Replaying through the entire Sunrider series in order to take off "Liberation Day" from my backlog has actually been more fun that I anticipated.
Sunrider was the VN I was obsessed with during middle school so I was afraid of it not holding up but while the bad is there, it's bad I already knew of.
Divided into two sections, First Arrival and Mask of Arcadius, this game contains the first two chapters of the Sunrider story.
The art is ok, with the characters being a bit overly animated and with everyone seemingly having enough hair to cover everyone's ears, but the mecha design is very nice and the look of the Sunrider itself is etched into my brain since I was a teenager.
The story follows Kayto Shields, captain of the prototype ship Sunrider; during the maiden voyage, though, his home planet of Cera is attacked by a group called PACT and is forced to escape with his crew.
This initial moment, not to dissimilar from the beginning of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, kicks off Mask of Arcadius's story, a sci-fi narrative spanning roughly 10 hours where, after collecting different Ryder (these universe's name for mechs) pilots from around the galaxy and somewhat exploring their background, the crew of the Sunrider will find itself thrown into the midst of the Alliance-PACT War.
While the characters all fall within a specific stereotype, the banter is cute at times and the worldbuilding, while not exactly inspired, was interesting to me.
The presentation is ok with the music being a standout (the OST was surprisingly good even though they used the spinning monkeys music for the beach event) and the OP, while showing a bit too much fanservice, was good enough.
The gameplay is quite simple, a barebones tactical grid based system, but that did not make the enemies less annoying; what really pushed me to finish this game for the second time was the story itself and the world it is set in.
That being said, the story doesn't deviate from cliches of the war mecha genre like nobody being fully good, a lot of politics and the lone spaceship changing the tides of war, but it just so happens that I really like those tropes so it wasn't much of a problem for me.
While I enjoyed my time with Mask of Arcadius I am now ready to move on with its sequel "Liberation Day" and continue the story.
I have also reviewed the initial part of the game, First Arrival, but I'll just copy-paste it here for good measure:
So, my initial idea was to replay the original Sunrider to better review the sequel, Liberation Day, which had been sitting on my backlog for the best part of almost a decade.
Imagine my surprise, then, when I open Mask of Arcadius and see this new option, First Arrival, on the menu.
That being said, consider this a surprise review of Sunrider: First Arrival.
The OST is very cinematic and recalls the sci-fi soundtrack vibe of things like Mass Effect.
The battle theme is good but the fact that it abruptly stops any time it's PACTs turn is very jarring.
The plot of the single out spaceship with mechs inside is very reminiscing of Gundam.
The character development for Icari was so fast, she was ready to shoot you adn then BAM she's with you, not that well paced.
Asaga showing her true identity was a good idea very badly paced but still, the tie between her and Sola was actually a really cool idea.
Sunrider was the VN I was obsessed with during middle school so I was afraid of it not holding up but while the bad is there, it's bad I already knew of.
Divided into two sections, First Arrival and Mask of Arcadius, this game contains the first two chapters of the Sunrider story.
The art is ok, with the characters being a bit overly animated and with everyone seemingly having enough hair to cover everyone's ears, but the mecha design is very nice and the look of the Sunrider itself is etched into my brain since I was a teenager.
The story follows Kayto Shields, captain of the prototype ship Sunrider; during the maiden voyage, though, his home planet of Cera is attacked by a group called PACT and is forced to escape with his crew.
This initial moment, not to dissimilar from the beginning of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, kicks off Mask of Arcadius's story, a sci-fi narrative spanning roughly 10 hours where, after collecting different Ryder (these universe's name for mechs) pilots from around the galaxy and somewhat exploring their background, the crew of the Sunrider will find itself thrown into the midst of the Alliance-PACT War.
While the characters all fall within a specific stereotype, the banter is cute at times and the worldbuilding, while not exactly inspired, was interesting to me.
The presentation is ok with the music being a standout (the OST was surprisingly good even though they used the spinning monkeys music for the beach event) and the OP, while showing a bit too much fanservice, was good enough.
The gameplay is quite simple, a barebones tactical grid based system, but that did not make the enemies less annoying; what really pushed me to finish this game for the second time was the story itself and the world it is set in.
That being said, the story doesn't deviate from cliches of the war mecha genre like nobody being fully good, a lot of politics and the lone spaceship changing the tides of war, but it just so happens that I really like those tropes so it wasn't much of a problem for me.
While I enjoyed my time with Mask of Arcadius I am now ready to move on with its sequel "Liberation Day" and continue the story.
I have also reviewed the initial part of the game, First Arrival, but I'll just copy-paste it here for good measure:
So, my initial idea was to replay the original Sunrider to better review the sequel, Liberation Day, which had been sitting on my backlog for the best part of almost a decade.
Imagine my surprise, then, when I open Mask of Arcadius and see this new option, First Arrival, on the menu.
That being said, consider this a surprise review of Sunrider: First Arrival.
The OST is very cinematic and recalls the sci-fi soundtrack vibe of things like Mass Effect.
The battle theme is good but the fact that it abruptly stops any time it's PACTs turn is very jarring.
The plot of the single out spaceship with mechs inside is very reminiscing of Gundam.
The character development for Icari was so fast, she was ready to shoot you adn then BAM she's with you, not that well paced.
Asaga showing her true identity was a good idea very badly paced but still, the tie between her and Sola was actually a really cool idea.