Gunpla Gundam Breaker 3 Break Edition Review

I was just exploring some Gundam games when I first decided to give the Gundam Breaker series a go, I looked up the internet for the best version to date. Just like many others like me, sometimes we just believe that the older versions are just a wee bit better than the newer versions. And boy did I not regret asking veteran Gundam players which one they thought was best.

Gundam Breaker 3 BREAK EDITION (English version) was released for the Asia Market on May 2, 2017, that’s around 5.5 years from the time of writing this article. The publisher of the game is none other than Namco Bandai Games, which Bandai is the owner of the Gundam franchise in all forms: anime, manga, toys, and games. I managed to get a copy at RM40.00 sometime in June 2021 compared to the normal price of RM200.00. 🥳

Prior to this, the only other “Gundam” game I played was Dynasty Gundam 2 (PS3) which involved quite a bit of bashing on its own, albeit in a very mission objective-based format with loads of swarm bashing. I did at some point look up some old retro tiles and incidentally also discovered there is a Gundam Fighting Game as well (I’ll write another review later on that once I figure out the moves) which brings me to the point that the Gundam Franchise is so very downplayed until now.

Story

The story in Gundam Breaker 3 brings you to an era set in the current world of modern Japan where Gunpla Simulation is a norm, just like how arcade centers used to have coin-operated arcade machines in the yesteryears. Space exploration has just taken a huge step by successfully completing the space elevator, bringing loads of excitement and hope to the future of mankind.

So you start off as a random guy who has joined a Gundam tournament to save this quaint little Gunpla shop and arcade center in a small town. Due to your hidden talents, Misa decided to team up with you and off you go to district level and national level tournaments to prevent the decline of her father’s shop.

Along the way, you’ll meet some quirky characters who also share the love of Gunpla battles to fight it out and unravel stories of bitter and sweet memories. There is also a seemingly hidden agenda by a young owner of a huge conglomerate that creates a plot point in later chapters, and as expected you’ll probably end up saving the world at the end (as all Japanese game stories tend to go).

This simple premise doesn’t affect Gundam Breaker 3’s gameplay experience at all, as it is just a backstory to drive the purpose or what we call “Chapters” in the game. Once you pass the first few chapters, it is just a good plot for the in-between cutscenes that provides some brief entertainment and fan service that is desired in a Gundam Story. Gundam Breaker 3: BREAK EDITION also includes the DLC which carries the same vein (albeit shorter bits of storytelling) that provides some background to the featured characters of the main game, and to put it simply – “you are never too old for Gundam”.

Gameplay

After getting familiarized with the controls in Gundam Breaker 3, off to battle we go. Gundam Breaker 3 is a third-person Hack and Slash game where you don’t have control over your teammates as all of them are AI controlled.

A little further down the game, you will get acquainted with a cute little robot who will become the other team member and you can set him to support, attack, or defense mode to beef up your in-game strategy. Most of the time, it is helpful to have escorts especially when the game gets tough and you may just crash on the battlefield and need a teammate to revive you. You can also choose not to have “escorts” (teammates) with you if you choose to do solo-leveling, and you are given 4 tickets (sort of like in-game retries) to revive yourself.

You control your trusty battle Gundam into the field and destroy every single enemy in sight. Once you clear the field, you’ll be directed to the next area until you complete the mission. If you are well equipped for the level, each run is probably around 10 to 15 minutes. The game does have some variations such as strong Enemy Players, larger than usual Giant Gundam End Bosses to keep the excitement going.

There are 3 game difficulties to choose from Casual, Standard & Hardcore. Plus 2 more hidden difficulty levels – Extreme and NewType. You’ll need to finish all Chapters in Hardcore before Extreme difficulty opens up, and all Chapters in Extreme before NewType difficulty is unlocked.

If you are looking for a quick satisfying run of destroying Gundams in your path without any worry or care, Casual difficulty fits nicely for a stress-free experience in Gundam Breaker 3.

Of course, the actual game is much deeper than that, being a Gunpla concept game where you can individually upgrade parts to build your dream Gundam and beat the game. For those of you who played any role-playing games which has leveling-up of equipment (or something like Potion Crafting), the idea here is the same where you get drops and loot from killing the enemy on the field.

Being able to perform “MERGE” on the parts to either upgrade a specific attribute/specs of the part or even add new features to a part. There is even a special “MERGE” called “DERIVE MERGE” that actually creates a new part if you combine the right combination of material parts.

The only way you can get ahead in Gundam Breaker 3 is to keep leveling up your Gundam. Yep, no character creation complexity here. Just you and your Gundam (or whichever parts you choose to build your Gundam basically) and it is pretty fun to put together a Frankenstein version of your favorite models from a myriad Gundam Series until 2017 (Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans). If you have Gundam Breaker 3 BREAK EDITION, the DLC adds more Gundam models and parts into the mix and you’ll never be bored trying to build something custom to your look and play style.

Some parts in your model will unlock special EX skills that can help you get an edge in the game. For one, the type of weapon you use each has about 4 different special skills that you can unlock once you use the skills often enough, and you also get Special EX skills that are sort of like a special move that you can activate once the recharge bar is full. So you can already start to imagine that it could be some grinding involved to “get them all” like the Pokemon games that we know and love.

Of course, Gundam Breaker 3 does make it easier for you to own the rare parts if you have enough GP (Gold Points) to spend in the in-game shop. It’s just like shopping in an actual Gunpla shop with the original boxes!

Gundam Breaker 3 does have “multiplayer” but I didn’t manage to experience this myself as I only owned this title a good 4 years after it was released. However, you can still play Arena’s Bounty Mode) and pit your Gundam Model against Local and Global rankings, and make more GP while you are at it to upgrade your Gundam.

Personally, I played the Gundam Breaker 3 Arena’s Bounty Mode quite a bit and found that it would be much easier to win a match (especially if you are just starting out on Hardcore difficulty) if you choose an opponent which is over 10K and another less than 10K. It keeps the frustration away and sneaky surprises these AI robots could throw at you during a battle.

Graphics

Gundam Breaker 3 runs on the Playstation 4 quite well, and despite having many Gundam enemies on a screen with plenty of explosions and special effects and movements of the models themselves, everything plays smoothly on 30fps.

The Gundam Models are faithfully replicated on the screen in Gundam Breaker 3 which would delight Gundam fans around. Being only vaguely familiar with a few standard Gundam models (who cannot forget Grandpa Gundam RX-78-2, and the iconic Gundam Seed Series, plus the recent slim model Barbatos), there is plenty to discover even if you are not a faithful fan.

Of course, some would not have noticed that they also faithfully replicated the HG, MG and PG size of the Gundam Models to boot! However, these cosmetic details do not “seem odd” when you mix different sized parts together and your mean fighting machine would still look great.

Most of the time you would be upgrading your machine to move better, faster, or generally wreak havoc more efficiently, so there is the hanger part of the game that simulates a 3D view of your currently selected machine, and you have a mini avatar that walks around. However, I face a problem when I am on the parts browsing screen, and sometimes there are graphic glitches on the screen but nothing too severe that hangs the experience.

As long as you love Gundams, there is plenty to see and do in-game. From admiring the individual parts and specs, up to painting them virtually, and posing your model for an in-game photography shoot, this game has the basics right. My only qualm is in Gundam Breaker 3, the photo background and lighting are not something you can adjust on your own as it all has some preset “moods”, which is quite a bummer for those of you who would love to keep a collection of your favorite builds as wallpaper.

Not forgetting the favorable colored Japanese manga cutscenes does add some well-deserved break after a round of blasting and hacking. The simple and straightforward portrayal of characters with the Japanese voiceovers does bring you back the Gundam feels no matter whether you are new to the series or otherwise.

Sound

In Gundam Breaker 3, all voiceovers are in Japanese, despite most of the interface for the Asia Edition being in English. That doesn’t matter as you get subtitles as you watch the cutscenes. The sound of Thrusters on the Gundam backpack with the alert of special enemies landing creates well-deserved excitement from the gameplay perspective and keeps players engaged and on their toes.

Not forgetting that if you are fans of the Gundam Series, there is a special radio part (it’s part of the DLC) that you can use to play the original series theme songs. My personal favorite is Shining Gundam Background Music which is so snazzy and jazzy against a backdrop of so much chaos and explosion happening on screen. It’s a unique experience having watched a couple of episodes of this series before starting this game myself.

One small thing that could potentially irritate you is when Misa accompanies you to the in-game shop and keeps repeating the same sentence again and again if you just go on a shopping spree to buy every single item on the list. Would be a good time to temporarily mute the voiceover to save some sanity juice here 😉.

Summary

The Gundam franchise does have several games in the market, however, many of it is in Japanese. So it was very rare to have English versions available in the western market like Gundam Breaker 3.

Of course, nowadays we have Google Translate to help us do the basic on-screen translations (basically just download the mobile app, select your language and take a photo of your game screen), but having an actual game that has in-game translated text is such a huge boon to western fans.

The premise of the game is simple to understand and it’s just a matter of “pick up and play” compared to the longer length of other titles such as Gundam Dynasty Warriors which requires long hours of grind before you get to unlock “the good stuff”.

Gundam Breaker 3 is definitely a title to pick up and bring for a spin for those who are on the Playstation 4. Although there are newer titles of the same Gundam Breaker series (the latest being Gundam Mobile Breaker) it’s a little too Gatcha for my taste (as with many mobile games nowadays). So if you want a good classic without microtransactions, this is the one to try out.

If you are looking to play the latest Gundam Evolution First Person Shooter (yes the one that everyone is talking about right now in September 2022), it’s out for the PC. I might add the PS4 version is only released on November 30, 2022. So if you do manage to catch other Gundam Titles on discount in the next few months, do check it out.

Buy it from Playstation Store

Watch the Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury Prologue

More Information About Gundam Breaker 3

(This section may contain spoilers, read it at your own risk)

What is the difference between Gundam Breaker 3 and Break Edition?

The Gundam Breaker 3 Break Edition comes with DLCs (each with a mini story on its own, with new parts and builder parts to discover and own). Same as the main game it has 4 levels of difficulty that will definitely test your skills as a Gundam Ace.

Does PS4 have Gundam Breaker 3?

You may purchase the game from here. This includes the DLCs that come with the game in BREAK EDITION.

If you are anywhere in Malaysia, you may be able to purchase a digital / used copy of Gundam Breaker 3 at a much cheaper price through Shopee

If you are looking for a version on the PC, you may try New Gundam Breaker instead.

New Gundam Breaker vs Gundam Breaker 3 Which Is The Better Deal

Fans of the Original Gundam Breaker series find that the new Gundam Breaker has lost its charm by imposing many limits on how you can freely Customize Your Gundam machines. Some even say that the New Gundam Breaker is a step backward as the gameplay speed is also slower than its predecessor.

You cannot upgrade individual parts anymore, all parts have fixed stats and you can’t increase their power levels. Parts do not come with random passives anymore that you can place onto like/same parts. You cannot merge or derive parts anymore either.

In my opinion, most Gundam Game Titles are priced quite expensive over where I am from, and being selective about it just saves much headache and frustration.

Source from Reddit

How Long is Gundam Breaker 3?

According to HowLongToBeat website, takes about 36 hours to complete (main game and including the DLCs that comes with the Break Edition.

What On Earth is “Adjustment Without Parts” in Gundam Breaker 3 English Edition

It’s just a funny “lost in translation” moment in Gundam Breaker 3. Basically, it means “Chance to Break your enemy’s parts during battle”. Can’t blame the translation team as the game’s original language was in Japanese.

What Happens When Your Part Breaks in the Game?

Ever wonder what happens when the head of your machine flew off somewhere else on the screen during a heated battle? Here’s a comprehensive list:

• Head: Your ability to lock on. Any attached Builder Part/Option Weapon will not be usable.
• Left Arm: Shield/Any attached Builder Part/Option Weapon will not be usable.
• Right Arm: Ranged/Melee/Any attached Builder Part/Option Weapon will not be usable.
• Backpack: You will lose your ability to boost unless your body has the ability to boost without a backpack. Also, Any attached Builder Part/Option Weapon will not be usable.
• Legs: You will not be able to move for a set duration of time.
• Body/All Break: You will not be able to move for a set duration of time.

How To Get MG Gundam Breaker 3

Beat the game on Hardcore mode and you’ll notice that part drops will be upgraded to MG for you.

How To Beat EXTREME Mode in Gundam Breaker 3

Since the entire Gundam Breaker 3 gameplay is about breaking other Gundam’s for parts and using them to power up your own, then it would mean that you really should try to hunt for higher-tier parts like Legendary, Optimizer & Mastery Cubes. The break edition comes with additional DLC, so attempting the chapters there would be a great start as it seems to include better part drops (Gundam Barbatos from the Iron Blooded Orphans is very highly sought after since it has the “Avoid Instant Death” ability). I also visited a few forum posts from GameFAQs and they have been helpful in sharing tips on “getting ahead”.

Does Gundam Breaker 3 have Photo Mode?

Yes, Gundam Breaker 3 does have Photo Mode, but not quite what you would expect compared to the modern photo modes that we are blessed with. It’s like a staged photo shoot and not really the type where you can just trigger Photo Mode and move your camera angle to capture the best shots of you wreaking havoc.

I do like the “Gundam Cafe” background as it gives the best neutral lighting compared to the outdoor backgrounds. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a Saturation / Hue adjuster for the backgrounds, so you may need to actually repaint your virtual Gundam in a different color tone / adjust texture to get “the right look / feel”.

Gundam Breaker 3 Max Stats

Here are a few Max Stats for your parts. I broke it down into 3 parts.

1. The Maximum for the Ability itself.

2. If there was an additional Bonus Ability.

3. The Maximum Capacity of the Ability that would show up in the “Total Specification” area of the screen.

• Durability: Max Stat: 1.25 Million (See Durability %) Cap: 2.96Million
• Durability %: Max Stat: 70% (Gained via Cosmetic Builder Parts) (20% Ability Bonus) Cap: 90%
• Boost: Max Stat 50% (10% Ability Bonus) Cap: 180%
• Response: Max Stat: 20% (5% Ability Bonus) Cap: 130%
• Mobility/Movement Speed: Max Stat: 50% (10% Ability Bonus) Cap: 180%
• Thruster: Max Stat 15K (5K Ability Bonus) Cap: 65K
• Parts Out: Max Stat 15% (2% Ability Bonus) Cap: 17%
• Parts Resist: Max Stat 75% (25% Ability Bonus) Cap: 100%
• Physical Resistance: Max Stat 30% (20% Ability Bonus) Cap:95%
• Beam Resistance: Max Stat 30% (20% Ability Bonus) Cap:95%
• Physical Guard: Max Stat 30% (10% Ability Bonus) Cap:95%
• Beam Guard: Max Stat 30% (10% Ability Bonus) Cap: 95%

(Credits To sneak522 Post #12)

How To Build The Epic Suit In Gundam Breaker 3?

Even with the Durability cap at 5m (in total for your suit), Newtype ACEs and bosses can still severely damage if not 1-shot you. Try to obtain the “Avoid Instant Death” and “Effect X: repair” if you want to tackle enemies of this level.

Effect X:-

• Parts break (when you get loot-breaking enemies)
• Enemy kill (pretty straight-forward)
• Attack hit

Auto Repair Per Second: not essential but handy especially when Avoid Instant Death just saved you

I also always have: Damage done when near death (makes me hit harder after boss has almost killed me) Stagger and Knockback ineffective in that time and Become harder to hit.

(Credits To Claudija Post #4)

Tips on Unlocking All Trophies

First off, there are 41 offline trophies for the main game. For each DLC there are an additional 3 each (since there are 6 DLC in this game, which means there are 18 more). So it is quite possible to score a Platinum trophy in this game without going online.

You could follow the guide written by yewjhin on Playstation Trophies to start unlocking them, basically going through all chapters in all difficulties, unlocking EX skills just to name a few. For the DLCs, most of the trophies involve collecting all new builder parts and machine parts, so it could mean a few hours of replay to actually get all of them. Happy hunting!

• Category:Console Gaming
• Tag:PlayStation

Posted by Wycoconut

Join my Gaming Channels for more Awesome Games: Monster Hunter World, Gundam Dynasty Warriors 2, Metal Slug / Super Mario Bros. 2, Torchlight 3. Sometimes a bit of Vintage, Mobile Games, PS3 / PS4 / PC / Wii Titles stashed in deep in the bowels of my gaming chest... All For Good Fun!

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