Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Battle Destiny coming West

Bandai Namco have announced the Western release of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Battle Destiny Remastered, the previously Japan-only RPG based on the popular AU branch of the Gundam universe.

First released back in 2012 and scoring a very respectable 8/10 in our review, the game was actually quite playable even in Japanese, so the chance to unlock the game's full potential with a translation is exciting news indeed!

There were 116 mobile units to work through in the original game, including suits taken from splinter shows Astray and Stargazer, but you'll start as a grunt for one of three factions (Earth, ZAFT or Archangel) before you get to work your way through the mecha on offer. The Vita version had touchscreen controls for weapon selection and an AI partner for missions, but as the press release promises UI updates for modern consoles, we'll have to see what they tinker with.

The remaster promises enhanced visuals too - the Vita has solid models but more detail wouldn't be a bad thing, so that's definitely an enticing prospect. Judging from the trailer, environments are far more interesting than they were, but given that they're mostly backdrops to the action, that shouldn't affect gameplay too much.

I noted in my original review that the game was more tactical than previous games - ammo is limited and must be replenished by ammo boxes found on stages, the base ships will defend themselves fiercely and that subsequently, more strategy is required than usual. The translation of the menus should make this much easier.

I still dip into the old PSP/Vita Gundam games from time-to-time, the combat is simple but enjoyable, the main draw being a garage full of iconic Gundams to experiment with. I look forward to seeing how the game holds up 13 years later on modern platforms.

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Battle Destiny will be released May 22nd.