. Unifive/Banpresto released 2 very nice gokins however. A Huckein MkII & a more recent Alteisen. I love those 2, and one of the most poseable gokin toys around. If you have big pockets, then there are the Dengeki Hobby magazine exclusive mail order action figures. Lots of them, from super robots to real robots from the OG universe. Super expensive since they are very limited, and can mostly find in auctions, or Toy-wave.com. They usually cost even more than the gokins, in some case a lot more, but the quality is much inferior. They are more like MSIA quality, only cost so much because of its rarity. But since some robots were never made into toys other than those, its the only choice if you really want to own some of the coolest SRW robots in toy form. If you can read Japanese, the best to experience SRW OG is through the upcoming import PS2 game. Its the most refine version you can get. But if you don't know the language well enough or don't have the import hardware, then go for the GBA SRWOG 1 & 2 route. Sucky graphics, but still a very fun game with a long awesome plot. Its even in English LOL! Watching the TV series would be my last pick. Not to mention watching the TV series will spoil the plot for you if you plan to play the game. Edited November 4, 2006 by mpchi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB0 Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 If you can read Japanese, the best to experience SRW OG is through the upcoming import PS2 game. Its the most refine version you can get. But if you don't know the language well enough or don't have the import hardware, then go for the GBA SRWOG 1 & 2 route. Sucky graphics, but still a very fun game with a long awesome plot. Its even in English LOL! And while inconceivable even a year ago, it's possible the PS2 version will be translated. Atlus already HAS most of the translation, they just have to be able to justify the cost of the release. GBA versions have the portability advantage, though. And minimal load times. And OG1, at least, has an encyclopedic manual that tells you much of what the game assumes you already know from 2 decades of J-exclusive games. They also have sucky sound, though that isn't really their fault(the GBA sound hardware is complete crap). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpchi Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 Yeah, the GBA hardware sure doesn't help on the sound department. Sound effects sucks. Though we are talking about SRWOG here, so you are sure to catch some very cool catchy tunes. Who can forget Elzam's theme... Really didn't like the TV direction. Rather than using the good script from the game and make a good series out of it, they treat it more like 'cashing cow' with minimal cell animation possible, while drag the storyline as long as possible to get the most episodes out of it. Having seen episode 1-5 now, almost nothing really happen at all... so sad. And there are so many still shots that I actually start not paying attention to their dialogue, but start counting how many still scenes are there with just bust shots of characters with only mouth moving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB0 Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 Yeah, the GBA hardware sure doesn't help on the sound department. Sound effects sucks. Though we are talking about SRWOG here, so you are sure to catch some very cool catchy tunes. Who can forget Elzam's theme... Oh yeah, they're great compositions. They're just hampered by the system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fort Max Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 I am dying out here waiting for them to announce the inevitable DS SRW game... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB0 Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 I am dying out here waiting for them to announce the inevitable DS SRW game... That happened some time back. Bandai's just taking their sweet time with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fort Max Posted November 5, 2006 Share Posted November 5, 2006 Ah yeah, I remember them saying there would be one but as far as I know they haven't said what it'll be yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morpheus Posted November 6, 2006 Author Share Posted November 6, 2006 I have tried the games by using a GBA emulator, and it rocks . I'll have to start saving to get a GBA pretty soon . The story is much better in the games compare with the TV series (I take both Kyosuke and Ryuusei route), however I think its better if the TV series is following Kyosuke route . I'll probably be waiting for the R-1 from Kotobukiya, it has some similiarity with Zeta Gundam (waverider and R-Wing) since I already have all the Zeta Gundams (HGUC, MG, MSiA). Can't wait for that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB0 Posted November 6, 2006 Share Posted November 6, 2006 I have tried the games by using a GBA emulator, and it rocks . I'll have to start saving to get a GBA pretty soon . And I've found myself lately wishing I had a GameBoy Player. ... And a DS, but not as a GBA replacement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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