People who predicted that Patlabor: The Case Files would play like an old PS2 era action game were right on the money, and i say this in the most complimentary way possible.

The game takes place over several short missions, during which you'll be walking around linear levels, taking out enemy Labors and exploring to find pickups that restore your health, battery and ammunition, it doesn't get more classic than that. Each mission also has a set amount of bonus objectives you'll need to complete to get a perfect rank, though i'm not sure what you get if you ace a mission.

What i like the most so far about this game is that it gets the spirit of the show right, and it makes a significant impact on the gameplay. If you're not familiar with Patlabor, it's a series that's about policework as much as it about cool robots being neat, and as such the characters have to worry about mundane things like not damaging city infrastructure or using their ressources needlessly. As such, while the game's combat is fairly basic, having these incentives to play carefully and conservatively add a lot to the moment to moment gameplay.

As for the combat, it strikes a nice balance between feeling intuitive to play while being just clunky enough to remind you of the kind of machine you're piloting. Labors aren't Gundams, they have combat capabilities but are meant to be versatile mechs fit for various tasks. Beginning movement takes a second, so does stopping; aiming the gun takes a while, as does holstering it to change to a different weapon. You're really expected to commit to every input you make, and it makes for a unique, slower-paced action game.

As for the story, i'm not far enough into the game to judge it. There are some animated cutscenes, though they only feature the mechs, with all human characters being depicted in Visual Novel style segments so far. Will edit this section once i'm further into the game.

These are very early impressions, but since this is a small game that's unlikely to get a lot of mainstream attention/reviews, i wanted to get my early thoughts out there for people who were worried this game might be a bust. So far, it's anything but!

Ohta and Goto. my GOATs <3

everything about this game feels like it's a psp game from 2006, if i get this game on a psp in 2006 i'd love it, but i got this game on my pc in 2026.

i'm a massive fan for patlabor, it's sadly disappointing, if you sought after the early 2000 janky retro gaming this is for you, if you looking for a game that do patlabor justice and meet the mordant expectation this is not the game

I love most mech games and the Mech designs from the Patlabor show. but i would wait for a sale. it feels like playing rock-em sock-em robots the game. lock on in the game is holding the button (RB on gamepad), there is no toggle for lock on. I'll be honest, i was expecting more of a fighting game with the martial arts and grappling from the show but this is literally just perfect block and doge, then spam your only melee button a few times, then repeat with slow movement and wonky camera control. I've only got an hour in and the first chapter done, but its just not for me.