Earth Defense Force 5 (2017)

Completely floored by how much I enjoyed this game compared to both 4.1 and Iron Rain. It basically addressed every issue I had with 4.1. If you aren't already a fan of the core gameplay, I don't think this game will change your mind, but if you like 4.1, this is a better version of it. My comments are going to be focused on the Wing Diver because that was my main class in both games.

Improvements

• Improved movement. Wing Diver gets dashes and Ranger's get a sprint. Both classes get improved pick up radius.
• Pick up improvements. Pick ups apply to all classes. This makes armor farming and obtaining new weapons way more convenient. Failing missions also rewards you with partial pick ups depending on the difficulty. And playing online let's pick ups apply to the entire team, so no need to coordinate or fight over drops.
• Weapon drops are improved. Getting duplicate weapons aren't worthless, they can potentially lead to upgrades to the weapon you picked up. This probably makes the game grindier if you are going for 100%, but I think the pros outweigh the cons.
• Wing diver gets different cores for its flight and energy. You can choose the core that fits your playstyle or is appropriate for the situation instead of sticking with the same static value like in 4.1.
• Improved stages. There's more diversity in the levels. It's nice to see other countries and environments. It was weird that it's the "Earth" defense force when you only saw one country. Underground sections are also improved by being less labyrinthian and dark.

• Wing diver weapons feel nerfed because of the charge mechanic. You have to be more conscientious of the energy as a resource.
• Only the fencer is allowed to equip two of the same weapon. I can only imagine this is to dissuade dual wielding a powerful weapon like the Idunn in 4.1.
• Some missions are really slow and long. The tutorials are dreadful and any mission where they take control of your camera slows down the pace quite a bit.

Overall, I'd say that if anyone is interested in the traditional EDF games, I'd say jump into 5 and skip 4.1 and Iron Rain. The story is separate from 4.1 and Iron Rain has different mechanics anyway. I haven't played any of the World Brothers games or EDF6 yet though, so maybe I'm wrong with this recommendation.

I recently beat Earth Defense Force 5 along with two of my friends. I say I beat it, but I only completed the game's 111 missions on normal difficulty. The game is more or less a wave defense against first hordes of giant ants and then stranger aliens as the campaign progresses.

You can play one of four classes. The Ranger is the most conventional you use traditional guns like rifles, shotguns, rocket launchers, and grenades. The Wing Diver uses a variety of strange energy weapons while zipping about on a jet pack. The Fencer has you play a soldier in an armoured exoskeleton wielding weapons more suitable for a tank like miniguns, autocannons, and mortars. The final class is the Air Raider which calls down a variety of artillery strikes down on enemies (and friends).

The games story is silly in so bad its good sort of way, I'm not sure if its intentional or not. Much of the dialogue is deeply cheesy. As you play the game you get a constant loot drip from missions that can be quite satisfying. The game has hundreds of different weapons, though many are simple variations of other ones. Missions vary from very easy to quite challenging. My friends and I initially played the game at hard but had to tone it down to normal as we progressed. It seemed the harder difficulties are intended as a sort of new game+ mode, where you come back with a stronger character. With a few roadblocks the campaign took 45 hours for us to complete.

The main drawbacks of the game are the poor graphics, terrible ui, and lack of a compelling single player experience. The games graphics look very dated, notably some assets seem newer than others. The most impressive visual aspect of the game is its scale, even a basic of enemy of which they are hundreds is many times larger than the player. Also the sheer number of things on screen can be impressive. However, graphically its feels like a game from 2010. The UI is also very poor, very crowded and not good at conveying important information. However the amount you have to interact with the UI to play the game is relatively limited. Finally, the game really isn't intended to be played single player. I'm not sure how easy it is to find other players in the community either. Id recommend arranging to play the game with a group of friends if you can.

Overall, id say EDF5 is a unique and fun experience but if you're not in position to play in a group I'd avoid it. Otherwise its a fun game with a charm and a good social experience.

Finished this with a friend. Incredible experience. Hilarious. Insane. 110 missions. Replayed a handful.

It's slightly better than EDF 4 but I did miss some dragon types and bosses/missions from EDF 4. Also, Wingdiver is pretty bad in this game, poorly balanced. Everything else is just bonkers, insane, fun. So happy that this franchise exists and that it has functional online coop play.

Progression in terms of difficulty grinding and weapon grinding is far from perfect, and not something I care about.

Love this franchise though.