R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos

i love to push the funny little ships around that i know from r-type final 1 and 2. i love the lore and world building . i do not like the save and reload feature though. still, if you get used to this games pace, its gonna be a very fun strategy game!

My take on the game: Negatives – The lack of faster manual save loading (I understand the developers want the game played a certain way, yet this remains my one serious issue with it). Auto-save cannot be disabled. Positives – The use of 2D graphics and the perspective (I know they are 3D in a 2D view perspective annd even so it is something that has unfortunately become extremely rare in tactical games, as if isometric without change of characters perspectives if in top-down view was the only way tactical games can be made now with exception for indie games). The lack of filler activities between battles is another huge plus. The story is told without unnecessary fluff, and the narrative content appeals to me. Commentary: Many of the *Super Robot Wars* games released in the 90s are my favorites, some of them were released with minor updates from past releases for those who want more of the same experience. I have a strong fondness for JRPGs, if I didn't a lot of time as I have, would be very selective about which ones I play. Accessibility is a positive feature of modern games, but they insist on packing in side content—which, for me, is the main reason I switch games to "Easy" mode; I try to avoid those activities without hindering game progression. (In modern *Fire Emblem* games, for instance, I let characters die because I’m disappointed by their personalities and the storytelling—something that didn't happen when I played *Gaiden* or the first original game). Still about 3D characters/units, the isometric view isn't good enough, and when a top-down view is used for 3D characters/units, it isn't as interesting as it is in 2D with the exceptions of *Tactics Ogre Reborn* and *Triangle Strategy* because the characters perspective also changes with the view, it matters a lot. *R-Type Tactics Cosmos* features the most beautiful environments of any game I’ve played so far (I haven't reached map 50 of the first game yet, nor was I familiar with the franchise prior to this version). I really appreciate the gameplay, but my playstyle means that after clearing certain stages, I find myself thinking, "F### you, devs—you aren't going to stop me from liking this s### and playing exactly how I want." I hope the R-Type Tactical genre—sees further development and new game projects. If they feature 3D isometric graphics and segments between battles, I hope to find a way to fully appreciate the gameplay and the unit models, which I find incredibly beautiful—really like them—even the mechs.

Most of the assets are from R-type Final 2/3 so a lot of the visuals and style also came from the development of those games. Addition of adjutants and voice acting to RTT1 is a welcome surprise. Retroactively applying RTT2 stats and mechanics to RTT1 gives a vastly different experience for a playthrough compared to the original PSP release so it's kind of worth another playthough. Like the shmups, very methodical tactics game so requires a lot of time and planning until you know the terrain layout and enemy placement/behavior. Despite most units being 3D, a lot of the capital ships in regular space are shown with images while being applied with environmental effects, making angled views of the map look wonky (Gridlock looks especially off when placed near the edges of the screen) Even after a few patches some glitches still occur (desynch enemy units sometimes are able to attack un-desynched units when running into them, some ram attacks do not move units when not obstructed by terrain) One other issue encountered often are destruction animations taking a long time to register. When viewing the units, rotation speed is very slow and limited to the X axis (as opposed to the PSP game granting full rotation on all axes) Overall a great remake of the PSP games despite technical issues that hopefully will be addressed. Multiplayer will be interesting to encounter as there are obvious OP units and annoying strategies.