Gigabash Final Ascenscion Is The VCin This Game Was Always Working Towards

I love when a series knows how to do it homages right. Tokusatsu is one of the most-referenced-least-correctly genres, with many media just being happy to go "Aren't Power Rangers goofy?". 

But thankfully, Malaysian-made Gigabash has had several years of being its own love letter to Kaiju flicks that they know a bit more ball than that. With Final Ascension, their latest DLC, they've gone a bit deeper than just chucking in new characters- it's the crossover movie fans have been waiting for. 

Gigabash Final Ascension Connects The Wishes

The crown jewel of this DLC is the addition of the Gigaman story mode, long-missing from the game. It's designed like exactly how you'd expect a Tokusatsu V-Cinema to be. Sho, the host of Gigaman deals with burnout and not wanting to be a hero anymore. Naturally, the story is about him being forced into doing it anyways- at the request of Thundatross pilot Yuuki and as they pursue the villainous kaiju Rawa. 

It's a fairly simple story spread out over 7 fights, but it hits the major beats of Henshin Hero Tokusatsu well. You get to see an older, more jaded hero make classic decisions, like choosing to save civilians currently in danger instead of going after a future threat. You know the hero's always gonna make that choice and it rules every time because it's so much of the core of what Tokusatsu is. It reminds me of stuff that sits at the core of series like Kamen Rider- where the hero absolutely refuses to let people die, and makes decisions almost entirely on the basis of "which one saves the most people" rather than stopping bad guys. 

Even its final act hits those beats excellently. Continuing on the story of ROJAK and Balzaar, suddenly a third hero gets thrown in, only to get kind of sidelined because you can't have every character mouth off their tragic backstory at the same time. Despite all these, they're there simply because they're part of what makes the biggest bad that has to be fought at the end of Gigaman's story, cin one of the coolest sequences the game has done yet. From combining Kaijus to a sick boss fight it's a genuinely fun experience that reminds me of Gridman Universe more than anything else. 

All That Human

Aside from story, the DLC does also come with two new characters for the game's multiplayer mode. Gaya Gigaman is the final form upgrade for Gigaman, and comes with enhanced moves that scream Order-Sol more than anything else. Meanwhile, Zargorah, the final boss from the story mode also sports a typical Boss Character moveset, including a beam that is the closest thing I'll personally get to a playable Shin Godzilla.

If you're a fan of Tokusatsu as a medium, you'll definitely want to check out Gigabash Final Ascension. It's a heartwarming story that really gets at the core of why Tokusatsu stories have such a hold on people. It's a timeless story that you're never too old to be a hero- at most you might just need to realize how many people already see you that way before you make your next heroic  leap. The DLC is available now, and I couldn't recommend checking it out enough.