Mechatalk Final Gear: Morgan Herrin - Paramount

  Last post of 2023 and 24th Final Gear Mechatalk is here! Last week I have covered Arita Elite Force Akarna Squad, going back to back this time the Supreme Leader of Arita Military Faction herself who will get the limelight, Morgan Herrin! Morgan was the first Natural UR Class who appeared in Final Gear Global server who certainly attract many attention of the players at its time. But for me It was not until Final Gear's last update that I got to see a glimpse of what Morgan could offer. Considering I can't really bring Morgan to her full potential, this Mechatalk post probably will be rather basic compared to what Noctris had. But I am willing to update Morgan's Mechatalk Article should there be any specific request. Hopefully I can also make in time to cover Lilian's Article as well before Final Gear's server inevitably ends.

2023 Year-End Loot

  The last batch before 2023 wraps up! This year was a good run overall for myself just like this big haul as I was starting on new chapter of my career track which are overall decent aside from clownish coworkers. Another quite luxurious loots which are predominantly preorders but I did splurge abit lavishly on my Birthday. The main star of this batch is no doubt CCS Cybuster along with Ganyu 1/7 PVC Figure along with the Gattai Mightgaine. As usual Fate series still have steady influx along with 40k Joytoy which include some famous characters from Space Wolves. Also in this haul also include my first loot for Diaclone series which definitely won't be the last of it. By next month, I will probably start cracking open some of the Gattai Yuushas which is kinda long due already. Hopefully 2024 will be another smooth sailing for us so that we are able to enjoy some good things in life.

Diaclone Gale Versaulter - Ravager Unit

 

 Recently I am trying to really get back into Diaclone series once again starting with the smaller ones. In order to get Diaclone discussion running again in Realm of Darkness, lets start with this new entry which is a repaint scheme of the upcoming Gale Versaulter. Dubbed by Takaratomy as Gale Versaulter - Ravager Unit, this Desert Camo version of Gale Versaulter is scheduled for July 2024 release with 8500 Yen SRP.

 To be honest Diaclone's mecha design since its revival few years ago can be Hit or Miss but Gale Versaulter strike right at mid comfort zone even though it was rather lightly armed for its default setup for my personal taste. Just like Macross Valkyrie Fighters, Gale Versaulter comes with 3 Transformation mode at very least with the Giant missile as the main armament. In the Diaclone lore, Gale Versaulter probably served a role similar to Metal Gear, being a Mobile Platform to deliver Heavy Ordinance which is why it is rather lightly armored compared to other Versaulter brethren. 

 Over past 1-2 Years, Takara Tomy didn't really release too much of the bigger Diaclone Toys anymore and instead churn out smaller independent Mech units called Versaulters which are neat gateways for people who want to start collecting Diaclone. To me Diaclone hits very well into my strike zone as someone who grew up as a Kid in 90s playing with Toys like Multimac. Personally I am planning to get around 3 of these Versaulters to represent Air, Land and Sea Force respectively and I still hope able to get some of the bigger units eventually like Convoy and Big Powered someday

Warhammer 40k Joytoy 1/18 Kaldor Draigo

 Less than a week before 2023 coming to an end and Joytoy yet again managed to slip up another Knockout Punch! Grey Knights fans gotta be eating good as the chapter's supreme Grandmaster Kaldor Draigo managed to make it. Slated for early next year release, Joytoy 1/18 Kaldor Draigo will be sold for 77 USD SRP.

While Dreadknights look way more imposing, Kaldor Draigo is no doubt a must have Centerpiece for any devout Grey Knights collector. in 40k Lore, Kaldor Draigo is one of the most accomplished hero from Imperium faction in their neverending crusade against chaos. Due to his immense accomplishments, Draigo found himself stuck in the Warp for most of the time away from Grey Knights which some 40k fans perceived as mary-sue considering not many living things can survive for long in the Chaos wastes. In terms of wargear, Joytoy do make Draigo looks as dashing as possible for a Grey Knight but I would suspect the Articulation will remain an issue with the inherent mold used for Grey Knight units. Whether you are a Grey Knight collectors or Space Marine or Imperium in general, Kaldor Draigo will be  a very good addition for your collection!

Mechatalk Final Gear: Akarna Team Special

 Perhaps this will be the last of Final Gear Special Edition mechatalk, but this one will still come with another extra serving of Oomph! Featuring the only playable Giant Mech in Final Gear, The 23rd Final Gear Mechatalk will be dedicated for Arita's Special Force, the Akarna Team with their Invincible Combiner Giant Mecha! 

 Back then, Flashwing probably realize that it won't be a complete Mecha experience without a Combiner Super Robot thus Final Gear have its equivalent of SRX! Consisted of 4 Combiner Mech Units complete with Waifu Pilots in Leotard uniforms. This Akarna combiner mech actually look really cool in terms of design and could have been a saving grace for Final Gear, but alas its fate was not meant to be just like many things in this game. While it took me 2 years, nearing the lifetime of Final Gear. I am glad that I still had time to dedicate an article for this cool mecha and did it the right way too.

Gaogaigar Cross-Frame Girl Star Gaogaigar w/ Goldymarg set

 Mecha Musume was one of the biggest Kotobukiya's money maker since Frame Arms girls inception and this time they are making something big again with Gaogaigar! Couple years ago, Kotobukiya released Mecha Musume version of Gaogaigar in Cross-Frame Girl format which kinda look cool despite I am not really into Mecha Musume niche. However this time Kotobukiya comes with a major upgrade for Gaogaigar-chan with the Star Gaogaigar pack and Goldymarg which takes form as loli carrying Goldion Hammer. This updated version of Cross Frame Gaogaigar will be scheduled for 2024 June release with 16000 Yen for the full set or 9000 Yen Expansion Kit for those who had Cross Frame Gaogaigar before.

 I had tried Frame Arms Girl before with Gourai which was gifted to me and I am quite aware the merit of this particular Kotobukiya Mecha Musume lineup. While Bandai bears some serious competition lately with their 30ms series, Kotobukiya did quite well on the Face Sculpt for their Mecha Musume products which  Bandai took quite sometime to catch up as evidenced with their Fumina Model Kit. Personally I am never really into Mecha Musume but this version of Gaogaigar Cross Frame really sold me since it offers quite alot of playability with the contents. Considering Gaogaigar Popularity, I won't be survived if there will be another Gaogaigar Crossframe joining up whether it is Choryujin or King J-Der. The latter would be very lit!

Persona 3: Reload Kotobukiya 1/8 Elizabeth

  Persona 3 has always been Atlus Golden boy and with the series getting AAA makeover as Persona 3: Reload, it is bound for Persona 3 merchandise starting to trickle in once again! Starting with the dorky Velvet room attendant Elizabeth, Kotobukiya is joining the early run with 1/8 Premium PVC scale figure. Slated for June 2024 schedule, 1/8 Elizabeth will be sold for 17500 Yen.

 Standing in Combat ready stance, Kotobukiya's Elizabeth comes with amazing detail of the Major Arcana cards surrounding her. This Kotobukiya's PVC figure is arguably a step up for Alter's 1/8 PVC figure more than a decade ago which fetched quite an expensive sum at some point. Despite her support role in Persona 3, those who have finished the game definitely will not underestimate Elizabeth given that she is even more formidable compared to the game's final boss should player seek to challenge her in combat. Among Persona 3 Waifu character, Elizabeth is probably one of the more popular choice standing behind Aigis considering she is one of the more devoted character toward the main protagonist and in the older version the VA for Elizabeth and P3 MC were real-life couple. As the Persona 3 Remake closing its release date, we can expect more PVC figures especially for popular characters like Aigis or Mitsuru. Heck I think even there is a good shot for GSC releasing Pop Up Parades too.

Mechatalk Final Gear: Naomi - HES-I Type-4

  Weekly Final Gear mechatalk is here! Almost done with the preparation for Akarna team Special, but before that we will have some other mecha to fill in the gap for now. For the 22nd Final Gear Mechatalk, representing Hexel National Academy sub-faction we will have the High-school girl Naomi to be featured with her HES-I Type-4 Custom mech! Naomi's mech is one of the few that have transformation gimmick in Final Gear and probably the only one that transforms as Jet Fighter so you can have your fix of Macross/Zeta Gundam in Final Gear!

Switch Konosuba 2nd VN: Yunyun Ending

  Things have come to a full circle at long last as we are heading to the 7th and the final Heroine route of the Konosuba 2nd VN, Yunyun! With her Supporting Heroine role, Yunyun probably was one of the weaker heroine in the 1st VN but she proved herself to be something else in the 2nd VN! While the 2nd VN still give not much screen time for Yunyun in Main Storyline, the player will be getting a whole another level of fanservice treat should they pick her route. Because Yunyun is easily the MVP of this 2nd VN based on her route alone! Considering Yunyun's VA, Aki Toyosaki is a veteran seiyuu, Yunyun will perform a main heroine role just fine should she be given an opportunity for spotlight.

Yami's 2nd Year with Genshin Impact

 Another day another Gacha Game to be discussed and this time is no other than the famous Genshin Impact! This Triple-A Gacha game almost didn't survive by this end of this year due to ongoing burnout that I have with Genshin over past several months. But fortunately this game got yet another chance with Xiaomi Pad 6 and the latest Fontaine's Archon Quest. But seriously Android platform do really need controller support for Genshin in near future.

Q4 2023 & Japan Trip Loot

 Another Impressive haul over past 3 months as I acquired yet another batch of big ticket items and Mainland China really will surpass Japan someday as my hauls are dominated with products made by Chinese Toy Company. Seriously the only notable loot from Japanese series in this batch are Hi-Metal VF-0D and Pop Up Akiha and those are kinda overshadowed with the rest of items already. The Crown Jewel in this loot batch are no doubt Moshow Lancelot and Skadi PVC Figure which I obtained for a very good price. This time's Joytoy 40k are no slack either as plenty of the named character started to trickle in. While the review Pace will be a slog due to my commitment with Full-time Job, I think Skadi and Lancelot will have their photo session quite fast and Space Wolves probably will make it early as well.

Mecharashi 钢岚

 
 Early this year I have seen some trailer about Front Mission gacha game made by Chinese game Studio which certainly caught my attention. However after a long period of silence turns out the deal for the Front Mission game fell through but the Dev pushed on the game and repackage it as a new game dubbed Mecharashi/钢岚 which literally mean Mech Storm and has opened its service last week on 8th December available for PC. IOS and Android.

 Mecharashi already caught the attention from mecha fans with its impressive visual blending Front Mission and Xcom style presentation and as long as it has solid gameplay and proper monetization, I think it had the chance to survive and become big. Personally I think it is for the best that this Chinese dev team called Black Jack Studio to separate from Square Enic and set forth its own journey because Square Enix themselves do not have any idea how to treat Front Mission IP anymore as the Front Mission Dev team had long gone depart from the company.

I don't have much expectation with Mech-arashi at the moment but I do hope the game will perform well so that it will see Global release someday. For those who want to seek further details, you can check this game through the Official Page.

Switch Konosuba 2nd VN: Megumin Ending

 Time has gone quite fast as this Konosuba VN article series is nearing the end of its run! Personally I am the type who prefer to save the best things for the last and 6th Konosuba Heroine route article is reserved for Megumin who is probably the most popular heroine in Konosuba being the overall MVP. In the first VN, Megumin's route probably made it in the first place by far margin due to the totality of her fanservice. But in the second VN, Kadokawa probably decided to put a brake on Megumin for a bit so that other Heroines get a chance to shine which is probably the better decision. While Megumin might not have the best overall route this time, the Fanservice is still very good enoug, befitting her position in Konosuba.

Mechatalk Final Gear: Dango Kobayashi - Beatdown Brawler

 Final Gear survived another month after the final update and it is time for another Final Gear Mechatalk! The 21st of this Mechatalk series will be given to Dango Kobayashi, A Twintail waifu version of Master Asia who can reduce any mechs into pile of scrap with her fist!  Being one of the starter SSR character, Dango had quite some special treatment in Final Gear. She is probably the only character in the game designed by the veteran Senran Kagura illustrator who is famous for certain quality of his waifu designs. Dango certainly will not disappoint on that department and she had some good potential if not for Final Gear's unfortunate Circumstances.

Warhammer 40k Tacticus

 Another Gacha game that I currently play and this one rather special because it is from 40K series!  Tacticus is a Strategy RPG 40k Gacha Game which has been released since August 2022 and still going strong with the support of the faithful 40k Fanbase. Tacticus caught my attention since mid of this year with the introduction of new Tau Units, but it was not until around September that I started to pick up this game as I need something to fill in for my Xiaomi tablet.

Gundam UC Engage SR Mobile-Suit Unit highlights

 It has been a month since I played Gundam UC Engage and wonder how's everyone going with this game. Within this timespan of playing this Gundam Gacha game, I have come upon a conclusion that UC Engage have rather lackluster gameplay. However UC Engage strength lies in providing a robust avenue for a Gundam collecting game. This is my main reason sticking with UC Engage despite lackluster gameplay and this game had the potential  to surpass Gundam Games series like G-Generation in this department. I suppose that reason is good enough for JP fanbase and I hope Bandai is patient enough in handling the Global server.

 Considering the previous Future Banner list post bear satisfactory result, I would like to use the opportunity to highlight some SR Mobile Suit Units which are definitely not inferior compared to the UR counterparts when it comes to the design. While due to the UC Engage inherent flawed gamelay design, these units might not be usable in Meta, they are still worth collecting if you plan to make some for fun Dream Team which is part of my plan. Heck I might plan some mechatalk article using UC Engage asset in the future if the opportunity presents itself.

Without further ado, here are some of UC Engage SR unit highlights sorted by the MS color group.

Mechatalk Final Gear: Viola - Nine of Pentacles

 20th Final Gear Mechatalk article here and time sure goes really fast! considering it has been 5 months since the first article of this series. After some detour with the Crossover series, Final Gear Mechatalk now return to the Original mechs featuring Viola with her Nine of Pentacles! From the onset when I started this series, I have planned to reach up to 20article posts, which I am grateful able to reach this milestone this day. The Mechatalk Final Gear will still go on regardless because I still have plans with this series and will not stop until I covered Akarna Team and some more UR Pilots at very least.