As random as it can be!

A brief report on the new visual novel by âge. This report will cover two parts, the storyline segment, “When the shining light fades” (かがやく時空が消えぬ間に) and the STG segment, “The faraway dawn” (暁遙かなり). As par my previous posts on visual novels, heavy netabare ahead. You have been warned. If you do not want to be spoiled on the Muv Luv Alternative fandisc - Altered Fable, turn back now. There is also an underlying assumption that you understand the terms used below.

Reporting live from the Imperial Homeland Defence Forces Soumagahara Base. In this base, it has been rumored that a new batch of senjutsuki pilots are being trained within. However, the interview crew has been denied entrance to the base and we are unable to obtain any new information. We will keep you updated as the situation develops.

(This refers to the campaign mode. Storyline wise, you play as a pilot who are undergoing a series of simulator missions with preset squadrons of 12 units each. However, I gave up after 2 missions. The reason? Firstly, the difficulty is ridiculously hard. After trying the first mission over and over again, my best rank was only a mere C. What the hell.)

On the other extreme end, Imperial Guardsmen (衛士) are engaging BETA swarms throughout the country. The mainstay unit is the F-4J Gekishin (77式 撃震). The Gekishin is the Imperial version of the F-4 Phantom, which is humanity’s first senjutsuki. It is designed around the concept of defence, represented by its heavy armor. The concept was however altered in 2nd and 3rd Generation senjutsukis when it was noted that Tank class would chew through the armor anyway. Another alternative mainstay unit is the F-15J Kagerou. The Kagerou is the Imperial version of the F-15 Eagle, which was considered to be a superb design among 2nd Generation senjutsukis. It was licensed for local manufacturing in order to reverse engineer it and establish a technological base for a 3rd Generation senjutsuki of their own design. The third unit is the Type-94C Shiranui (不知火). The Shiranui is a 3rd Generation senjutsuki that has been developed purely by Japanese industries. Using new composite material, it is able to create a stronger armor while reducing the overall weight. The result is increased mobility as well as increased ease of maintenance. A new anti-laser dispersal mask has also been applied to the armor surface. The last and yet unseen unit is the Type-00 Takemikazuchi. More information can be seen in my earlier post here. Two support units are also identified, namely the Type-90 MBT and Type-87 Anti-Aircraft Gun Kai.

Some combat tips are as follows -

- Destroyer class can only be harmed by using the Type-74 Close Combat Longsword or 120 mm smoothbore cannons of senjutsukis and Type-90 MBTs. The 36mm chainguns and Type-65 Close Combat Knife are useless against it.

- While the Destroyer class can move extremely far, they can only attack what that is directly in front of them. It is strongly adviced to take them out from range or attack them from the side with effective weapons of your choice.

- Tank classes should be prioritized to the lowest level as they cannot do any real damage unless they latch onto your units. In which case, there are two options to remove them. Firstly, if they are senjutsukis, equip the Type-64 CC Knife and attack; if they are support units, equip the 12.7 m machinegun for the tank and just attack normally for the AA guns. Secondly, you could risk friendly fire by having other friendly units fire upon the entangled group. I find that attacking entangled senjutsukis with the 12.7 mm machinegun to be extremely effective and mostly dealing no damage to them while destroying the tank classes.

- In the presence of Laser class, pay close attention to where they are facing. Do NOT attempt to jump when they are facing your direction, you are just asking to be shot down.

- The best method to deal with faraway Laser classes is to flank and move out of their line of sight, and then closing in with the jump units and mowing them down with the 36 mm chaingun.

- Changing equipments cost action points for senjutsukis, think carefully when you are switching weapons during a fierce battle.

A continuation from where Muv Luv Alternative left off - the original universe of Shirogane Takeru was fixed with Yuuhi and Kasumi joining his school. Haven’t really spent much time on it, but I have noticed a few interesting points already. Firstly, an unknown experiment by the Los Alamos National Laboratory. It was said that if the experiment was successful, it would revolutionize America’s nuclear strategy. However, something popped up and the experiment just stopped itself. In the Muv Luv Alternative world, the Los Alamos National Laboratory was in charge of creating the G-Bomb, a weapon that is even more lethal than nukes made from substances recovered from BETA hives. This could mean that they had either somehow manage to obtain it in the AF world or they had discovered how to create it. Either way, it is extremely concerning. This could potentially lead to a lot of causality issues, even potentially meshing elements from the two worlds together once again.

On a lighter note. Guess what? Characters from Muv Luv Alternative are here too. Woo.

Elena Piatif

Alternative - Kouzuki’s personal secretary

AF - Teacher from Poland on a teachers exchange program

Alfred Walken

Alternative - Major in the American army, 66th Wing, KIA during the 12 - 5 coup d’état event.

AF - Teacher from America on a teachers exchange program

Paul Radhabinod

Alternative - Commander of the Yokohama United Nations base

AF - New principal from England

I will post more as I run into more interesting stuff as the game progresses. GC, over and out.