Steambot Chronicles: Battle Tournament Game Sample - PSP

"Hey! That guy's playin' Steambot Chronicles!" This game always did make me chuckle... well, maybe not this game, but it's older sibling, "Steambot Chronicles" for the PS2 did. Before I even talk about this game specifically, I should say if you haven't played any of the Steambot titles, play this first as you don't need to understand the original to play this one (there are a scant few references to the original for fans though) and it's essentially a simplified version of the PS2 game, which is fine I suppose as it IS a portable game. It has a little bit of what you'd expect from the bigger and better game and is streamlined with the PSP's specs in mind. If you like what you see here, then by all means, hunt down the PS2 game as it has a wealth of additional content (bigger locales, more items, character customization, choices have more of an impact, etc.). Only play the extremely loose spin-off, "Blokus Portable: Steambot Championship", if you must play every title related to the franchise (or just love Blokus in general). That being said...
"Steambot Chronicles: Battle Tournament" was released a few years after the PS2 game. Developed (in part) by Irem and published outside Japan by Atlus in 2008/2009, it is a "Sandbox Action Game" with customizable robots and a smidge of adventure where you need fuel to get around. What people don't generally know is that it's also one of the hidden "Hit Maker" titles (yes, the one's who did Blade Dancer, Dragoneer's Aria, etc.). The game involves the player (either a male or female) who is heading to the scenic area, Orion City. You are the descendant of a legendary Bumpy Trotmobile rider, a bipedal machine utilized for a variety of tasks such as manual labor, transportation, combat, etc., which have become a staple for everyday life, and you've just gotten off the boat to partake in Orion City's prestigious Trotmobile tournament. As if destiny was calling, you run into a girl in need named Venus, a talented mechanic, who decides to work with you after you save her from a silly thug, and the two of you work together to rise up the ranks and get much fame and fortune. There is a TINY bit of story beyond that with a couple of minor "twists" (barely... they are HEAVILY foreshadowed), but the game is banking on your desire to complete missions to learn more about the setting and various supporting characters who inhabit the city.
The game's mileage varies heavily. I guess I'll just point out the game's two biggest flaws right now: it's extremely easy and it CAN BE very short... it all depends on what you wanna get out of the game. The game starts off with you needing to complete missions to gain money and "fame" which are simple and repetitive and are needed to enter different ranks in the tournament, but you amass way more fame than you'll ever need and can easily get enough to get to the top S rank tier while you're still doing C rank missions (you start at "D" rank), allowing you to beat the game in two or three hours if you really wanted. Of course, this means you'll miss out on some backstory, lore, and a few cool items, but you don't need any of the other missions or cash for parts to beat the game. Enemy A.I. is a joke (blocking and jumping are your friends) and if you wear two maces or claws (weapons that allow you to execute a special combo), upgrade their attack and durability decently, and get the cheapest legs (hopper) and max out the jump stat, you can clear any mission or tournament battle.
The reason is because of a couple exploits. The first is the "dashing float". When you're in town, you can run around pretty fast in your trot, but when you're out in a field, you move slowly (unless you have a certain pair of legs). However, you can circumvent this by dashing first and quickly jumping, where you cover way more ground and maintain dash speed. If you have a high jump stat, you can further prolong this by holding the jump button, which causes you to float down instead of immediately falling. The second is the "super dash". If you press jump and dash at the SAME time, you will do an invulnerable dash that takes quite a bit of fuel, but can break through enemy attacks. You can spam this in the tournament to make short work of your enemy without the invulnerable attack (which depletes health... you don't want that).
If you take the time to thoroughly explore and do every mission, the game can be cleared in under fifteen hours. The main diversion from combat and customization is collecting emblems that almost no one will see, but a few of them are cool (Gen-san, R-Type, Atlus logo, etc.). Also to the game's credit, the audio / visuals are pretty good. This video shows a few things, but I also added a segment of the "Drag Queen" mission as it's mainly spoken of in legends and people have wondered if it really exists (it makes you wonder if the two characters are actually one). I'm also uploading the final battle and three endings while I'm at it. Enjoy.

[@ghostghost514]

I'll put it on the list. It grabbed my attention.

[@verlene10]

Dam I remember I used to play this game so much back on my psp my god

[@siveon298]

I always loved this game for the very fun writing. Also the robots are cool.

[@Vysethedetermined2]

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[@SMOKEY_KUN_420]

I want that Steambot Chronicles 2 beta 😭 at least