QCF: Volta-X (Steam)

hen I first viewed Volta-X, I was drawn in by the art style; a blending of giant robot battles mashed together with Japanese monster movies and Saturday morning cartoons. But once I started playing the release from GungHo Online Entertainment America, I felt that the game was difficult to understand, and even harder to define. After my twenty plus hour initial playthrough of the game I can say that I still can’t quite define what it is, and unfortunately with a lack of community to battle and a UI that leaves plenty to desire, that may keep other players away from what could be a fantastic, albeit grindy RTS / RPG hybrid.

Recruiting crew members will unlock new abilities and side missions

The game begins with your character, Woods being thrown into piloting a giant robot and participating in a bot-battling league in an alternative universe set in the 1930’s. Woods is special, and perhaps destined to be a great pilot but must first prove himself by recruiting crew members to his team and upgrading their technology and weapons. The game describes itself as a Real Time Strategy game, and I can partially understand that due to the multiple tasks that need to be performed on the fly. I struggled through the first few hours, trying to understand how battles were paced and how to counter attacks and recover from damage. All these tasks need to be accomplished on the fly and having the wrong build or lack of attacking and defensive power can sway the course of battle quickly. You chose a robot to start, with the ability to unlock and build other bots by completing battles. I went with Raiden which was a mix of the Warrior and Tank builds, with the ability to hold more weapons than any other robot in the game. League battles are accessible soon after starting the story missions and is cross play with the Switch player base if you can find another player to compete against. More on that later, though.

Equip the right weapons to counter attacks and unleash on opponents

I primarily focused on the story missions where you learn about the history of the main character Woods, an orphan from an early age whose family may have history in the World Volta Association of which he is now a member of. Woods also has something special about him that gives him an edge in battle and soon shows up on the radar of other pilots in the league as well as a villain who is intent on bringing alien monsters to Earth to wipe out the human race. At points during gameplay, playing and increasing your league ranking is necessary to progress the story. This can be done with PVP online or against the AI. Sadly, each match I attempted online was unanswered, and each match was against an AI enemy with the difficulty set to hard. I am not sure if this was due to a lack of interest in playing the game online or if there are issues with cross play and online play. But this title really markets itself as a games-as-service title, and for any kind of longevity there needs to be a base of players to support it. There is a clan feature, but because of the reasons listed previously I simply avoided this. Playing against the AI will only take the experience so far. There are weekend events to unlock costumes for crew members to persuade players to compete in league matches if that is your thing.

The style and look of the game is one of the game's strengths

As the story progresses, crew members are recruited and added to the roster, each with their own abilities and special traits. Separate side missions are also obtainable as the relationship between Woods and the specific crew member improves that will give access to currency in game to use for upgrades to the headquarters. This aspect of the game mostly closely resembles something like Fallout Shelter. Rooms are created for crew members to rest, eat and relax. There are separate areas to develop weapons, improve your robot and create new offensives. The game does not do a great job in explaining all the various upgrades needed to improve the headquarters, which is an important part in unlocking new weapons and affects crew member’s moods. The menus are difficult to navigate as well and trying to manage each crew member and where they are working or what weapons they are building is a chore. I did not even know there was a separate menu to distribute ability points to each crew member until I had almost finished the main story, almost twenty hours of gameplay.

The Battle System requires attention and strategy to survive

The only saving grace of the game, and where I believe the title shines is in the battle system. Utilizing various weapons to inflict damage on robot and monster alike has a flow to it that is frantic and satisfying when it works, and disappointing when it does not. The battle is happening with no breaks or stops, and crew members must not only try to repair parts of the robot and put out fires but also will have to avoid being targeted by attacks such as electricity, hooks and radar. It is a lot to keep track of and if a player goes into a battle without a game plan or a strategy will suffer a quick loss. Keeping crew members on their toes to dodge attacks, increase the attack power of various weapons and utilizing abilities to increase defense is the key to victory. There are dozens of combinations to experiment with, and each robot has their own strengths and weaknesses as well. All of this truly creates memorable action that does the mecha vs. monster gameplay justice.

Keeping crewmembers happy and active is important for upgrades and improvements

Volta-X has the look and the action to really shine and plays well on almost any PC configuration and is also available on Switch. Unfortunately, with a lack of any intuitive navigation and no real community to keep it afloat, I fear that this game may go under the radar for most players. Perhaps with some future support and surge in a player base will allow for battles to continue for a long time. But without this in place, this giant may very well fall apart before it has the chance to show its true strength.