MS Saga: A New Dawn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| MS Saga: A New Dawn Box Art | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Bandai Games |
| Publisher(s) | Bandai Games |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Release date |    June 30, 2005 (Original); July 6, 2006 (Rerelease)  February 21, 2006 |
| Genre(s) | RPG |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | CERO: All Ages (Original Release); A ESRB: E10+ |
| Media | CD-ROM |
Gundam: True Odyssey (Gundam True Odyssey: Ushinawareshi G no Densetsu, ガンダムトゥルーオデッセイ-失われしGの伝説, in Japanese) is an RPG for the PlayStation 2 console based on the popular Gundam anime series. Released in United States and Canada as MS Saga: A New Dawn, the game was designed to appeal to new fans who may be turned off by the complex and sometimes confusing existing Gundam franchise.
Contents |
[edit] Story
At the peak of society, humanity created a complex machine system the Glory System (Known by all as the G System), an amazing technology which could create any machine so long as there were plans for it. However, tragedy struck soon after and an apocalypse gripped Earth. Humanity began to rebuild society as best they could and called the apocalypse the "Great Fall". A young boy named Tristan (Trush in the original Japanese version) lives happily at an orphange with his best friend, Fritz. But the happiness is ended when mysterious new weapons known as mobile suits lay siege on the orphanage and kill its occupants. Seeking revenge and answers, Tristan sets out to find out why his home was attacked. Along the way, he will assemble a party of loyal allies and discover a dark conspiracy. They begin the story by obtaining a RGM-79 GM from the G System and end up battling a Zaku I from the get-go. Tristan and Fritz begin on the quest, after obtaining the RGM-79 GM and Zaku I, to avenge the loss of their orphanage and caretaker. Apparently, the killer, whose name is Vladi Zarth, are looking for leads a group called the Dark Alliance, trying to take over the world. They set forth on this quest and meet up with others with the same goal in mind, to kill Vladi Zarth and take down the Dark Alliance.
[edit] Gameplay
The major focus of the game is the ability to customise their own mobile suits using parts of mecha designs from the early Universal Century Gundam anime series, Mobile Fighter G Gundam and Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. The units on offer are kept to more basic mecha whilst more powerful ones (such as the powerful Devil Gundam Corps from G Gundam) are kept as game-controlled bosses. To complete the game, players will need to find which parts and pilots combinations work best. Battles are carried out similarly to older Final Fantasy titles, with enemies and player characters in turn-based combat. Actions use AP, which can be stored up to allow for the use of more powerful weapons or special attack. Outside of battle, Mobile Suits can be modified by swapping parts, which also usually changes the appearance, altering coloration, which is purely cosmetic, and changing weapons and shield items. Weapons can be hand-held (rifles, sabers) or mounted (gattling guns, shoulder cannons). Certain special attacks require minimum numbers of weapons, or specific types. As an example, one could mount Master Gundam's wings on the Zeta Gundam, with shoulder armour from the Gundam Sandrock and the legs of a Dom.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Heroes
Tristan - (Trush in Japan) One year ago, Tristan had just left an orphanage run by a kind woman named Ms. Natalie. As he was leaving, the orphanage was completely destroyed by a black and red Zaku IIS and two Zaku II escorts. He swore revenge, and with his childhood friend Fritz, created a GM to try and track down and destroy the Black Zaku to avenge his friends and benefactor. He always looks to the future and has a bright, but sometimes causes him to take action without thinking, which can get him into all kinds of trouble. His strong sense of justice means that he won't just leave people behind when they're in trouble.
Fritz - (Flitz in Japan) Fritz is Tristan's childhood friend from the orphanage where the two grew up, whom he treats like a younger brother. He knows a lot about machinery and traveling, so he travels with Tristan as his trusted companion and support. He had a habit of disappearing for months at a time, and has a history with the street rats of Eisengrad. He's somewhat of a coward, but always follows through on his promises. Fritz is very money-minded, and often complains about high prices in the Black Market.
Aeon - (Ithi in Japan) Aeon is a young girl, about the same age as Fritz and Tristan. She was found unconscious inside a spaceship that crashed some time after the Great Fall, which the locals at Angelina call the Moon Ark. She suffers from an advanced form of amnesia, and cannot remember anything from before Tristan and Fritz found her. Aeon is unusual in that she doesn't seem to know about most things that other people assume is common knowledge - She didn't even know what the Ocean was. Throughout the story she begins to display powers similar to a Newtype.
Tremmie - (Tremie in Japan) Tremmie fights the Dark Alliance by herself, and has a massive ego. She's very exhuberant and has a lot of energy, something that annoys Fritz to no end. She always has something to say, though as the story progresses it's revealed that her last name is Zarth. She's searching for the man using her deceased brother's name, Vladi Zarth.
Gavenger - (Gavenger in Japan) Gavenger first appeared inside the G-System 02. The party meets him as he's building a Dom, and he takes off with it immediately after assuring them that he's not a threat. Gavenger later joins the party to pay them back for helping him out of a tight spot with the Dark Alliance. His rough outward appearance wouldn't suggest it, but he's actually a brilliant scholar. He's twenty three, though looks older, which is the subject of some teasing from the younger characters. Gavenger is an undercover agent for the Unicorns, a sort of international police force that maintains the G-Systems. He was killed by Lapis's Psycho Gundam when he was trying to protect Tristan's company to escape from Vladi Zarth Army's assault, and he gave his mobile suit to Bazuli.
Vargas - (Vanges in Japan) Vargas is the captain of the Sky Pirates and owner of the Black Market. He loves to fly, and is a master mobile suit sniper. It quickly becomes obvious that Vargas is also something of a ladies man, as he constantly hits on the of-age female characters. After he joins the party, he's usually found in town trying to pick up random NPCs. Vargas often tries to cover up his lady-loving habits under more legitimate motives. ("What? I'm not trying to pick her up, I'm gathering intelligence!"). It's notable that Vargas is extremely skilled at avoiding a beating.
Li Fang - (Hakuho in Japan) Li Fang is a Chinese master of the ancient and notable powerful martial art 'Hosho-Ken'. She works as a bodyguard for the arms dealer Mr. K, and is noticeably nieve and quite gullible in regards to mobile suits. For instance, Mr. K convinced her that a Guncannon was, in fact, the Gundam. Despite this, however, Li Fang's martial skill is enough to make her extremely dangerous in the Guncannon - A mobile suit about as far from being optimised for close combat as any mobile suit can get. She's often the target of Vargas' affections, and usually responds with threats of bodily harm. Li Fang has carried out these threats on numerous occasions with mixed results. In the middle of conflict between the Unicorn and the Neo Zarth, she pilots the Shining Gundam and joins Tristan's team.
Hal Vizardt - (Neyarl in Japan) Captain Hal is the commander of the Mobile Suit forces in Eisengrad, reporting directly to General Sosei and the superior to Major Rezner. While his past isn't known, Hal is a skilled mobile suit pilot and has a genuine interest in bringing about an end to the Dark Alliance. He usually sends the party on missions, though joins up on several separate occasions to give them a hand with difficult operations.
Nance Rezner - (Lanser in Japan) The subordinate of Captain Vizardt, Rezner is the only character in the game consistently referred to by her last name, even in the menus and status screens. She's an upright soldier of Eisengrad, and specializes in low-speed melee combat. Rezner follows a code of honor, though she has her doubts about children on the battlefield.
Marie Orijin Neikeshuneku Tokita - A woman the group meets on their travels. She acts very adult and treats Tristan like a child, but can be surprisingly childish herself. She was a scholar of Virtual History(somehow restructs the Black History in Turn A Gundam), and the one who establish the Unicorns. Through was half-retired, she have a great influence to the Unicorn, and have right to use Unicorn's power in emergency.
[edit] Dark Alliance
Weaver - Oceanstorm Weaver pilots the Zock. He commands an armada of Marine-type mobile suits and runs pirate operations on the open seas with impunity, operating out of an abandoned military base on the Arabian peninsula.
Zain - Ironwall Zain pilots the Xamel. Operating out of an old mining complex in Africa, he has led several attacks against surrounding cities, including the trading hub El Dar Samnia. There is no foe his Xamel has not bested.
Kowloon - Also known as 'Mr. K'. Kowloon is an arms dealer and a general in the Dark Alliance. He's infamous in Tohai as a mafia-like businessman who makes his enemies 'disappear'. He pilots the Apsalus, and Li Fang is his bodyguard. He's a very slick and nasty character, boasting that his Apsalus will burn all enemies of the Dark Alliance.
Bazuli - (Basulee in Japan) Bazuli is the fourth General of the Dark Alliance. He pilots Big Zam, and operates out of a fortress in the mountains of Siberia. After he realized Vladi Zarth's plan after the fall of the Dark Alliance's Base, he pilots Gavenger's mobile suit and joins Tristen.
Lapis - Lapis is the final desperation weapon of the Neo-Zarth Army after they have been driven from Eisengrad. She pilots the Psycho Gundam in both Fortress and Mobile Armor mode. Extremely aggressive and defensive of Neo-Zarth's ideals, it is revealed she was brainwashed through the Psycho Gundam's interface.
Vladi Zarth - (Uraji Zasu in Japan) pilots the Black Zaku. After the four Dark Alliance generals are defeated, he seizes control with the Neo-Zarth Army, forcing the party to join a sort of resistance to try and bring an end to the situation before it gets too far out of hand. Vladi Zarth is the name of Tremmie's older brother, and she believes this man is just using her brother's name. Much of the game is spent looking for him without knowing his appearance.
[edit] Critical reaction
In general, the game has been poorly received with Japanese sales figures listing it as perhaps the poorest selling PlayStation 2 Gundam game. Existing Gundam fans have generally been responsive to the game, but as they are not the intended market this could be seen as a failure. Other fans see the game as a cheap attempt to target the Gundam concept to Final Fantasy fans and ultimately as another one of the franchise's productions which will live on as obsecure trivia. Bandai Japan had plans for an extensive promotional campaign as well as mentions of a sequel with possibly units from Turn A Gundam and Gundam SEED/Gundam SEED Destiny if the game sold well. Whilst the former has certainly been dropped, the fate of the latter statement is uncertain but assumed to also have been cancelled.
[edit] Localization changes
For the American release of the game certain changes were made. These include name changes (the main character Tristan was originally called Trush), the replacement of the theme song with an instrumental version and the addition of a full voice cast (the Japanese release used only on-screen text dialogue for the characters).
[edit] Playable MS
Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
- GM Command
- GM Sniper II (Called GM Sniper in Game)
- Kampfer
- Nemo
- Hyaku Shiki
- Zeta Gundam
- Rick Dias
- Gundam Mark II
- Hizack
- Marasai
- Quebeley
- ZZ Gundam
- Dreissen
- Zaku III
- R-Jarja
- Bawoo
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack
- Shining Gundam
- GF13-017NJII God Gundam (Burning Gundam in U.S.)
- Death Army
- Master Gundam
New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz
- Wing Gundam Zero Custom (Wing Gundam in game)
- Gundam Deathscythe Hell Custom
- Altron Gundam Custom
- Gundam Heavyarms Custom
- Gundam Sandrock Custom
And the weapons appeared in the following productions are included in the game, as a player-useable weapon
- Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team
- Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
- Mobile Suit Gundam F91
- Mobile Suit V Gundam
- New Mobile Report Gundam Wing
[edit] External links
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SD Gundam | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other Works | Mobile Suit SD Gundam | SD Command Senki | Gundlander | SD Gundam Jikūden | Superior Defender Gundam Force | Superior Defender Gundam Force Gaiden | Doozy Bots | ||||
| Games | SD Gundam G Generation | G Generation Original Units | Superior Defender Gundam Force: Showdown! | Gundam: True Odyssey (MS Saga) | ||||
|
|||||
