This was pretty much a blind buy for me. I've never played any Gundam games or watched the show. But I saw it for cheap and decided, what the hell, I'd give it a shot.
So, after playing for about four hours. I can say with great certainty that this is a solid game. I'm not really sure why it is getting not so great reviews. Maybe it's the Gundam stigma attached to it.
Quick rundown-
The game starts out with the Earth being destroyed and then being rebuilt. And without giving away any spoilers, the main character is out for revenge with his buddy Fritz. That's the setup and it's thrown at you within the first half hour, no long intros or boring cutscenes. With that said, I've just recently played thru DQ VIII and the shitfest that is Grandia 3, and I can confidently say, that the story, gameworld and characters in this game are a breath of fresh air and it doesn't take itself too seriously.
The battle system is good and actually requires a fair amount of strategy and logic. You won't be able to just keep attacking, attacking, attacking in this game. Defense is very important and you'll have to plan your attacks accordingly.
Mech custimization is awesome. You're able to mix and match parts and outfit your rig anyway you want from a pool of 39 different body types and who knows how many different weapons. It might sound a little overwhelming, but the way the game handles the outfitting makes it a breeze and it's nowhere near as complicated or tedious as the Front Mission games.
The graphics are very clean and presented nicely, nothing really mindblowing, but solid. The overworld map is charmingly similar to old 16bit rpgs and will invoke a strong sense of nostalgia in any rpg vets from the SNES era.
Sound effects and music are topnotch and fit the game well. I'm not much of a game music or soundtrack guy, so, I'll leave it at that.
I'll add some more after I play a bit more.