It didn’t take long, but gamers are picking up on the fact that SD Gundam Battle Alliance plays a lot like Armored Core VI.
To clarify, what people are talking about are things like the orbit lock-on setup, as well as the stagger meter. Both games also use repair kits and much of the backend upgrades are also very similar in terms of their linear progression.
Obviously, the games deviate in terms of customization and the overall artistic and thematic style. The grittier military approach of Armored Core VI is very much at odds compared to the cutesy and brightly colored approach used in SD Gundam Battle Alliance.
When I reviewed Armored Core VI, I did point out the similarities to SD Gundam Battle Alliance and also gave both games the same score (albeit for different reasons). I don’t think Armored Core VI necessarily “copied” SD Gundam Battle Alliance, as I think the functional influence is more from classic Armored Core games mixed with the Another Century’s Episode series. However, the functional similarity between the two games is certainly noteworthy.
It’s also worth pointing out that SD Gundam Battle Alliance was also itself an evolution of Artdink’s prior Gundam Battle games on the PSP, 3DS and PS Vita. The stagger meter was a new inclusion, as were repair kits. Also the emphasis and increased complexity of the close combat setup was a big improvement over the older Gundam Battle games.
What all this adds up to is that Armored Core VI is hardly alone in the mecha gaming pantheon, with games only released a year ago sharing functional similarities.
So if you enjoyed Armored Core VI, you might want to have a look at SD Gundam Battle Alliance. Stylistically the games are different, but they do play quite similarly to one another.
Armored Core VI is now available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC. Feel free to also check out my review.
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