I was hyped for BX. I loved UX and I think it's one of the best SR Ws ever. Same console, a lot of returning canons, improved graphics, debut of Galient AND Gorg plus the chance to fix up AGE... what could go wrong?
A lot, let me tell you.
First, the positives. The sprite animations are a whole lot better, to the point they rival Z3's in some cases. The interface for editing squads is also a bit streamlined too compared to UX's version.
On the other hand though, damn near everything else is mishandled. The originals are extremely boring and unimpressive. Arnie in UX had a great arc just in the initial stages culminating in him inheriting the Orphes. Yuuto and Falsaber don't get any real plot until Bruvictor shows up nearly a third of the way into the game!
Most of the other canons suffer too. The plot's based around AGE, with as many of the other canons edited to accommodate that be they taped to AGE's side like Macross and Nadeisco, or with large parts of canons already resolved... like only covering the worst, most boring part of GaoGaiGar. All of these square pegs and round holes lead to a setting painfully inconsistent.
Stages are chock full of wave after wave of enemy reinforcements, reinforcing the feeling the game has more in common with J than UX. And said waves are usually to consist of at best three or four enemy types, so things get very old quickly. UX didn't have many enemy types either, but it also didn't pad out every stage so it was never really a problem.
The secrets system is also a godawful mess. UX did it right. Make secrets reliant on route choices, but also fairly easy with only a few requirements and once you get them they're yours on all later runs. BX will have you jumping through hoops EVERY TIME YOU WANT TO FIGHT THE TRUE FINAL BOSS because if you don't do pointless things like getting the Delta Plus and ensuring Loni's survival, Gispel won't want to rear his bishonen head. A head that looks curiously like Jin's from UX.
I know a lot of this review boils down to "It's not UX so it sucks", but much of the promise BX had, at least for me, came from the fact that UX was so phenomenal. And damn near everything UX got perfect: pacing, characters, plot tweaks; BX got as wrong as possible. It's a disappointment, so just wait and pray that if there's another 3DS one, it's better.
Disappointing and padded
I was hyped for BX. I loved UX and I think it's one of the best SR Ws ever. Same console, a lot of returning canons, improved graphics, debut of Galient AND Gorg plus the chance to fix up AGE... what could go wrong?
A lot, let me tell you.
First, the positives. The sprite animations are a whole lot better, to the point they rival Z3's in some cases. The interface for editing squads is also a bit streamlined too compared to UX's version.
On the other hand though, damn near everything else is mishandled. The originals are extremely boring and unimpressive. Arnie in UX had a great arc just in the initial stages culminating in him inheriting the Orphes. Yuuto and Falsaber don't get any real plot until Bruvictor shows up nearly a third of the way into the game!
Most of the other canons suffer too. The plot's based around AGE, with as many of the other canons edited to accommodate that be they taped to AGE's side like Macross and Nadeisco, or with large parts of canons already resolved... like only covering the worst, most boring part of GaoGaiGar. All of these square pegs and round holes lead to a setting painfully inconsistent.
Stages are chock full of wave after wave of enemy reinforcements, reinforcing the feeling the game has more in common with J than UX. And said waves are usually to consist of at best three or four enemy types, so things get very old quickly. UX didn't have many enemy types either, but it also didn't pad out every stage so it was never really a problem.
The secrets system is also a godawful mess. UX did it right. Make secrets reliant on route choices, but also fairly easy with only a few requirements and once you get them they're yours on all later runs. BX will have you jumping through hoops EVERY TIME YOU WANT TO FIGHT THE TRUE FINAL BOSS because if you don't do pointless things like getting the Delta Plus and ensuring Loni's survival, Gispel won't want to rear his bishonen head. A head that looks curiously like Jin's from UX.
I know a lot of this review boils down to "It's not UX so it sucks", but much of the promise BX had, at least for me, came from the fact that UX was so phenomenal. And damn near everything UX got perfect: pacing, characters, plot tweaks; BX got as wrong as possible. It's a disappointment, so just wait and pray that if there's another 3DS one, it's better.