This PS5 Mech RPG Looks Phenomenal, So Why Does It Feel Empty?
The world of tactical mech warfare fires up with the explosive, retro energy of a classic 2000s shonen anime. You command a full mercenary squad from your high-flying airship, soaring over a machine-ruled wasteland to salvage scraps, take contracts, and engage in cinematic turn-based grid battles. Every scrap matters, and every choice leaves a deep mark on your crew as you balance pilot fatigue, mounting wages, and permanent Iron Man stakes. It grabs you instantly with its high-velocity aesthetic flair, but the dazzling presentation quickly hides a hollow space where the beating heart of a great RPG should be.
[Specs] [Gameplay] [Performance] [Settings]
Nitro Gen Omega PS5 Review
- Developer: DESTINYbit
- Publisher: DESTINYbit / Beep Japan Inc.
- Official Store Link: PlayStation Store UK
- Graphics Style: Awesome Anime graphics.
- Download Size: 2.43GB download size.
- Trophy Support: Platinum trophy with 32 trophies.
Nitro Gen Omega PS5 Review
Getting in and learning the game isn’t hard; it’s surprisingly easy, but it’s just flat; it doesn’t feel that immersive, and the atmosphere is just not there. You begin with a handy tutorial section and receive ongoing pop-ups, though you can skip the tutorial if you wish. When starting a new game, you name your team and can then generate a team of pilots; you can use custom ones and regenerate pilots. There is a deep character creator where you can change name, last name, nickname, date of birth, blood type, attitude, portrait pose, then it’s sliders for everything from chin size to elbows to breast size, then you can choose colours. Once you hit the skies, the overworld is you in your ship flying around, and you can click to fight and land in settlements, etc. All encounters will give a splash screen showing details and encounter difficulty. You can visit settlements, and there are shops, garages, etc., and you can buy and sell items, while pilots can be dismissed and recruited, so you’re not always going to stay with the same team.
The core tactical loop relies on heavy resource and team management. The mech needs a full team in order to operate at full capacity, and each gun or ability needs power. When in combat, the battle area is split into zones, so you have to make sure a pilot is in the right zone in order to do an attack. This is mostly for melee. All combat is turn-based; every pilot gets to do one action, and then the enemy does. When placing pilot turns and actions, you can change their priority of them and the order of them on the turn bar at the bottom. When it plays out, it’s very action-camera-based and looks like an Anime; it just falls flat as it feels like it’s missing the audio, which it is. You are just pressing buttons with a soundtrack playing; there is no character or pull because of a huge letdown with no voice work in-game for all the conversations and characters during in-game cutscenes and character interactions. You can click through and speed up animations and combat turns, and the end of combat shows any loot found.
The strategy extends right back onto your airship base, where mood and fatigue are in the game and need to be managed. Low mood can risk a pilot leaving, and low morale and fatigue can risk crises and breakdowns. Activities can be done on your ship, and you earn activity coupons to spend on pilots. These activities can give EXP, reduce fatigue, improve mood, or form bonds. Wages are a thing you also need to keep an eye on: earn money fine, but you have a countdown to when you have to pay your pilots, and each one has different costs, and it mostly depends on their ranks in each of the stats. Mechs and ships can be painted and customised, along with setting the loadout, and you use scraps that you find in the world and from fights to repair pilots and their ships when needed.
Nitro Gen Omega PS5 Review: Performance & Fidelity
- Visual Polish: There is no doubt here, the game is stylish and looks really good in every aspect.
- User Interface: The menus are fantastic and high-res, flashy ones; they do look cool.
- Audio Atmosphere: Massive atmospheric letdown with absolutely no voice work for character dialogue, leaving action scenes completely flat and missing critical audio engagement.
- Save System: Offers standard save when you want from the pause menu, alongside a dedicated Ironman mode where every decision is permanent, and you cannot save when you want.
Settings, Customisation & Control Details
- Audio Sliders: Game settings are just audio sliders. Nothing else, and not great.
- Control Limitations: You cannot remap the controls or even invert the axis, and, given that you are flying around, this could be bad for some players.
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Nitro Gen Omega Review
Summary
GOOD STUFF
There is no doubt here, the game is stylish and looks really good in every aspect, treating players to awesome anime graphics and menus that are fantastic, high-res, flashy ones that look incredibly cool. Getting into and learning the tactical loop isn’t hard; it’s surprisingly easy, giving you a comprehensive character creator where you can change your name, last name, nickname, birth details, blood type, attitude, pose, and tweak sliders for everything from chin size to elbows and breast size. The level of mechanical depth with crew management is solid, featuring customisable mechs, painted ships, pilot recruitment, unique ship activities utilising earned coupons to manage fatigue or form bonds, an overworld map to fly around, a dedicated 32-trophy list with a shiny platinum trophy to chase, and the flexibility of standard pause saves alongside a high-stakes ironman mode.
BAD STUFF
The entire experience hits a huge letdown with absolutely no voice work in the game for all the conversations and characters, causing the action-camera combat sequences to fall completely flat because they feel like they are missing vital audio, turning the atmosphere nonexistent while leaving you just pressing buttons to a lone soundtrack. The general game settings are incredibly barebones, serving up just basic audio sliders and nothing else, which is not great at all. On top of that, accessibility is severely lacking since you cannot remap the controls or even invert the axis, and, given that you are constantly flying your ship around the overworld map, this missing option is going to feel downright terrible for certain players trying to navigate the sky.
FINAL VERDICT
Nitro Gen Omega delivers eye-catching class in visual flair that, unfortunately, completely forgets to bring its voice along for the ride. It is an incredibly easy game to pick up with highly rewarding squad customisation and sleek, high-res menus that look outstanding on the console. However, the total absence of character voice acting hollows out the entire world, draining away the immersion until you feel like you are mindlessly tapping buttons in a silent room. It stands as a beautiful, mechanical anime shell that leaves you desperately wishing it had the internal roar to match its gorgeous metallic coat.
