Super Robot Wars

So here I am on stage 56 of Z3.2 and the "Ascension" event happened. Afterwards I got the message "レクチャープレート「真化融合」が解放されました" (The "Ascension Fusion" lecture plate has been released) and I have no idea what this means. I ASSUME it means I can access information about how it works from some menu somewhere, but I have absolutely no clue where. I tried looking through the manual but it didn't help. Does anyone here know where this information is, if it exists at all?

According to Akurasu, it's +50 maximum Morale and +50 maximum SP to all pilots, and +2000 power to all weapons, which lines up with what I got on my last run.

Edit: If you hit the Select button on the Intermission screen, it'll bring up a panel showing the Emblems you've earned, total money earned, and other factoids. At the bottom of this page, below your Top 5 pilot listing, is an option that opens up a set of tutorials. Ascension is topic 14.

My copy of 2nd OG just arrived and I'm looking forward to more time with Latooni, Lamia, and everyone else. So far, I've only played the tutorial to make sure the disk works (and for a quick trophy). One thing is bothering me: How the heck do I turn off the vibration in battle scenes? I really dislike the sensation of vibrating controllers and I would like to see at least a few of the animations in this game.

Edit: Correction, found it in the game. I probably won't get around to playing 2nd OG until after my current run through Z3.2, though. I also probably won't go for platinum either since some of the trophies look really annoying.

edited 7th Oct '15 6:18:49 PM by Winter

To those who have it, is A Portable worth importing?

Also, any other decent PSP titles of the franchise? ...other than Z, I don't want to mess with the pair/squad system.

Super Robot Wars MX Portable can be a bit slow when going through menu options, but not enough to make it a terrible experience. It's often called one of the easiest games in the series and is one of the few games to have Grendizer.

What else does MX have?

Besides the Holy Trinity, there's Evangelion, G Gundam, Machine Robo, Raideen, Rahxephon, Dragonar, Daimos, Zeorymer, Nadesico: Prince of Darkness, and Gear Fighter Dendoh.

Also, the Holy Trinity is Mazinsaga + Getter + UC Gundam, right?

Yes, though it's a shame that Getter Robo gets left out so often. It's not my favorite of the three (that's the Mazinsaga), but it's still disappointing when it happens.

A Portable is a grinding pain in the neck to play, mostly because enemies have very large HP pools (mooks from series like Grendizer or Combattler V hit 30K HP each pretty early) while money is short and weapon upgrades are expensive. Also, there are very few ways to upgrade accuracy, which hits especially hard since your low damage means SP runs out very quickly if you try to rely on SP Commands to compensate. If you do play it, I recommend relying on Newtypes and benching everyone else except maybe Domon and that guy from Dragonar whose suit has a strong not-quite-Command aura.

The two Z series games on PSP don't have any pairing or squad system, so you'll have a lot of pilots sitting around doing nothing. On the other hand, Saisei-hen has some interesting roster choices and I had fun with Jamil in the Double X.

Alternate strategy: Get about a dozen game overs per mission. Also, I heard the Original protagonist tends to be quite good.

A's Original protagonist is Lamia Loveless, right? (or rather, she is its female protagonist if you choose her - totes forget who the dude is)

The man is Axel Almer. I heard that whichever character you don't pick becomes a villain who tussles with you a couple times.

<does not want to BURNING FINGEEEERRRRRR Lamia>

...sorry Axel, looks like you're screwed.

Looks like I'll be able to join the SRW scene in a few months at most. I was always interested in the series and now that I started to learn Japanese, I'll be able to actually play it. Awesome.

...you could've been playing the GBA Original Generation games, J, and Alpha Gaiden since forever ago, y'know (and some of the really old Classic timeline titles that also have translation patches courtesy of Aeon Genesis).

And, hell, I went through W with just a basic story analysis from gamefaqs.

It would still help a helluva lot if I could actually read the UI.

Well, I've been playing the two OG games for the GBA. They're actually my introduction to the series. Well, the music is great the game is fun. What more could I ask for?

Also, hello!

Which installment do you think I should start with, in order to not miss out on any references to others?

Generally they're all pretty self-contained, other than the Classic timeline (the original numbered games, SRW ~ SRW 4, the latter of which was remade as Super Robot Wars F/Final), the Alpha timeline (all of which are games bearing the Alpha subtitle), the Original Generation timeline (same), and the Z saga.

Personally, W and J (the latter of which has an English translation patch) were my introductions to the franchise, as was OG 1 (actually had an official English release, along with OG 2). So, I'd probably recommend those, although Alpha Gaiden (PSX, has a complete translation patch) would be another option.

I started with the two OG games on GBA because they came out Stateside. Then J and Alpha Gaiden because they'd been translated. Then I gave SRW R a try as my first untranslated game. There was a pretty steep learning curve, but the second game (I want to saw it was SRW L) was much more familiar.

The series is pretty conservative as far as the UI goes, so most of the basic commands are in the same place from game to game and most of the SP Commands have been the same for a couple decades (big exception: Love is a full heal for all allies in some older games). On the other hand, there's always a new feature or two to keep you on your toes.

It took me until 5/6ths of the way through Alpha 3 until I realized that Valor doubles the effectiveness of Fire Bomber's songs. Pretty embarrassing, even given my lack of Japanese knowledge.

I wish Alpha 2, Alpha 3, O Gs (and maybe OG Gaiden), Impact, and MX would get released as PS 2 classics, like Z has. Or just the first three, since I have a copy of MX Portable and I've heard Impact is really really long. It's kinda weird that all the PS 1 titles have come out, including remakes of the Classic games, but only one PS 2 title is available.

I was going to suggest licensing issues, until I remembered the sheer number of series that even the first Z game has. So, I don't have a clue either.

@Winter: I know it's been a long time and I did eventually manage to find the info without help, but I would still like to thank you for being kind enough to actually answer the question.

Still... waiting... for... 3rd OG...