Steel Century Groove

so we start the game, it’s our birthday and our mom gifts us a broken mecha that’s basically scrap. the first hour of the game is basically us running around town collecting parts to fix it. this section felt like an early 2000s game to me, it has this nostalgic vibe that i personally loved. we talk to a lot of characters, get to know them, and slowly get a sense of the world. that said, i don’t think it sets expectations very well for the rest of the game. around 80% of the game is mecha dance battles, but in the first hour you only really do one, and instead spend most of the time running around and reading dialogue. it feels much slower compared to how the game plays later on.

the exploration is also really fun. there are a lot of missable mecha mods and npcs with genuinely funny dialogue, so you’re always encouraged to run around and see everything, which makes the game SO addicting. i had to physically stop myself and click the exit button. if i had time, i'd probably play this 10 hours in one sitting. there’s always a strong sense of progression and improvement, and every battle feels fun and satisfying with really cool music, oh yeah i haven’t even talked about the music yet and IT'S A RHYTHM GAME. well, the music is also really good imo. it does stick to the same general genre, so a bit more variety could’ve been nice, but honestly i enjoyed it so i didn’t mind at all. plus you can import your own music if you don't like the music in the game.

The robot animations are electric and perfectly choreographed to an original soundtrack that absolutely slaps.

The OST is a jam, the visuals are cute, and overall it's just a lot of fun to play.

Id say its pretty fun, only thing is if you save and come back later you kind of forget what your next objective is, id recommend they add a task menu or something