In mecha shows, entire cities can be leveled from a single battle between behemoth machines and sometimes even monsters. The average people living in these worlds must often rely on a teenage prodigy with raging hormones and a big robot to save them from being squashed by a giant foot. It's just another Tuesday for these folks. That said, who's providing the infrastructure for these epic showdowns?
Neon Genesis Construction Company (NGCC) answers this question by putting you, the player, in control of the Foreman Unit - 01, a mech with excellent construction abilities. The catch is that you can't fight in direct combat against the giant Leviathan Kaiju invading your home turf of Neo Tokyo - 4. Instead, the game has you build large structures to defend against them, all to fit the GMTK jam's theme of "Building to Scale". You're not the shounen mecha protagonist who goes on a crazy journey of self-discovery in this one. Nah, in this one you're a poor sap who has to clock in at work and hope the world doesn't end. Again.
Why "again" you ask? I say this because a huge part of the game is derived from Gainax's mecha classic Neon Genesis Evangelion (NGE). The show's lore is that the Earth suffered a cataclysmic event that almost wiped out humanity. At the beginning of the story, humanity fights back against mysterious alien invaders using mecha called Evangelion units. What first stuck out to me about NGCC is how they lean hard into the NGE influences yet give enough of a unique spin on it to make them distinct pieces of media. This game goes beyond being just another NGE parody by incorporating tower defense mechanics and the mundanity of construction logistics, the latter being something not seen as much since the Patlabor series.
The creators, the Suspicious Jam and friends, pulled off a rare feat for mech games. This genre is known for intense combat mechanics and crazy visuals so outlier games can struggle to shine in other formats, with some exceptions including the tactical Super Robot Wars series. That said, I'm happy to tell you that NGCC does what it does well.
First and foremost, it's got that drip. The gnarly mech design on the cover image caught my eye immediately. Players may or may not realize that there are at least three other variants you could get at random (thanks to itch user Ecks for pointing this out). The visuals feel like you're in the world of NGE with shared elements such as the hexagonal A.T. Field and N.E.R.V. logo look-alike. The game's soundtrack is also reminiscent of the show's with one track in particular blaring thundering drums, staccato horns, and soaring orchestral strings like the iconic track DECISIVE BATTLE. Its aesthetics are a love letter to one of the most impactful shows in the history of anime.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM DUN-DUN- Video by Shiro Sagisu - Topic via YouTube.
Sure it might look and sound cool, but does it play cool? Yes. Yes, it does. You can think of NGCC as NGE meets Plants vs Zombies (PvZ). Most of the gameplay has you placing three types of defensive measures—protective walls, currency-generating oil rigs, and missile-shooting turrets—among five linear columns. The Kaiju arrive out of portals at the start of each column and trudge towards the city of Neo Tokyo - 4. If you can't stop them from damaging the nuclear reactor core, then it's game over for you and everyone living there. It's a lot of fun running around and making sure your defenses are keeping up with their job. Not to mention, the synergies of the three building types spice up the strategies you can use.
Since I mentioned aspects of the game's core concept I'd also like to bring up that despite its wild influences, NGCC has a down-to-earth part to it. It's a minor spoiler but at the end, it's implied that your character hates their job, a sentiment that most mech games don't explore too much. This slice-of-life detail reminds me of the series I introduced earlier, Patlabor, a show about everyday police officers working in a world where mech-related crimes are also an everyday occurrence. Patlabor's characters aren't heroic psychic space pilots, they're unhinged and borderline incompetent cops floundering on the ground. Likewise, NGCC's player character isn't a depressed teen who learns important life-lessons but most likely an exhausted adult working one of the most stress-inducing occupations in the world. "this job sucks" indeed.
Common Ohta L, I’m afraid. Video by Sankari via YouTube.
So who'd most enjoy this game? Fans of tower defense games will have a good time with this one, especially PvZ enthusiasts. Not only is the gameplay familiar but it's done in 3rd-person 3D as opposed to the top-down 2D style common to the genre. And of course, mecha fans will have a field day playing not as an overpowered weapon of mass destruction, but as a giant piece of construction equipment running around in a recreation of NGE's world, which fans of the show will be thrilled with.
Overall, I'm glad I stumbled upon this hidden gem. I hold NGE near and dear to my heart, having watched it during an emotional time in high school. I’ve also enjoyed the few tower defense games I’ve played before. What excites me the most about NGCC is its unique spin on the mecha genre. A lot of stories and games in this genre end up becoming power fantasies for players, which is a hell of a lot of fun. Who doesn't like being an ace pilot and pulverizing grunts in high-octane battles? The problem, however, is that this type of approach has often become an assumption rather than a possibility of what giant robots can offer us. Neon Genesis Construction Company, despite its limitations as a jam game, throws expectations out the window in a smart way by having you be an average joe surviving waves of enemies with the capability to create rather than destroy.
Do yourself a favor and don't hold off on playing Neon Genesis Construction Company. You can find it here on itch.io. Get in the construction bot and build.
Ercaos
Justin's many things: Memer, designer, developer, game maker, Tarot reader, writer, and more. Now he's a keyboard monkey for Final Arc (don't tell them he said that). Website: heyjustinkim.com
