That moment ended as soon as the tutorial began. I spent the better part of an hour configuring my NEXT. The level of customization is impressive. You outfit your mech with one weapon for each hand, two for its back and one for its shoulder. You choose armor stretching from the helmet down to the forearms, and custom colors can be created if the default color schemes don’t suit you. As you progress further into the game, you earn points to “tune” your NEXT; improving various attributes such as turn speed or aim. Trust me—you’ll want better turn speed.

You earn money in each mission, which usually requires you to blow up everything that moves. These are earnings are then used on upgrades for your NEXT. You can also win cash and other loot by competing in ranked matches against other pilots. More importantly, by completing missions, you unlock new weapons to buy in the shop. In fact, you spend a good portion of the game in the shop, buying new parts and customizing your NEXT for the upcoming mission. Weapons vary by how much ammo they can carry, how fast the rounds move, how much damage they cause, and how much energy they expend.

The gameplay can vary drastically from mission to mission, so you’ll want to outfit your NEXT accordingly. Many missions require you to do little more than blow up everything you see, so your choice of weapon doesn’t matter all that much. When you’re battling another NEXT, however, you’ll quickly find that your weapon can make or break the match. What seems like a great tool against the sluggish Normals and battle stations might not be fast enough to hit an enemy NEXT. Whichever mission you’re in, you’ll have to keep an eye on your ammo, since you won’t be picking up any on the battlefield.

For Answer is more fast-paced than other games in the mech genre. An important part of the gameplay is mastering the use of the quick-boost option, which allows you to dodge enemy fire more effectively. It’s easy to get disoriented when using the quick boost, so it’ll take some time to master.