The Two Trees Of Valinor (Roger Garland)

The Two Trees of Valinor (Roger Garland)

by @tima_Ayo

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The Famicom/NES port of Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (the first game in the series) was co-developed and published by ASCII Entertainment (aka Nexoft) and released in 1987. Jun Suemi designed the monsters for this port and his illustrations grace the trading cards shown here (a partial set only). From my understanding, one random card was included when you bought the game in Japan.

Seeing as I’ve recently finished the model kit, let’s discuss the Delta Gundam today.

I’m specifically going to be talking about the design and it’s variants. What I’m not going to be talking about is the Hyaku Shiki, and it’s variants, since those are a whole separate topic I want to cover at some point, though I will be comparing to the base Hyaku Shiki at times.

So, the Delta Gundam is the original prototype design to the Hyaku Shiki (or at least close enough there’s little difference). Had it been built it would have been one of the first transformable mobile suits of the Gryps war. However, the frame suffered from structural issues, so it was instead completed as the Hyaku Shiki, which would be piloted by Quattro Bajeena (Aka Char Aznable) during the Gryps War. It’s one of the few mobile suits that we know for a fact was never built (at least at the moment) and is arguably the closest Char ever got to piloting a Gundam-type mobile suit (discounting the Mk-II heist at the start of the Gryps war).

I think it’s honestly gorgeous, for being the in-universe first crack at third-generation mobile suits. A lot of the design feels very Zeta-esque to me, but it’s got more heft to it comparatively (probably because of the wing binders). I absolutely love the head, it just looks so sinister and it contains the same IDE (Image Directive Encode) system that made the original Hyaku Shiki such a good sniper. The rifle is also very nice, it’s got a very gryps-era design, but it somehow feels fuller and deadlier. The Delta Gundam stores it’s beam sabers in its shield, where they also function as beam guns. Honestly, I forget about this feature a lot simply because that’s something that was more common during the Neo Zeon War, and it makes the Delta Gundam feel overarmed to me. It’s just such a lovely blend of the Zeta, Hyaku Shiki and Mk-II, which were fairly light on integrated weaponry. The design also feels considerably more contemporary - it’s officially part of the Gundam Unicorn MSV, despite it being in-universe from the Gryps War, so it’s possible that this is an in-universe “refined” concept. The comparatively simple design also makes its unique features (the wings, the head, the gold) pop more.

The Delta Plus.

The Delta Plus is a limited production suit built by Anaheim Electronics based no the original Delta Gundam. It’s essentially a mashup of the Delta Gundam and the Zeta Plus series. Compared to its predecessor, it trades the golden Anti-Beam coating for heavier firepower and a transformation system that actually works. It’s also equipped with a simple bio-sensor for use by newtypes.

For Armaments, it retains the Vulcans, Beam Sabers (and thus beam guns) and (now-optional) beam rifle of its predecessor, while it gains a 2-barrel grenade launcher and besm cannon, both built into the shield. Additionally, it was equipped with a Long Mega Buster, first used by the Full Armour Hyaku Shiki Kai, as standard armament. Why is this important? Because the Long Mega Buster is essentially a handheld version of the Original Hyaku Shiki’s Mega Bazooka Launcher, giving the Delta Plus significant firepower compared to its predecessors. It would be piloted by Riddhe Marcenas during the LA+ Incident (or Third Neo Zeon War).

So what do I think about it? Ehhh….. I don’t really dislike the design, but it’s just a little drab. It suffers because I like both the Delta Gundam and the Hyaku Shiki, so despite the armament increase, the Delta Plus just feels like a downgrade. I like the Zeta Plus series, which the Delta Plus takes obvious influence from, but the problem is that I like them because they have a soft, rounded, aerodynamic look compared to the sleek, angular nature of the original Zeta Gundam. The Delta Plus is just more lines and angles, it feels too different from them from a design perspective. There’s also it’s usage in the story, which I want to talk about.

Okay, I understand why Riddhe’s in Unicorn. I understand who he is and what he represents so I don’t really have to like him, per se. I view him getting the Delta Plus as shorthand for “he’s an important character now, pay attention” and because people like the Hyaku Shiki, he gets a suit based on that. Problem is, other than being able to independently enter the atmosphere (*cough* Ballutes *cough*), I don’t really see what the Delta Plus adds that wouldn’t be provided by a ReZel. I’ll admit this is partially because I’ve been coming around to liking the ReZel a lot more lately, but I just don’t think the Delta Plus adds much. The Delta Plus is eventually absolutely mauled by the Banshee, and while it’s a pretty good “death” scene, it’s destroyed functionally so Riddhe can get a new suit. I mentioned it contains a simple bio-sensor before, but despite Riddhe’s newtype potential, I don’t think it ever comes up in-series.

The Gundam Delta Kai

A thoroughly upgraded Delta Plus, designed as a next-gen demonstration machine. It’s essentially chock-full of fancy weaponry and experimental systems.

Honestly, it’s equipped with a lot of optional weaponry that I wasn’t aware of, so I’m just going to be focusing on its “basic” loadout here (IE What’s on the model kit). It’s equipped with Vulcans, Beam Sabers (which again double as beam guns), a Long Mega Buster (as with the Delta Plus), a High Mega Cannon, built into the shield and based on the ZZ (though with the output ratcheted back quite significantly), and finally, some proto fin funnels swiped from the Nu Gundam’s development. It’s also equipped with the n_i_t_r_o system, which temporarily enhances a normal pilot into a cyber Newtype and causes the mobile suit to emit blue flames. It also makes the pilot unusually aggressive and unstable. So, basically an EXAM system in a hat and moustache. Honestly, I tend to forget about it.

So, the Gundam Delta Kai is gorgeous. It’s a fourth-gen mobile suit with a bunch of armaments, I like how the blue and yellow break up the predominantly while colour scheme and it’s got an actual Gundam-style head. Though I wasn’t able to find a good picture of the shield it integrates far better than you’d expect from its design. The funnels are oversized and delightful, since they change its whole silhouette and give the impression of an increased armament (if the high mega cannon didn’t already). I also want to call out that I especially love the thruster design on this thing. 10/10, no further notes.

The Gundam Delta Kai would eventually be upgraded into the Land Combat Gundam Delta Kai. I’m gonna be honest, I don’t really have much of an opinion of this one. Or really anything to say about it.

The Delta Gundam II.

An identical, red copy of the original Delta Gundam, its plans were pitched to Karaba in November of UC 0087, in the middle of the Gryps War, but it was rejected due to the fact it would take too much time to be built. Out-of-universe, it’s an excuse to sell the Delta Gundam in Char’s colours, but I find I rather like it. The flat colours allows the design to take on greater definition in some areas (such as the head) and to pleasingly evokes the Zero-Shiki (and thus the Rick Dias) to me.

Finally, we come to the Mega-Shiki. A Gunpla ordered by Team G-Master for the Gunpla Battle Championship, built by Minato Sakai. It’s essentially a purple mash-up of the Delta Gundam and Hyaku-Shiki, with an integrated Mega-Rider from ZZ as its backpack.

Armaments are: Vulcan Guns in the head, a beam rifle identical to that of the Delta Gundam, two beam sabers styled after samurai swords (functioning similarly to Beam Cutlasses from Gundam Crossbone) and the Mega Beam Cannon mounted on the Mega Rider backpack (honestly it’s called a beam cannon, high mega beam cannon, mega launcher, so I just made my best guess. It’s essentially the Hyaku Shiki’s Mega Bazooka Launcher but better integrated). It retains the anti-beam coating of its predecessors, but it’s coloured purple.

The Mega Shiki is another of those rare models I would get to mod and paint. The purple colour scheme doesn’t do it for me, but it could be repainted in a variety of Gryps-war appropriate colour schemes that I’d find quite enjoyable. I like how the Mega Rider’s integrated, but I’d honestly much rather knock it off, replace the backpack with a standard Hyaku-Shiki one, and use it as the Hyaku-Shiki does - a sort-of sub-flight system meets really big gun. I understand the idea behind the beam katana’s but I just don’t really think they add anything to the design. In a nutshell, it’s a nice concept, but the execution feels like it’s going in too many directions at once. It is my understanding that the HG model contains several spare Delta Gundam Parts however, such as the head (but not the backpack), so it does have options as a model.

I’m gonna be honest, I like the Star Wars Expanded universe as much as the next person, but honestly I enjoyed it a lot more once I realised it’s not all worth it.

(a third evil Shaak Ti Knockoff? Well’s running a bit dry there, huh?)

Don’t get me wrong, there’s good stuff in there (I have a particular fondness for some of the Han Solo Novels), but there’s a lot of schlock too. It’s a big universe and they can’t all be winners.

Once upon a time, I felt like it was a reasonable goal to read all the Star Wars tie-in comics, they only came out like 3-4 per week, they're just 23 pages, it's totally doable! But I have realized, no, I just fundamentally do not care about certain sets of characters or parts of the Star Wars galaxy. "You could still do it for completion's sake!" my brain keeps whispering in a coaxing voice. "You could look for fun little gems like 'swearing in the gffa' that way! Just 3-4 comics a week, that's easy to get done!" And I have to tell that voice to shut up, because that half hour or 45 minutes I spend reading those comics and roving my eye over the panels to see if there's anything funny in the background might not be a lot of time, but I could be spending that time every week watching a TV show I liked or reading a fic I liked. And most importantly I am freeing myself of this prison. COMPLETIONISM IS A PRISON. IT IS ONLY FUN IF YOU ACTUALLY LIKE ALL THAT STUFF. COMPLETING IT JUST TO COMPLETE IT DOES NOT ACTUALLY MAKE YOUR BRAIN HAPPY THERE IS NO SATISFYING "I SCRATCHED THIS ITCH" FEELING AT THE END OF IT. IT IS LIES. IT ONLY ENDS IN EXHAUSTION AND "WHY DID I THINK THIS WAS WORTH IT?" FREE YOURSELF OF COMPLETIONISM FOR COMPLETIONISM'S SAKE NOW.