Alice Gear Aegis CS/FAQ

General

What is Alice Gear Aegis?

There are two answers to this question: A short one, and a long one. The reason why it turned out this way is because there's not a lot of well-documented information out there on the internet that paints a complete picture of how Alice Gear Aegis came to be.

Short Answer

Alice Gear Aegis is a video game series that originally released for mobile devices. A figurine line was spearheaded by Kotobukiya and supported by other figurine manufacturers shortly after its launch, which is where a lot of confusion about where this series’ origin comes from.

Currently there are two games in the series: Alice Gear Aegis (AGA) is a 3rd person sci-fi action game originally released on mobile devices and brought to PC sometime later with tons of gacha mechanics, and a home console version called Alice Gear Aegis CS (AGACS) with a more competitive fighting game slant and zero gacha mechanics, with the latter being what this wiki is all about.

It has a few anime tie-ins as well, with the most recent one releasing at around the same time as Western launch of AGACS for the spring 2023 season.

Long Answer

Around the dawn of the 7th generation of console gaming, Konami created an action figure toy line using unique joint parts called the Multi Movable System (MMS), and the flagship IP revolving around this technology would be called Busou Shinki, which has a bunch of different English meanings, but Konami used "Armored Princess" for the subtitle to the arcade game they released near the end of 2020, so that's kind of the official translation of it now.

The fantasy fluff of the Busou Shinki series is that the models you purchase in real life are supposed to represent the pinnacle of both robotics and artificial intelligence technology: Busou Shinki are 1:1 scale miniature robots with a sophisticated human-like AI that develops a unique personality based on the interactions with its owner, meaning no two mass-produced figurines will behave the exact same way. The reason why they're called an "Armored Princess" is although they're perfectly capable of communicating to you and other shinki like a normal human being would, they're still fundamentally action figures, so their joints can be attached to or replaced with different mecha parts and weapons. Once you're satisfied with the shinki's load out, you can then have her square off in a virtual match with another shinki user; this is represented in the real world with a code that comes with each model purchased which you can use on Konami's now defunct Battle Rondo website.

Busou Shinki became the first major brand that used the Mecha Musume theme for its character designs, and while there's several cross media tie-ins for it like anime and manga, the one most relevant to Alice Gear Aegis comes from a PSP game called Busou Shinki: Battle Masters. Unlike Battle Rondo where combat was done automatically and the Shinki's actions were determined by how you trained her before and after the match, Battle Masters gave you direct control over your Shinki and had a ton of content in single player mode that you needed to unlock in order properly enjoy the multiplayer part of the game with other people. Unfortunately, there was just not enough time for the developers to balance this part of the game so a lot of high level PvP matches turned into an anime fighting game version of Divekick, which is impressive considering that this game predates Divekick. There were two versions of Busou Shinki: Battle Masters released- the original, and an updated standalone version one year later under the same name with the Mk.2 subtitle after it.

One year after the release of Battle Masters Mk.2, Konami would shut down the Busou Shinki brand as well as all other toy lines that used the company's Multi Movable System. Fortunately Kotobukiya would swoop in a few years later and buy off the ownership of this tech from Konami so they can create a new line of model kits utilizing the next generation of MMS parts. And unlike Konami, kotobukiya would work together with other toy manufacturers to make their toy line cross-compatible with theirs.

They would name this model kit line Megami Device, and the fantasy fluff behind the toy line is that the completed model kits can either be played as an AR game on a physical diorama after 3D scanning them or virtually in an online cloud simulation like in Busou Shinki Battle Rondo. Like in Battle Rondo, the Megami fight automatically and the most you can do is issue orders to them.

And the developers of Busou Shinki: Battle Masters would eventually hop on board the Megami Device bandwagon by creating a mobile game that thematically would become the spiritual successor to Konami’s Sky Girls series called Alice Gear Aegis (since the name Space Girls would be too obvious). To confuse matters even further, the Megami Device model kit AR/cloud simulation game does exist in the universe of Alice Gear Aegis, so conversations about Megami Device and Alice Gear Aegis can end up being jumbled between talking about the fictional AR game, Kotobukiya’s real-life model kits you can buy of the Alice Gear Aegis cast, or the Alice Gear Aegis series of video games.

And the rest as they say is history. Alice Gear Aegis would become successful enough to spawn a bunch of anime shows as well as bring the developers back to their Busou Shinki: Battle Masters roots by creating a fighting game spinoff called Alice Gear Aegis CS: Concerto of Simulatrix over ten years later by repurposing a lot of the assets they made from the mobile game. Coincidentally, the Western launch of CS happened to be at around the same time a new animated show of the series would air for the Spring 2023 season.

What is an Actress? I don’t see a character list in your navigation box.

An Actress is a young girl able to use Mecha Musume equipment, known in this series as Alice Gear. All Actresses are under the command of a defense organization known as AEGiS who deal with extraterrestrial threats.

That’s the official reason why this series is called Alice Gear Aegis and we’re sticking with it on this wiki.

What Kind of Game is Alice Gear Aegis CS?

Alice Gear Aegis CS is best described as a "Mecha 3D arena fighting game," which is different from a regular 3D arena fighting game. For those that aren't familiar with this genre:

• Matches take place in a large arena, and both players are allowed to freely move in any direction within said arena. Depending on the title, the game may also allow true 3D movement
• The game will have either a unique hardware controller used to pilot your mech, or a an unorthodox control scheme on a standard controller that simulates you trying to pilot a giant robot.
• Projectiles are emphasized much more than melee attacks. The typical attack string consists of firing a throwaway projectile that makes the opponent move a certain direction, seeing how they react to it, and then following up with another attack that increases the chance they'll get hit from that
• Players are given a lot of movement options (and this game sure has a lot of them) to use in order to avoid said projectiles and other attacks. Most mecha 3D arena fighters exaggerate these movements to help sell the fantasy of two skilled players taking the role of ace pilots duking it out in a style similar to what you'd see in an Itano Circus
• Using said movement to position yourself in a way that your projectiles or melee attacks will be able to hit your opponent while theirs misses is the key to victory

How would I know if I'd like this game?

Although it's a non-traditional fighting game, Alice Gear Aegis CS does have some peers: Virtual-On, Senko no Ronde, ARMS, Acceleration of Suguri, Armored Core 4, and Psychic Force 2012 are some examples.

Control-wise, it feels extremely similar to Zone Of the Enders 2. Concept-wise, it feels like they took Gundam Extreme Versus (which is basically just a better Virtual-On Force game), sped it up about 15%, got rid of 2 players, and had the remaining two fight each other in a Marvel vs Capcom-esque match format.

If you liked any of the titles mentioned above, you'll feel right at home with this game.

If you loved Busou Shinki Battle Masters and wished the developers would make a sequel that addresses a lot of the problems that could've made it more competitively viable, Alice Gear Aegis CS is the game you've been waiting for.

What are there english speaking Alice Gear communities?

For the first (mobile) game, one of the English discord communities can be found over here.

For this game, the English speaking discord community can be found here.

Gameplay

Does Alice Gear Aegis CS have gacha shenanigans?

No. The game is complete right out of the box, although a lot of the content has to be unlocked by playing it. There is a single cosmetic DLC item you can purchase which was a free code for those who bought the physical limited edition of the game only sold in Asian regions and is the most the game will try to nickel and dime you. This incredible restraint is in stark contrast to the original mobile game which has traditional gacha things.

Story mode is barebones. Is there anything outside the game that helps flesh the characters more?

We would've suggested to check out the tie-in anime airing for the spring season of 2023 a few weeks after the international release of this game, but our friends over at the AGA Discord channel said that the story takes place in the middle of the mobile game's timeline, not this game's timeline. That's still probably your best shot at the time of this writing since the mobile game and everything else tied to it has not been brought over officially to English-speaking countries.

If you don't want to settle for that, ask the folks over at the AGA Discord channel and they'll be more then willing to help you out.

What's up with the elemental attributes?

In Alice Gear Aegis, element attributes were important as the damage scaling changed based on what elements your Actresses have versus what the enemy had. In CS, this feature only applies in story mode when your Actress lands on a tile that contains an elemental attribute that your opponent will have for that match. In every other mode, these elements do not play a factor in damage scaling.

Why is the enemy AI doing things that weren't mentioned in the tutorial?

Because the tutorial was woefully rushed and incomplete. This was the initial reason why we started work on this wiki, actually.

This wiki is too verbose and highly technical. What basics should I focus on first?

• Leave the control type to A in the settings. Types B and C make the learning curve for this game even higher and more frustrating because you’ll be eating attacks that could’ve been avoided using Control Type A.
• Pay attention to the gauges directly below your Actress at the center of the screen, especially the Boost Gauge. An overheated Boost Gauge is very bad and makes your Actress easier to hit for at least 3 seconds.
• Practice the timings of when your Actress’ attacks are Dodge Cancellable. This is doubly important if the weapon forces them to stand still while they use it.
• Traditional fighting game combos are possible in this game but not necessary to learn in the beginning as most weapons deal a good amount of damage on a single hit. However, if you want to practice combos, the Hit counter lets you know if you’re currently performing one.
• The game will not acknowledge you getting a “perfect” outside of story mode, so it’s fine to take some damage here and there over the course of the match. Small arms fire or similarly weaker projectiles is especially of note since your Actress won’t suffer knockback from it unless it’s a significant amount of them hitting her at once.
• Using the Shield only mitigates damage, not nullify it. For beginners, it’s usefulness comes from preventing knockback from attacks, so don’t be afraid to use it in those situations.
• Understand how SP Clash and SP Skills work because those will turn the tide of the match due to them having higher priority over regular attacks and abilities.
• If you see that your SP Gauges are all full, try to use an ability that requires it, preferably an SP Skill.
• Speaking of which, always pay attention to your your opponent’s SP Gauge levels. They’re represented as > symbols right below the HP bar of the current enemy Actress on the field. If you’re not paying attention to that, you might eat an unexpected SP skill and 40-90% of your own HP bar along with it.
• In a Team Match, try to keep every member alive for as long as possible, especially if they’ve accumulated a lot of recoverable HP. Even an Actress on standby with a sliver of HP remaining is useful because they can be called in for SP Assists.
• Sometimes the best offense is literally a good defense. If it’s not safe to attack because your opponent keeps trying to shoot your Actress with everything they have, be patient and try to avoid their projectiles as best as you can. Eventually they’ll run out of ammo and that’s the chance to strike back.
• Actresses will stay knocked down for a very long time before they get up automatically, which can be interrupted manually by pressing the Dodge button. And like in traditional 2D fighting games, they’re invincible until they get back up, so this can be used to your advantage.

Is there anything else I should consider before doing PvP matches?

Yes, do story mode for the Actress(es) that you want to use for these matches. Here's why:

• There are 3 hidden Actresses that only unlock after completing story mode once.
• Your Actress' starting gear isn't competitivey viable and their best equipment (which unfortunately is exclusive to them and the most expensive) has to be purchased by earning cash playing the game. Story mode gives you the most frictionless method of playing the game for as long as you want without kicking you back out to the main menu after playing a single match, plus you get the option of unlocking cosmetic accessories for your Actress when you're playing this mode too.
• Not only do you need cash to purchase gear for your Actress, there's also additional stat modifiers you can equip onto your Actress called Skill Modules, which must also be purchased with the currency you earned by playing the game, with the upside being that once purchased, it can be used by the entire cast without having to purchase another copy of it.
• Each Actress has their own Inherent Skill Module that unlocks when they reach a level (aka- Rank) 7, which you acummulate by having her participate in matches. To give you incentive to keep playing that Actress until you acquire this, their cosmetic head accessory and costume that's supposed to be paired with their exclusive gear is unlocked every two ranks before acquiring their Inherent Skill Module. The good news is just like with the purchasable versions, Inherent Skill Modules can be shared with other Actresses, and they can mix and match any combination of them in their 3 slots.

Our recommendation is to play around with the Actresses through story mode and to chose 3 out of those you try, as the competitive scene uses Team Match mode for tournaments. Once you've made your choice buy their unique gear with the in-game money as well as the Skill Modules you'd think would go well with your team until you're able to just afford everything.

Which Actress do you recommend I should start with?

Assuming you're using the Actress' exclusive gear:

• The Japanese wiki says Rin Mukai. She has a few kill confirm options requring easy exeution to pull off once she gets in her opponent's personal space, and even if you can't pull those off her SP Skill by itself is an almost unavoidable touch of death when it hits, with her only drawback being that you have to be very intentional with her bazooka shots if the target's outside of Rin's danger zone.

• We also recommend Virginia Glynnberets, aka Ginny. In skilled hands she resembles a set play archetype, but for beginners Ginny's a good Actress to teach newcomers the hard lesson that playing Alice Gear Aegis CS like a traditional fighting game by closing in on your opponent constantly with melee attacks is a suicidal idea as her kit comes with the ability to deploy automated pigeons that fire at the current location of her target regardless of whether or not she's getting hit. Good Rin players will have counter-play strategies around this, but we're talking about beginners here.

• If you want someone purely for long-range combat, Eri Yorishiro is pretty solid. She's also straightforward to use. Her only downside is that her unlockable matching costume that goes with her exclusive gear covers her up more than Ginny's.

• Meika Yorozuba is another good choice if you want an Actress great at close range pressure and don’t care about raw damage output. How Meika differs from Rin is she sacrifices projectile range for projectiles with good coverage and doesn’t need to commit to using melee attacks as much as Rin does to be intimidating in combat, all while being deceptively nimble as she attacks her opponent. She’s also a really good battery for the team.

Technical

Why are you using the term "knockback" when you actually mean "hitstun?"

It's the compromise we have to make because "knockback" is the term the English translator used for this game to describe a "hitstun" state, but using "hitstun" would confuse those with zero exposure to English Fighting Game Community (FGC) lingo, and "knockback" would confuse FGC regulars because that word means something else. So a URL link on the word knockback that leads to the FGC definition of hitstun (which, coincidentally, also cites the same Japanese word that the English translator for this game interpreted as "knockback") is the best solution we could think of.

And if that wasn't confusing enough, the game's definition of cooldown is probably not what you think it means either. So now we have to explain certain things in a roundabout way because of this.

Wait, there’s censorship in this game?!

Yes. If you bought the PlayStation releases published by PQube, certain costumes were modified or outright removed. The PlayStation version published by MAGES that was sold only in Japan as well as all regional versions of the Nintendo Switch release were untouched.

PQube’s Tweet about it here

Censored Gaming video summarizing this event in case the original tweet goes down

How do you set up matches for this game? And what platform is the definitive version to play on competitively?

Due to the nature of how the game was designed and programmed, each player must have their own copy of the game and connect their consoles together either through the internet or via LAN. For online play no differences have been observed performance and gameplay-wise between Playstation or Switch, however with the absence of spectator mode the Playstation version might be easier for online competition as it is easier to stream the console. For in-person events Nintendo Switches are recommended as they are faster to setup and have a dedicated "local wireless" mode. As of right now, there is no real definitive platform to play this game on, so pick whichever one you prefer. Just keep in mind that crossplay between Nintendo’s and Sony’s platforms is not possible at the time of this writing.

This wiki says the game have "Asynchronous Netcode"?

Indeed, while the game is not using delay netcode, it's lag compensation technique is using a different philosophy from rollback.

Here, the netcode considers no local input delay so you will see your attacks on the screen immediately. However attacks from the other player will arrive as soon as they can but have their full animation on your screen.

This means that, timing-wise, you can always react to what the other player is doing, however your local attacks will hit with delay compared to what you see on screen.

That philosophy is emphasing on the "bullet hell" aspect of this game, it has its advantages on rollback (easier to dodge) but also different drawbacks (unreliable hit confirms, melee attacks and short range attack are harder to use with high ping)

Is Local Match for the Switch version broken? I can see the other player's room, but the game gets a network error every time I try and join it.

Local Match mode works, but sometimes the problem that occurs is connecting to an existing wifi network screws up everything. The ideal setup to start a Switch wireless ad-hoc match is this:

• All participating Switch consoles must have their Wi-Fi on.
• Those Switch consoles should not be connected to any existing Wi-Fi network.
• If any of them automatically connect to a Wi-Fi access point within range, that switch owner has to reconfigure their console to not connect to it automatically by selecting the network in their Internet settings, then restart their console so it boots up disconnected.

Once this is properly set up, all players should be able to join the room without issue for a Local Match.

Ideally though you'd definitely would want to find a way to connect them through ethernet cables instead of wi-fi. That's how they do it for Pokken tournaments after all.