Title: Danball Senki W (ダンボール戦機W)
Console: PSP
Genre: Action RPG
Language: Japanese
Company: Level-5 (with development by Tri-Ace)
Summary: Cleared the Vita version, screenshots up! Also cleared the Ranking Battle on Vita. Details in the review.
Cleared the game on the PSP before I started the Vita version (in less than 30 hours)! Lots of screenshots and stuff up. My Vita version finally arrived on November 6 (and congrats Obama!! What a memorable day).

Grinding on this game post-story is a whole ton easier than Boost, which is GREAT. I finally can actually get characters and parts to level 200 without playing hundreds of ridiculous hours.

Just to clear things up early on, and I cannot stress this enough:
PLAY DANBALL SENKI BOOST (or Baku Boost) BEFORE PLAYING THIS GAME. Even if you’ve watched the anime, you should still play the original game first. The original game experience is unique in itself. I dare say the experience of the original game is just better overall at this point, even if W has lots of great new features to it.

Review for Danball Senki/Boost is here
Story:
Characters:
Graphics: 10. As the game was dual developed to play on the Vita as well, the graphics have definitely improved from the original game. Most of the characters have new face models as well as outfits, and many of the new areas are much wider than the first game.

And while I miss the wonderful interlude illustrations between chapters, there’s still a good load of AMAZING illustrations as the story is told. I really like the artists involved in Danball Senki!!

Sound: 10. Need I say? The music was epic already in the original game. It continues to be epic with more of Kondou Rei’s wonderful compositions. Needs more appreciation!! They better release another soundtrack, with the MULTIPLE CDs that they need to cover all the great music they haven’t covered yet for the series. RELEASE THEM SO YOU CAN HAZ MY MONEY, LEVEL-5~

*post note* Welp, they’re releasing an OST for W (YAY!!!) but once again it’s only 1 disc… Plus there are lots more opening/endings this season which will waste precious disc running time…….. I ordered the CD of course but I’m EXTREMELY BITTER that it’s only one disc.
Gameplay: See the later list for various changes from Original to W.

Aside from actual battle system changes, the most significant difference is the “dungeon” progression, in which all of the dungeons pretty much look the same now where you just go panel to get to the next area. An obvious cop-out to building actual new areas, but then it probably wouldn’t fit on a single PSP UMD anymore.

In-depth for the game, I like the new auxiliary parts they’ve added, it makes for much more interesting/challenging customizations.

Personally, since I follow the anime weekly, I was a little nervous that they’d try to incorporate the “Riding Sousa” into the gameplay and I’m actually glad they didn’t. XD And then come to think of it, they never incorporated Odin’s aircraft mode into the gameplay either except for a Finishing Function. It seems they’ll implement an aircraft transformation in battle with an upcoming DLC LBX though…

The new ally AI options:
おまえにまかせる (Free judgment) – Default AI, character is free to use any commands
ガンガンつっこめ (Keep charging through) – Character focuses on close-range and whatever opponent is closest (even with long-range weapons, they’ll go up close)
はなれてたたかえ (Keep your distance and fight) – Character focuses on long-range and keeps a distance to fight. If they don’t have any long-range weapons, then they will do a tighter job of using recovery items.
しゅうちゅこうげき (Concentrated attack) – Character will attack same target as you.
アイテムをつかうな (Don’t use items) – Same as “Free judgment” except they don’t use items

Replay Value: Unlike Boost, there doesn’t seem to be a new game+ with boosted levels. Too bad, but the post-game is amazing enough anyway.
Overall: 10. I really do want to give this game an undoubtful 10 for a full bump, but there are a considerable amount of bugs still yet to be fixed. I can only hope they get to them before the official tournament in March.

I blame Tri-Ace more than Level-5 for the bugs, but either way they better fix them.

Gameplay differences between Danball Senki/Boost and W:
W – Any of the control pad directions and L button will now scroll through dialogue too. Yay!
W – Attack combos are easier to execute
W – Walking/Jumping no longer consume BP (dashing still does)
W – Lots more aerial attacks
W – Impact recovery button (uses up some tension, opponents use them too as they become more advanced)
W – CPU can now also run out of tension
W – OMG downed LBXs receive more than piddly single-digit damage now.
W – In the previous game, LBXs would get a short “invisible” time after recovering from a downing. They’ve removed that for the impact recovery action. Since you can “re-down” an enemy that’s already down this time, attacking AI can be pretty broken and go into a continuous circle of downs without getting any damage in return, especially with charged attacks. This makes the earlier part of the game easier, but later on the AI will use impact recovery more often.
W – Opponent CPU will now commonly use bombs and other annoying status effect items in battle
W – Opponent CPU finally takes damage in the lava stages too now.
W – Some bomb items can actually send your LBX flying halfway through the battlefield. Annoying, but pretty cool. XD
W – The AI seems worse in this game imo. Instead of waiting for allies’ LP to go down to critical, the AI will use recovery items as soon as someone hits below 70% if you have the S (30% recovery) items. And if they have “all” items, they have a habit of using those first regardless if the other allies need them or not. It’s a big waste. You can set their strategy (さくせん) to don’t use items (アイテムつかうな), but then the AI becomes even DUMBER and won’t help gang attack someone that you’re attacking. It’s good that you can set strategies now, but I wish you could overlap certain useful parameters like you can in Tales games.
W – The left/right analog pad buttons no longer let you change opponents at ALL points in the battle; it doesn’t do anything while you’re attacking, getting attacked, etc. Not an improvement, especially when I like to go after the next opponent immediately after finishing the other. The system is however better adapted to moving onto the next opponent automatically when you’ve finished one at least.
W – Player skills. Nice additional element to the strategizing.
W – Customizing: You can now equip more than one of the same Core Part.
W – Customizing: Max 10 Auxiliary Core Parts can be equipped instead of max 3.
W – Customizing: Core parts (only extras) can be attached to LBX parts. MG will have the max slots available and many HG/MG parts come with their own preset parts attached (and do not count towards the 10 extra parts limit)
W – Customizing: Lots more different kinds of Auxiliary Parts available, such as Parts that increase item capacity, decrease battery usage, increase C Gauge buildup, increase bullets, decrease weight, etc.
W – Player dialogue during battle is no longer “subtitled” on the top-right of the screen, or anywhere for that matter. I guess they took in feedback that the subtitles were distracting? I liked them though. Especially because it showed the player face as well, which gives the battle more character imo. Oh well.
W – Nitpicky, but if the final opponent dies from another attack while your LBX is doing a Final Break, it won’t count as a Final Break and your LBX will overheat (not that it matters since the battle ends, but no Final Break is sad lol)
W – Hammers: Charged attack has less “spread range” but is more accurate on a single target (the LBX will automatically turn if the target goes in another direction)
W – Guns: Certain CPU have this really unfair moving habit that makes aiming them a chore.
W – Sniper Rifles: Still powerful as always, but they’ve screwed up the accuracy on these so that if the opponent is in a certain position, the bullets blow right through them even if they’re standing still =_= I dunno how they screwed that up. Also, concentrate (R button) REALLY drives down the tension gauge fast now.
W – TWITTER (technically Seekers Board)… AND YOU CAN SEND RESPONSES (as Hiro). It’s hilarious how terrible of a person you can make Hiro into. It’s exactly like the fan-made abridged version of Hiro that sends me rolling on the floor.
W – Game development on area exploration got mildly shafted for more cutscenes? (which I don’t personally mind too much, but it’s still a little sad xD). Most missions are executed on a flat plane where you travel panel to panel, like a board game. And every mission pretty much ends up looking the same, just with different panel arrangements.
W – Bug – The use of certain items/other hissatsu will interrupt hissatsu functions that don’t have charge time??? Also, while recharging hissatsu function, if you switch to another unit, they also end up in recharge status.
W – Certain hissatsu that could be used a Final Break can’t be used as them in W (such as the 2-hand gun Asshukudan).
W – Item consumption in Ranking Battle is now permanent instead of per battle. :< Instead, the maintenance gauge does not decrease like it does in the original game. I'd personally MUCH rather have the maintenance gauge go down than the item consumption... Story spoilers...!! (more like gems because I don't do plot spoilers much): -The clothes change process is quite amusing in the game, ufufu. -Hiro finds out the clothes he yoinked from TokioSiA cost 30,000 credits, so he rounds up the money and intends to give it to the mall owner, but the mall owner turns it down saying Hiro can keep the money for protecting the people. -Yuuya doesn't encounter Kirito solo at Omegadain (sorry KiriYuu fans :V) -There are an awful lot of "optional talk" scenes where both Jin and Yuuya are missing (I only remembered to screenshot 1, 2). XD;;; THE REAL REASON is probably just for lack of developing lines for them to say, but MY FUJOSHI wants to say they’re doing something special together behind the scenes. lolol.
-No Linear hijacking?
-No Angra Texas? owo But the teamwork building, Billy…!
-No BC Extras cosplay tournament either? XDD; The anime certainly had a lot of “filler” at this rate…
-Instead of trying to setting up a bomb at the National Defense Base, Gardyne just shoots the satellite control console with a gun (and leaves the President and Secretary Kaios tied up iirc).
-No childhood info on Gardyne (was it necessary in the anime??)
-Mami and the gun… I like how they had Ran get her way back into the story after getting pummeled by Zeus. XD;
-Kernel boot “M” run…
-100% lead-in to a part 2…………..

My few assumptions about Tri-Ace after playing this and Eternal Sonata:
-Their 3-d cutscenes always have cute ways of running XD;;
-They are not very save point friendly sometimes… (which is normally fine for a PSP game, but not with how unstable this title is).

Ranking Battle Blab:
Beat Rank #1 at around 8 minutes–I can see why people would say it could take much longer, but it wasn’t NEARLY as hard as it was in Boost thanks to the new customization system making it possible to use 0% BP output, AND the fact the opponent never seem to have healing items like they do in Boost (thank goodness). Along the way I got decked out in 999 attack weapons, which seems to be the max according to the wiki. Also THAT song plays during the Rank 1 battle… fun stuff.

*post note* Around 3 minutes is my record for Rank #1 atm. But Killer Droid Minotaur is totally exploitable for grinding fast levels. I average 30 seconds to beat it but I’ve killed it in around 15 seconds before, srsly. Great Exp and useful hammer/shield drops.

Gallery (NON-spoiler)
Gallery (WARNING! SPOILERS)
Gallery (Seekers Board only… I took so many screenshots of these I had to give it a separate folder lolol)
Gallery (Vita, SPOILERS, all in one gallery)

Notes for Vita version screenshots:
2012-11-10-205607.jpg – They mislabeled Claudia Lenetton for “Rina Ishimori” w
2012-11-11-135601.jpg – My ProtoZenon on the right was stunned when this happened… XD
2012-11-11-165605.jpg – Occasionally the entire game just CRASHES and this error comes up (usually after playing a long time without rebooting). Bad thing about the Vita.
2012-11-12-191610.jpg – Is it me or does that statue look an awful lot like Jin’s butler…?

For my own reference:
無印　　　 163,834
ブースト　　 59,448
爆ブースト　55,614
Ｗ　　　　　　9～10万

To put things into perspective, other first week sales:
Danball Senki (PSP): 163,834
Danball Senki Boost (PSP): 59,448
Danball Senki Baku Boost (3DS): 55,614
Danball Senki W (PSP): 77,457
Danball Senki W (Vita): 16,842
Danball Senki Chou Custom (3DS): 27,242
Danball Senki Wars (3DS): 50,217 (2nd week: 12,333 Total: 62,551)

I love this comment about Kazu www
今のカズさんは
・イケメン
・かっこいいファッション
・筋肉
・頼りになる性格
・愛機はバンが一度も勝てなかったアキレスディード
・空中戦もお手の物

これでモテない訳がない

Buy from Play-Asia (PSP) | Vita
Buy from CDJapan (PSP) | Vita
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