Rock ’em, sock ’em Robots
Even if you don’t know what Gundam is, it’s impossible that you haven’t seen them somewhere. The iconic mechs defined an anime subgenre, spawning countless films, shows, manga and likely any household product. Of course, this extends to the world of videogames – a quick Wikipedia check lists 250 to date?!? So with Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Battle Destiny being chosen to be remastered and globally localised from its PS Vita debut, this must be one special title to put a spotlight on. Right?
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Battle Destiny Remastered doesn’t make a very inspiring first impression. Visually, this title is just about functional for a Vita game aping the style of an anime series, but in 2025, it doesn’t hold up. The visuals don’t exactly help to produce any real sense of scale. Despite the series being built around massive mechs, they feel the size of Buzz Lightyear here, thanks to a real lack of tangibility to the world and enemies. This world lacks the detail and texture to make a player really believe they’re in a world with decades of mech history and lore.
Seed of Destruction
That could all be easily forgiven were the combat a knockout success. It’s not bad exactly, but for the context of GIANT ROBOT FIGHTS, it’s rather pedestrian. The ironically titled “mobile suits” are incredibly sluggish to chug around battlegrounds. When enemies are spaced apart, it results in a tortuous trek to get around to them, like the mech equivalent of your first New Year’s resolution jog after a Christmas of drinking gravy like Pepsi. Despite the giant swords and laser guns, there’s no real “oomph” to any attacks, just tapping buttons nonchalantly until an enemy explodes. Again, how can big robot fights be so dull? It feels like a Dynasty Warriors game where most of the enemies have called in sick.
Gundam fans may get a lot more out of this than this writer did. Yet the presentation is so lacklustre that it feels more like a Gundam corporate PowerPoint than any kind of celebration of the elements that have made the series so enduring. There is a narrative to this title, but it feels utterly alienating to the uninitiated, told mostly through static text boxes. The return of this title is a victory for series die-hards and for game preservation on a larger scale, but it’s impossible to recommend to anyone else.
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