New Gundam Game Sparks Backlash Over Gap Between Trailer and Demo Footage — 5ch: ‘Doesn’t Feel Like Gundam At All’

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The story

When Bandai Namco released demo footage of its new Gundam action game, reactions poured in on 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (“Geha”) board. The setting is described as taking place 100 years after the events involving the “Alex Zero” unit from the Gundam RG series, with the backstory also detailed on the official site. But a wave of doubts followed over the gap between the previously released trailer and the actual gameplay footage, as well as a combat style centered on melee attacks with almost no beam weapons or other ranged options. Some speculated the game was greenlit in response to the success of FromSoftware’s “Armored Core VI,” with the gap between expectations and the actual content becoming the main point of debate.

What people said

3AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:21
Not the game I saw in the trailer 😭
Just another Bandai Namco action game 😭
4AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:23
If this didn't have "Gundam" in the title, there'd be zero Gundam in it (´・ω・`)
And judging by this footage, it's just a mediocre action game on top of that
42AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:47
Re: #4
Wild that it's called Gundam but the unit you play has zero Gundam-ness to it
54AnonymousSep 9, 2026 21:05
Re: #4
It's rarer for Bandai Namco to NOT make something crappy
5AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:23
Felt like they just wanted to slap the Gundam name on a FromSoft-style game
Why are robots doing melee slash combat anyway? Their joints would break instantly
Why not just shoot beams from a distance?
10AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:26
Re: #5
It's just a generic action game, this has nothing to do with FromSoft…
6AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:24
Why are you fighting mysterious space creatures in a Gundam game?
76AnonymousSep 9, 2026 21:40
Re: #6
Maybe because unlike AGE, this new Gundam is about an actual war against real aliens in space?
9AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:26
This looks like what you'd get if Baldr Force evolved for the worse (note: an obscure 2004 mecha action game)
11AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:27
Isn't this straight-up trailer fraud?
The combat looked so cool in the PV
12AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:27
Unlike the trailer, the actual gameplay screams low-budget (´・ω・`) <the backgrounds look super phoned-in
13AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:28
Turns out it's not a FromSoft-style game at all, verily
14AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:28
The polar opposite of this is the recent Hathaway movie
The robots basically just stand there, thrusters firing for a sluggish burst of speed
They're portrayed purely as weapons platforms firing beams and missiles
15AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:29
Guess this is different from Gundam games up to now
16AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:29
Fighting extraterrestrial life was already done in the 00 movie, but this is a completely different thing
17AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:29
There's probably gonna be a tie-in anime for this too
Feels like they figure slapping 'Gundam' on it guarantees sales
18AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:30
Just watched Zelda footage yesterday so this makes me go 'this is PS5 graphics?'
24AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:34
Re: #18
Bandai Namco blatantly cuts corners on licensed games
Especially IPs that don't sell overseas
And Gundam is a textbook case of an IP that doesn't sell abroad outside of the model kits
19AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:31
Why is it all melee punching
Just fire beams and missiles already
20AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:31
It's like AC but with the weighty feel gone and replaced with clumsy jank
21AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:31
Too realistic in a half-baked way
Way too much unnecessary detail on the mechs
Barely any beam weapons so it doesn't feel like Gundam

Guess that about covers it
Should've just gone with an Extreme Vs.-style look (note: EXVS = the Gundam Extreme Vs. arcade series)
23AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:33
This isn't Gundam…
And wait, are you just gonna keep swinging a sword the whole time…
Somebody during development should've gone 'wait, this feels off'…
25AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:35
Someone said the State of Play trailer would be the peak and it looks like they were dead right
26AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:36
Yeah, this is just typical Bandai Namco action game stuff
27AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:36
> But Helix takes on this monster with close-range weapons. He gets in close and slashes, punches, and stabs. Instead of surrounding it with a squad for concentrated fire, it's an honest one-on-one showdown. Way too manly.
> In the demo you could try three weapon types: the Assault Sword, Sword Lance, and Whip Sword
So it's a garbage one-sided melee-only beatdown game. Sounds like there's no ranged weapons at all lol (´・ω・`)
28AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:36
Re: #24
When FromSoftware released Armored Core VI, various companies started making model kits for it and they sold decently well, so some higher-up probably ordered 'make an AC6-style game using the Gundam IP,' and this is the result
29AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:37
Re: #10
I think the point is 'we wanted FromSoft's sluggish, weighty action but in Gundam form, so how did it end up like this'
30AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:39
If the enemy isn't a giant warship or a mobile suit, there's even less reason for it to be humanoid
32AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:41
Whatever, it's fine I guess, not like I'm buying it
34AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:43
Just bring back Gundam Online already, that'd be enough (note: Mobile Suit Gundam Online, an older MMO)
35AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:43
Looks like a downgraded version of the newer Daemon X Machina
37AnonymousSep 9, 2026 20:46
Why do these games where you just button-mash a high-HP enemy always look so boring?
66AnonymousSep 9, 2026 21:24
Is this set in the G Gundam universe?
70AnonymousSep 9, 2026 21:28
Re: #66
It's a game set 100 years after Gundam RG's Alex Zero

https://gundam-official.com/titles/rg-project/xarx-zero/
78AnonymousSep 9, 2026 21:44
It's a robot but it's all close-quarters combat
No point in it being Gundam
Doesn't even feel large-scale, might as well just make it a human character
83AnonymousSep 9, 2026 21:48
Re: #78
G Gundam… actually had a lot of Mobile Fighters with ranged weapons
Even within the Shuffle Alliance alone, Rose and Maxter were equipped with guns and bit weapons
89AnonymousSep 9, 2026 21:53
I've stopped expecting anything at this point, but I'll never buy tasteless garbage 3D or microtransaction-pushing crap multiplayer games no matter how many they release — just put out a Gihren's Greed definitive edition and go bankrupt already (note: Gihren's Greed, a classic Gundam strategy game series)
92AnonymousSep 9, 2026 21:55
Re: #89
They'll release it as a mobile gacha game, watch
93AnonymousSep 9, 2026 21:56
Re: #83
There were even some characters who turned themselves into projectiles…
96AnonymousSep 9, 2026 21:58
Re: #93
It's baffling how in the 'Chōkyū Haō Den'eidan' attack, the Gundam's face turns into Domon's or Tōhō Fuhai's face

Background and Key Points of the Discussion

This demo footage is presented on the official site as a work set 100 years after the RG series unit setting “Alex Zero,” so it isn’t a one-off rumor. Where opinions in the thread diverged was over how to assess a combat design centered on melee attacks — several commenters speculated it was a project greenlit in response to the success of FromSoftware’s “Armored Core VI,” though this remains speculation and hasn’t been officially confirmed. One easy point to misunderstand is that a gap between trailer footage and in-engine gameplay isn’t unique to this title — it’s a common phenomenon caused by differences between video production and real-time game engine rendering. The near-absence of beam weapons could also reflect a deliberate design choice to emphasize close-range mobile suit combat rather than simple corner-cutting, something that can’t be determined from public information alone.

※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “[Sad News] New Gundam Game Becomes a Hot Topic for Looking Super Boring….”

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