Ongoing Mega Man Zero Thoughts
[May 14, 2011, 10:59]
Haven't played much this past week and a half - been busy. Played a little more this morning - did the Train mission. Earned an 'S' Rank, but had to restore from Save point several times to accomplish it.
Current assessment of MMZero? Still mostly digging it. I mean, to me, the appeal of the original Mega Man X (the standard to which I'm holding this, the original Mega Man Zero) is that it offered huge open-area worlds for the player / X to explore. It wasn't just scroll to the right until you have to go up or down, then scroll to the left / right until you have to go up or down, repeat until you reach the boss gate. There were, for lack of better words, nooks and crannies waiting to be explored, potentially containing Heart Tanks, Sub Tanks or Dr. Light Capsule upgrades. Like Metroid before it, you sometimes needed one upgrade to find the others. But unlike Metroid, Mega Man X didn't penalize you for taking your time - it rewarded you. With MMZ, you still can explore 'til your heart's content but, well... As soon as the mission begins, you're being graded on how quickly you complete it, how many enemies you take out, how much damage you take, whether or not you're using any Cyber Elves (MMZ's equivalent of Heart Tanks, Sub Tanks, Upgrades) and, yeah. That's what earns you the 'S' or the 'A' or whatever rank you get. After the mission is completed and the game gives you your rank, you're free to go back to the area you just completed and explore at your leisure.
As already mentioned below, I generally chafe at the idea of being evaluated, graded in games. I play games to get *away* from evaluation and the general exception to the rule is I don't mind as much so long as there's a reward for my efforts. Consider the original Viewtiful Joe - if you're able to complete every segment of the game with a Rainbow V rating (V for Viewtiful, of course), the game rewards you with an unlimited VFX meter. This means you can start a new game and use your Viewtiful super powers all you want without fear of powering down from Viewtiful Joe to Joe (or whomever you're playing as, e.g. Sylvia, Alastor, Captain Blue). That's a hell of a challenge but VJ sets you up for success - they ease you into the gameplay and, provided you fall in love with the game, you only become better with time. It's a very do-able challenge and, hey - if you're able to do it with Joe, you can try it as Sylvia or Alastor or Captain Blue. They all have their own advantages and disadvantages.
Sorry - getting carried away here.
In MMZ, the game penalizes you for using continues. Let's say you start a mission and an enemy knocks you into a bottomless pit. You die. You have three lives but the game doesn't simply start you at the nearest save point - the words "GAME OVER" appear and you're asked if you'd like to continue. If you say yes, you're started at a save point in the mission but your overall rank is already knocked down a level, regardless of how well you do. If you're aiming for A or S rank, you have to choose to not continue but, instead, restore from an earlier save point and start the mission all over again. So far, here in the beginning of the game, that's not a terrible thing but I imagine the missions get a little longer as the game progresses on. Anyways.
It's a challenge. I get it. An adjustable one, too - nobody is saying you *can't* use the cyber elves and make your experience a far more palatable one. Just that the game's baseline challenge can be very trying. On the flipside, Capcom's very good at challenges that are A) difficult but B) do-able.
I guess what I'm trying to say is I don't know what I'm trying to say. I like the game but it's definitely *not* Mega Man X but it's definitely *similar* while not being the *same*. Oh, and the backstory?
Beyond ridiculous.
I ordered the Mega Man Zero art book ('Megaman Zero Official Complete Works' by the fine folks at UDON) and, just like their Official Complete Works books for Megaman and Megaman X, this one is filled with awesome art and fascinating information from the people behind the games. Let me tell you something. Spoilers, or something:
The folks behind MMZ are *insane*. I love it. More later.
[May 04, 2011, 12:02]
So, having barely played any of the 'Mega Man Zero' titles, I found myself with an incredible urge to pick up 'Mega Man Zero Collection' for the DS and see what the fuss was all about. Granted, I own 'MMZ3' for the GBA, but I didn't really find myself falling head over heels with what little of it I played. With the purchase of MMZC, I figured the best thing I could do was play the original and see if, perhaps, the first game could work its magic on me and, depending on said magic-working, see about continuing the series proper.
So far, the magic is kinda working. Kinda.
I'm only 20 minutes in - two missions down (the prologue / Golem battle and the Trash / Disposal mission) and, I have to say, once his skills are maxed out, Zero is total frickin' rock star from Mars. There's just something joy-inducing about becoming a crimson samurai of green swordy death. But, here's the thing of it - I maxed out his Z-Saber and Buster skills just by noodling around in the prologue / underground lab area. I didn't set out purposefully to do it - I just wanted to go somewhere, between missions, where I could mess around and get a feel for the controls and whatnot. After realising that my skills were getting leveled up just by, y'know, shooting and slicing stuff, I kept at it to see how far I could go before boredom set in.
Twenty minutes or so in, I have all of the Z-Saber and Z-Buster skills. I can jump in the air and become a spinny / slice-y death machine. I can charge my otherwise worthless Z-Buster to become a fairly decent long-range weapon. And while I still ain't diggin ' the whole YOU'RE BEING GRADED ON YOUR PERFORMANCE nonsense, the game proper is fun. Here's hoping that continues. Maybe more on this later...
Haven't played much this past week and a half - been busy. Played a little more this morning - did the Train mission. Earned an 'S' Rank, but had to restore from Save point several times to accomplish it.
Current assessment of MMZero? Still mostly digging it. I mean, to me, the appeal of the original Mega Man X (the standard to which I'm holding this, the original Mega Man Zero) is that it offered huge open-area worlds for the player / X to explore. It wasn't just scroll to the right until you have to go up or down, then scroll to the left / right until you have to go up or down, repeat until you reach the boss gate. There were, for lack of better words, nooks and crannies waiting to be explored, potentially containing Heart Tanks, Sub Tanks or Dr. Light Capsule upgrades. Like Metroid before it, you sometimes needed one upgrade to find the others. But unlike Metroid, Mega Man X didn't penalize you for taking your time - it rewarded you. With MMZ, you still can explore 'til your heart's content but, well... As soon as the mission begins, you're being graded on how quickly you complete it, how many enemies you take out, how much damage you take, whether or not you're using any Cyber Elves (MMZ's equivalent of Heart Tanks, Sub Tanks, Upgrades) and, yeah. That's what earns you the 'S' or the 'A' or whatever rank you get. After the mission is completed and the game gives you your rank, you're free to go back to the area you just completed and explore at your leisure.
As already mentioned below, I generally chafe at the idea of being evaluated, graded in games. I play games to get *away* from evaluation and the general exception to the rule is I don't mind as much so long as there's a reward for my efforts. Consider the original Viewtiful Joe - if you're able to complete every segment of the game with a Rainbow V rating (V for Viewtiful, of course), the game rewards you with an unlimited VFX meter. This means you can start a new game and use your Viewtiful super powers all you want without fear of powering down from Viewtiful Joe to Joe (or whomever you're playing as, e.g. Sylvia, Alastor, Captain Blue). That's a hell of a challenge but VJ sets you up for success - they ease you into the gameplay and, provided you fall in love with the game, you only become better with time. It's a very do-able challenge and, hey - if you're able to do it with Joe, you can try it as Sylvia or Alastor or Captain Blue. They all have their own advantages and disadvantages.
Sorry - getting carried away here.
In MMZ, the game penalizes you for using continues. Let's say you start a mission and an enemy knocks you into a bottomless pit. You die. You have three lives but the game doesn't simply start you at the nearest save point - the words "GAME OVER" appear and you're asked if you'd like to continue. If you say yes, you're started at a save point in the mission but your overall rank is already knocked down a level, regardless of how well you do. If you're aiming for A or S rank, you have to choose to not continue but, instead, restore from an earlier save point and start the mission all over again. So far, here in the beginning of the game, that's not a terrible thing but I imagine the missions get a little longer as the game progresses on. Anyways.
It's a challenge. I get it. An adjustable one, too - nobody is saying you *can't* use the cyber elves and make your experience a far more palatable one. Just that the game's baseline challenge can be very trying. On the flipside, Capcom's very good at challenges that are A) difficult but B) do-able.
I guess what I'm trying to say is I don't know what I'm trying to say. I like the game but it's definitely *not* Mega Man X but it's definitely *similar* while not being the *same*. Oh, and the backstory?
Beyond ridiculous.
I ordered the Mega Man Zero art book ('Megaman Zero Official Complete Works' by the fine folks at UDON) and, just like their Official Complete Works books for Megaman and Megaman X, this one is filled with awesome art and fascinating information from the people behind the games. Let me tell you something. Spoilers, or something:
The folks behind MMZ are *insane*. I love it. More later.
[May 04, 2011, 12:02]
So, having barely played any of the 'Mega Man Zero' titles, I found myself with an incredible urge to pick up 'Mega Man Zero Collection' for the DS and see what the fuss was all about. Granted, I own 'MMZ3' for the GBA, but I didn't really find myself falling head over heels with what little of it I played. With the purchase of MMZC, I figured the best thing I could do was play the original and see if, perhaps, the first game could work its magic on me and, depending on said magic-working, see about continuing the series proper.
So far, the magic is kinda working. Kinda.
I'm only 20 minutes in - two missions down (the prologue / Golem battle and the Trash / Disposal mission) and, I have to say, once his skills are maxed out, Zero is total frickin' rock star from Mars. There's just something joy-inducing about becoming a crimson samurai of green swordy death. But, here's the thing of it - I maxed out his Z-Saber and Buster skills just by noodling around in the prologue / underground lab area. I didn't set out purposefully to do it - I just wanted to go somewhere, between missions, where I could mess around and get a feel for the controls and whatnot. After realising that my skills were getting leveled up just by, y'know, shooting and slicing stuff, I kept at it to see how far I could go before boredom set in.
Twenty minutes or so in, I have all of the Z-Saber and Z-Buster skills. I can jump in the air and become a spinny / slice-y death machine. I can charge my otherwise worthless Z-Buster to become a fairly decent long-range weapon. And while I still ain't diggin ' the whole YOU'RE BEING GRADED ON YOUR PERFORMANCE nonsense, the game proper is fun. Here's hoping that continues. Maybe more on this later...