Gundam Rogue Orbit Looks To Do Things “Anime Couldn’t Achieve”

With Gundam Rogue Orbit, Bandai Namco has clearly decided colossal robot fighting suits need a glow-up for a new generation, while also trying very hard to appeal to long-time Gundam fans. For the most part, it works. That's perhaps due to not letting expectations stifle it: The story is new, the gameplay is fresh and dynamic, and even the suits are a little bit special. After my hands-on preview of Gundam Rogue Orbit at Gamescom, I spoke with Yuya Tomiyama and Serizawa Yoshiyuku, both producers on the new game, about where they drew the line between respecting old fans and fearlessly flying into a brand-new Gundam universe. What struck me the most was the emphasis the pair put on how difficult this had been. There were no quick decisions made in this regard, and seemingly no decisions made by people who didn't have a genuine love of Gundam and wanted to pay homage to life-long supporters. In combat, you really feel the scale of these colossal fights. "It was so, so challenging to get to this point," says Tomiyama, "creating an action game and making it a Gundam game was the hardest part to be honest. We had to make it as realistic as possible and we had to create a good experienc…