Angry boy with an unfortunate past picks fights until he’s chosen to help save the world. I’d say we’ve seen this setup perhaps too many times, except that it gets a bit more complicated in Megaton Musashi W: Wired, a recent action RPG from Level-5.

Yes, that Level-5. Professor Layton Level-5. Yo Kai Watch Level-5. That should give you an indication of what to expect here; Megaton Musashi W: Wired is a story-heavy game that takes the narrative in some directions you may not expect. It does so with the gameplay, too, but perhaps to its detriment.

Our angry young man, Yamato Ichidaiji (Yamato? Musashi? This isn’t a WWII naval combat sim?), actually has quite a bit to be angry about, he just doesn’t know it right away. The Earth has been taken over by aliens called Draktors. The 1% of humanity who survived the attack are living in fortified shelters, their memories of the invasion wiped clean to…help them not be sad, I guess? I suppose I get it. I could’ve used the same treatment after Super Bowl XL.

But, there’s an initiative to take the Earth back from the Draktors, and that’s where Yamato comes in. He’s provided with his own mech (or Rogue), is given some perfunctory training, and joins the resistance.

It’s never fully clear to me why such resistances are always helmed by socially diverse and uniquely troubled teenagers. Maybe that’s just who’s playing the games. Or, maybe they’re more willing to explore the morally gray areas when they find out their oppressors may not be entirely evil.

If you’ve watched any anime with a group of kids forced to get along with one another while attempting to save humanity, you’ll feel quite comfortable here. Megaton Musashi W: Wired gives you a big main story to dig into with plenty of side missions to help you get to know your teammates. The game very much feels like a visual novel in this regard, with some quality cutscenes to locate and trigger as you run about town. I didn’t find the narrative to be terribly compelling compared to current competition, but it’s presented well, the characters are fun, and it all moves along at a decent clip.

There are even some wonderful cameos, of sorts.

I can’t say the same about the combat component, however, for a couple of reasons. Those reasons, however, could very well be selling points for many players.

Obviously, the combat gameplay is entirely mech-based. And as you’d expect when taking giant robots into battle, there’s quite a bit of customization to do. The battle controls can be quite complex, but that complexity arises from attack and combo button memorization more so than from overpowered opponents. On the contrary, the enemies are typically quite easy to take out…provided you’ve adequately prepared your robot. Megaton Musashi W: Wired is definitely aimed squarely at the gamer who likes to fiddle with customizations before combat, and then fiddle with them again when the next battle completely changes up what works and what doesn’t.

And customization isn’t relegated to hardware. There’s also a skill tree to navigate, and optimizing this with the materials you’ve acquired is almost a mini puzzle game of its own. The whole system is akin to a racing game where you want to spend more time in the garage than on the track. If that’s your thing, then this game will keep you gleefully busy for dozens of hours.

If it’s not, then it may just be something more to slow you down between the somewhat repetitive combat. It’s a matter of depth over arcade-style action, and I wasn’t really expecting that coming into the game.

Further proof of this is the online component which pits you against cross-platform players in 3v3 matches. Here, you’ll either show off the efficiency of your mech customizations, or you’ll get mercilessly crushed like I did. I expected that, sure, but I also expected the game would find opponents closer to my build/skill level. Not so. Maybe that’s because there were never enough opponents from whom to choose.

Thankfully, the single-player story mode is more than enough to keep builders busy. Mech combat certainly has its appeal, and it’s all presented with the appropriate sense of awe. The game looks great, and there’s a thrill that’s carried from the characters through to the player. The challenge may be a bit slight for some, but in a game that’s more about the preparation than the execution, maybe that’s just a reward.

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