It’s not just about remastering a game. It’s about whether it was worth remembering in the first place.
As I have said multiple times on the podcast, I am a big Gundam fan but the universe of the giant-mech series is vast and wide. So, I never actually have seen the SEED series, but I am aware of it taking place in what’s known as the ‘Cosmic Era’. But even though I didn’t see the series, I never miss a Gundam video game. So, when Bandai Namco announced Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Battle Destiny Remastered was finally coming to PC with enhanced visuals, updated controls, and English localization, I knew I had to dive in.
Let’s be clear: this is a remaster, not a remake. Battle Destiny first launched on the PS Vita in Japan back in 2012, and it shows. The visuals have gotten a clean, if slightly sterile, HD polish. Character portraits and mobile suit models have been touched up, but the environments, well they are still bland, low-poly affairs with flat textures haven’t aged as gracefully. It’s a bit like watching your favorite childhood anime in 1080p: you see both the charm and the seams.
MSRP: $39.99
Platforms: PC (reviewed), Switch
Price I’d Pay: $39.99
Where the game shines is in its fanservice. The roster is stacked, boasting over 100 mobile suits from the SEED universe, including grunt-tier Moebius units, iconic mainline Gundams like the Strike and Freedom, and obscure side-story machines that make the hardcore wiki-scrollers giddy. The game lets you chart your own career across multiple branching scenarios, some retelling canon events, others offering “what-if” timelines that let you betray your faction or switch allegiances mid-battle. For a fan, this is gold.
Unfortunately, Battle Destiny never quite figures out how to make its ambition feel good in your hands. The remastered controls are better than the Vita’s cramped touchpad I am almost certain; keyboard and mouse support is welcome, and gamepad play feels adequate but if I am honest the core gameplay is still clunky. Boosting, aiming, and melee attacking all feel like they’re operating on a one-second delay. There’s a rhythm to it, sure, but it’s a rhythm that feels more like trying to dance in a space suit.
Combat is 3D arena-based, similar to the Gundam Vs. series, but less fluid. Enemies frequently move like they’re on rails, and targeting can be a nightmare in tight dogfights. If you’re coming from Gundam Evolution or even Gundam Breaker 4, you’ll feel like you’ve stepped into a simulator rather than an action game. Still, the customization runs deep. You can tweak pilot stats, upgrade suits, and unlock different loadouts, and the RPG-lite mechanics give the campaign surprising legs but that’s assuming you can stomach the repetition. Missions tend to boil down to “kill X enemies in Y minutes,” with minimal variation. There’s an earnestness to Battle Destiny that’s hard to hate. It’s trying. Really trying. The Japanese voice cast returns in full force (no English dub, which will sting for some, me included), and the menus are slick in that “mid-2000s techno-future” way anime fans will recognize instantly.
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Battle Destiny Remastered is a weird product. It’s not the best Gundam game on PC (that’s still probably Gundam Breaker 3, if I’m being honest), nor is it the most accessible. But for SEED fans, especially those who remember poring over the original’s menus with a translation guide in hand, this remaster is a nostalgic gift. For everyone else? It’s an old warhorse with a new coat of paint and a reminder that sometimes, the past is best visited with tempered expectations.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
