In late 2020, Degree-5 shuttered its operations within the West and successfully ended its enterprise outdoors of Japan, leaving Western followers of franchises akin to Yo-Kai Watch and Professor Layton questioning if they might ever see English variations of recent entries of their favourite collection. Fortuitously, the corporate has since reinvigorated its efforts within the West and one of many new initiatives to emerge is Megaton Musashi W: Wired. As an enhanced re-release of a beforehand Japan-only motion RPG, this mech battler brings a whole lot of fashion, attraction, and uncooked motion to the desk, marking a powerful return to kind for Degree-5.
Megaton Musashi W begins by introducing us to Yamato Ichidaiji, a lonely and headstrong teen haunted by unfocused reminiscences of a home fireplace that apparently killed his little sister. Yamato has a penchant for selecting fights with different children within the quiet suburban streets of Akagicho, typically touchdown him in sizzling water with the regulation, and he’s quickly provided a method out of his authorized troubles when he’s approached by some mysterious brokers who see nice potential in his preventing capabilities. Yamato begrudgingly accepts their provide to hitch their “Oblivion Bay” program, solely to rapidly be taught the terrible reality that he’s been unknowingly residing his entire life in a fortified shelter on a devastated Earth, which was ravaged when aliens known as Draktors invaded and killed almost all the human inhabitants. The aliens are hellbent on ending the job, however they’re held at bay by the fists and firepower of mighty piloted mech robots known as Rogues, considered one of which is granted to Yamato to proceed the struggle.
Although it will probably come off as being a bit too reliant on drained anime tropes, Megaton Musashi W principally spins an attention-grabbing yarn right here. There are some real twists because the story unfolds and the ethical grayness of the central battle comes extra into focus, whereas the characters observe predictable however earned private progress as their story arcs and relationships develop. The plot is finally nowhere close to as engrossing or bold as one thing like 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, however what’s right here is nonetheless fairly satisfying and provides the alien-punching motion simply sufficient emotional weight.
Gameplay is finally break up into two major sport varieties: visible novel and hack ‘n’ slash. Within the former, you merely information your present character round numerous semi-3D environments and strike up conversations to progress the central plot. You additionally later have the choice to have interaction in aspect narratives that delve extra into numerous assist characters, a bit just like the Social Hyperlink system in current Persona video games. Though the precise gameplay right here consists of little greater than operating round to set off the following cutscene, we nonetheless appreciated how these segments slowed down the tempo and gave you time to understand the worldbuilding and forged; it actually helps elevate Megaton Musashi W from feeling hole and superficial, like a lesser Dynasty Warriors launch.
If you’re not busy making associates, you’ll end up on the controls of a godlike Rogue robotic, blasting your method throughout the ruins of a scorched Earth as you ship livid justice to the alien invaders. Right here, you might have a wide range of floor and air combos you’ll be able to chain along with myriad melee and ranged weapons, whereas you can even set off as much as 4 equippable energetic abilities that kick off some particularly flashy and devastating assaults which all however clear the battlefield. The ability fantasy right here is off the charts, and whereas Megaton Musashi W can typically really feel prefer it skews in direction of being a bit too simple for too lengthy, it typically feels fairly satisfying to filter out the enemy hordes and blow up large alien bosses in spectacular set piece moments.
After finishing a mission, you’ll be completely soaked in all kinds of colourful loot pickups that simply fulfill that monkey-brain want for cooler, shinier issues. Every part from weapons to cosmetics to armor is at play right here, and also you’re virtually all the time assured to get a chunk of loot that’ll assist spherical out your Rogue’s construct again on the hangar.
It may possibly really feel a bit overwhelming typically with all of the gear choices at your fingertips, however we appreciated how there’s a powerful Monster Hunter-esque design philosophy right here of selecting the correct software for the job. Relying on the mission, chances are you’ll have to fully change your loadout to account for the distinctive enemy weaknesses you’ll encounter, and regardless that the widely simple issue means you don’t have to maximise your fight potential each time, lots of the latter missions and issue ranges will put the stress on you to place extra thought into your construct than simply going with no matter has a much bigger quantity.
There’s greater than easy weapons and armor to think about in development, as there’s additionally an infinite Sphere Grid-like ability tree you’ll be able to develop with supplies you nab from fallen enemies. Right here, you’ll be able to unlock and improve energetic abilities to make use of in battle, together with a litany of passive stat boosts that supply numerous situational advantages. To maintain you from getting too overpowered, nevertheless, it’s a must to set up these elements on a Motherboard to utilize them, and right here it’s a must to interact in some strategic puzzle-solving as you determine learn how to finest optimize what number of items you’ll be able to cram into restricted area. Once more, there’s a ton of depth to dive into right here with the way you load up, which retains missions from getting stale as you constantly experiment and improve totally different construct varieties.
Although the single-player content material is greater than adequate, there’s additionally a multiplayer part for many who wish to hyperlink up with others both in co-op missions or aggressive matches. Co-op missions permit you to have some allies offer you an edge within the harder battles, whereas aggressive matches toss you right into a medium-sized area for 3v3 deathmatches. Although this on-line idea is gratifying in idea, we had a tough time discovering gamers to attach with, even throughout peak instances and with crossplay enabled, and the small participant pool results in a whole lot of balancing points the place you aren’t being matched with others of the same ability degree.
For instance, one of many first aggressive matches we participated in (with crossplay enabled) took over 10 minutes for the matchmaking to seek out simply 5 different gamers, considered one of whom was a Japanese participant who had no-lifed the sport and virtually singlehandedly annihilated our workforce of recent gamers whereas their two allies obtained in occasional hits. Fortuitously, the multiplayer feels extra like a pleasant additional than the primary focus of the expertise, however we nonetheless want the lobbies had been extra populated so this part might be given its probability to shine. Because it stands, there merely aren’t sufficient logs on the fireplace for multiplayer to really feel like one thing you try a few instances after which by no means return to.
As an ‘final’ launch that collects all of the content material from a number of Japanese-only Megaton Musashi video games, there’s a lot to dive into with Megaton Musashi W, to the purpose that it will probably typically really feel overwhelming. We had been most continuously reminded of the Monster Hunter collection when taking part in by means of, as there are a whole lot of parallels as you retain taking journeys across the Ferris wheel of upgrading your character, dashing out on temporary and gratifying missions, then returning to seize extra upgrades with all of the stuff you bought out of your run so you are able to do it once more. That is the type of sport that, if it actually will get its hooks in you, will simply final you for dozens of hours as you grind out gear and clear missions.
Megaton Mushashi W does characteristic some microtransaction and reside service parts, although these fortunately aren’t too invasive. There are issues like a battle move and each day login rewards to drive participant engagement, although we famous that the rewards being provided are principally restricted to improve supplies and cosmetics. It feels a bit misplaced having such issues in a story-driven motion sport like this, however it finally looks like their inclusion is comparatively innocent.
As for its graphics, Megaton Musashi is an impressively easy and well-animated visible feast that comfortably matches the extent of high quality that Degree-5 has maintained with most of its releases. The visible novel sequences are characterised by excessive manufacturing worth anime cutscenes, easily animated character sprites, and dynamic, comedian book-esque panels, whereas the mech battling parts are filled with explosive ability animations that dazzle. We’re happy to notice, too, that every thing runs at a easy and constant body fee, and although the decision can really feel a bit fuzzy across the edges in handheld mode, it’s good to play a brand new Change launch that does not crash or drop frames far and wide.
Conclusion
Megaton Musashi W: Wired proves to be a powerful return to kind for Degree-5, providing up addictive mech-battling motion that looks like probably the most slept-on launch of the yr. Its heartfelt story, dumb-but-fun fight missions, and in-depth character development provide up an expertise that’s robust to place down, even when some parts—just like the lackluster on-line—drag it down a bit. For those who’re in any respect a fan of motion RPGs or that distinct Degree-5 attraction you’ll find in all of the beloved firm’s video games, we’d encourage you to choose up Megaton Musashi W as quickly as doable.
