Earth Defense Force Insect Armageddon was my introduction to the series. Not long after, I found a used copy of EDF 2017, and it became one of my favorite games of all time. There's a beauty to EDF 2017's simplicity. It's not too long, not too short, the gameplay is fun, and the voice acting is amazing and no other games can compare to it.
2025, baby. That's where it all started for me and my dad. Threw caution to the wind and never looked back. We had a blast laughing at the absurd and frankly (for first time spottings) terrifying monsters that came crawling toward us by the hundreds. I specialized in just about every other class, while he took the Ranger and stood in the storm with his rifle. I particularly took the Air Raider and mangled with Limpet and turret at hand. 4.1 and 5 we're a bit of fresh air, with touching up and, with 5, the upgrades to the Air Raider functions as a support and demo crew for one being great.
I started with 4.1, so this is an interesting peek to me. I just finished 5's coop campaign with some friends, and loved it until the end. 4.1 and 5 just provide something so niche, yet undeniably perfect. I love playing as Air raiders-Vehicles and artillery are my thing, and it only got better with 5's vast improvements to air raider, and in general. I was a cheapass and ultimately only got to play 5 because a friend bought it for me, but I think I'll buy 6 at PC release. Its as clutch or as casual as you want it, it offers things that many other games can't even begin to consider. The only thing that could be better, is if it had the option to fly jets, or as a middle ground, maybe control airstrikes
@@yurtthesilentgod1225 it's good. But my friends and I agree there's too many missions. It could have lost about 30ish and still tell a good story and not just...go on forever. One of my friend especially hates the EDF special of "Here's the Kaiju, it will proceed to interfere with you for 15 missions before you get to kill it, and it's just invincible until then" some of the new enemies are kinda...ehh...in terms of mechanics. The shields make it both easier and harder to hit? I main air raider. I think some of the new drones are fun, others are just kinda meh. The air-strike esque drones really needed to be able to zoom out like regular airstrikes, and mortars are just useless. Of course some weapons are always gonna be a dud. Quick-Travelling Machine gun copters are the way to go. All the missions where there's no air support or vehicles is always sad to see. I started playing ranger on those. The ending was...kinda abrupt? The final mission was a bit tough, but only because one bullshit thing they actually remove halfway through the fight-Youve probably seen them but I won't spoil. It was practically overwhelming until they disappeared, and then it was just...easy. EDF tradition of farming missions continues. I recommend Grenade Demolitions unit as wing diver. For early farming. Inferno adds 3 frogs but hardest and below only has suiciders, so if you kite them well it's easy. There's also one near the end that's hard to fail if you do it right even on inferno, but, I can't tell you yet. I'm happy I bought the game. I'm a little disappointed that the Hololive decoys are ranger only despite air raider also having decoys, and the decoy I wanted is in the JP version but not EN version. The content is there, why can't we have it? Progression carrying between single player and multiplayer is godly and a no trainer at this point...Still, I wish difficulties always auto completed lower ones. I'd like to 100% an EDF ONE DAY but the thought of playing the missions at minimum...1800 times?...is eh
Each armor pickup is equivalent to an addition of 1.2 to maximum stamina, if the mission is completed successfully. Though obviously variable with the five difficulties, the weapon pickup will be any of 163 weapons obtainable after a successful mission. The two reasons that only 163 are obtainable via the weapon pickup are that (1) every time a new game is begun, the player already has access to three weapons, and (2) there are five weapons obtainable by completing the game on the respective difficulties. The small health pickup will restore 15% of the current maximum stamina during battle. The large health pickup will restore 30% of the current maximum stamina during combat. Starting weapons are the AF14 (Assault Rifle), Stingray M1 (Rocket Launcher), and MG10 (Hand Grenade). The five weapons obtainable by completing the game entirely, depending on difficulty, are the Zero Laser Rifle (Sniper Rifle, Easy), the ZE Launcher (Sentry Turret, Normal), the Y20 Impulse (Claymore, Hard), the PX50 Bound Shot (Bound Gun, Hardest), and the Genocide Gun (Rocket Launcher, Inferno). The total number of weapons in "Earth Defense Force 2017" amounts to 171, despite the player's having to complete the equivalent of a minimum of 53 * 5 = 265 missions (fifty-three missions on five difficulties). Some missions may have to be repeated to collect more armor, but this can be accomplished on any of the five difficulties.
As always a fantastic review! It's so cool when something like this that starts off as a joke turns into something seriously fun and awesome! Excited to see the videos for the next games in this series! :)
Looking forward to this Retrospective series on edf! specially about the dialogue in the later games since they really keep the charm yet at the same time manage to evolve so that you actually care about the story or your fellow soldiers, at least imo.
I comment the same on all your videos but it has to be said: you do a great job , I get alot of enjoyment from them and learn a great deal. Keep it up man!
I was born in 2002 and played this game as a kid for years lmao. Used to bring it round to my friends at sleepovers and we would have tournaments in the vs mode, with me shitting on them every time lol. Played the co-op too with my brother and we'd play the shit out of the Crimson mission with the red ants over and over. The sound FX and music are superb imo. A hidden gem for sure just like this channel.
EDF 2017 was my first of the series, after longingly looking at Insect Armageddon in the Xbox 360 arcade. I picked it up when 2017 was a free game with gold. I think I beat the game across a two day period where I was sick in High School, and it was such a cozy feeling to just be immersed in the least immersive game ever. The ending to 2017 is also really cathartic, mostly due to how stressful the final missions are. I still have the clip where I beat 2017 with 1 hp remaining, and that moment really elevated Storm 1 from just a call sign to a legendary hero figure referenced in every following D3/Sandlot EDF.
Hey, review from a person who actually played game more than few stages or on normal. Good stuff! Also 2017 Portable has switch version, which never got out to west for some reason.
It's a real shame the Xbox playerbase has gotten real shafted EDF wise, after 2025, the games only came out on Playstation and PC, which really sucks because there are still people who play 2025 on Xbox to this day waiting for another EDF, I mean come on, if there's one thing that does well on Xbox is shooters yet THIS is the one Japanese game we don't get on there
another thing to mention regarding the game's audio and voices. Your character does have a voice you can hear him make noises when taking damage, its just so damn quiet youd miss it unless you turned down gun sounds and the music lmaooo
Funny story, I had this when first came out, and didn’t care about or fall in love w it and series for 10 years also…I bought used copy on whim one day thinking by name it was related to Jaleco shmup I loved as kid on SNES- the one you mentioned lol (great music in that arcade game and port btw)
If you'd like to play EDF 2017 with a stable framerate, it IS backwards compatible on Xbox One/Series. I played through co-op on a Series X, and while there is a certain joy in explosions so huge they kill the framerate along with the bugs, there is also joy in the game being fluid and responsive no matter how much shit gets thrown on screen. I don't want to promise it's perfectly locked, as I'm sure you can still make it lag with enough effort, but during our playthrough I didn't notice any real drops, even with using things like firecrackers and flamethrowers that normally tank EDF framerates.
I've never played this game or seen gameplay of it until now, and holly shit does it look very similar to the classic Star Wars Battlefront games lol, specifically the first one.
My first EDF game I've ever played, sadly I can't play 4.1, 5, Iron Rain or 6 since I'm primarily an Xbox gamer and I don't really wanna get a Playstation just for EDF.
Really lame. I wish Xbox gamers got the chance to experience all these new EDF games! Especially given how similar the architecture is for Xbox and Playstation at this point.
@Dorkaxe Yeah, it is quite understandable though, since Xbox doesn't really have a big market in Japan, and I think there are far more EDF fans on Playstation than Xbox.
I'm also excited to do 4.1! I believe Global Defense Force (the 2nd game in the series only for Japan and Europe) had the wing diver in addition to the normal shooter class, so I believe 2017 if anything removed the classes for some reason.
@@Dorkaxe Oh thats interesting, I never played the ps2 classic since I lived in the U.S my entire life. Will you also do Insect Armageddon? I never played that one since I had trouble finding a physical copy.
Insect Armageddon will be the next EDF video, yes! I'm very much looking forward to never playing it again! There will be two non-EDF videos before that one, though.
The 360 introduced me to this game and I was immediately hooked. Bought Insect Armageddon and 2025 on release day, but then... the series abandoned me and my Xbox...
This is available on ps4? Well then i might just pick up a copy. Great review as always! You’re good writer. I especially liked how you described the music.
This one (2017) is exclusive to the 360, but 4.1 and 5 should be on the ps4, and are objective improvements. Definitely recommend this series! Thank you for the kind words, by the way!
when you review Battlefront 2 (whenever that may be, because quality takes time), could you mention the unofficial duelling scope? i find it really interesting and rewarding and despite it being a completely accidental feature, it's very much in-depth and interesting. it would be great to see what you think of it because i love your content and the depth you have in your reviews :)
I appreciate you bringing this mechanic/feature to my attention. Can you link me something that expands on what it is? I don't understand what you mean and I'm not sure if I'm seeing it when googling it.
@@Dorkaxe no worries, love to hear from you czcams.com/video/Tzx6snyl3V4/video.html as i said, it is an accidental implementation to the game, and is very much a player driven activity which i find really cool. czcams.com/video/bga_a318JmQ/video.html
@@harryevans4994 Ok I think I'm a little confused. You meant scope as in, there are a lot of nuances and tactics in the hero vs hero duels? Like the parry mechanic? I thought you meant at first that there was a way to have a double scope fora sniper rifle or something lol
Don't worry about the social issues... although homelessness does goes up... it's only for a very short time until the casualty rates increase. To be 100.... you should be very concerned about alien signals being detected..... because the many years it took for them to get to us means they are hella more advanced by now.......
I'd say so, but they are definitely better with a friend or two. The newer ones you can join online lobbies to play with randos as well, otherwise playing solo *I think* is fun enough. I'd just have a podcast or some other multitask activity up while you blast bugs and robots to make it a little better.
EDF 2017 doesn’t have any difficulty scaling when playing coop (later games do). It’s therefore very helpful to have someone splitscreen coop the later levels/higher difficulty with you.
that 'we don't do cheap games" comment from sony aged so well when you see all the garbage on the psn store now but then again sony is always moving to be out of touch with everything when they do well
The Scorne9000 guy seems like a square.
The Scorne9000 guy seems like a square.
6:58 "Small explosions"
*The entire screen is fire*
Small by EDF standards.
Earth Defense Force Insect Armageddon was my introduction to the series. Not long after, I found a used copy of EDF 2017, and it became one of my favorite games of all time. There's a beauty to EDF 2017's simplicity. It's not too long, not too short, the gameplay is fun, and the voice acting is amazing and no other games can compare to it.
My condolences for having to experience insect Armageddon.
2025, baby. That's where it all started for me and my dad. Threw caution to the wind and never looked back. We had a blast laughing at the absurd and frankly (for first time spottings) terrifying monsters that came crawling toward us by the hundreds. I specialized in just about every other class, while he took the Ranger and stood in the storm with his rifle. I particularly took the Air Raider and mangled with Limpet and turret at hand. 4.1 and 5 we're a bit of fresh air, with touching up and, with 5, the upgrades to the Air Raider functions as a support and demo crew for one being great.
I started with 4.1, so this is an interesting peek to me. I just finished 5's coop campaign with some friends, and loved it until the end.
4.1 and 5 just provide something so niche, yet undeniably perfect. I love playing as Air raiders-Vehicles and artillery are my thing, and it only got better with 5's vast improvements to air raider, and in general.
I was a cheapass and ultimately only got to play 5 because a friend bought it for me, but I think I'll buy 6 at PC release. Its as clutch or as casual as you want it, it offers things that many other games can't even begin to consider. The only thing that could be better, is if it had the option to fly jets, or as a middle ground, maybe control airstrikes
What are you thinking about 6 so far? I'm on mission 81 and it's incredible. Tons of lobbies online to play and split screen is still good as ever.
@@yurtthesilentgod1225
it's good. But my friends and I agree there's too many missions. It could have lost about 30ish and still tell a good story and not just...go on forever. One of my friend especially hates the EDF special of "Here's the Kaiju, it will proceed to interfere with you for 15 missions before you get to kill it, and it's just invincible until then" some of the new enemies are kinda...ehh...in terms of mechanics. The shields make it both easier and harder to hit?
I main air raider. I think some of the new drones are fun, others are just kinda meh. The air-strike esque drones really needed to be able to zoom out like regular airstrikes, and mortars are just useless. Of course some weapons are always gonna be a dud. Quick-Travelling Machine gun copters are the way to go. All the missions where there's no air support or vehicles is always sad to see. I started playing ranger on those.
The ending was...kinda abrupt? The final mission was a bit tough, but only because one bullshit thing they actually remove halfway through the fight-Youve probably seen them but I won't spoil. It was practically overwhelming until they disappeared, and then it was just...easy.
EDF tradition of farming missions continues. I recommend Grenade Demolitions unit as wing diver. For early farming. Inferno adds 3 frogs but hardest and below only has suiciders, so if you kite them well it's easy. There's also one near the end that's hard to fail if you do it right even on inferno, but, I can't tell you yet.
I'm happy I bought the game. I'm a little disappointed that the Hololive decoys are ranger only despite air raider also having decoys, and the decoy I wanted is in the JP version but not EN version. The content is there, why can't we have it?
Progression carrying between single player and multiplayer is godly and a no trainer at this point...Still, I wish difficulties always auto completed lower ones. I'd like to 100% an EDF ONE DAY but the thought of playing the missions at minimum...1800 times?...is eh
It's 2024 and there _still_ arent any games doing what EDF does. I only recently discovered this IP and oh boy do i love it.
Each armor pickup is equivalent to an addition of 1.2 to maximum stamina, if the mission is completed successfully.
Though obviously variable with the five difficulties, the weapon pickup will be any of 163 weapons obtainable after a successful mission. The two reasons that only 163 are obtainable via the weapon pickup are that (1) every time a new game is begun, the player already has access to three weapons, and (2) there are five weapons obtainable by completing the game on the respective difficulties.
The small health pickup will restore 15% of the current maximum stamina during battle.
The large health pickup will restore 30% of the current maximum stamina during combat.
Starting weapons are the AF14 (Assault Rifle), Stingray M1 (Rocket Launcher), and MG10 (Hand Grenade). The five weapons obtainable by completing the game entirely, depending on difficulty, are the Zero Laser Rifle (Sniper Rifle, Easy), the ZE Launcher (Sentry Turret, Normal), the Y20 Impulse (Claymore, Hard), the PX50 Bound Shot (Bound Gun, Hardest), and the Genocide Gun (Rocket Launcher, Inferno).
The total number of weapons in "Earth Defense Force 2017" amounts to 171, despite the player's having to complete the equivalent of a minimum of 53 * 5 = 265 missions (fifty-three missions on five difficulties). Some missions may have to be repeated to collect more armor, but this can be accomplished on any of the five difficulties.
10:23 "Look at me, I am the captain now."
As a PC player, it's somehow nostalgic to see the battle that happened before 4.1, as that was the first PC release
As always a fantastic review! It's so cool when something like this that starts off as a joke turns into something seriously fun and awesome!
Excited to see the videos for the next games in this series! :)
Looking forward to this Retrospective series on edf! specially about the dialogue in the later games since they really keep the charm yet at the same time manage to evolve so that you actually care about the story or your fellow soldiers, at least imo.
This is not Dead Rising 3 DLC but your videos are always the best.
What are you going to say when I eventually do the DLC? lol
@@Dorkaxe To ask you about Portal 2.
I comment the same on all your videos but it has to be said: you do a great job , I get alot of enjoyment from them and learn a great deal. Keep it up man!
Thanks so much, I appreciate it!
I was born in 2002 and played this game as a kid for years lmao. Used to bring it round to my friends at sleepovers and we would have tournaments in the vs mode, with me shitting on them every time lol. Played the co-op too with my brother and we'd play the shit out of the Crimson mission with the red ants over and over. The sound FX and music are superb imo. A hidden gem for sure just like this channel.
EDF 2017 was my first of the series, after longingly looking at Insect Armageddon in the Xbox 360 arcade. I picked it up when 2017 was a free game with gold.
I think I beat the game across a two day period where I was sick in High School, and it was such a cozy feeling to just be immersed in the least immersive game ever.
The ending to 2017 is also really cathartic, mostly due to how stressful the final missions are. I still have the clip where I beat 2017 with 1 hp remaining, and that moment really elevated Storm 1 from just a call sign to a legendary hero figure referenced in every following D3/Sandlot EDF.
Hey, review from a person who actually played game more than few stages or on normal. Good stuff! Also 2017 Portable has switch version, which never got out to west for some reason.
It's a real shame the Xbox playerbase has gotten real shafted EDF wise, after 2025, the games only came out on Playstation and PC, which really sucks because there are still people who play 2025 on Xbox to this day waiting for another EDF,
I mean come on, if there's one thing that does well on Xbox is shooters yet THIS is the one Japanese game we don't get on there
another thing to mention regarding the game's audio and voices. Your character does have a voice you can hear him make noises when taking damage, its just so damn quiet youd miss it unless you turned down gun sounds and the music lmaooo
Are you gonna do a review of Insect Armageddon? I really enjoyed this review, it was nice to see a review of this game that isn't 10 years old.
Happy you liked it! Yea definitely doing IA, much to my friends' chagrin (I'm making them play it with me, we don't like the game much lmao)
Legendary game!!! My mom picked this up for me used from a video rental store and let me tell you she found a gem of all gems.
Happy to say that EDF 6 continues the addiction and is definitely the best in the series.
Oooo that has be very excited. Thanks for letting me know!
Funny story, I had this when first came out, and didn’t care about or fall in love w it and series for 10 years also…I bought used copy on whim one day thinking by name it was related to Jaleco shmup I loved as kid on SNES- the one you mentioned lol (great music in that arcade game and port btw)
"Gimmick purchase" is entering my everyday vernacular now
If you'd like to play EDF 2017 with a stable framerate, it IS backwards compatible on Xbox One/Series.
I played through co-op on a Series X, and while there is a certain joy in explosions so huge they kill the framerate along with the bugs, there is also joy in the game being fluid and responsive no matter how much shit gets thrown on screen.
I don't want to promise it's perfectly locked, as I'm sure you can still make it lag with enough effort, but during our playthrough I didn't notice any real drops, even with using things like firecrackers and flamethrowers that normally tank EDF framerates.
Love the 2017 Kaiju design Vallak
I've never played this game or seen gameplay of it until now, and holly shit does it look very similar to the classic Star Wars Battlefront games lol, specifically the first one.
My first EDF game I've ever played, sadly I can't play 4.1, 5, Iron Rain or 6 since I'm primarily an Xbox gamer and I don't really wanna get a Playstation just for EDF.
Really lame. I wish Xbox gamers got the chance to experience all these new EDF games! Especially given how similar the architecture is for Xbox and Playstation at this point.
@Dorkaxe Yeah, it is quite understandable though, since Xbox doesn't really have a big market in Japan, and I think there are far more EDF fans on Playstation than Xbox.
Can't wait for you to play 4.1 I love these games. The later ones added classes
I'm also excited to do 4.1! I believe Global Defense Force (the 2nd game in the series only for Japan and Europe) had the wing diver in addition to the normal shooter class, so I believe 2017 if anything removed the classes for some reason.
@@Dorkaxe Oh thats interesting, I never played the ps2 classic since I lived in the U.S my entire life. Will you also do Insect Armageddon? I never played that one since I had trouble finding a physical copy.
Insect Armageddon will be the next EDF video, yes! I'm very much looking forward to never playing it again! There will be two non-EDF videos before that one, though.
53 levels, I like it
The 360 introduced me to this game and I was immediately hooked. Bought Insect Armageddon and 2025 on release day, but then... the series abandoned me and my Xbox...
Great video man keep up the good work love edf! :)
This is available on ps4? Well then i might just pick up a copy. Great review as always! You’re good writer. I especially liked how you described the music.
This one (2017) is exclusive to the 360, but 4.1 and 5 should be on the ps4, and are objective improvements. Definitely recommend this series! Thank you for the kind words, by the way!
for the frame rate, playing on newer gen backwards compatible consoles will fix that with very rare lagging
This series is awesome.
Had one mission on inferno left before it red ringed my first 360 😅
when you review Battlefront 2 (whenever that may be, because quality takes time), could you mention the unofficial duelling scope? i find it really interesting and rewarding and despite it being a completely accidental feature, it's very much in-depth and interesting. it would be great to see what you think of it because i love your content and the depth you have in your reviews :)
I appreciate you bringing this mechanic/feature to my attention. Can you link me something that expands on what it is? I don't understand what you mean and I'm not sure if I'm seeing it when googling it.
@@Dorkaxe no worries, love to hear from you
czcams.com/video/Tzx6snyl3V4/video.html
as i said, it is an accidental implementation to the game, and is very much a player driven activity which i find really cool.
czcams.com/video/bga_a318JmQ/video.html
@@harryevans4994 Ok I think I'm a little confused. You meant scope as in, there are a lot of nuances and tactics in the hero vs hero duels? Like the parry mechanic? I thought you meant at first that there was a way to have a double scope fora sniper rifle or something lol
@@Dorkaxe yes, scope as in tactics, its a lot more in depth than most people think haha
that 'we don't do cheap games" comment from sony aged so well when you see all the garbage on the psn store now
Don't worry about the social issues... although homelessness does goes up... it's only for a very short time until the casualty rates increase.
To be 100.... you should be very concerned about alien signals being detected..... because the many years it took for them to get to us means they are hella more advanced by now.......
wait a sec, this isn't the first to go west, insect armageddon is.
I love 2025 and still play it's multiplayer, some of the old heads still on there. I hope we get another release on the Xbox
Fuck yeah, EDF is awesome!
The best series of budget games
I have never heard about this game before, I'll put it on my list of games to check out in the future
NEW DORK VID LFG
Best game ever made hands down
Awesome
Thanks for the vid
9:41 in al my time i've never thought about that. push to talk lmaooo
This is making me want to hop bavk on edf so bad
let me guess which weapon the last one was that Your friend needed,
Lysander Z
nvm it was Prominence
Does the welder repair vehicles?
I approve
i got the 15k armour and completed everything on that game lmaoo, and done it 3 times.....
atleast xbox sries x/s exsists so no more performance issues
Are these games worth it for single player?
I'd say so, but they are definitely better with a friend or two. The newer ones you can join online lobbies to play with randos as well, otherwise playing solo *I think* is fun enough. I'd just have a podcast or some other multitask activity up while you blast bugs and robots to make it a little better.
@@Dorkaxe ok thanks, I am interested in trying these games, I love campy sci fi movies so this looks up my alley
EDF 2017 doesn’t have any difficulty scaling when playing coop (later games do). It’s therefore very helpful to have someone splitscreen coop the later levels/higher difficulty with you.
Scout rush looked a bit sloppy.
I FUCKING HATE SKILL TREES!!!
Fucking skill trees man… lol
that 'we don't do cheap games" comment from sony aged so well when you see all the garbage on the psn store now but then again sony is always moving to be out of touch with everything when they do well
This game should have just been an anime instead in my opinion
Yeahh no, imagine the cost of production for the swarming fight
3:10 that’s debatable