In late 2020, Stage-5 shuttered its operations within the West and successfully ended its enterprise outdoors of Japan, leaving Western followers of franchises corresponding to Yo-Kai Watch and Professor Layton questioning if they might ever see English variations of recent entries of their favourite collection. Luckily, the corporate has since reinvigorated its efforts within the West and one of many new tasks to emerge is Megaton Musashi W: Wired. As an enhanced re-release of a beforehand Japan-only motion RPG, this mech battler brings lots of type, appeal, and uncooked motion to the desk, marking a powerful return to type for Stage-5.
Megaton Musashi W begins by introducing us to Yamato Ichidaiji, a lonely and headstrong teen haunted by unfocused reminiscences of a home hearth 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 means out of his authorized troubles when he’s approached by some mysterious brokers who see nice potential in his combating capabilities. Yamato begrudgingly accepts their supply to affix their “Oblivion Bay” program, solely to rapidly study the terrible fact that he’s been unknowingly dwelling his complete life in a fortified shelter on a devastated Earth, which was ravaged when aliens referred to as Draktors invaded and killed almost the whole 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 referred to as Rogues, one among which is granted to Yamato to proceed the combat.
Although it may well come off as being somewhat too reliant on drained anime tropes, Megaton Musashi W largely 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 formidable as one thing like 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, however what’s right here is nonetheless fairly satisfying and offers the alien-punching motion simply sufficient emotional weight.
Gameplay is finally cut up into two main recreation varieties: visible novel and hack ‘n’ slash. Within the former, you merely information your present character round varied semi-3D environments and strike up conversations to progress the central plot. You additionally later have the choice to interact in aspect narratives that delve extra into varied assist characters, a bit just like the Social Hyperlink system in latest Persona video games. Though the precise gameplay right here consists of little greater than working 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 solid; it actually helps elevate Megaton Musashi W from feeling hole and superficial, like a lesser Dynasty Warriors launch.
Whenever you’re not busy making associates, you’ll end up on the controls of a godlike Rogue robotic, blasting your means throughout the ruins of a scorched Earth as you ship livid justice to the alien invaders. Right here, you will have a wide range of floor and air combos you possibly can chain along with myriad melee and ranged weapons, whereas you may also set off as much as 4 equippable lively abilities that kick off some particularly flashy and devastating assaults which all however clear the battlefield. The facility fantasy right here is off the charts, and whereas Megaton Musashi W can typically really feel prefer it skews in the direction of being a bit too simple for too lengthy, it typically feels fairly satisfying to filter the enemy hordes and blow up huge alien bosses in spectacular set piece moments.
After finishing a mission, you’ll be completely soaked in all types of colourful loot pickups that simply fulfill that monkey-brain want for cooler, shinier issues. All the things from weapons to cosmetics to armor is at play right here, and also you’re nearly at all times assured to get a bit of loot that’ll assist spherical out your Rogue’s construct again on the hangar.
It will probably really feel somewhat 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 choosing the right software for the job. Relying on the mission, you could have to utterly change your loadout to account for the distinctive enemy weaknesses you’ll encounter, and despite the fact that the commonly 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 unlimited Sphere Grid-like ability tree you possibly can develop with supplies you nab from fallen enemies. Right here, you possibly can unlock and improve lively abilities to make use of in battle, together with a litany of passive stat boosts that provide varied situational advantages. To maintain you from getting too overpowered, nevertheless, it’s important to set up these parts on a Motherboard to utilize them, and right here it’s important to interact in some strategic puzzle-solving as you determine how you can greatest optimize what number of items you possibly can cram into restricted house. 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 repeatedly experiment and improve totally different construct varieties.
Although the single-player content material is greater than ample, there’s additionally a multiplayer element for individuals who wish to hyperlink up with others both in co-op missions or aggressive matches. Co-op missions permit you to have some allies provide you with an edge within the harder battles, whereas aggressive matches toss you right into a medium-sized enviornment for 3v3 deathmatches. Although this on-line idea is fulfilling in concept, we had a troublesome time discovering gamers to attach with, even throughout peak instances and with crossplay enabled, and the small participant pool results in lots of balancing points the place you aren’t being matched with others of an analogous ability stage.
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, one among whom was a Japanese participant who had no-lifed the sport and nearly singlehandedly annihilated our group of contemporary gamers whereas their two allies obtained in occasional hits. Luckily, the multiplayer feels extra like a pleasant additional than the primary focus of the expertise, however we nonetheless want the lobbies have been extra populated so this element might be given its likelihood to shine. Because it stands, there merely aren’t sufficient logs on the fireplace for multiplayer to really feel like one thing you take a look at a few instances after which by no means return to.
As an ‘final’ launch that collects all of the content material from a couple of Japanese-only Megaton Musashi video games, there’s a lot to dive into with Megaton Musashi W, to the purpose that it may well typically really feel overwhelming. We have been most regularly reminded of the Monster Hunter collection when enjoying by, as there are lots of parallels as you retain taking journeys across the Ferris wheel of upgrading your character, speeding out on temporary and fulfilling 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 form of recreation 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 function some microtransaction and stay service components, 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 largely restricted to improve supplies and cosmetics. It feels somewhat misplaced having such issues in a story-driven motion recreation like this, but it surely finally appears like their inclusion is comparatively innocent.
As for its graphics, Megaton Musashi is an impressively clean and well-animated visible feast that comfortably matches the extent of high quality that Stage-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 part runs at a clean and constant body fee, and although the decision can really feel somewhat fuzzy across the edges in handheld mode, it’s good to play a brand new Change launch that does not crash or drop frames all over.
Conclusion
Megaton Musashi W: Wired proves to be a powerful return to type for Stage-5, providing up addictive mech-battling motion that appears like essentially the most slept-on launch of the yr. Its heartfelt story, dumb-but-fun fight missions, and in-depth character development supply up an expertise that’s robust to place down, even when some components—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 Stage-5 appeal you could find in all of the beloved firm’s video games, we’d encourage you to select up Megaton Musashi W as quickly as doable.
