It’s been a wild decade for fans of the Gundam Breaker series. After the success of Gundam Breaker 3, the series took a deep dive in quality with the roundly criticized New Gundam Breaker quasi-reboot and the now-dead Gundam Breaker Mobile gacha game. Most had assumed that was it for the series. But then Bandai Namco pulled the proverbial rabbit out of the hat by announcing Gundam Breaker 4 during a Nintendo Direct earlier this year. Was this the return many fans wanted, or does this fall short? Let’s get into the nitty-gritty details with this Gundam Breaker 4 Review.
So when Bandai Namco announced Gundam Breaker 4, deciding to name the game a direct sequel rather than continuing with the “New” reboot line was a pretty interesting decision. Immediately, this signalled a course correction and an attempt to return to the series’ roots, and as someone who sunk countless hours into Gundam Breaker 2 and 3, I both felt excited and nervous.
A Familiar yet Evolved Gameplay Loop
Gameplay-wise, Gundam Breaker 4 feels like a conscious return to the elements that made Gundam Breaker 2 and 3 so good. Immediately upon booting, players are dropped into the in-universe beta phase of GUNPLA Battle Blaze: Beyond Borders, aka GB4-a more refined evolution of the series’ in-setting technology where gunplay (essentially, Gundam plastic models) can be scanned into a virtual space so that battles can be fought online. This began with the large arcades in Gundam Breaker 3 and has advanced to where you can do it from your device, mirroring real-world gaming technological evolution.
Storyline: Serviceable but Familiar
The game takes place several years following the events of Gundam Breaker 3 and Gundam Breaker Mobile, as well as events of the anime series called Gundam Breaker Catalogue. Although these entries exist within a shared universe, Gundam Breaker 4 has stood alone well enough that new players can dive right into the action without feeling out of place.
While this storyline is charming in its own right and a love letter to the dot hack series, it also lacks depth or innovation to truly stand out. The English voice cast did a very competent job of bringing the characters to life. Still, in the end, the narrative feels like a vehicle for delivering gameplay rather than a compelling saga.
Repetitive Stage Design
Another glaring weakness of Gundam Breaker 4 is its repetitive stage design. Drawing heavy inspiration from Gundam Breaker Mobile, nearly every stage has you fighting enemy waves in a closed environment before teleporting to the next area to repeat the process. Owing to this factor, the gameplay becomes pretty monotonous after some time.
Gunpla Building: Back to Basics and Better Than Ever
If there is one place where Gundam Breaker 4 shines, then it would be the gunplay-building experience. With over 250 kits at launch, it easily holds the most extensive starting roster in any console entry in the series. You can recreate your favourite Mobile Suit or mix and match parts of different models to create your own. The amount of customization available can range from tweaking everything head to toe to being able to customize weapons for each arm separately.
Improved Customization and User Experience
One of the significant improvements is that rescaling and resizing the individual Gunpla parts is seamless now, from High Grade to Master Grade and even to SD Gundam parts. The game also removes the statistical penalties between HG and MG parts, so it is more about looking relaxed rather than performing better.
Hit and Break gauges introduce new game mechanics, adding a layer of strategy to the combat. Time rewards for landing hits and breaking parts of the enemies are nice, but seeing more types of weapons and their movesets would have been even more enjoyable.
Despite some gameplay missteps, Gundam Breaker 4 rolls out several quality-of-life features that make life easier for returning fans. It’s great to test Gunpla builds in a training mode from the build menu itself. The enhanced part enhancement process also cleans up what was once a convoluted system and makes it easier than ever to improve your favourite builds.
Summary
Gundam Breaker 4 is a solid shot at returning the series to its former glory. It doesn’t reach the height set by previous entries due to repetitive stage design and a few missed opportunities, but on the customization and user experience, this nails it. The gunplay-building mechanics are just satisfyingly great, and the overall game has a great sense of nostalgia for longtime fans. If Bandai Namco builds upon this foundation, the Gundam Breaker series’ future might again look bright.
Is it worth picking up? If you’re a series fan or enjoy deep customization in your games, Gundam Breaker 4 might scratch that itch provided you can overlook its repetitive elements.
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