Super Robot Wars Z/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • And the Fandom Rejoiced: Regardless of whether people liked Kira Yamato or not, many loud cheers were heard when Shinn Asuka piloting the Impulse destroyed Kira's Freedom with his signature BFS as an in-game attack in a promo video prior to game release...AndThereWasMuchRejoicing. Another major one for fans of The Big O was being able to play as fan-favorite Jason Beck, IN HIS BECK THE GREAT RX-3, NO LESS!! Yet another one for The Big O fans was finding out that this time, the series gets properly represented and features heavily in the plot.
    • The cast list for Hakai-hen also applies: The long-awaited SRW debuts for Gundam 00 and Code Geass are welcome, as are Gurren Lagann, Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z-hen and Armored Trooper VOTOMS, but just to please the veterans are the triumphant returns of Getter Robo Armageddon, God Mars, and the Gundam Wing TV series in the same time with Gundam 00! Not to mention both Dancougars. VOTOMS warrants a special mention, as veterans have been clamoring for its debut in for years now.
    • The inclusion of Dai-Guard was this for a small but dedicated fandom, bolstered by Hakai-hen's arrangement of "Back Alley Space Boy" and the use of its improvised ROCKETTO PAUNCH in one of its attack animations.
    • Musashi actually living long enough to pilot Shin Getter. Note that in all previous SRW's and Getter Robo canon, Musashi either dies before Shin Getter gets activated, his death helps Shin Getter activate, or survives but is simply demoted to piloting the weaker Getters solo. Fans were quite happy that for once, the original Getter team was together in Shin Getter as its pilots.
    • The long-awaited debuts continue in Z2.2, as Tetsujin 28 (aka Gigantor) makes his long-awaited SRW debut, leaving Tetsuwan Atom as the only "grandfather of mecha" to not yet be in SRW.
    • The PV showing the return of Rand and Setsuko and DANKOU SOUGAKEN.
    • And on top of everything else, Saisei-hen lets the player choose to avoid one of the biggest points of contention in Code Geass (namely, the Black Knights betraying Lelouch). Even if you do stick with the plot, Roger Smith provides a Fandom Nod by presenting a counter-argument to Schneizel using many of the points fans used when the event first happened in the anime. Oh, and if you pick the route where this is avoided, ANOTHER one of the biggest points of contention with the show gets subverted with the reveal that Euphemia is Not Quite Dead.
  • Anticlimax Boss (Big Fau is probably one of the most pathetic bosses in franchise history, rivaling the EVA Unit-01 in Super Robot Wars Alpha 3, because it has fairly weak attacks and such a low hit rate you don't even need to use Spirit Commands. The only hard part is killing the Overdevils which can be done very easily if you're careful. He's followed by a fairly easy battle that gives you unlimited time to get the skill point)
    • Despite being a Duel Boss against whom you can only use Setsuna/Exia, Alejandro Corner in the Alvaaron can be easily made into this. It only has around 20k HP, and Setsuna with decently upgraded weapons, his ace bonus, and the Spirit Soul cast can easily do over 30k damage with a single attack.
    • In the same spirit as the above, Saisei-Hen gives us Wiseman as a Duel Boss for Chirico. The anticlimatic part is that he controls a normal Bloodsucker with just about 12K Hitpoints and no special features and can easily be finished in one move.
  • Broken Base: Hakai-hen is already suffering from this. Some have found the cast list to be the best thing ever, while others hate this game for removing the Tri-Battle System, having only "ONE" route that you can pick(Crowe's route), lack of secrets and the inability to save certain characters who they want to survive the course of the series. But since Hakai-hen is only Part 1 of SRW Z2 most of the complaints could be a case of Fan Dumb.
    • People seem to be either rejoicing that Tetsujin #28, essentially the great grand-father of giant robots, is at long last showing up in SRW...only it's the 80s remake and not the original. Which has some people happy Tetsujin #28 is showing up at all, some wishing it was the original, and some happy it's that version.
    • The arrangements for some of the songs in Z2.1 has fans either cheering (such as Kanjite Knight and Heats), or outright wanting to murder the composer in cold blood, with "Tori no Uta" being the largest offender to some. It wouldn't be that big of an issue...had not the same track been used in Super Robot Wars L, giving fans something to compare.
      • Also, fans are upset that certain songs are NOT in the game, such as "Yuusou" (better known as the theme of the Stoner Sunshine event from Getter Robo Armageddon) as well as "New Frontier" and "Angel Voice" from Dynamite 7.
      • Not just music. Let fans watch Dancougar Nova's animation in L and Z2. People will argue which one is better (remember, L is on NDS while Z2 is on PSP). Same thing can be said for some Macross Frontier animations.
    • Gurren Lagann's story doesn't end in Saisei-hen, and Chouginga Gurren Lagann isn't playable despite Catherial Lazengann (which later became what known as Chouginga Gurren Lagann) appeared. While it's an obvious Sequel Hook, some fans are annoyed by these.
      • Technically it has ended [1], they can continue it but it´s not necessary.[2]
      • They would probably have to consider the hardware as well, considering how big the mecha in Gurren Lagann actually get.
    • The fact that Euphie is turned out Not Quite Dead in the ZEXIS Route, but Kamina and Neil!Lockon stay dead does annoy some people. Though to be fair, Euphie comes back alive has less (YMMV) negative impact to the overall plot (for both Saisei-hen and Code Geass) than Kamina and Neil.
  • Complete Monster: Totally-Not-Masaki Asakim Dowin, who displays his true depravity in Setsuko Ohara's route. The thing is that he comes off as a Draco in Leather Pants in Rand Travis' route, leading to a large Misaimed Fandom who follow him.
  • Crowning Music of Awesome: When a rumor that Back Alley Space Boy wouldn't be Dai-Guard's theme was disproved, the internet went nuts. And yes, it's probably one of the best instrumentals they have in Hakai-hen.
  • Crossover Ship: Shinn and Setsuko, and through that, Shinn has actually mellowed enough to fix some of his more objectionable personality problems. Doesn't help that they still care for each other when they meet again in Saisei-hen.
    • Kallen and Chirico, of all people. They had much chemistry since Hakai-hen, spent much time fighting along together, and even some Ship Tease moments (some in front of Fiona even).
  • Demonic Spiders: Or DAMONic Spiders as the case may be: High shields, status effect infliction, rather good accuracy/evasion rates (and will only go higher due to their Prevail skill), AND HP and EN regeneration. As someone on Something Awful put it, "It's like someone decided the Ghost X9 should be more annoying".
    • It Got Worse: When you face those with MAP weapons. In the last stage you face a few who have stats like a mini-boss, and their MAP weapons do not hit their allies.
    • Thankfully in Saisei-hen, those Bull DAMON and the Rhino DAMON have less HP, don't have HP or EN regeneration, and have no barriers anymore. That is, until you start to face Artificial DAMON mid-game...As the weaker ones are even stronger than the old Rhino DAMON.
    • Stage 15 introduces Axio Burglars (piloted by Fire Bugs). They all have Jamming Device which makes friendly units 2 grids around them have their evasion and hit rate improved by 10%, and these bonus stack if they're near to one another. These make evasive Reals like King Gainer or Scopedog VERY prone to their strong attacks (their strongest attack reduces victim's Will even), while it's almost impossible to hit them without using Seishins. Marin in her Burglar/Pearl Fang only makes that worse, since she is always there to lead her gang......And boosts their evasion/hit rate with her Command skill.
  • Ear Worm: GAN GAN LEON, GUNLEON! GAN GAN LEON, GUNLEON!...and all the respective EarWorms of the various franchises, as usual.
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: Shiony Regys from Hakai-Hen. A mostly non-combatant villainess who is a Smug Snake at times, but she utterly dominates the Z2 fanarts.
  • Game Breaker: Not to the levels of Zeorymer in Super Robot Wars MX and Super Robot Wars Judgment, but the Baldios and Nirvash Spec2 count. To elaborate, Baldios is a Lightning Bruiser that's a size LL, giving it a damage/defense bonus against pretty much everything, high armor, ridiculous range, strong and economic weapons, and better yet, it has a "sub-dimensional warp" ability allowing it to dodge anything completely with a set probability. The Nirvash, on the other hand, doesn't start as much until you advance in the game and get its upgrade, the Spec2, which gives you a hideously overpowered MAP weapon that can be recharged and abused using the appropriate skills.
    • The Aquarion in the hands of a player who knows what he/she's doing also counts. This mecha has the unique ability "Element System", which gives the primary pilot the highest stat among the three pilots in every category if his or her Will passes 130; not a difficult task. This may not seem like much at first, but if one takes each of the three pilots and pump a specific stat, an Element System-powered Apollo can hit like a tank, dodge like a Gundam and have a high enough skill stat to activate "Attack Again", allowing him to double-hit everything using his insanely powerful weapons that have amazing range, which can be further improved with items and parts.
    • Roger Smith's "Negotiation" skill: so long as Roger is deployed on the battlefield and remains there until the end of the scenario, any and all repair costs from destroyed units are reduced to zero. Repeat: ALL REPAIR COSTS ARE REDUCED TO ZERO. It helps The Big O is one of the game's better units by being a defensive and offensive powerhouse capable of leveling enemy forces by itself with the right build. It's weapons also have pretty good range for a Super Robot and its most powerful stuff are ammo-based.
    • The Turn a Gundam is largely Magikarp Power incarnate, but with the right pilot (read: any Universal Century Gundam ace who isn't Loran Cehack, usually Char Aznable or Harry Ord, and with Amuro Ray or Haman Karn as a squad member using their very cheap "Move Again" Command, it becomes a WMD capable of not only "MAP-nuking" the entire map, but also walk over everything in its range by lowering its armor rating while doing insane amounts of damage.
    • Kei Katsuragi and his Orguss. This pilot is one of the best in Z, if not the flat-out best: He comes with an amazing skill set (containing the much sought-out "Attack Again" and "Counter"), a high enough skill rating to make use of both, high dodge and shooting stats, and a very dodgy mech that has no business doing as much damage as it does. It Gets Better: later in the game, he gets Orson as a partner with an identical machine, giving them both access to a very cost-effective and powerful Combination Attack that makes them even more broken (and looks flat out awesome, especially with the "Orguss Handshake" in the end.
    • The "Nirvash/Haman/Amuro/Resupply" combo, which pretty much lets you breeze through the last half of the game by over using the Spec 2's Seventh Swell MAP weapon.
    • Hakai-hen is already being bashed for being too easy due to a skill that lets a unit move again if it gets a kill once. Take a minute to imagine that combined with MAP weapons or the Solar Aquarion. Apparently this will only work once per turn, and with good reason.
      • Saisei-hen brings back SP Recovery, and a new skill SP Get, which allow the pilot to recover 10SP each time it shoots down an enemy. And both of them stack. Do the math.
    • As far as Hakai-hen units go, Chirico Cuvie and his Scopedog, when given such things as the "Ignore Size Modifier" pilot skill, will dodge almost everything and rarely fail to hit a critical. Chirico's starting skills include a max level Prevail and "????" (presumably "Abnormal Survivor", providing an even larger Prevail bonus) which makes him the god of One-Hit-Point Wonder units when under 10% HP...from the start. To quote the following post: (Note: those dreaded Dimensional Beasts will still have a fair chance to hit him if you're not careful, especially when their OWN Prevail kicks in).

"His special skill coupled with his Potential 9 basically means that if Chirico is in the red, everything is dead. He simply goes apeshit viking berserker super saiyan crazy at that point and even DAMON bosses will find it impossible to land a hit."

    • While Chirico is a little overrated, the true Game Breakers of Hakai-hen are Dai-Guard and Gurren Lagann, the latter for its high defense and damage output, the former for Akagi's "Salaryman" pilot skill that grants him ludicrous amounts of Pilot Points. If you use Dai-Guard and get enough kills with it, Akagi can easily outclass every other pilot in the game. Dai-Guard's secondary pilots have healing Spirit Commands too, which help cancel out it's Glass Cannon status; not to mention it can resupply by itself AND if Akagi becomes Ace he'll have the cheapest Soul in your team (while still being a super). In Gurren Lagann's case, even after you lose Kamina, you've likely stored up enough Pilot Points to give Simon continuous movement and "E Save" (cost to perform EN-based attacks are reduced). And this is before his Ace Bonus grants him 150 Will at the beginning of each sortie. Then there's the Shin Getter Robo in the late-game scenarios, where achieving Ryouma Nagare's Ace Bonus grants him additional damage at 150 Will and makes him capable of dealing the highest raw damage numbers in the game.
      • Forget Shin Getter, regular old Getter Robo is already a strong candidate for best unit in the game. It has amazingly powerful attacks which Ryouma's ace bonus makes even stronger, Drive for the same cost as Spirit, and with its FUB it can change forms after moving, which means that Getter-2, with Hayato knowing Dash and casting Accel, can move 11 spaces across the map and then switch to Getter-1 or Getter-3 to dish out the hurt! Combine this with Offensive Support or Move Again on Musashi for added utility and you've got a unit that can easily handle grunt clearing, support attacking, and boss killing all in one.
    • God Mars is pretty nigh unstoppable in it's combined mode, especially since its last SRW appearance made it practically useless[3]. The starting mecha, Gaia (which has to reach 130 Will before transforming without its full upgrade bonus), actually HELPS because it can dodge by some degree and take a few hits as well as having strong attacks. Most importantly, once Gaia changes to Godmars, it's given full HP and EN regeneration. At the same time, Takaru has a set of good stats, with an Ace Bonus that grants him the "SP Regeneration" pilot skill.
    • In contrast to its Z counterpart, the Aquarion is actually better due to its new finisher that can be used with any of its pilot combinations, alongside each Aquarion pilot having a unique Ace Bonus that boosts a certain stat by 20 (Sirius is melee, Silvia is range, Reika is skill, Pierre is defense, Jun is accuracy, Tsugumi is evasion). Apollo's Ace Bonus? 125 Will at the start of every scenario (20 from the bonus, 5 for achieving Ace status), meaning he only needs 5 more Will points to activate the Element System. It basically tells you to use Apollo/Sirius/Reika combo, then train all 3 of them to become aces. The only downside is the Solar Aquarion's even more of an energy hog than before, but this can be easily remedied with the appropriate parts and pilot skills. Though in Saisei-hen only Set-A (Appolo, Sirius and Silvia) can use the Solar Sword, which you get it again later in the game.
    • Mazinger Z has the highest armour value among allied units and powerful attacks at all ranges, including a 7-range Photon Beam which it gets early on in the game (it ignores size differences and barriers as well). Combined with energy regeneration ("small" un-upgraded, "medium" as a full upgrade bonus) that allows it to spam the attack multiple times every turn, it becomes possibly the best super robot you have for most of the game. Oh, and if you think the good old Mazin Power (gain an attack bonus upon reaching a certain Will level) is gone? Simply train Kouji until he hits Ace status to get it.
      • Not to mention Saisei-hen gives it God Scrander, allowing it to use Big Bang Punch (MAP and normal versions) and One Hundred Rocket Punch, both post-movement even. The best part? MAP BBP and OHRP are both ammo-based (1 though), meaning one can spam EN like no other when dealing with grunts.
    • The real Game Breaker? The humble Propellant Tank in Z2. Rescued from the Scrappy Heap, indeed, on account of how you get one use of it per map rather than one use per game. In most situations the Propellant Tank is more useful, in terms of total energy recharged, than the Solar Panel or Yggdrasil Drive. (The same goes, to a lesser extent, for the Super Repair Kit, Cartridge and other expendables.)
    • Lelouch can easily become this in Saisei-hen, between the Shinkirou's Absolute Protection Territory (which nullifies ANY attack under 4000 damage), his powerful Phase Transition Cannon MAP, and his Ace Bonus, which randomly casts a beneficial Seishin on himself[4] when he hits 150 Morale. And while Shikirou's Absolute Protection Territory costs a jarring 30 EN by each use, you could make it cost 0 EN after fully upgrading it and selecting the Full Upgrade Bonus. Give Lelouch Support Defense while you're at it and Shinkirou becomes an awesome tanking unit.
      • Suzaku in his Lancelot Albion is also a beast, even more so after you make him Ace Pilot. He gets a Skill called Geass' Curse, which allow him to activate Prevail Lv9 and grants a damage bonus after he hits 130 Morale. Now as aforementioned, Prevail is a skill which grants many sorts of bonuses as the user's HP goes down. This alone makes him very formidable already. His Ace Bonus? Geass' Curse is activated regardless of Will level. Doesn't hurt that the Albion is a very powerful unit and Suzaku's Soul only need 40SP. However, you only get to use him in the last ten stages or so.
      • You get to use Kallen pretty early in Saisei-hen, and for those who used her in Hakai-hen should know how strong she is already... Until you receive Guren SEITEN Eight Elemental Type. It's still a Size S unit with S adaptability in air, high mobility, a barrier, and its Radiation Wave Emitter's power even rivals other protagonists' units, while it's one of the least EN usage for a unit's strongest attack. The only problem is still its absurd EN drainage, but like Aquarion it can be fixed by parts. She isn't called as "the Ace of Black Knight Corps" for nothing.
    • The Zero System itself Took a Level in Badass in Saisei-hen. It no longer gives a preset number of pilot stats when it activates. In the previous SRW games it is activated at 130-140 Morale depending on the game and gives the pilot Hit/Evade +20 and Melee/Shooting/Defense/Skill +10 . Now the amount points gained is determined by the pilot's total Morale when it activates. With the pilot ability: Will Limit Break, at 170 morale yields Hit/Evade/Defense +23, Melee/Shooting +14, Skill +35 (Wing Zero's full upgrade raises to the stat gain cap to Hit/Evade/Defense +26, Melee/Shooting +16, Skill +40).
      • Combined with the trainable pilot ability: "Attack Again" which allows the pilot to provide offensive support for themselves if their Skill stat is 20 or greater than the enemy. Normally this ability would only be good against enemy grunts and useless against bosses since their Skill is often greater than or equal to most of your pilots. With +40 Skill, this almost guarantees Wing Zero will be able to Double Tap almost all bosses assuming you kept Heero up to level. Counter is also a nice ability to have too. In other words, not only is the Zero System buffed, the game as a whole is a far better environment for the Zero System to shine.
        • Wing Zero also has one of the most cost effective attacks in the game: A beam saber attack that does 5500 damage fully upgraded for only 5 EN (4 EN with E Save) and comes with 1~3 range. Other non-ammo attacks that do same amount of damage will cost at least +10 EN. Gundam DX's Hyper Beam Sword for example, has the same amount of range and damage when fully upgraded but costs 15 EN (12 EN with E Save). Combined with "Attack Again," Wing Zero can perform this attack twice and kill any non-boss enemy for only 8 EN. The beam saber's dynamic kill is also Simple Yet Awesome.
      • Compared to Chirico Cuvie's "Abnormal Survivor" ability which grants +30 to Hit and Evade and +20 to Melee, Ranged, Defense and Skill but requires Chirico to be at 10% HP or less, the Zero System is a much more Awesome Yet Practical equivalent since most end game enemies especially on hard mode can still hit you and some bosses can one shot your units at full health.
      • The Wing Zero might as well be the second coming of the Nirvash Spec2 from Z1 but better. It's Rolling Buster Rifle MAP weapon may not have the damage and range as the Seventh Swell, but its usable post-movement and comes with 3 ammo as opposed to the Spec2's single shot.
    • 00 Raiser. Just, holy shit, 00 Raiser. 7700 power post-movement attack with 2-6 range and a MAP attack version that skewers any enemies in a straight line with 12 range, and a 50% chance of perfect evasion at 130 will. It also helps that Setsuna is a much better pilot this time around and eventually gets a skill that gives him +20 to accuracy, evasion, and skill as well as passive SP regen!
      • This ability also stacks with "SP Recover" and "SP Get" allowing you to recover +30 SP each turn.
    • Macross 7's Sound Force again (yes, yet again in Saisei-hen, just like any other game they debut, they can restore an ally's Spirit Points and increase their Will, and later buffing ally's stats for the remaining of the stage. But you know what's better? ALL THEIR ATTACKS CAN DEBUFF ENEMY'S WILL! Yes, even MAP attacks can debuff their will too. After Basara learns Dynamite Explosion, he can gives Seishin to a teammate too, alongside free Bless and Cheer. Did we mention he can also deal damage to Dimensional Monsters with his song?
      • Feels hard to train Basara with the though of lacking PP? Throw him into groups of Vajira and watch him sing them away (if they're under 120 Will after hearing the song------And yes, even those Bishop Class), earning him MASSIVE amount of PP and Song Spirit in progress. Due to this, his presence makes any stages consisting of Vajira an absolute cakewalk.
      • Oh and for some extra kicks? Train Ozma as an Ace, sing Try Again to him with Hot Blood. Notice the HUGE status buff on Ozma? Congratulations, Ozma just took hundred levels in asskicking, especially his Attack Again skill. It becomes much more useful and probable.
    • The Nu Gundam is incredible in Saisei-hen, both because it's an amazing machine and because Amuro is an incredible pilot. At max upgrades, with the Psychoframe active, and Amuro at ace status, Fin Funnel has 7000 power and 1-12 range! It's also incredibly efficient, with 10 ammo that can be raised to 15 with the Bullet Save skill! It even supplements its weakest area (lack of a powerful post-movement attack) with its new (gorgeously animated) Combo Assault.
    • Esther's Ace Bonus turns her Hot Blood Spirit into Love with the same cost of her Hot Blood spirit. In order words, you get Hot Blood, Accel, Luck, Flash, Effort and Strike all at once with just 40 SP. Wow. Too bad that Esther learns Hot Blood at Stage 46.
  • Goddamned Bats: In Saisei-hen, any enemy faction aligned with the Earth Federation will get Mobile Dolls that will constantly support defend each other. Most them have barriers like Planet Defensors which will nullify any damage below 2000. Your attacks will constantly be blocked if you haven't been upgrading your units' weapons. Not to mention they're very hardhitting with Ignore Size Difference skill.
    • During the last stage resolving Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z-hen and Gundam 00, you need to face Missile Mechanic Beasts and Gaga respectively. In numbers. They aren't particularly hard to destroy, but their suicidal attacks are quite accurate and will, well, kill themselves on impact. You won't get any experience or money if they're being killed in this way either.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: An image from Z made the rounds during the game's initial release, showing a man in a black and gold outfit with a full face mask, talking to Gilbert Durandal and saying "They call that man 'Orange'." Guess what series is in Hakai-hen?
    • Hakai-hen included a Fire Bomber CD as an item, part of a Continuity Nod to the fact that several Frontier characters (particularly Ozma) are fans; now we get to see the Squee in person, since M7 is in Saisei-hen.
    • Famitsu once posted a hoax article for a fake entry called "Super Robot Wars U", as an April Fools joke. Among the series listed was Dai-Guard. Cue Hakai-hen's announcement and then...
  • Memetic Mutation: Shiony Regis has probably become the most memetic character in the entire franchise, only rivaling Mist Rex for the top slot. Look at how much fanart exists for Shiony alone. Now look at how little there is for all of the Z2.1 Originals. However, unlike Mist, Shiony's memetic status is due to the fanbase realizing how she acts tough while being meek and frail in reality, overreacting to just about anything; in turn, the fandom latched onto her personality quirks and plain ran with it, as opposed to being the result of an accidental rumor in Mist's case. The creaters even acknowledges about her memetic status by using her portrait in Saisei-hen for a civilian you met in-game.
  • Most Annoying Sound: MOKYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN! Whoever decided the Nirvash should do that every time it attacks should be shot.
    • Dancougar Nova's theme is so over-the-top serious that it quickly gets annoying after a while. And then there's that delayed yell in their final attack.
      • (Dancougar Nova Crew): IKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!(Anonymous): EEEEEEEEEEEE!
        • ...that's Aoi, or more specifically, a young Aoi. In the show's final battle with Original Dancougar, when they used Dancoudangaiken, it showed, near the end, a young Aoi, since just before using the attack, the other 4 helped her out of a Heroic BSOD where she was imagining herself when she was little girl.
  • Most Wonderful Sound: The sound that the Twin Satellite Cannon makes when it locks on, right before it fires is absolutely glorious.
  • Nightmare Fuel:
    • The Edel Bernal's ultimate attack: First he creates a rip in the fabric of spacetime, briefly showing off a rather ominous looking eye before a massive, rainbow-colored horde of evil...somethings...burst out in a massive stream, with the boss' mech leading them like some demented band leader, and with the horde making a cacophony of creepy impish giggling. They swoop up, grab the hapless victim(s) and carry them into a dimension of pure rainbow insanity. They then get swarmed by a mass of blobs which is then assails by giant sperm, then eaten by a much larger one-eyed blob, which then collides with MORE one-eyed blobs, zooming out all the while, until suddenly the mass is blasted by at least a dozen lasers, until finally the final boss' mech looms large, The Edel makes a rather wiggly cut-in, completely with a disturbing expression of pure elation and with a "BYE-BYE", before finally ending the madness by ramming his gigantic spear into the whole mess. Definitely a contender for creepiest attack in the series, tied with Alpha 3's Big Bad
    • The DAMON's increasingly become this.
  • Player Punch: Esther becomes a Dimensional Beast in Saisei-hen. She gets better, though.
  • Rescued from the Scrappy Heap, alongside Author's Saving Throw doubles as Took a Level in Badass: When The Big O debuted in Super Robot Wars Destiny, it was near useless by that game's broken standards and many, many players were pleasantly surprised after seeing it in action in Z, where it's one of the best units and becomes even better if you manage to get all of its weapons, making it a nigh-Game Breaker with its high defense, range, and Roger's high stats (more accurately, his skill set, allowing him to make use of the "Attack Again" pilot skill) and accuracy. It seemed like the developers were issuing a warm, heartfelt apology for its sheer shafting in Destiny.
    • Same with Godmars, which was a scrappy unit in Destiny due to the same bug and if it was destroyed, it was an instant game over. Although the same "game over" situation is in Hakai-hen, Godmars is rendered as an ass-kicking tool of destruction that's nearly unstoppable. One fan on the Gamefaqs board described it as "two trucks duct-taped together with an atomic bomb"...which is an oddly accurate description of Godmars itself. It also helps that after the Godmars finale, the bomb is disposed of safely and there's now no game-ruining risk involved with using it.
    • Getter-3 in Hakai-hen is no longer a situational unit(at best): it's actually a pretty good unit.
    • If there's one unit and pilot that people ragged on out of the Gundam 00 pilots it was Kyrios and Allejuah for just being quite up to snuff with the other three. Cue a 180 with the Arios Gundam winning fans over with better stats, having what many consider the best opening Trans-Am animation, an eventual ability to unleash Hallejuah AND watching Arios jump between jet and robot mode in glorious slow motion animation.
  • Tear Jerker: Many from the various franchises, but especially Aki's death, which can be avoided through a Guide Dang It by getting invisible "points" which will putting her in stasis until a method to stop the bomb in her is discovered. Also doubles as a Player Punch, as many players mercilessly slaughter the Gaizock forces responsible for it in revenge. Kappei's portrait even changes from his usual smile to an angry expression for the rest of the stage along with his character description changing.
    • Also Kamina, Euphie and Neil!Lockon in Hakai-hen. The worst part about the latter three is while you can save Aki from her canon death (which you did in canon), Kamina, Euphie and Neil's deaths are permanent and unavoidable...or maybe just until Saisei-hen...
      • Especially in Kamina's death, where Batshit Ryouma, of all people, screams for his name in the same way he screams whenever Musashi bites the dust.
      • Not Quite Dead: Euphie faked her death as shown in Saisei-Hen, but seems only on ZEXIS Route.
  • That One Boss: TheOverdevil, Turn X and Dewey Novak's flagship, the Ginga-gou.
    • Hakai-hen has the dreaded big three of Emperor Zul, Moon Will's Original Dancougar and Lord Genome's Lazengann. All of them can and will one-shot your mechs if you aren't careful
    • Also Level 99 Gaioh, which is only avalible if you're on hard mode and pick the second conversation choice.
  • That One Level: Rand's last scenario on EX-Hard mode is insanely annoying, both because of it's length and the sheer difficulty spike the Big Bad is compared to the previous few stages. Save Scumming is almost a must to avoid an Unwinnable situation.
    • Some of the special mission requirements are near impossible to beat without a great deal of luck and Save Scumming. The only real way to beat Z's hard mode while getting the skill points, ending points and such is level grinding the repair units (makeing Rand's route a little easier since he can repair) to high levels as soon as you get a stage without a time limit.
    • Just about any stage in Z 2 Hakai-Hen with Dimensional Monsters is a pain in the ass. Especially Stage 50. Artificial DAMON's presences anywhere in Saisei-hen isn't any better either.
    • Stage 35 of Saisei-hen starts off with all your characters getting their heads messed with, starting them off at 70 Will (and CANNOT use any Seishins) while hordes of Artificial DAMON close in, dealing massive damage to your units while taking paltry amounts in return.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks: Hakai-hen and Saisei-hen being on a handheld has attracted a large number of complaints, as well as the removal of the Tri-Battle System. A combination of these two things has also limited the returning series to their key cast members and units only.
    • In addition to the above, the fact that Z2 was planned to be a Playstation 2 game had some fans upset, as the PSP is seen as a downgrade in terms of graphic capabilities.
    • They also replaced Eureka Seven's TV series with the not-so-well received movie in Hakai-hen, which has fans crying Ruined FOREVER now that the Nirvash is no longer broken, and the film version was considered by many as garbage.
    • The Macross Frontier units are now medium-sized rather than small, and no longer have their pinpoint barrier, which means that they're no longer the Game Breaker units that they were in Super Robot Wars L. Naturally, people complained.
      • At least the Pinpoint barrier did returned in Saisei Hen.
      • Actually, L got the size wrong. The VF-25 is about 18 meters long (same as the height of M-size mainstays such as Mazinger Z and the RX-78-2 Gundam) and 15 meters tall in battloid mode, making it too large for the S size. L worked them in due to a lack of small units (it only had the Jeegs and the Iczers), but Z2 has enough small units to restore them to their original size.
  • The Woobie: Setsuko.
    • Uther might well surpass her in The Woobie status.
  • Unfortunate Implications: In Stage 57 of Saisei-hen's "Lelouch leaves" route, Lelouch enacts his Zero Requiem, and ends up being stabbed through the chest. Apparently, this can be survived with no one the wiser thanks to Celestial Being's technology, despite death occuring within a couple minutes. The unfortunate part is that all of ZEXIS say that now that everyone thinks Lelouch is dead, he has to become Zero for the rest of his life. In canon, Suzaku's becoming Zero forever is treated as a horrible punishment, but ZEXIS are supposed to be Lelouch's friends, and it's treated as heartwarming. It's disturbingly out of character for the entirety of ZEXIS, and it's hard to tell if he's being given a free pass, or being given a fate worse than before. On the other hand, that makes it practically the same as Gundam Wing's ending, which it is contrasted with in the other route. Worse yet, Euphemia is alive in the other route, so it makes you wonder... did she die because of Zero Requiem? Or did she just ignore what was happening, despite her intimate understanding of Lelouch's personality and behaviour?
    • One way to look at it is that ZEXIS is telling Lelouch that if he wants to repay for all the crimes he's committed, he should live and work to make up for it instead of just throwing his life away while still making people suffer because of his Zero Requiem.
  • Up to Eleven: Just take a look at the Series List for Saisei-hen. It has even more shows than Alpha 3!
  1. ↑ since Banpresto made an completely original Anti-Gurren Lagann piloted by Anti-Spiral acting as the last boss, with the same VO even
  2. ↑ That said, Anti-Spiral just leaves and says he'll let you live for some time after you defeat him......
  3. ↑ to elaborate, not only does the game's armor coding bug give God Mars next-to-no defense in a game where getting Takeru shot down is an instant game over, BUT Takeru's own stats coupled with him having some not-so-helpful spirit commands(to put it short, its Seishin sets are focused on offense, and thanks to the Armor Bug, Iron Wall become a necessity for a Super to perform the Tanking duty, something that almost every other Super have that Takeru is lacking make God Mars almost pointless to use at all, thanks to the risk alone including any forced deployments of God Mars(even though its one of the best Super to use), despite having that game's second most powerful combination attack
  4. ↑ the worst of which is Flash, meaning nothing like Scan
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