Bravemech: The Century War

A century-long conflict gives this 2D mech RPG more weight than a string of disconnected sorties. Bravemech: The Century War casts you as the commander of a warship caught between the Star Alliance and Trinity Empire, while also making you the squad’s most capable frontline pilot. Its anime-styled side-view battles channel the energy of classic mecha series, balancing heroic beam weapons and transforming machines with a surprisingly involved war-management layer. The tone shifts smoothly between arcade-action spectacle, bridge-level decision-making, and a character-driven military saga that spans generations.

Real-time combat has you boost through space or skim across planetary battlefields, firing guns and missiles, swinging through a short melee chain, charging beam attacks, and managing heat while shields absorb incoming pressure. Damage and ammunition matter, but a mid-battle return to the carrier can repair and restock your machine, making positioning around the mothership an important tactical concern. Before missions, you can personally deploy or issue commands from the bridge, directing AI squads to attack, defend, dock, regroup, or hold formation while the carrier joins the fight. Between engagements, the sector map advances week by week as you assign officers to patrols, training, salvage, and trade, navigate shifting political relationships, and select weapons built around meaningful trade-offs rather than simple stat upgrades.

The standout idea is its generational campaign: commanders eventually age out, retire, or die, passing the ship and war effort to a successor while former leaders can remain in the roster as pilots. Two faction campaigns, multiple conclusions, a large voiced cast, 99 animated mechs, and a separate roguelite-style Pilot Campaign give the package considerable replay value. Local split-screen supports up to four players for campaign missions and versus battles, though online co-op and online competitive play remain planned rather than available during Early Access. Fans of Super Robot Wars-style strategy, Gundam-flavored action, and old-school 2D mech combat should find plenty to like, while newcomers can use Auto-play and a forgiving Normal mode before testing the harsher Hardcore rules.