SRW Alpha 3 4th Playthrough | Kusuha's route Complete!

I finally wrapped up my fourth playthrough of Super Robot Wars Alpha 3 last week, almost exactly as I predicted when I started this run in late February. It took me around 55 hours over the course of a month to finish, marking my return to the game after a 14-year gap.

To be honest, this kind of commitment isn’t as easy as it used to be. Back in my college years, I could pour endless energy into long RPG sessions without a second thought. That’s no longer the case—but even so, I’m genuinely glad I followed through. This run felt like a proper homage to one of the most legendary titles in the SRW franchise.

More than just a revisit, this playthrough will also serve as a deep refresh of my understanding of Alpha 3’s storyline, something that will be reflected, at least in part, throughout this post.

For this fourth run, I chose Kusuha Mizuha as my main character, a decision that feels increasingly meaningful in hindsight. Alongside Bullet, she is one of the few original protagonists who appears consistently across Alpha 1 through 3, giving her a strong claim as a “canonical” lead within the Alpha saga. In that sense, she felt like the perfect choice to bring my Alpha 3 journey to complete full circle.

Gameplay-wise, Kusuha starts off relatively underwhelming. Her initial unit, Gouryu Kai, is a generalist Super Robot that doesn’t particularly excel at either boss-killing or mob-clearing due to its somewhat conflicted design. That said, having a massive pool of resources carried over from three previous playthroughs makes this early weakness largely negligible.

Things change dramatically once Kusuha got her Shin Ryukooh. This unit is, hands down, one of the best starter upgrades in Alpha 3 for wiping out mobs. While it lacks a post-MAP attack like Selena’s Allegrias, Shin Ryukooh compensates with strong ALL attacks and a solid MAP attack. Combined with Kusuha’s low-cost “Love” Seishin, it becomes incredibly efficient for farming elite enemies.

Bullet’s Shin Koryuoh also deserves mention. It excels as a boss killer with impressive survivability when properly invested in. Together, they form a well-rounded and highly effective duo. Truly living up to their moniker: “我ニ敵ナシ” — None can oppose us.

In terms of narrative, Kusuha’s route carries the most “classic JRPG” flavor among the protagonists. She embodies the archetype of a pure-hearted youth chosen by higher divine powers to confront evil. Her story focuses on her struggle as an ordinary person dragged into a galactic-scale conflict, as well as her evolving relationship with Bullet, which becomes a key source of emotional strength.

Touma Kanou comes close to fitting this same archetype, but Kusuha’s story stands out largely because of her rival: Son Ganlong.

Among all Alpha 3 protagonists, Kusuha arguably faces the most dangerous and sinister antagonist. Son Ganlong is not just powerful, he’s cruel, calculating, and wields godlike abilities.

Having a literal Dragon at his command that stand as Ryukooh’s superior counterpart, Son Ganlong repeatedly torments Kusuha throughout the story. At one point, he even inflicts a devastating injury on Bullet, leaving him comatose for a significant period. Without Bullet’s presence as a co-protagonist, Kusuha’s fate could have been far worse, potentially even comparable to the tragedy seen with Setsuko in SRW Z.

What sets Son Ganlong apart further is his persistence. Unlike other Alpha 3 protagonist rivals, he survives as enemy until the very end, reappearing in the final stage as a servant of Kaiser Ephes. His potential appearance in the OG saga is something I’m very much looking forward to, given his strength as main archvillain.

Without a doubt, fourteen years is a long time between playthroughs and in that time, my Japanese proficiency has improved significantly. This allowed me to understand roughly 85–90% of the main story, which is quite satisfying for someone at an N4 level of Japanese Proficiency.

This enables me to reach a much deeper appreciation of what Alpha 3 has to offer beyond gameplay.

There’s a reason why Alpha 3 is still regarded as one of the greatest SRW titles even after two decades. While its sprite work may feel dated by modern standards, it represents a time when SRW still had a distinct creative soul, before inevitably evolving into a more iterative, seasonal product under Bandai.

What Alpha 3 achieves, and what many later entries struggle to replicate, is its sheer scale and sense of camaraderie. The Alpha Numbers aren’t just a team they’re a united dream team force traveling across galaxies, confronting world-ending threats, and standing against godlike beings intent on resetting reality itself.

That sense of epic cohesion is what defines Alpha 3.

With my newly gained insights in SRW Alpha 3 there are some parts of storyline that caught my attention:

OG Series

One surprising realization from this run is how little spotlight the Balmary Empire actually receives, despite being the main antagonistic faction of SRW Alpha timeline. Emperor Rufa and Shiva Gozzo share a single-stage showdown, whereas even mid-bosslike  Hazal Gozzo receives a much more extended presence.

I also gained a stronger appreciation for Baran Doban. As a noble warrior of Balmary, he stands out as a rare example of honor and chivalry within the faction. With Balmary drawing from Hebrew and Persian influences, Baran feels like a compelling reinterpretation of Rostam. I’m definitely interested in seeing how he’ll be handled in the OG timeline.

Among the featured series in the roster, several stood out in how effectively Alpha 3 utilizes their source material.

After 30 years since Macross 7 airing, Alpha 3 remains one of the best SRW titles in terms of its use of Macross 7. Nekki Basara is not just present, he’s the GOAT. His larger-than-life personality and reality-defying songs repeatedly turn the tide for the Alpha Numbers, making him one of the true MVPs of the story.

Gaogaigar is no doubt one of the Super Robot series that remained popular to this day, and Alpha 3 make good use of the series and let it be known why it is called “King of the Braves. There are several SRW that include Gaogaigar in their roster but not many can replicate the overall sheer epic manliness exuded by King of the Braves like Alpha 3.

Despite not being a big fan of Evangelion, I was pleasantly surprised by how well its storyline was handled here. I never thought any other SRW that able to make me bother Evangelion other than SRW MX with its mass-produced Eva showdown while “tamashii no refrain” playing in the background. Alpha 3 delivers a strong conclusion for Shinji, showcasing meaningful growth as he stands against his father and helps prevent Third Impact, supported by the camaraderie of the Alpha Numbers. To put it simply, Shinji’s treatment in Alpha 3 is comparable to how SRW Z handled Shinn’s character development.

Gunbuster is another standout. Its integration into the climax is powerful, but what truly elevates it is the sense of camaraderie. During the final act, units like Raideen, Genesic GaoGaiGar, and Shin Getter contribute their energy to help Noriko escape the Black Hole Bomb. Moments like this where protagonists from different series risk everything for each other are rare, even in SRW.

As expected for a fourth playthrough, the game was relatively easy even Kaiser Ephes didn’t pose much resistance.

My top three Ace Pilots in Kusuha’s route remained largely unchanged from my first run: Banpreios and Genesic GaoGaiGar continue to dominate in kill counts when let loose. Even heavy hitters like Mazinkaiser and Dancouga struggle to keep up despite their early-game advantage. On interesting note, Max and Milia are surprisingly top boss killer with their VF-22 Sturmvogel due to generous amount of PP to max their stats.

Route splits remain one of Alpha 3’s biggest annoyances, forcing constant team rebuilding and re-equipping. Thankfully, team registration helps mitigate this, something later improved further in SRW Z.

This run also allowed me to unlock J-Phoenix for King J-Der and recruit Gavil. J-Phoenix is absolutely worth the effort; Gavil, less so.

As for Gundam SEED, I likely won’t bother with its unlockables in future runs. Its presence in Alpha 3 feels like a late forced addition and lacks meaningful impact. Other SRW titles like W or Z handle SEED far better.

Looking back, I probably put more effort into this fourth playthrough reflection than I did for my first three combined. In a way, that reflects how both I and Realm of Darkness have evolved over the past decade and a half.

This run took longer because I made a conscious effort to fully understand the story. Along the way, I collected over 2,000 screenshots as assets, which I plan to use in a complete rewrite of my Alpha 3 main article later this year, though figuring out how best to use all that material will be its own challenge.

Even though this feels like a full-circle moment with Alpha 3, it’s not the end of my journey with the game. I’ve already committed to a fifth run, this time returning to Cobray’s route. I’m particularly interested in writing a dedicated mechatalk on him and the Dis Astranagant, which  the latter has been a core part of Realm of Darkness identity since its inception.

And honestly, that feels like the perfect next step.