Note: This is an early access review. Review copy was provided by Passion Republic Games.
Tackling the latest GigaBash DLC expansion, Final Ascension, proved to be a touch more difficult this time around than previous expansions I’ve reviewed here. In the past, with the new character additions, I’ve taken the new fighters into the gym to try out all the new moves, then go into the game’s Onslaught Mode for a couple runs to really get a feel for how they play. Final Ascension, however, features not just two new characters, but an additional chapter to the game’s story mode starring everyone’s favorite washed-up superhero, Gigaman. I decided to replay the story mode from the beginning before checking out the newest chapter to refresh my memory (after all, I hadn’t played the story mode since the game launched in 2022!).
The new story campaign is probably the strongest from a narrative standpoint. Going off of just this new addition (I haven’t unlocked any of the bonus lore entries received from levelling up characters), Gigaman seems to have the most interesting story of the main roster, to the point where it’s honestly surprising that we haven’t seen a similar concept explored in the Ultraman franchise itself. Gigaman was once a hero beloved by all of Japan, but after failing to defeat the Dragon King, Rawa, disappeared for almost a decade, until he reappeared during the events of Thundatross’ campaign, experienced here once more from Gigaman’s point of view, who we learn is indeed a human host, Sho, teamed with a powerful alien entity, the birdlike Gaya. We learn more about his past and his reasoning for jumping back into the fray in the wake of more and more Titans rising, meeting both R.O.J.A.K. and Balzarr from the Mighty DLC, and leading to an explosive finale that honestly took me by surprise; I didn’t think the writers behind the game had it in them to tell such a heartfelt story, certainly not in a kaiju arena fighter.
Image courtesy of Passion Republic Games
The issue is, and this is more of an issue with the game’s story mode as a whole than just this campaign specifically, it feels completely disconnected from the rest of the game. Each campaign more or less exists standalone from the others; while they do often bleed over into each other (Pipijuras’ campaign picks up right after you fight him during Gorogong’s for instance), there isn’t really much of a narrative thread connecting everything aside from everyone wanting to get into the Hollow Earth to access the Giga Core. But even then, most of the campaigns don’t even take place consecutively; Thundatross’ campaign has next to nothing to do with anyone else’s. Dr. Reiner, the mad scientist who wants the OtomaTEC mecha for himself, briefly appears here in Gigaman’s campaign, seemingly perfectly normal now, not at all mad with power. It makes for a weirdly disjointed story, especially given that this new campaign marks a pretty clear end of the story by video game standards. It just feels weird to give what seems to be a definitive ending to a game that didn’t really have an overarching story to begin with.
Gameplay-wise, GigaBash continues to shine, to the surprise of absolutely no one that’s been keeping up with the game. The two new characters, Gaya Gigaman and Zargorah, while feeling a tad too familiar at times, are both still very fun to play. As his name suggests, Gaya Gigaman is essentially a powered-up form of Gigaman, and he more or less plays as such. His moveset is very similar to the base game version, with some minor differences. His special attack is used to enhance all other attacks, at the cost of some HP, but once enhanced, basic attacks can now launch opponents across the arena, or extend attacks to perform longer combos. He’s fun, but it does beg the question as to whether original flavor Gigaman is still a viable character when playing the game.
Zargorah also feels familiar, in that his moveset is sort of a mix between Rawa’s and Balzarr’s, and while you could make the same argument for viability with those two characters, Zargorah at least feels different enough with combining the moves of two characters, that it’s still fun to play the originals. That being said, he’s nothing to scoff at in a fight; he moves pretty slow but hits like a tank. I was surprised at how much damage I was able to put out while playing as him! I’ve seen talk online about the in-game meta, claiming Gamera holds the current label of “OP,” but this Titan makes me wonder if that title will be usurped once this expansion drops.
The Final Ascension DLC is easily Passion Republic’s most ambitious expansion to the game yet. There’s a lot of really fun and interesting things that it sets out to accomplish, for both narrative and gameplay aspects. And while your mileage may vary when it comes to some of those gameplay additions, if this expansion is as final as its title suggests, then GigaBash is undoubtedly going out on a high note.
The GigaBash – Final Ascension DLC will be available on March 26, 2026, at 8pm PDT on all platforms. Get it now on Steam, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Epic Games Store, Stove, as well as PlayStation®4, and PlayStation®5.
