Robot Alchemic Drive
Main game
3.50 average rating based on 18 ratings
- Developers
- Sandlot
- Publishers
- Enix Corporation
- Platforms
- PlayStation 2
- Genres
- Simulator, Strategy
- Themes
- Action, Science fiction
Release Dates
User Stats
How Long Is Robot Alchemic Drive?
Robot Alchemic Drive: Killing Grandma and Boiling Bread
This review is for the PlayStation 2 version
Robot Alchemic Drive is janky in a way that evokes the lovingly created series Earth Defense Force, trading out traditional action elements for a remote-controlled battle mech that's about as uniquely satisfying as it is silly.
With a narrative modeled after retro super robot anime shows, the player can choose between three protagonists to play as a young chairman inheriting a bankrupt weapons company. Their secret weapon is a gigantic robot called a Meganite, which must be used to repel alien invaders called Volgara. Not too many twists are in the plot, but the delivery goes from dead serious (and melodramatic) plot elements to the silliest and most horrible voice acting I've heard in video games. It adds a memorable sense of levity to the game and helps make the slower dialogue segments more enjoyable since the entire game's dialogue is voice acted.
The actual mech battles are where the game gets interesting. The player can run around and fly temporarily to a location safely out of harm's way, where they can remote control their Meganite at any time. While in control, the player will be looking directly at the mech and can use a series of complex controls to …
Robot Alchemic Drive is janky in a way that evokes the lovingly created series Earth Defense Force, trading out traditional action elements for a remote-controlled battle mech that's about as uniquely satisfying as it is silly.
With a narrative modeled after retro super robot anime shows, the player can choose between three protagonists to play as a young chairman inheriting a bankrupt weapons company. Their secret weapon is a gigantic robot called a Meganite, which must be used to repel alien invaders called Volgara. Not too many twists are in the plot, but the delivery goes from dead serious (and melodramatic) plot elements to the silliest and most horrible voice acting I've heard in video games. It adds a memorable sense of levity to the game and helps make the slower dialogue segments more enjoyable since the entire game's dialogue is voice acted.
The actual mech battles are where the game gets interesting. The player can run around and fly temporarily to a location safely out of harm's way, where they can remote control their Meganite at any time. While in control, the player will be looking directly at the mech and can use a series of complex controls to step forwards/backwards, turn and position the mech and use the analog sticks to input a variety of special attacks. There's even expendable missiles and an energy system that can unlock even more special attacks, complete with a fun little charge stance. The player must be careful in trying out these moves, however, since the Volgara have plenty up their sleeve to knock the player back and careful blocking will ensure an easy battle.
This isn't an exact science or an excessively complicated game, however - robots will be tripping over each other, buildings will get torn asunder (it's a VERY destructible game) and camera angles will get awkward if the player isn't constantly moving to the exact correct spot. That said, there are a variety of upgrades and things the player can do to explore and add to the narrative (see: the tragedy of destroying Nanao's workplace), and the game isn't super punishing so the player can just relax and have fun. Mastering the mech means effortlessly beating the Volgara down with ease and little damage, but you won't be struggling too hard if you need some wiggle room.
There are a variety of missions which vary in what actions the player must do for battle - sometimes there are people to save, ships to grab, poison gas, etc that keep the battles from being too boring. This makes up for the fact that enemy design is relatively same-y throughout, and while beating them up is always fun I wonder what the game would be like with some more unique monster designs rather than a string of very similar humanoid mechs.
The music can be triumphant, silly, or whatever a player needs from situational tracks in a giant robot anime, and apart from the late 90s anime character portraits the mechs themselves are a wonder to behold, lovingly detailed and often having the ability to transform into various modes. The city can be a bit drab looking but the destructibility looks amazing, and the people running for their lives can be (accidentally) crushed and destroyed in sprays of blood. At times the tone is wildly inconsistent but accidentally transforming on a crowd of people is an experience that will never leave my memory for as long as I live.
Robot Alchemic Drive is a great way to encapsulate the experience of a super robot anime, utilizing its jank and awkwardness to fun and unique simulation gameplay that never gets too aggravating or frustrating. And truly, no other game features robots killing Grandma AND the wonder of bread and water soup.
I started this one just last night. It's been on my to-play list for so goddamn long, as I'm a big mecha fan, but I just haven't gotten to it. The premise is that you control your human character and their mech separately. There's no cockpit, so you need to run around the environment while the carnage unfolds, swapping to your mech's controls in real-time. Your perspective is always that of the human's, so positioning yourself to get a good look at the fight is essential, but you place yourself at risk of getting caught up in the destruction if you walk too close. If either you or your mech are defeated, it's a game over. Also, your mech's controls simulate an actual control panel; the bumpers operate each leg, respectively, and the joysticks cover arm movement. It's mecha QWOP.
I'm not sold on the experience, as much as I love the concept. It feels like there's never an ideal place to just sit and watch the mech fights, and without being able to properly gauge depth and relative positioning, I'm never compelled to attempt my more-complex attacks. Instead, I just want to flail my arms around until I make …
I started this one just last night. It's been on my to-play list for so goddamn long, as I'm a big mecha fan, but I just haven't gotten to it. The premise is that you control your human character and their mech separately. There's no cockpit, so you need to run around the environment while the carnage unfolds, swapping to your mech's controls in real-time. Your perspective is always that of the human's, so positioning yourself to get a good look at the fight is essential, but you place yourself at risk of getting caught up in the destruction if you walk too close. If either you or your mech are defeated, it's a game over. Also, your mech's controls simulate an actual control panel; the bumpers operate each leg, respectively, and the joysticks cover arm movement. It's mecha QWOP.
I'm not sold on the experience, as much as I love the concept. It feels like there's never an ideal place to just sit and watch the mech fights, and without being able to properly gauge depth and relative positioning, I'm never compelled to attempt my more-complex attacks. Instead, I just want to flail my arms around until I make contact, lest my uppercut graze the side of my target. And if it does, how much do I need to rotate until I'm aligned? Most of any fight has been just trying to face my damn opponent.
Also, the feedback on your attacks is lacking. Punches feel weak, laser blasts are so tiny they're nearly impossible to see, and so on. When you hit something, it feels like you're clumsily knocking a tower of cardboard boxes over, rather than forcing it down.
I picked the Laguiole, as I like transforming mechs, but the plane mode sucks ass. It's only capable of cruise control speeds, when I thought it'd be like a fighter plane. It almost felt like a joke when I rode on its back for the first time, cool though it is that's possible.
In fact, the whole game feels like one giant shitpost. The best thing going for it so far is how comical everything is, because it's difficult to tell what humor is intentional. The voice acting is some of the worst I've ever heard, but is it a sendup of old English dubs for kaiju movies? Not all voice performances being equally bad throws that theory into question.
The slapstick gore effects are hysterical. I can't remember the last time I laughed at a game as hard as the start of story mode, where I was told a train was pulling into the station I was at. I walked onto the tracks with my schoolgirl friend in tow, thinking I'd just be pushed out of the way by the incoming train model. Instead, we're sent flying like ragdolls in a shower of blood dozens of feet away, screaming as my health bar depletes. Then we land, dust ourselves off, and take the train home.
I think the most fun I've had with the game is vaulting over the cities using my anti-gravity jumps and seeing how high I can go. There's barely anything going on outside of fights, which is a shame, as that means I can't (easily) deliberately walk in front of cars and shit. The city may as well be papier-mâché, merely a setting to place loading zones on. It never feels like a real location.
Also, there's frame drops out the ass. I looked it up, and apparently this is just part of the game and not an emulator issue. It's fairly unpleasant.
I'm not giving up on the game entirely, but I'm unsure if I'm going to return to it at this point in time. The gameplay feels too arbitrary to be fun, since the forced perspective means a lot of my ideas fail for reasons not entirely known to me, and there seems to be nothing outside of the mech fights. The story is a total farce because of the voice acting, and while that's certainly funny, it keeps me from becoming invested. Yeah, it cracked me up to hear a news reporter say in complete monotone, "could this be the end of humanity," but it's not like it became funnier when they said it again in the next stage.