SD Gundam Battle Alliance – PS5 Review

“The Gundam Shrunk Again”

Game Info:

  • System: PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X, PC
  • Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
  • Developer: Artdink
  • Release Date: August 25, 2022

SD-Gundam-Battle-Alliance-game-400x500 SD Gundam Battle Alliance – PS5 Review

Love it or hate it, one of the more popular versions of the Gundam series isn’t G Gundam or Wing Gundam but the SD Gundam series. Made into chibi-styled mecha, SD Gundam is no joke in the world of Japan as it spawned numerous forms of media from anime, toys, GUNPLA, and of course, video games. SD Gundam Battle Alliance is another entry in the SD franchise and we have a lot to say about this little Gundam adventure. Here is our review of SD Gundam Battle Alliance for the PS5!


A New Tale Of Familiar Stories

SD-Gundam-Battle-Alliance-game-400x500 SD Gundam Battle Alliance – PS5 Review

SD Gundam Battle Alliance brings players once more into the world of chibi Gundam but with a different tale being told. As a commander of a small team, you and your navigator are caught within a virtual world that has within, all the different timelines of Gundam but a problem has arisen that causes each universe to have irregularities. To return home, you must don a mobile suit and fix these historical issues unless you wish for the virtual timeline to affect the real world and cause destruction to the Gundam universe! The story of SD Gundam Battle Alliance isn’t the most grandiose of the franchise but it is a good way to allow players to experience worlds from the beginning days of Gundam to modern series like Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans and even further. This also means you’re going to be controlling loads of various suits that range from the iconic GM Mobil Suits to the more legendary Gundam like Barbatos and Wing Gundam Zero. We won’t spoil all the suits you can unlock in SD Gundam Battle Alliance but we loved how many of our favorites were contained within!

Time to Launch!

SD-Gundam-Battle-Alliance-game-400x500 SD Gundam Battle Alliance – PS5 Review

Okay, we can feel you readers wondering how SD Gundam Battle Alliance plays and that is our next focus. SD Gundam Battle Alliance is akin to an action RPG where you control your mobile suit using a mixture of light and launcher attacks with various special attacks different for each suit. At first, you’ll be stuck with a GM and then Zaku—unless you got the pre-order edition—but as you hack and shoot your way through various locations that are ripped from the world of Gundam you’ll unlock more and more units to control and level up. Combat is fine and we did love that each unit feels quite differently. Barbatos being a melee-heavy Gundam is all about up-close skirmishes while the Guntank is more about launching rockets and bullets from a medium range. The only two major gameplay issues we had came from the repeated treks through various maps—you’ll often have to go through a map more than once as they are split between a historically inaccurate version and a TRUE version—and the leveling system.

Honestly, leveling up and strengthening your mobile suit is boring as it just comes down to putting in points to max out various stats like melee, ranged, health and boost. We kind of wish there was a bit more to the leveling system but we equally understand that could be over the top for a game filled with loads of suits. Honestly, though, SD Gundam Battle Alliance feels repetitive overall, and while combat is fun, replaying maps and fighting similar enemies for hours kind of begins to wear thin after the first few hours.

My Gundam Looks Shinier Than Yours

SD-Gundam-Battle-Alliance-game-400x500 SD Gundam Battle Alliance – PS5 Review

SD Gundam Battle Alliance’s visuals are another strange mix that even at its weakest, we kind of enjoyed it. Each mech is perfectly done with stunning levels of detail and we really give Artdink credit for how much care they put into preserving the various mobile suits and Gundam to their exact details. The landscapes, like the mecha, have been chibi styled and while we felt they were adorable to look at, they also lacked impact. Slamming into tiny buildings is cool but doesn’t leave a lasting impression which is strange to say. SD Gundam Battle Alliance isn’t the prime definition of next-gen but that doesn’t mean it looks bad either.
Together, We Will Win!

At first, it seems like SD Gundam Battle Alliance is a single-player experience but you’d be amiss if you didn’t notice there is a co-op and it allows up to three players to join together and tackle missions together! Now you can argue which Gundam is stronger and who would crush more Zaku in a battle Epyon or Burning Gundam! Playing co-op isn’t going to rid your eventual boredom of the combat after hours of gameplay but it is a good means to have some mindless fun with friends and geek out about all things Gundam.


Final Thoughts

SD-Gundam-Battle-Alliance-game-400x500 SD Gundam Battle Alliance – PS5 Review

SD Gundam Battle Alliance is not going to appeal to all Gundam fans and that is perfectly okay. Like the SD series as a whole, SD Gundam Battle Alliance has its fan base and we doubt anything anyone says will deter them from buying this day one! As fans of all things Gundam, small and large, SD Gundam Battle Alliance was a pleasant surprise as it had a lot of mobile suits to unlock and was pretty fun in short bursts. Is this the best Gundam game ever, not even close but SD Gundam Battle Alliance is still a solid entry in the franchise and one of the better SD games we’ve played in a while.

Are you readers going to suit up in SD Gundam Battle Alliance? Comment below to let us know! Keep stuck to our chibi hive here at Honey’s Anime for even more game reviews, news, and all things from the anime world!

SD-Gundam-Battle-Alliance-game-400x500 SD Gundam Battle Alliance – PS5 Review

Writer

Author: Aaron

Hey everyone I’m Aaron Curbelo or Blade as I’m called by my YouTube Subscribers. I’ve been an anime/manga fan since I was a young kid. In terms of anime I have watched nearly a thousand shows and have read hundreds of manga series. I love writing and honestly was so happy to join Honey’s Anime to get a shot to write articles for such a wonderful site. I’m a firm believer in respect in the anime community being the most important embodiment we should all have. We all love anime and we have varying opinions of series but we should respect one another for those differences! Life is too precious to spend it making needless arguments in a community that should be the shining example of loving an amazing medium. I hope as a writer for Honey’s Anime I can bring you folks some amazing articles to read and enjoy!

Previous Articles

Top 5 Anime by Aaron