Gurren Lagann!

[Chauncymancer]

Gurren Lagann (for those of you totally out of the loop) is a sendup/reconstruction of the giant robot genre by the studio that did FLCL and Evangelion. Giant combining robots, an emphasis on character relationships, and all the robots are powered by "Fighting Spirit!" (TM) a combination of masculinity and stubborn refusal to admit defeat. I love this series and want to play in a similar world;
What game, engine, or setting best captures the feel of GL?

[Eldan]

I am reasonably sure I've seen homebrew TTGL charms for Exalted.

[Lord Raziere]

.....Exalted, its high-powered, rewards players for doing awesome things and features enough magi-tech for you to design a giant mecha and enough things powerful enough for you to punch in the face, including gods.

not really in the giant mecha genre though. its fantasy, but really high fantasy where you play a demigod, still its the closest game in the world to TTGL. trust me, if you like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, you will like Exalted.

[Fouredged Sword]

Fight ninja zombies and dinosaurs. Punch gods into ducks and form the void by thy will alone, for you are exalted above all others!

[Drascin]

See, personally, I would argue against Exalted for TTGL, especially for someone who doesn't know Exalted at all. The warstrider (mecha equivalents in the setting, for OP) rules are useless unless severely tweaked (which a newbie would have trouble with), for all the fluff about Exalts being unstoppable engines of awesomeness most of them die if so much as looked at while not having their defenses up, and you'd have to do away with a fair amount of rules (training time and combo locks foremost of them) to even begin to approach the feel of TTGL. The mechanics tend to encourage sleeping with one eye open and a sense of paranoia, not the balls-to-the-walls awesome that its fluff announces.

Personally, I'd go with M&M, high power. It'll probably fail to model stuff beyond Arc-Gurren or Chouginga Gurren-Lagann (very few games are designed to work with galaxy throwing, I'm afraid), but it has useful rules for Super Robots, cinematic damage, and the ability to make new powers on the fly as they do so often in the series.

[kestrel404]

Obviously, your best bet would be the Mecha expansion for the Big Eyes, Small Mouths RPG (BESM). Or Toon.

In all seriousness, my first thought was Exalted, but Drascin is right - without extreme tweaking or extensive use of homebrew, the mechanics are just all wrong.

BESM might honestly give you some of what you're looking for, but instead I'm going to recommend you go rules-light. Something like the Fate system (By Evil Hat), or Fudge system. Then you can describe things like using a giant mecha to throw a galaxy at a spaceship (ignoring the laws of physics like the puny useless things that they are!), and just go on to roll some dice and see if it works.

[Eldan]

True, M&M probably works better.

And with the way it scales, it could probably even handle the the galaxy throwing. Simply because everything scales exponentially (i.e. the distance, speed and so on charts. One or two levels above the top end, and you'd find TTGL).

[Oracle_Hunter]

Well, Bliss Stage (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlissStage) is really more of a NGE RPG but it does capture the essentials of the hot-blooded mecha genre within its mechanics.

You could easily retool the setting to work within the TTGL Universe. Also, the rules are simple and easy to learn.

[true_shinken]

M&M as was already pointed is perfect.

[SuperFish]

Well, Bliss Stage (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BlissStage) is really more of a NGE RPG but it does capture the essentials of the hot-blooded mecha genre within its mechanics.

You could easily retool the setting to work within the TTGL Universe. Also, the rules are simple and easy to learn.

Bliss Stage fits Gurren Lagann even less well than it does NGE, and it never fit NGE very well to begin with. = /

[Oracle_Hunter]

Bliss Stage fits Gurren Lagann even less well than it does NGE, and it never fit NGE very well to begin with. = /
Obviously I disagree on both counts :smalltongue:

Specifically, look at how Simon is supported by his friends in TTGL and how he uses that to draw strength to fuel his Spiral Power. Compare that to the Relationship mechanic in Bliss Stage and I'm sure you can see some parallels.

[The-Mage-King]

Some people (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5829984#post5829984) think D&D (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122933) 3.5 works (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=176262)...

[Comet]

Bliss Stage, funnily enough, simulates one aspect/part of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann very, very well.
TTGL spoilers regarding Kamina, Yoko and Simon:

Bliss Stage is about emotionally unstable kids trying to save the world while balancing with their emotions running rampant due to hormones and the stress of living in an apocalypse. Hearts will break and heroes will die because someone couldn't focus on the battle due to a crush on a girl who loves another bloke.

What happens in the beginning act of TTGL? Simon arguably gets Kamina killed because he's so depressed after seeing Kamina and Yoko kiss that he can't muster the spiral power to actually contribute to the fight, forcing Kamina to take impossible risks to turn the tide of the battle.
Simon learns from his mistakes and Kamina has no regrets dying for his little bro, but for a brief moment Simon fails as a hero precisely because his new friends and circumstances were just too damn confusing for his young mind. Pretty much excactly the scenario of Bliss Stage as I see it. Sure, the power of love can drive you to victory, but it can also drag you to the mud.

So, yeah. Bliss Stage is a brilliant game about dark, awkward stuff. Perhaps a bit too dark and awkward for TTLG.
Mutants and Masterminds, on the other hand, can do just about anything.

[Oracle_Hunter]

So, yeah. Bliss Stage is a brilliant game about dark, awkward stuff. Perhaps a bit too dark and awkward for TTLG.
Mutants and Masterminds, on the other hand, can do just about anything.
Oh, I'd say TTGL gets pretty dark. Like most Gainax works, its darkness is really only apparent in retrospect :smallamused:

[Shade Kerrin]

....How appropriate, that my music playlist started playing the opening theme to TTGL as I was reading through this....

[The-Mage-King]

....How appropriate, that my music playlist started playing the opening theme to TTGL as I was reading through this....

Excellent timing on your playlist, sir.


I presume that you mean the normal one, and not the awesome fandub (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4f7np2sGMY) that's on youtube, because that was playing on my playlist as I checked on this thread again...

[Tengu_temp]

Obviously I disagree on both counts :smalltongue:

Specifically, look at how Simon is supported by his friends in TTGL and how he uses that to draw strength to fuel his Spiral Power. Compare that to the Relationship mechanic in Bliss Stage and I'm sure you can see some parallels.

No, I don't see it. Trust in your friends helps you harness Spiral Power, but ultimately it's about you and your determination. Not to mention that TTGL lacks Bliss and all those metaphysical mumbo-jumbo that's an integral part of Bliss Stage.

Bliss Stage's mechanics are heavily integrated with its setting, and it's the only thing they represent well. Nothing else.

[GoatBoy]

ANY system can represent Gurren Lagann, as long as you play with SPIRIT!

Yours is the die that will roll criticals! Do not believe in your character, believe that I believe in your character!

WHO THE HELL DO YOU TH-yeah, I've contributed nothing to this discussion.

Here's (http://www.wizards.com/d20/files/msrd/FutureMecha.rtf) the d20 Future rules for mecha. I doubt d20 is simple and intense enough for Gurren Lagann as opposed to, say, M&M, but it might help.

[Oracle_Hunter]

No, I don't see it. Trust in your friends helps you harness Spiral Power, but ultimately it's about you and your determination. Not to mention that TTGL lacks Bliss and all those metaphysical mumbo-jumbo that's an integral part of Bliss Stage.

Bliss Stage's mechanics are heavily integrated with its setting, and it's the only thing they represent well. Nothing else.
TTGL Spoilers
Belief in yourself, sure, but the importance of teamwork and sacrifice for those you love is also huge. The last few episodes, with their Heroic Sacrifices and power combinations are telling on this point. After all, Simon is not powerful just because he believes in himself; it is also because others believe in and follow him.
It'd be simple enough to adapt Bliss Stage to TTGL. The Bliss Score, for example, is not solely about Blissing Out: hitting 108 can result in a variety of outcomes including becoming the new Authority Figure. In a TTGL adaption, it can represent the point when the despair in your soul overwhelms your ability to Go Beyond the Impossible - the situation that Lord Genome is in, for example.

Hell, if the OP is interested I'm more than happy to do it. However, if he'd prefer a system that follows the appearance of TTGL rather than plays to the themes of the series, then it seems like M&M is the better option.

[golentan]

I second exalted, having actually done a gurren lagann oneshot with it. Recommended: Modified Hellstriders for the mecha, "negative stunt dice" for acting in a manner "unbecoming a spiral warrior." Profit.

Mutants and Masterminds also a good idea.

Don't know enough to comment on Bliss Stage.

[Tengu_temp]

Belief in yourself, sure, but the importance of teamwork and sacrifice for those you love is also huge.

They're important, but they don't power the Gurren Lagann. Bliss Stage can only work, with heavy modifications, for mecha that are explicitly stated to be powered by love. Gurren Lagann? Sorry, no.

As for Blissing, it's a part of Bliss Stage's unique metaphysics. Use this element in any other setting and it's just a weird gimmick that seems out of place.

[Oracle_Hunter]

They're important, but they don't power the Gurren Lagann. Bliss Stage can only work, with heavy modifications, for mecha that are explicitly stated to be powered by love. Gurren Lagann? Sorry, no.

As for Blissing, it's a part of Bliss Stage's unique metaphysics. Use this element in any other setting and it's just a weird gimmick that seems out of place.
Say what you will about "unique metaphysics" but it's plenty easy to model the Bliss Score (not The Bliss) as the build-up of stress that robs a Pilot of his ability to fight onwards.


If a pilot passes 108 bliss, he is said to have “blissed out,” which can mean any number of things, at the pilot’s discretion. The default assumption is that the pilot drifts off into the bliss, never to awaken, but a great number of other final actions are possible. The only limitation is that (with one exception) the pilot may no longer be a member of this particular resistance group, nor can they continue as a significant character in the game. Here are some possibilities for the final action:
The pilot falls asleep, never to awaken.
The pilot gets lost in the dream world.
The pilot merges with or allies with the aliens.
The pilot goes off to start another resistance group.
Disgusted, the pilot leaves the group, never to return.
The pilot is killed.
The pilot’s ANIMa enters the real world, rampaging around before finally being stopped.
Something else

Also, saying that the mecha in Bliss Stage is "powered by love" is an oversimplification.

Intimacy measures the amount of physical and emotional closeness in the relationship. . . . The intimacy value of a relationship gives the pilot power in mission actions, and is gained during some interlude actions.
Simon's connection to others is what gives him the power to go Beyond the Impossible. Characters who try to "go it alone" inevitably fail, and those that consider themselves completely independent are far weaker than those who act with allies. Lord Genome is this case in point.

[Deth Muncher]

I'm going to say 3.5, since that's what I have the most experience with: Specifically, go 3.5 with Dragonmech rules (look 'em up, they're a series of books by Goodman Games). It's got all sorts of rules for Mechs, all the way from Large Sized to Colossal+++++, I think. Not quite Galaxy sized, but definitely, say, Rhode Island sized.

[Tengu_temp]

@Oracle_Hunter:
No. Nothing in TTGL suggests that it's his connection to other people that gives Simon his power. In fact, it's exactly the opposite - he can accomplish all this because he believes in him who believes in himself. It's all about personal determination, not connection to others.

Also, it's very hard to have high dice pools in Bliss Stage without some love, or at least lust, in your life - the only way to have a non-sexual Intimacy 5 is to be a mortal enemy of someone you're blood related to. ANIMa is powered by love, bear with it. In comparison, the concept of nakama (which exists in TTGL) is not about what Bliss Stage calls Intimacy, but Trust.

As for Bliss Score, do note that the Bliss Stage mechanics mean that the game will end up with only one pilot remaining, and that no major stuff can be accomplished without someone reaching 108 Bliss and/or dying. This is supposed to give the game a very bittersweet feeling. Gurren Lagann has bittersweet moments, but its general atmosphere is very different.

And this is even before considering other things, like Anchors. They're an integral part of Bliss Stage, and there's nothing even close to them in TTGL.

[SuperFish]

Gurren Lagann, dark? Did we watch the same show?

Anyways, no offense, but it seems to me that you're trying to shoehorn Bliss Stage to cover that it really doesn't fit all that well. I mean, the same system, working for both NGE and TTGL? That just doesn't make sense.

Bliss Stage is cool and all, but I don't really sit it fitting with either show.

[Arbane]

The UnSpeakable Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (http://planet-sg.ogrecave.com/?m=200801&paged=2)

It's a hack of the rules for the indie game UnSpeakable, which is itself a hack of the indie game InSpectres, intended to play Gurren Lagann the way it was meant to be played - EXCESSIVELY!

(It's about halfway down the page. For some fool reason, A direct link doesn't work.)

[Oracle_Hunter]

Gurren Lagann, dark? Did we watch the same show?
Apparently not? :smallconfused:

You didn't see anything dark with (spoilers)
- The Anti-Spiral Prophecy
- Simon's final disposition as a loveless wanderer
- Nia's character
- Rossiu's character
- The incredible number of sacrifices in the last few episodes
Just to name a few.

Yes, the first half of the show is very upbeat, but particularly when the events and revelations of the second half are considered the themes of the show have a lot in common with those in NGE - they're just approached from the opposite side of the emotional spectrum.

That said, TTGL does end with a more obviously optimistic theme than NGE - that should go without saying. However, I don't think that's a barrier to applying the mechanics of Bliss Stage to the genre.

In truth, the reason I pushed the idea is because I can easily see how Bliss Stage can be adapted to TTGL. Yes, the atmosphere would be lightened somewhat but it would hardly be as traumatic as Tengu_temp suggests.

I'm not about to argue the themes of TTGL here (I don't have that time!) but I suggest reviewing and comparing Lord Genome's history as a Spiral Warrior to Simon's for evidence of the importance of friendship to the Spiral Warrior. Likewise, the role of Leeron and later Rossiu in Anchoring the Gurren Lagann should show that the position is contemplated within TTGL.

But, since this idea is meeting with such resistance, I will gladly withdraw unless the OP desires to hear more about doing a Bliss Stage adaption.

[Eldan]

Also, despite not even trying to make sense, it still makes a hell of a lot more than Evangelion's ending. At least in the series, they just went with "And now, instead of explaining any of the mysteries the characters are stumbling into, here's the characters taking to themselves for two episodes!"

God, I hate Evangelion for that.

[0Megabyte]

Also, despite not even trying to make sense, it still makes a hell of a lot more than Evangelion's ending. At least in the series, they just went with "And now, instead of explaining any of the mysteries the characters are stumbling into, here's the characters taking to themselves for two episodes!"

God, I hate Evangelion for that.

To be fair to the tv ending, I'd like to see what you could do when your budget is eliminated just in time for the grand finale you planned.

Yes, the TV ending is very, very different, but it isn't really bad by any means. Of course, this is coming from a guy who watches Bergman films. Have you ever seen Persona? Halfway through the film breaks down and catches fire, at a dramatic moment... later on, you see the director directing the film you're seeing. Reality breaks down, and it's great.

[Eldan]

Nothing against that, it was well made.

But Evangelion hints at a lot of mysteries. The characters start exploring them. What are angels? What's up with those projects? What was the second impact (and for that matter, why second impact?) and so on. And then just pretends they were never there.

[Tiki Snakes]

Actually, it is my understanding that the main guy behind Evangelion was having a mental breakdown at the time, and I always personally attributed most of the bad things about the series, especially the second half, to that.

Admittedly, there's still plenty of reprehensible subtext in the (Presumably post-breakdown) movie-ending version, and I still blame him for that.

Budget was probably a concern for the show in those last few episodes though, otherwise it would have been better animated. But I'm not sure it would have been any less messed up, otherwise.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Nothing against that, it was well made.

But Evangelion hints at a lot of mysteries. The characters start exploring them. What are angels? What's up with those projects? What was the second impact (and for that matter, why second impact?) and so on. And then just pretends they were never there.
NGE Spoilers
"Second Impact" is so called because NERV spun that catastrophe as being similar to the "First Impact" - the meteor that killed the dinosaurs. It is unlikely the two were ever actually related.

The reason Second Impact happened was because of an accident while trying to futz around with Adam. Whether this was a true accident or an "accident" set up by SEELE in accordance with the Dead Sea Scrolls is unclear.
Honestly, NGE isn't for everyone but the sort of "unresolved mysteries" storyteling is particularly well done in its case. The important issues were resolved and many of the big mysteries that were resolved were actually woven into the background of the narrative; you can re-watch NGE and see a lot more subtext than you saw the first time around.

YMMV (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/YourMileageMayVary) :smallsmile:

N.B. I may be one of the crazies who see similar stories being told in the last episodes of NGE and in End of Eva :smalltongue:

[Tiki Snakes]

N.B. I may be one of the crazies who see similar stories being told in the last episodes of NGE and in End of Eva :smalltongue:

Actually, I'm pretty sure I saw the similarity myself between them back when I watched them. Which is to say that a lot of the more objectionable stuff of the ending can't really be blamed on budget.

Because even in the phenominally well animated End of Evangelion, it still boils down to that hatefull little expy Shinji being irrationally important to the universe but not actually doing anything worthwhile at all.
Shinji Ikari, a pretty good argument for post-natal-abortion.

[Prime32]

I can explain everything that happened if you want. :smalltongue:

(But seriously, a lot of these questions got answered in supplemental material)
A godlike progenitor race created the White Moons and the Black Moons to seed planets with life. The former contained "the Fruit of Life" while the latter contained "the Fruit of Knowledge". Each Moon also contained a Lance of Longinus to control it with.

The Fruit of Life would create a lifeform with the ability to manipulate the AT Field (ego) which defined its existence, giving it great power (focused in an organ called a Super Solenoid Engine, or S2 Engine for short). The Fruit of Knowledge would create a lifeform whose AT Field divided it into countless smaller lifeforms capable of great intelligence. The FoL in the series is Adam, and its children are called Angels. The FoK is Lillith, and its children are called Lillim (that's us). "Humans" is used in the series to refer to any spawn of a fruit, rather than just Lillim. Calling Lillith an Angel is technically incorrect, but is used to hide its true identity. Oh, and LCL is Lillith's blood. Lillim are essentially pools of it bound by an AT Field.

Attaining both Fruits is the goal of every faction of the series, as it would grant powers equal to the progenitors themselves.

Only one moon was supposed to land on each planet. However, Lillith's Black Moon crash-landed on Earth, which was already seeded by Adam's White Moon. This crash (First Impact) destroyed its Lance of Longinus, causing it to become dominant over Adam. The White Moon ended up in Antarctica, while the Black Moon became the GeoFront where NERV is located.


SEELE scientists discovered Adam and tried stabbing it with the Lance of Longinus. Then something weird happened involving an Evangelion-shaped figure made of light and one scientist's DNA becoming sentient. The end result was Second Impact. Adam reverted to an embryo, while his soul reincarnated in a hybrid clone of the scientist who took the name Kaworu Nagisa. Rei was an attempt to recreate this process with Lillith.

The Eva units were made as clones of Adam, except for EVA-01 who was a clone of Lillith. Yui Ikari willing put her soul into EVA-01. Asuka's mother put the motherly half of her soul into EVA-02.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Because even in the phenominally well animated End of Evangelion, it still boils down to that hatefull little expy Shinji being irrationally important to the universe but not actually doing anything worthwhile at all.
Expy? (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Expy) For whom? :smallconfused:

Anyhow, Prime32 is correct - It's All There In The Manual (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllThereInTheManual) :smallbiggrin:

OK, now I'm just linking For The Evulz (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ForTheEvulz)

[Tiki Snakes]

Expy? (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Expy) For whom? :smallconfused:

Anyhow, Prime32 is correct - It's All There In The Manual (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AllThereInTheManual) :smallbiggrin:

OK, now I'm just linking For The Evulz (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ForTheEvulz)

Probably incorrectly, but I find dismissing Shinji as an Expy of Hideaki Anno more palatable than the alternatives. I know little about him as a person, admittedly, but there are paralells from what little I do know. He was, after all, heavily Depressed during the production,

Taken from Wiki; "It is plausible that Anno's four-year period of depression was the main source for many of the psychological elements of the series and its characters, as he wrote down on paper many of the trials and tribulations of his condition."

The alternative, that Shinji is legitimately a proper character devoid of anything of the sort, and that Evangelion does indeed describe a world where the little snot could be the single most important person in the world is just too bleak, for me.

To quote the above however, obviously, YMMV. :smallwink:

[edit] Rebuild of Evangelion I hope will fix a lot of my problems with the original. You never know, it's certainly worth crossing my fingers for. I'm not touching it with a ten foot pole until they finish the Tetrology though. Looking at the wiki page, that means I'll likely be checking back in no sooner than three years from now, at an estimate. :smallsmile:

[Oracle_Hunter]

Probably incorrectly, but I find dismissing Shinji as an Expy of Hideaki Anno more palatable than the alternatives. I know little about him as a person, admittedly, but there are paralells from what little I do know. He was, after all, heavily Depressed during the production,
Ah, you see it as a Self-Insert Fic (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SelfInsertFic). Expies are, traditionally, Exported Character from other fictional works.


The alternative, that Shinji is legitimately a proper character devoid of anything of the sort, and that Evangelion does indeed describe a world where the little snot could be the single most important person in the world is just too bleak, for me.

To be fair, that can be explained.
Shinji is placed at the pinnacle of creation thanks to the machinations of his parents.

Gendo manipulated SEELE to place his son in the driver seat of Instrumentality at least in part because he believed he could manipulate Shinji to producing the kind of world Gendo wanted.

More importantly - and you only see this in End of Eva - is that Yui may have engineered everything starting with GEHIRN to place her son at the controls. She may have deliberately merged with Unit-01 in order to control who could pilot it: since it was the only true clone of Adam around, it would have to be used to trigger Third Impact. And she did it because she wanted what was best for her boy :smallamused:
And is it bleak? Hell yes! But no more bleak than, say, Revolutionary Girl Utena.

[Prime32]

DIE SHINJI DIE
Ever read Shinji and Warhammer 40K (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanFic/ShinjiAndWarhammer40K)? It is awesome.

[Tiki Snakes]

Ever read Shinji and Warhammer 40K (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanFic/ShinjiAndWarhammer40K)? It is awesome.

I believe it would be, yes. I've heard of it, but lack the stamina for reading fanfiction. Eventually, perhaps.

Oracle - Yeah, slight mis-use of term there. I was trying to avoid using the other possible term because it would have been a little unfair.

It's the wasted storyline potential represented by that particular storyline direction that most offends me, actually, though. I just don't find it a satisfying conclusion to what had started out so full of promise.

In that sense, quite the opposite of Gurren Lagann, whose ruthless escalation managed to deliver the spectacular twists and action I was hoping for without sacrificing the internal drama.

I'm completely unfamiliar with Bliss Stage, though.
I figure whatever system you go for you'd need to allow lots of room for flexibility/homebrew/customization though. Anything that gave you one big block of stats for your war-machine just wouldn't model the crazy versatility of the ones shown in the series. M&M does sound like a useful startingpoint, as it's designed to cope with that kind of flexibility.
It would help if the human-level stuff was relitively down-to-earth, though. Another reason why Exalted is a bad match, really. At least, without extensive homebrew. The stunting mechanic is a good fit though, and something similar would be a useful addition in whatever system you choose to use.

[Oracle_Hunter]

I'm completely unfamiliar with Bliss Stage, though.
I figure whatever system you go for you'd need to allow lots of room for flexibility/homebrew/customization though. Anything that gave you one big block of stats for your war-machine just wouldn't model the crazy versatility of the ones shown in the series.
That's one reason I trumpeted Bliss Stage - there are no mechanics to tweak. The system is structured to enforce the thematic elements of mecha anime generally (and NGE-style mecha anime specifically) but there is little in it for "simulating" mecha combat. Personally, I feel this is appropriate for TTGL since there is no mecha combat to "simulate;" TTGL is all about the battle of spirit as mediated through Super Robots (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SuperRobot) after all. Trying to "stat out" the Gurren Lagann basically misses the point of the series, IMHO.

[Weimann]

I must add my voice against Exalted, because of one particular thing: the entire premise is wrong for TTGL.

Exalts are literally super-humans. They are metaphysically superior to 90% of the population in Creation; gods quiver in fear of them, mortals register not on their radar. They are already powerful. And that's the problem.

Kamina and Simon's strength lie in them coming from below. They are the underdogs, striking upwards, towards the sky. It's not Exalted as setting is no good for that. You are already way to high up in the ladder.

[Mattarias, King.]

I must add my voice against Exalted, because of one particular thing: the entire premise is wrong for TTGL.

Exalts are literally super-humans. They are metaphysically superior to 90% of the population in Creation; gods quiver in fear of them, mortals register not on their radar. They are already powerful. And that's the problem.

Kamina and Simon's strength lie in them coming from below. They are the underdogs, striking upwards, towards the sky. It's not Exalted as setting is no good for that. You are already way to high up in the ladder.

:smallconfused: There ARE heroic mortals...

Maybe a setting where Exaltation has somehow been made impossible, due to "Anti-spiral" (primordial?) influence (perhaps they're trapped, or taken?), and the rising heroes must overcome the odds set against them, taking Exaltations by force and rising above what fate has in store?

:smallconfused: I dunno, not very giant robot-ey, but it's something similar. I have to echo that Exalted's mechanics, if you're playing an "optimized" game, break down pretty easily, and don't really fit. But still, it could be fun.

And since it hasn't been said yet, "ROW, ROW, FIGHT THE POWER!" :smallcool:

[SuperFish]

I disagree that all those reasons you listed for TTGL being "dark" are valid. Death, bittersweet endings and evil prophecies don't make something dark, they make it complex. When I think something is "dark" I think of the overall feeling - things like the later part of Eva, or A Song of Ice and Fire, or most Shin Megami Tensei games - where the overall feeling is one of helplessness rather than optimism.

Also, I never got the Shinji-hate. Pretty sure that most of us would react little differently if put into his circumstances (from early childhood on, I mean, not just falling into the cockpit of Unit-01)