Super Robot Wars OG: The Moon Dwellers is a spin-off of the Super Robot Wars OG spin-off series. The OG represents Original Generation and means that the game contains only original designs unlike the main games which take designs from various other properties. It was released for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. It's a remake from a few previous Super Robot Wars games but with various changes. The Moon Dwellers is the first for the series in a few ways including the first game to be released for the PS4 and the first game to have an English and Chinese translation.
The Moon Dwellers is a tactical RPG. You'll be placed onto grid maps with a bunch of characters that you can move around. During your turn you can move the characters, attack and use abilities. Super Robot Wars had always had some of the best tactical RPG gameplay and it doesn't disappoint here with a lot of complexity and layers, even if you don't care for it all, it's still heaps of fun. During each level, you can only send out a limited number of robots so you need to pick and choose your favorites. Each robot has different stats and abilities. During your turn, you can select from a variety of attacks which have different attack powers, ranges and limitations. Each pilot has their own abilities (which doesn't take up the turn when you use it) that gives you a distinct advantage from a 100% accuracy to decreasing damage.
Placement of your robots on the field is extremely important. Not only do their placements affect which attacks they can use, pairing up robots can have them assist you during assaults or defend during enemy attacks. You have the option to pair up robots such that they take up one square, move together and attack together. This adds yet another strategic layer as you can pair up a slow and fast robot for quicker movement, do some bonus attacks or supplement each others' weaknesses but at the cost of attacking once together instead of each one separately per turn.
Certain pairings gives you a chance of using Union Attacks where two robots in proximity with each other do a special high damage and flashy attack. The game has animations on by default, which, while cool to look at, makes the gameplay slow. Depending on your preferences, you may find it more fun to turn off animations as the pacing will be speedier and you get to see the results of your choices immediately.
Each level has a set of victory and defeat conditions. The only negative is that in the early levels, these conditions are simple and makes the level end too quickly. It lacks the epic large scale and long battles that you would want in a tactical RPG. The game on the whole on Normal is fairly easy, even more so when there is a Quick Save function with no penalties whatsoever. It seems to encourage save scumming and even on the off chance you lose, you retain all your experienced gained in the battle that you died at.
The game is presented in an isometric view with 2D-looking sprites. It's what Super Robot Wars had always used, and the designs of the robots are in super-deformed style. However, you do wish that they could have upgraded the presentation a bit more. You have the option to move the map around to get a better look and also a 2D overhead view, which is extremely useful in the city levels since the varying heights of each square makes it difficult to see where you're going.
After every level you have the option to customize the various robots and pilots. Each robot have a set of stats that you can increase using the money you gained. Furthermore, you can swap weapons, accessories and change forms. Pilots on the other hand gain experience via destroying the enemy and gain additional skills upon leveling up. It's an addictive mix and this isn't to mention the swappable weapons, items and passive skills that you can equip. There are so many things to customize that it's crazy and overwhelming when you first get to it.
As is customary for the series, there are heaps of robots and pilots to choose from, you get access to 20+ when you're one-quarter through the game and unlock more and more as you go. Keep in mind that during each stage, you usually fill eight to twelve slots (granted, you can sortie in pairs, boosting it to 16-24 robots) so you have much than you require. You end up using only your favorite ones since there aren't enough enemies to evenly level everyone up at the same time. Although to be fair, the game is easy enough such that you can swap characters midway through the game and still be okay, especially since experience scales.
The story is told via a visual novel style. The structure is predictable, there'll be a story segment, then the battle, then another story segment before going to the menu for you to customize your robots before repeating. The story segments are quite lengthy and it heavily references the events from past games so it can be confusing for a new player. It presents a glossary for the background of certain terms and events to help alleviate this. At certain points, the story branches and you have to select a perspective to follow.
As you near the end of the game, there is a massive difficulty spike in one of the stages. It's completely unexpected and you end up having to fight three bosses (one of which is an ambush that just suddenly appears), a slew of enemies with high HP and each of the bosses having special abilities that damage your whole team so you need to defeat them as soon as possible. It ends up becoming a battle of attrition, taking upwards of two hours as you struggle to conserve and spend your SP, manage your ammo and EN for attacks, and decide when to use your items or return to the mothership to heal. It's somewhat of a slog and can feel unfair at times, particularly since you've probably only focused on a few units and have a bunch of weak units that die in one hit.
Unfortunately, the game outstays its welcome in the final two episode bosses. Not only do they have massive amounts of health but they have special abilities that allow them to always have the chance of evading an attack (so 100% accuracy means nothing) and periodically buffs themselves. This is extremely annoying and frustrating when these abilities activate so frequently. It doesn't feel challenging, just feels obnoxious, cheap, long and drawn out. Nevertheless, when the theme song plays just as you're about to defeat the final boss, it gives a really great sense of accomplishment. Perhaps it's more accurate to say that if you prepared well (as in, knowing what is about to come up) then you'll have a much easier time. It's still possible to clear all stages on your first go but it may be inefficient compared to what you could do.
While you can select Hard right off the bat, after you clear the game and reload your save data, you can select Ex-Hard mode which is Hard mode but for an extra challenge, you cannot upgrade your robots. It requires a lot more strategy and careful planning, as well as utilizing the skills of your pilots to the max. Then once you clear this, you'll unlock Ex-Special mode which is a more chilled way as it provides many bonuses.
Overall, Super Robot Wars OG: The Moon Dwellers is a great tactical game. While the core gameplay hasn't changed much over the years, there are layers and layers of strategy, from assist attacks, to skills and upgrades, it's an addictive mix. The plentiful amount of characters that you can use means that players are free to play around and determine their favorite team to use. The only negatives are the damage sponge enemies in the last few episodes and no easy way to replay levels without starting a new game. Otherwise, the game is highly recommended providing plenty of content.
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For the day one bonus, there are two keychains included.
