Kidō Senshi Gundam: Gihren no Yabō (機動戦士ガンダム ギレンの野望), often referred to as simply Gihren’s Greed in English, is a series of strategy simulation games released by Bandai. The name is based on the Nobunaga’s Ambition (信長の野望, Nobunaga no Yabō) series of grand strategy games released by Koei.
The following is designed to serve as a general overview for those new to the series. These games can get a bit complicated once you get down to all the systems and micromanaging, but I will only be touching on the basics. At the time of writing, I have only extensively played Menace of Axis V, and as such my knowledge of other games is from watching playthroughs or other sources online.
Setting
The games are set in the UC timeline beginning with the events of the One Year War, with later installments continuing up through Char’s Rebellion.
Players assume the role of their chosen side’s commander (such as General Revil for the Earth Federation and Commander-in-Chief Gihren Zabi for the Principality of Zeon), and through choices in areas such as weapons development, resource acquisition, diplomacy, and combat attempt to lead their forces to victory.
The games include a large number of characters, ships, mobile suits (MS), mobile armors (MA) from throughout the early UC timeline, such as from the mainline anime series as well as OVAs, novels, other games, and Gunpla. There are mobile suits created specifically for these games as well. Players can choose to follow canon events from the series, or explore what-if scenarios.
Gameplay
The basic system is divided into two main parts: the process of developing/building units, and a turn-based battle where both sides move troops and attack each other. In addition, story scenes will play out as the game progresses where decisions must be made regarding diplomacy and resource allocation.
Development and Building
By investing funds into researching new technology, new plans for MS, MA and ships become available. These new units can then be constructed at the player’s discretion.
By choosing to build certain units, new more powerful ones will become available. For example, developing the prototype Gyan will lead to its mass production variant, and later the Gyan Cannon and Gyan Krieger. Existing units can be upgraded to these new versions if they follow the line of progression.
Investing in enemy intelligence gathering has the added benefit of sometimes stealing the plans for their units, though whether you can build them or not depends on your own technology level. This technology level increases depending on the amount of funds the player wishes to allocate to it.
Combat
In combat, both the player and enemy turns are divided into a strategy phase and a battle phase.
In the strategy phase, you move, retreat, and select targets for your units to attack. In the battle phase, both sides engage in combat. When attacked, you can choose to focus on defense and evasion, or counterattack. If you counterattack, you can select a target. Units attacking each other are indicated by arrows.
Another aspect of combat is securing bases (the large solid hexagons in the below screenshot) and supply lines (the solid lines connecting these hexagons). All units consume supplies every time they move or attack. If at the start of a turn a unit is either on a base or line, they will recover a large or small amount of supplies respectively. Units also can move greater distances on friendly lines.
All enemy units can be seen on the map, but if they aren’t detected by units on your side, the icon will only be a gray silhouette and no detailed information will be displayed. These enemies can still be attacked, but the accuracy of your side’s attacks is decreased. Units can also be masked by the effects of Minovsky particles.
World Maps
The world map differs depending on the game, but in general, the area controlled by each faction is displayed based on a color. Neutral areas are gray. More details about each variation can be found in the Games section.
Pilots
Each unit can be assigned a named pilot or officer, which improves its performance in various ways, including evasion, number of attacks, and chance of melee attacks. Officers can also boost the performance of units within their sphere of command influence. Pilots and officers also receive a boost if they are close to another friendly character. For example, Amuro receives a bonus when he is near fellow White Base pilots Kai and Hayato.
In the case of Newtype-only MS, non Newtype pilots can pilot them, however they will not be able to use special attacks, such as funnels or bits.
Characters also sometimes share interaction lines with each other when attacking (if they are enemies) or placed adjacent to each other (if they are allies).
Across all games, named pilots are voiced, and sometimes have lines unique to the Gihren’s Greed series.
The Games
Mobile Suit Gundam: Gihren’s Greed (機動戦士ガンダム ギレンの野望)
Platform: Sega Saturn
Release Date: April 9, 1998
Developed by: ESP (Entertainment Software Publishing)
Playable factions
- Earth Federation
- Principality of Zeon
- Titans
- Legitimate Zeon (Kycilia)
- Neo Zeon (Casval)
Map style
The entire world map is made up of hexes, and all movement and formation takes place on this map. Only important bases are on separate maps.
Additional Notes
The one that started it all. Fully animated cutscenes of key story events were created especially for this game.
Append Disk – Mobile Suit Gundam: Gihren’s Greed Strategy Manual (機動戦士ガンダム ギレンの野望 攻略指令書)
Platform: Sega Saturn
Release Date: October 9, 1998
Collection of additional scenarios
Mobile Suit Gundam: Gihren’s Greed: Blood of Zeon (機動戦士ガンダム ギレンの野望 ジオンの系譜)
Platform: Playstation, Dreamcast, PSP
Release Date: February 10, 2000 [Playstation], June 29, 2000 [Dreamcast], August 11, 2005 [PSP]
Developed by: BEC (BANDAI ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY) [Playstation, Dreamcast], Cattle Call [PSP]
Playable factions
- Earth Federation
- Principality of Zeon
- Titans
- Titans (Scirocco)
- AEUG
- Axis (Haman)
- Delaz Fleet
- Legitimate Zeon (Kycilia)
- Reborn Zeon (Garma)
- Neo Zeon (Casval)
Map style
The world map is no longer an overall map of land and space, but an area map divided into regions. In the battle phase, this changes to a hex map, similar to the previous Sega Saturn game. Regarding transportation of units across the world map, if the area is under your control, no separate transport units are required to go between locations. However, you cannot move to areas that are not adjacent or have no route connecting them.
Additional Notes
The game is divided into two parts. Part one, “Gihren’s Ambition,” involves the events of the One Year War, and part two, “The Blood of Zeon,” features post-OYW forces that appeared in Mobile Suit Gundam 0083 : Stardust Memory and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam.
If you clear the game with all playable factions, you can play the bonus scenarios “The Magnificent Battle” (華麗なる戦い) with Haman Karn as the commander of all the female characters, and “Degwin’s Melancholy” (デギンの憂鬱) with Gihren Zabi as the commander in a three way battle between factions led by Gihren, Kycilia, and Garma.
Append Disk – Mobile Suit Gundam: Gihren’s Greed: Blood of Zeon Strategy Manual (機動戦士ガンダム ギレンの野望 ジオンの系譜 攻略指令書)
Platform: Playstation, Dreamcast, PSP
Release Date: June 29, 2000 [Playstation, Dreamcast], August 11, 2005 [PSP, bundled with]
Collection of additional scenarios
Mobile Suit Gundam: Gihren’s Greed: War for Zeon Independence (機動戦士ガンダム ギレンの野望 ジオン独立戦争記)
Platform: Playstation 2
Release Date: May 2, 2002 [Playstation 2], February 17, 2005 [Playstation 2, game + append disk bundle]
Developed by: BEC (BANDAI ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY)
Playable factions
- Earth Federation
- Principality of Zeon
- Original (see additional notes)
Map style
The map is now displayed using 3D graphics, and on a similar note, 3D models appear in battle sequences for the first time in the series.
Additional Notes
Many of the factions, units, and pilots from the previous game have been removed, with the scope also being limited to only the One Year War, hence the game’s title, along with various gameplay changes. There is also a new “Original” gameplay mode that allows you to pick a commander and pilots/officers to form your own custom faction.
Append Disk – Mobile Suit Gundam: Gihren’s Greed: War for Zeon Independence Strategy Manual (機動戦士ガンダム ギレンの野望 ジオン独立戦争記 攻略指令書)
Platform: Playstation 2
Release Date: February 20, 2003 [Playstation 2]
Collection of additional scenarios. It also includes higher-definition DVD footage of the movies included in the original Saturn Sega game and the PlayStation version of Blood of Zeon, along with various mini games
Ghihren’s Ambition Special Edition: Conqueror of the Blue Star (機動戦士ガンダム ギレンの野望 特別編 蒼き星の覇者)
Platform: WonderSwan Color
Release Date: May 2, 2003
Developed by: Vanguard
Playable factions
- Garma Zabi
- M’Quve
Map style
The map uses a grid style with simplified graphics
Additional Notes
Unlike the previous entries, in this game the player assumes the role of either Garma Zabi or M’Quve as one of the commanders of the Zeon Earth invasion force. While fighting against the Federation forces, you also must negotiate with the other Earth commanding officers, Neuen Bitter (from Stardust Memory), Yuri Kellerne (from 08th MS Team), and Walter Curtis (from Rise From the Ashes). During this gameplay phase, you can make choices, such as where to invade and development plans to adopt, but they require majority vote to pass. Friendship levels with rival commanders change depending on your decisions.
Gihren’s Greed: The Menace of Axis (機動戦士ガンダム ギレンの野望 アクシズの脅威)
Platform: PSP
Release Date: February 7, 2008, January 8, 2009 [budget release]
Developed by: BEC (BANDAI ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY)
Playable factions
- Earth Federation
- Principality of Zeon
- Titans
- Titans (Scirocco)
- AEUG
- AEUG (Quattro)
- Axis (Haman)
- Axis (Glemy)
- Delaz Fleet
- Legitimate Zeon (Kycilia)
- Reborn Zeon (Garma)
- Neo Zeon (Casval)
- Neo Zeon (Char)
Map style
Map style is the same as Blood of Zeon.
Additional Notes
Gameplay is back to the style of Blood of Zeon. This time story events begin during the One Year War and extend through Char’s Rebellion. For the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon, the story is divided into three parts: Part I, which covers the One Year War, Part II, which covers the period from Stardust Memory, Zeta, and ZZ, and Part III, which covers events of Char’s Counterattack.
Main scenarios are Earth Federation, Principality of Zeon, Titans, AEUG, and Axis, which are available from the start. The remainder are unlockable side scenarios.
New alignment system – the player’s “alignment” changes depending on their actions. This means that the player is either more Lawful or Chaotic on a scale, displayed as a sliding scale on the menu. Actions that are for the benefit of the people or generally the “good” choice will increase Law, while barbaric acts like forcefully taking resources and colony drops will increase Chaos. Certain characters will join or leave during the course of a campaign depending on your alignment and what faction you are playing is.
Animated cutscenes were removed, now using only static CGs. Many of these are screenshots from the aforementioned animations.
Gihren’s Greed: The Menace of Axis V (機動戦士ガンダム ギレンの野望 アクシズの脅威 V)
Platform: PS2, PSP
Release Date: February 12, 2009, December 17, 2009 [Gundam 30th Anniversary Edition], June 3, 2010 [budget release]
Developed by: BEC (BANDAI ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY)
Playable factions
- Earth Federation
- Principality of Zeon
- Titans
- Titans (Scirocco)
- AEUG
- AEUG (Quattro)
- Axis (Haman)
- Axis (Glemy)
- Delaz Fleet
- Legitimate Zeon (Kycilia)
- Reborn Zeon (Garma)
- Neo Zeon (Casval)
- Neo Zeon (Char)
- Tem Ray Army
Map style
Map style is the same as Blood of Zeon.
Additional Notes
More units have been added as well as the Tem Ray Army faction. As of now, this game has the most units and pilots of any game in the series.
There are a few other adjustments and additions made from the previous game
- There are now seven difficulty levels: VERY EASY, EASY, NORMAL, HARD, VERY HARD, HELL, and SPECIAL. On VERY EASY, you begin with more funds/resources and some bonus over technology units are available from the start. HELL is more difficult than the previous highest difficulty, HARD. SPECIAL features double damage taken and dealt, one turn to produce all weapons, and halved production costs
Mobile Suit Gundam: New Gihren’s Greed (機動戦士ガンダム 新ギレンの野望)
Platform: PSP
Release Date: August 25, 2011
Developed by: B.B.STUDIO
Number of units:
Number of characters:
Playable factions
- General Revil – Supreme Commander of the Earth Federation
- Gihren Zabi – Supreme Commander of the Principality of Zeon
- Tianem – Commander of the Earth Federation
- Dozle Zabi – Commander of the Principality of Zeon
- Amuro Ray (0079) – Pilot of the Earth Federation
- Char Aznable (0079) – Pilot of the Principality of Zeon
- Gaia – Pilot of the Principality of Zeon (Black-Tri-Stars)
- Char Aznable (CCA) – Commander/Supreme Commander of Neo Zeon
- Amuro Ray (CCA) – Pilot of the Earth Federation (Londo Bell)
- Quess Paraya – Pilot of Neo Zeon
- Bright Noa – Officer of the Earth Federation [DLC]
- Kycilia Zabi – Commander of the Principality of Zeon [DLC]
- Garma Zabi – Commander of the Principality of Zeon [DLC]
- M’Quve – Commander of the Principality of Zeon [DLC]
- Ramba Ral – Pilot of the Principality of Zeon [DLC]
- Tem Ray – Technical Officer of the Earth Federation [DLC]
- Gyunei Guss – Pilot of Neo Zeon [DLC]
- Hathaway Noa – Pilot of the Earth Federation (Londo Bell) [DLC]
Map style
Map style is similar to that of the original Sega Saturn version in a single large format hexagon style.
Additional Notes
In addition to the Supreme Commander role, players can also assume the role of pilots (such as Amuro and Char in the One Year War) and commanders (such as Dozle and Tianem), a first for the series. Additional pilots/commanders and scenarios could be purchased as DLC. Unique to this game are characters and MS from Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, including Banagher Links, Full Frontal, and Marida Kruz.
Various gameplay/system changes from the previous entry, along with updated battle animations. This seems to be intended to serve as a revival of sorts for the series, though as of writing over 10 years have past with no mention of another sequel in sight…