Final Gear Sakura Taisen Collab

 I have been  waiting for this very moment! At long last Final Gear Global version will be having the Sakura Taisen collab event early next month, most likely on 2nd June considering the game tend to update on Thursday. In this event, the original Teikoku Kagekidan will be featured as crossover units with Sakura, Maria, Sumire and Kanna recruitable from two separate banners while Kouran obtainable as the welfare unit and lastly Iris through some kind of spending scheme.

 Out of the gacha game that i have played, Final Gear is the most time consuming one since i have to spend at least 2 hours everyday for the daily grind. However i managed to put up with these nonsense for 6 months solely because of the very prospect of this Sakura Taisen collab event, so hopefully the effort will worth it. Personally i think Komoe is way too aggressive with the collab release considering we have collab event once in every two months and a UR banner recently. Because up until now, Final Gear collabs always demand Players to spend some money if they want their crossover unit raised up to their full potential,

 With this kind of release timing, Final Gear is definitely not F2P friendly game which i expect non paying players will show their plebeian sides badly, but personally it is fine for me because i have specifically reserved Crystals for this very collab which fortunately sufficient even after i spent a significant chunk during Evangelion 2nd event.

In any case i hope Final Gear will survive long enough that we can have another continuation for Sakura Taisen collab since Paris Kagekidan is way too under-represented despite being top tier material.

Onmyoji 1/7 Shiranui

 Onmyoji's Top Waifu Shiki, Shiranui once again got another luxurious product release and this time it is 1/7 Figure made by Wing. Scheduled for December 2022 release, 1/7 Shiranui will be sold for a whopping 27500 Yen! Must be the large fan that costed extra 10k for this figure.

 Along with Yotohime, Shiranui is one of the most popular character from Onmyoji series due to her tragic backstory and high Waifu value. Personally i think Shiranui is one of the best role by Nao Touyama who usually play tomboyish female character role in anime but with Shiranui, the Seiyuu proved that she is perfectly capable of playing good waifu role. 

The reason why i am particularly fixated with Shiranui is that this character provide opportunity for Nao Touyama to showcase her talent while being sidelined in FGO. In Fate/Grand Order, despite her relative popularity Seiyuus Nao Touyama was given only supporting character role like Suzuka Gozen and Ibaraki because the better roles are taken by veteran seiyuus. It is such bizarre thing that some talented Japanese Seiyuus are appreciated better in Chinese made games than their native Japanese game. This is the same case for Seiyuus like Rina Satou who is given great opportunity in Arknights
 

Sousei no Aquarion Super Minipla Aquarion

 Sousei Gattai! GO! Aquarion! Another Mecha from Kawamori Series that got a new product after quite some time and it is nice to see Aquarion once again. Scheduled for September 2022 release with 9900 Yen price tag, Aquarion is getting a minipla from Bandai!

 Replicating its SOC Counterpart, Minipla Aquarion will come with complete transformation gimmick that allows 3 Different forms of Aquarion; Solar, Mars and Luna. Unfortunately the weapons and effect parts are sold separately, so fans need to fork additional 5400 Yen for Mugen Punch effect parts and the weapons including Solar Sword. However it is still somewhat understandable considering the transformation mechanics of Aquarion is somewhat complicated with Combiner plane Robot reminiscent of Getter Robo which comes with detailed intricate design expected from father of Macross. If Minipla Aquarion is selling well, i think Mass Produced Aquarion or even Evol will come out someday which i will look forward to.

Fate/Grand Order Figma 568-DX Lancer Artoria

  Fate/Grand Order popularity has been waning over past two years, but it does not mean the mechandise are stopping anytime soon and Max Factory came with another big gun! It takes sometime but finally Lancer Artoria came into Figma format complete with her loyal steed, Dun Stallion. Scheduled for May 2023 release, Figma Lancer Artoria comes with two different version, Regular one cost 9500 Yen while the DX version will be sold for 17800 Yen.

The extra 8000 Yen of Figma Lartoria DX is for Figma Dun Stallion which is actually bigger than Figma Cuirassier. You can get a regular Figma horse for 4000 Yen but Dun Stallion probably cost double due to extra armors on him. In terms of accessory,both  Lartoria version parts are pretty much identical, coming with 2 versions of Rhongomyniad and at least come with her gentle smile faceplate which is a good selling point for her. 

 Since i had Lancer Artoria in my FGO account for quite some time, i will most likely get the DX version considering it will be a pain to find Dun Stallion on aftermarket despite i have some major gripes with the product. I already had misgivings from the Nendoroid release, but it seems that Max Factory decide to flat out ignore Lartoria 1st/2nd Ascension form and go straight to the 3rd Ascension which comes with cleavage. I am quite sure that Max Factory could make separate armored torso for Lartoria just like Figma Gilgamesh. Personally i dont even mind paying another extra 3000/4000 Yen just to have Artoria's Lancer variant in her proper knight getup. 

 Lartoria is a good waifu no doubt but this incarnation for the Figma just plainly try to ignore the knightly side of her character. If Max Factory tried to pull the same crap with Lancer Artoria Alter Figma don't expect me to even support that crap.

Robot Tactics X

 Over past few weeks, my appetite for gacha games grew significantly for some reason and one Mecha game called Robot Tactics X catches my attention. Mecha games in Android are a rarity let alone a Gacha one with Final Gear being the best one around. Robot Tactics X is a SRPG Mecha game with Gacha Mechanics and the next iteration of mecha game called Robot Tactics. In essence it is prettier version of the predecessor  with better 3D model for the mechas. 

 What catches my attention from Robot Tactics X is its close resemblance with SRW Masoukishin being a Grid-based Strategy RPG featuring full proportion mecha sprite and it comes with some cool mecha designs too. If you like Masoukishin/Xenogears/Armored Core, you might find the mecha aesthetics of this game really appealing. 

In terms of overall Value, Robot Tactics X is unfortunately another B-Tier Gacha Game that has unusually good strength at its mecha design. Compared to Final Gear, Robot Tactics X is not too well rounded with lackluckster in everything else aside from the Mecha as the Pilots lack variety and the voice acting are non existent. In terms of Gacha, this game is mediocre with bad monetary options which it try to make up with free daily pulls. But in the end Robot Tactics X still has potentials to improve as it has solid fundamental in its Mecha designs and that's what matters for this genre.

Trapped in a Dating Sim - Mobuseka

 

 Another Isekai series with ridiculously long name that i encountered recently but this one is above average and got mecha too! Trapped in a Dating Sim - The World of Otome Games is tough for mobs or Mobuseka in short is a Isekai series that had the Protagonist sent into a Fantasy World series based on a Dating Sims game. While the title might imply that the series catered to female audience, Mobuseka definitely still aimed at the general audience of Isekai Genre.

Destiny Girls / The Symphony of the Dragon and Girl

 One of the newer gacha game that is promoted heavily over last month and long story short i gave in to see what its worth. Destiny Girl is an idle gacha game that is ported from a Japanese game named Symphony of the Dragon and Girls or Dragal in short. In this game you gather bunch of waifus named after Historical characters and had them fight Dragons as main adversary. 

 Overall Destiny Girls is B-tier Gacha game that mainly panders on Horny teens with its risque and saucy illustration similar to what games like Evony and other did as their marketing strategy. When it comes to Gacha, Destiny Girls SSR rate is rather standard despite generous amount of handouts in the beginning. The main selling point of this game is the fanservice L2D illustrations rewarded to players as they ascended the SSR Characters which are borderline R18+ at times.

 In terms of production value, Destiny Girls is a mixed bag with Non SSR characters are practically worthless. If Fate/Grand Order sometimes blundered when it comes to their character design which are based on historical figures, Destiny Girls commit even worse atrocities. Basically all the game did are drawing some cute waifu characters and pasted some random historical figure name on them. It really pains me to see Japanese Daimyos turned into beastgirls wearing skimpy outfit but this is what Destiny Girls did.

 But what Destiny Girls did right is that it carves itself a niche by offering a waifu gacha game that does not demand too much times and encourage players to spend in order to unlock sexy live2D illustrations of the Waifu characters. While this game won't stand a chance against AAA Gachas with subpar voiceworks and assets, it works quite fine as a filler game. To be honest i gave this game a try due to being tired being guilt trip by Gacha Games that i have played and it would have been great if FGO had implemented the Idle mechanics from this game instead of forcing players to farm on monotonous stage every day. Personally i don't think Destiny Girls is a good game but it probably did something right if it manage to survive more than a year in the Japan server which even Gachas that use famous IP failed to do.