Acting You Way to Victory: An Alice Gear Aegis CS: Concerto of Simulatrix Review

By Al

Players: 1-6 (Local & Online)
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5

We're no strangers to fighting games that have an anime art style here at A-to-J, but Alice Gear Aegis CS: Concerto of Simulatrix is quite a bit different from what probably pops into your head when you think of that genre. Alice Gear Aegis CS: Concerto of Simulatrix (hereafter simply referred to as "Alice Gear Aegis") is an arena fighting game that released on the Nintendo Switch, PS4, and PS5 last year. It's the first console release in a series of games that originated on mobile platforms. Hearing "mobile" anything will definitely put off a lot of people right away, but we're going to put that aside and take a look at the Nintendo Switch version today. This is going to be quite the ride, so let's get right into it!

Quite the large cast of Actresses.

This is all the story you need!

Alice Gear Aegis has one of the wildest stories I've heard in a long while. At some point in the future, Earth is invaded by an alien species known as The Vice. The conflict that followed caused humanity to flee Earth via "Shards" left from the destruction of the moon. Centuries later humanity has developed weapons known as "Alice Gear", and are now able to hold their own against The Vice. These gears need people to man them, but they can only be operated by young women who have a latent ability that is needed to use them effectively. These young women are known as "Actresses". Actresses are more than just frontline fighters though, they also represent something akin to celebrities to the people of The Shards. While I can't say for sure what happened to The Vice (I swear the game just stopped mentioning them), the manufacturers behind the Alice Gear have decided to hold a tournament to find a spokesperson for their products. You play as a new employee of a small Actress agency called Narukozaka Manufacturing. Even though Earth is a distant memory, The Shards have largely come to represent places that existed on it centuries before. The Shard the game takes place in is modeled after our present-day Tokyo (convenient!), and it's your job to see your client through the tournament. Your client of course being the Actress you pick in the game's Story Mode. There are 24 Actresses in game, and they all have their own reasons for being a part of the game's central tournament. Honestly, this set-up can be largely ignored, and it's mentioned very little in-game beyond the intro to the Story Mode. Seeing as the individual interactions between the Actresses is what you'll see the most of here, I can't help but wish that the game chose to focus on its characters rather than a convoluted set-up. I kept expecting the Story Mode to take a twist, and The Vice to start an attack or something, but we get none of that here. Maybe that tale is covered in one of the mobile games, or maybe The Vice are all long dead. While I don't know much about any of that, I guess I'll do what this game did and just ignore it and move on.

Damn, that's a big gun!

Just keep shooting.

It's been a while since I've played a 3D fighting game, so while I don't have a lot of recent examples to compare it to, I found that I really enjoyed Alice Gear Aegis' take on the genre. Battles can take place as 1v1, 3v3, or even a 6-person Battle Royale. The latter two have a few additional gameplay elements that make them unique, but they all play relatively similar enough to each other that most of what I'm going to say applies across the board. Each battle takes place in a large arena, with some of them having stage hazards that can be used to block enemy attacks. You're able to move freely around the field in just about any direction, but actually moving directly towards your opponent is a little tricky. That might sound counterintuitive, but it's because most of the combat is meant to take place long range. There are melee attacks you can perform, but you'll largely be using the gun in your hands to be doing a lot of the fighting. The gun you have changes depending on the Actress you're using, but you can eventually equip everyone with any weapon in the game. Each weapon has their own fire rate, damage output, ammo, accuracy, and reload time. Though this might sound a little complicated right off the bat, the weapon varieties follow all the rules that you'd expect, such as the fastest weapons being the weakest, the strongest being the slowest, and so on. You also have gears equipped to each of your legs, and these are always more powerful attacks that have a longer cooldown time. The only other form of normal attack worth discussing here is the aforementioned melee attacks, and these have can be light to heavy as well in terms of speed and damage. Performing a melee attack obviously means you'll have to be face-to-face with your opponent, so part of the lead up to the attack is flying directly into the threat range of the opposing Actress. This creates a sort of risk/reward scenario as melee attacks are often far easier to land, and can be linked together into a small combo. That's about all there is worth mentioning for offensive moves, but there's a lot more to discuss as far as the combat is concerned.

Each Actress has a bar that represents your HP. HP values vary between Actresses, and they can be adjusted slightly by equipping skill modules. No matter the amount of HP though, losing it all means a battle is lost. You can hold off attacks by dodging, which uses up a meter so you can't do it indefinitely, and by blocking with a shield. The shield will be your best friend if used correctly, but you can't rely on it too much as it can be broken by strong or repeated attacks. Some attacks can even leave you stunned, but weirdly this can't be taken advantage of as stunned Actresses are rendered temporarily invincible. Managing an Actresses HP works a little differently if you're fighting team-vs-team as you can actually recover a small amount of damage by cycling in another team member. Team battles are also the place where you'll most likely to use your special meter, as you can use a small amount of it to call in a team assist. This same meter is also used to perform a special move that different for each Actress. These are often very powerful attacks, but others do things like make you invincible, allow you to instantly break shields, and other specific things like that. I didn't mention it earlier since I wanted to cover it along with the team mechanics, but these specials can also be used in solo matches. In my experience though, few solo matches last long enough for the meter to reach its peak. The only other thing that makes team battles different is that all Actresses must be defeated to win. Though it's unlikely, you can pull off a 1v3 win in the eleventh hour if you're lucky or skilled. And just to be thorough before we wrap up combat, Battle Royale plays the same as all other modes, but it's each Actress for themselves, even if they're facing off against former team members. The only unique mechanic to be found in Battle Royale is one that allows you to switch the opponent you're currently targeting. And that's about it as far as fighting mechanics go. It's a pretty simple system to learn, but it has enough depth that it can take quite a while to master.

Some melee action.

The Story Mode's tournament board.

Most of the game modes in Alice Gear Aegis revolve around straightforward combat, either local or online. By that I mean you'll mostly be performing a lot of individual fights in a perpetual loop of exhibition matches. If you want to know what the game is really about, you're going to have to hit up the Story Mode. This mode sees you pick a single Actress and see her through the tournament. It's also the only time where you'll realize that you're supposed to be playing an actual role in the story yourself, as the Actress you pick will speak directly to you at certain points. Even though you're only picking a single girl, you actually get to play with the team that she's a part of. Each Actress' Story Mode has visual novel-style cutscenes that explain their backstories and reasons for becoming an Actress. Though they're quite the varied lot, don't expect any masterful storytelling here. Still, I have to give the game credit for essentially creating 24 full stories. Though you'll still be doing a lot of fighting in Story Mode, you progress through the tournament on a board game-style map. Each space on the map represents a battle, an item pickup, or a teleporter. Item pickups are self-explanatory, teleporters allow you to explore off the main path while still being able to return for key battles, and battles can either be solo or team. Though all the story-related tournament battles will be done by your entire team, the vast majority will be solo battles. This actually makes Story Mode somewhat more challenging as some fight pairings can feel almost one-sided. It was in this mode that I realized that much of the game operated on a sort of rock-paper-scissors type mechanic, and you lose the ability to match types in solo fights. Though there's a lot of extra fluff along the way, all you really have to do in Story Mode is win every fight. Though winning them all is a must, there are only three fights that have story bits attached to them. That means that this tournament basically consists of the Preliminaries, the Semi-Finals, and the Finals. Pretty simple stuff, and you can get a lot of rewards for playing this mode. What rewards you ask? Well, let's talk about that next.

Customization is the name of the game in Alice Gear Aegis, and you're able to change just about every aspect of each Actress. You're able to change their gear, their weapons, and even add some skill modules that alter their stats. This is probably too complicated to explain in a review, so suffice it to say that you're able to create a very powerful team once you understand what gear/weapon types work best together. When I said you could customize just about every aspect of an Actress, I meant it, as you can change their clothes and accessories to your heart's content. You can put them all in maid outfits, swimsuits, or even bunny ears, the possibilities are (somewhat) endless. All of these items are purchased with credits that you get for completing matches. You can also get some of the items for free in the Story Mode, as that's what the item spaces I mentioned earlier are for. It is an odd system though, as you're required to purchase most of the items individually for each girl. This isn't the case for all things like gears and skill modules, but expect to spend a lot of time amassing enough money to buy outfits for each and every girl. What's interesting is that the changes you make to each girl stay throughout all the offline game modes. This means that if you customize each and every Actress, you'll face them in combat in whatever costume/accessory combo you made for them. A very neat mechanic, even if it can be a little pointless. Unfortunately cosmetic changes don't affect the Story Mode's cutscenes, but I guess that might be asking for a bit too much. Though a side thing for sure, unlocking all the customization options is essentially the only real "goal" in the game.

Fully customized!

Touka's special move in action.

I guess it's time to move on and talk about the game's visuals for a bit. The fact that Alice Gear Aegis started life as a mobile game was very apparent as soon as I started playing the game. Though I'm mainly talking about the casual-friendly gameplay mechanics, I also mean the simplistic nature of the graphics and menus. I don't want to make it sound like this game is particularly ugly or anything, but it has a generic-ness that can't be overlooked. I mentioned earlier that the Story Mode didn't offer anything too deep, and part of that is because most of the characters follow very standardized character tropes. There's an idol, a delinquent, a gyaru, a country girl, and so on. These aren't just things you have to discover in the Story Mode either, I had most of their characteristics down simply by looking at them. I say that, but it might actually be hard to tell the Actresses apart in their default forms as they all look rather similar to each other beyond their hair color. This extends into the gears they're equipped with too, as they pretty much look the same across all 24 girls. It gets even worse once you realize that you always seem to fighting in the same arenas over and over again. There are actually only 10 arenas in the entire game, and some of them are variants of each other. I actually assumed I was missing something in my first few hours with the game, but nope, the game is just that limited. Thankfully the graphics are saved by things like the decently animated cutscenes, the sheer amount of character customization, and the fact that the game runs silky smooth no matter what nonsense is happening on screen. I just wish that the game offered a more visually appealing experience. These girls definitely deserve it. 

I initially was going to say that I felt the same way about the music as I did about the graphics, but I actually grew to appreciate the music the more I played the game. I use a term called "visual novel music" a lot when I review games of that genre, and much of the music here feels like it's ripped directly from an upbeat visual novel. This isn't a bad thing at all mind you, it's just a style of music that works for what it is. This means the soundtrack is largely inoffensive and settles nicely in the background where it doesn't bother anyone. Alice Gear Aegis may not have a soundtrack where you'll be remember tracks long after you're done with the game, but there also won't be any parts of it that make you reach for the mute button. Rounding out the audio experience is the game's voice acting, and it's here where I think the real magic lies. Just about every part of the game is voiced, and each role is played so perfectly that I almost feel bad for implying that the characters were rather generic earlier. If you're looking for a dub though, you won't find it here. There's only a Japanese-language option, but I wouldn't give up this cast for the world, as they all fit their characters perfectly. I guess this all boils down to me having to say that I feel that music and sound are arguably the best aspects of this game, even if I don't have a lot of things specifically to rave about.

I actually found matches online.

Sounds a little sus...

This is the part of the review where I talk about game content, replayability, and how all that compares to cost. I originally wanted to open this section by saying that the game offers a rather hollow experience that is only kept alive by the various versus modes on offer. That changed when as I played through more and more of the game's Story Modes. The sheer amount to see and do here is insane for those only wanting to play the single player offerings, and that gets multiplied by a 100 once you take on other opponents in-game. I actually was surprised that I was able to find a few matches online, as I assumed this would be a game where I'd have to hunt down other owners of the game and schedule a match. I got absolutely trashed in the handful of online matches I took on, but it was fun playing a game like this against human opponents. I also tried local multiplayer with some friends and can report that it plays just as well as online mode, but with the added bonus of making the wins/losses personal. Since every girl falls into what is essentially an anime trope, you can have the true "Battle of The Anime Waifus" contest weebs everywhere want. Jokes and hyperbole aside, its current $29.99 price tag is the perfect price point for the amount of content you get here. I have to knock a small point off because there is some over-priced DLC available that only offers a handful of new costumes, but I guess you don't have to get it if you don't want. That said, I have to admit that there's a very good chance I'm going to grab that DLC at some point down the line just because I'm digging this game so much.

Touka convinced me to get the DLC!

Always be winning!

If you're a fan of anime, fighting games, or even multiplayer party games, then picking up Alice Gear Aegis CS: Concerto of Simulatrix is practically a must-do. Even casual players, or those who are looking to get their next visual novel fix, will likely find something to enjoy here. It does have a few presentation issues, and its roots as a mobile game are readily apparent, but it's also lots of fun to play, and that's most important at the end of the day. Pick it up now, and be sure thank me by challenging me to a match online! I'll be waiting with my favorite idol, Touka!

Check Out Alice Gear Aegis CS: Concerto of Simulatrix on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/alice-gear-aegis-cs-concerto-of-simulatrix-switch/

---

Story: B+
Gameplay: B
Graphics: B
Music/Sound: A
Value: A-

Overall: A

Pros:
+ A fun arena fighting game that has a variety of multiplayer options.
+ Lots of customization for each of the characters that affect both cosmetics and gameplay.
+ The Story Mode really does flesh out of the characters in the game.
+ The sheer amount of characters mean that most players will find ones that suit them best.

Cons:
- I was not at all surprised to learn that this originated as a mobile game.
- While the Story Mode does flesh out each of the characters, it does not do the same for the game's world itself.
- The loop of unlocking customization options can feel very repetitive after a while.
- There really isn't a lot of content here to keep anyone to keep people playing once they've tried their hand in all the game modes.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

---

It really is!

#AliceGearAegisCS