If you’re a person who likes to do the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over and then do the same thing over and over again a multitude of times without having much of a story to back it all up, Dynasty Warriors: GUNDAM 3 might just be the game for you. This licensed button-masher brings together quite a few characters from a handful of GUNDAM series’ and crams them all together in more than a couple variations of the same aforementioned weak story.

The accessibility of the title is as allover as the game itself which isn’t all that surprising. The game does hit a lot of its targets; covering all three areas of accessibility pretty well and stumbling at just about every chance it gets, this is an interesting game to look at from the standpoint of an accessibility game reviewer.

To start, DW: G3 is without question most going to be most accessible for those with hearing impairments as there is very little that happens over the course of the game without accompanied subtitles, though it will sporadically seem as though somebody just forgot to add them to certain scenes throughout the game, but in the grand scheme of things, that didn’t seem all that bothersome because the game’s dialogue is pretty predictable.

Dialogue in the game is handled a few different ways; of course one of these ways is the standard white font surrounded by a black outline taking place on whatever background it ends up on, the positive aspect to this scheme, as it is with all variations of dialogue throughout the game are it’s somewhat large fonts.

The second structure dialogue occurs on throughout the game is a similarly sized white font with a black outline occurring on a colored background at the bottom of the screen with the speaking characters face appearing alongside it to indicate who is speaking.

The final dialogue appearing in the game is through the game’s messaging interface which supports a black font on a white background that features both the character’s likeness to convey emotion and name informing the player who is speaking and going one step further by letting the player click through at their leisure. This is a good thing and a bad thing as it very much caters to the hearing impaired and slower readers, although it does leave a lot off the table for those that might not enjoy silence or not being able to skip these parts of the story.

Another feature which may greatly benefit those with hearing disabilities is that nothing happens throughout the game which is not visually represented; an ally’s Mobile Suit might be destroyed on the other side of the map and a crawler will be seen at the bottom of the screen to let players know who was destroyed. The map, which is color-coded at the right side of the screen shows who is in control of which fields, but as with all mini-maps, it could be better.

Of course the meaning of “could be better” is could be more easily seen; icons appearing on it are a little small, but aside from that, color is not an issue.

The HUD is very visible and easily seen, and as long as the player is aware of all of its features, no problems should be encountered.

Visually, the only problem players will encounter is a bad camera positioning. The third-person/chase type camera is okay for the most part, but at times will unnecessarily zoom in or find itself lost in the corner of a field which has the potential to be costly. This is not a game-breaking flaw so much as a mosquito in the grand scheme of the game.

The mobility of this game is questionable at best; there is no map of the control scheme meaning remapping is not possible. The game is a button-masher and at times timed button-mashing sequences are triggered, though these are timed to favor the player and are not game ending events. One-handed players won’t have the easiest time playing with the stock console controller. It just won’t be the most mobile of games.

At a glance

Mobility:
~this game is a button-masher. (-1 point)
~Timed button-mashing in sequence occurs every so often (Y >A > B >X). (-1 point)
~Control scheme is not remap-able. (-1 point)
~One-handed players will need assistive technology to play this game. (-1 point)
~Players will not be able to finish the game without completing each level in the game (though players will probably get bored with the game far sooner than they will even think about finishing the game). (-1 point)
Recommended score of 5 out of 10

Visual;
~The game is very visible, though the camera used throughout the entire game is in a less than optimal position, and does some weird things like zooming in at bad times. (-1 point)
~Some places where there is dialogue there isn’t any sound which is inconsistent and a bit inconveniently long too often which may cause the player to give up on the story. (-0.5 point)
~Subtitles and dialogue boxes are easily read.
Recommended score of 8.5 out of 10

Hearing;
~nothing happens in the game – the whole game, that isn’t visually represented.
~Some cut-scenes which feature dialogue are not subtitled and it seems like someone just forgot to put them in even though the game is for the most part pretty well subtitled. (-0.5 point for not subtitling every cut-scene)
~Subtitles follow one of two schemes in-game: largish white font with a black outline just floating on the background, or a largish white font surrounded by a black outline on a dedicated colored background which includes the spear’s photo to indicate who is speaking. (-0.5 point for not having dedicated backgrounds for all subtitles)
~Dialogue boxes in the message center are done with a largish black font on a white background accompanied by speaker’s name and picture indicating how that character is emoting.
Recommended score of 9 out of 10