It seems that with low cost, low production values you're going for mass market appeal, which traditionally mecha games are not (at least in the states). There's a niche of us that eat up Armored Cores and Mechwarriors but by and large we're not the majority outside of asia.
Additionally, one feature of the mecha genre (in games as well as anime) is the visual appeal: cool looking lasers, explosions, etc. Which in a low budget game, you don't have.
Re: Game Design challenge, for everyone
It seems that with low cost, low production values you're going for mass market appeal, which traditionally mecha games are not (at least in the states). There's a niche of us that eat up Armored Cores and Mechwarriors but by and large we're not the majority outside of asia.
Additionally, one feature of the mecha genre (in games as well as anime) is the visual appeal: cool looking lasers, explosions, etc. Which in a low budget game, you don't have.