Do you /R?

Back when the supplemental update began being rolled out, a new mission type was introduced:  GUARDIANS advanced missions.  Well past the time when the game became “too easy” according to many, these missions seemed to be the answer to PSU‘s lack of challenge.  So now that we’re three months past the release of the first set of GAMs, how is the mission type holding up?

From my personal experience with them, fairly well.  Pretty much any time I stop by the Resident Security Department (this is the lobby where you access GAMs), I see a few parties either in the lobby or mid-mission at the counter.  “A few” might not sound promising, but keep in mind that the time I usually play equates to morning and mid-day for Japan, so you definitely aren’t going to see the population at its best then.  Anyway, something must have been done right to be keeping the community’s attention like it is.  Let’s take a look at a few possible reasons.

• Challenge – When you take on an advanced mission, your character gets cut down to LV20 (though your type level remains intact).  And on top of that, numerous other restrictions are put in place, such as no recovery items/TECHNICs, no units and no EX traps.  Though this can offer a decent challenge upon initial release or to the unsuspecting player, when taken on by a party that knows the mission well enough, it doesn’t seem to be a major issue blowing right through.
• New items – Not counting the various exchange missions that were released in conjunction with the advanced missions, GAMs themselves offer many new weapons as drop items.  These include the beef-themed weapons as well as many other formerly PSP-exclusive weapons.
• AMP – GAMs are the only way players can accumulate AMP (advanced mission points).  What good is AMP, then? you may be asking.  In short:  new items.  The particular draw here is from numerous S-grade SUVs and (in my case) the final two TECHNICs, Dizas and Rentis.
• AEXP – Advanced EXP.  If you haven’t capped your character yet, GAMs are the only place you can earn AEXP.  What’s it do?  Lets you upgrade your character!  Numerous customization options have been made available, letting you add to your character’s base stats, increase certain photon art caps and much more.
• Secret actions – This might be a bit of a stretch, but one of the nice things about GAMs is that some of them move just a step or two beyond the standard run-and-gun missions by adding “secret actions.”  These actions can range from not breaking any boxes throughout the mission to completing the mission as a party of Fortetechers.  One of the more interesting secrets, though, is from the most recent release, Sacred Stream/R.  Here you have to track down and destroy ten sealed stones to unlock a boss battle with completly unique drops compared to what you’d find at the end of the mission otherwise.

I suppose it wouldn’t be appropriate to pinpoint a single reason behind the apparent success of GAMs.  Everyone has their own tastes, so it might as well be a combination of all of the above.  With that in mind, I imagine that as long as the developers continue to improve upon the previous GAMs as well as offer even more unique and useful rewards from them, the popularity of the mission type will remain steady.