1 (edited by Hobgoblin 2020-12-31 13:10:56)

Topic: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

ON INDEFINITE HIATUS

Preface

Greetings, everyone! This is Hobgoblin2099 from TVTropes, former player of Rex Hunter in WAAPT. While I haven't been active in the community for a while, seeing a friend of mine doing a Let's Play for Final Fantasy X made me want to give things a try, especially given that it's a popular and well-regarded series that I have a lot of opinions that I'd like to share.

This is my first time ever doing a Let's Play, though I've read quite a number on other websites, primarily SomethingAwful. Epee Em, MissEchelon, GeneralYeti, and giver336's previous runs through the series were also an inspiration for me to do my own take, and as a result I'll likely be commenting on or citing a few remarks of their at times! I'd also like to thank Ragnar Homsar from the same website for helping me set up a good screenshot and video capturing program.

MegaMan Battle Network is a series I got into as a kid, being one of the first non-Pokemon RPGs I played. Due to my inability to find the first in stores, I started with Battle Network 2 and continued on to the end, thoroughly enjoying most of the games the series had to offer. The games present a rather fantastical futuristic world that is heavy on charm and absurdity, and the latter definitely makes way for a good deal of the former.

While there are side games in the series, I have no experience with these and will only touch upon them briefly when necessary.

Without further ado, let's go ahead and explore the world of Battle Network.

https://lpix.org/3465033/megamanexe_and_lan.png

Battle Network/Operate: Star Force
- Part 1: Prologue
- Part 2: Tutorials
- Part 3: Steamed Hams
- Part 4: Number Munchers
- Part 5: Papa was a Rolling Stone
- Part 6: The Iceman Cometh
- Part 7: Color Me Crazy
- Part 8: Electric Slide
- Part 9: Strange, Isn't It?
- Part 10: Shooting Star
- Part 11: Boom Boom Boom Boom
- Part 12: Endgame
- Part 13: Hub
- Part 14: Epilogue

Battle Network 2
- Part 1: Network Transmission
- Part 2: School's Out Forever
- Part 3: Life's a Gas
- Part 4: City Netbattlers
- Part 5: Dynamite with a Laser Beam
- Part 6: A Cut Above the Rest
- Part 7: Style for Miles
- Part 8: Shadow of War
- Part 9: Tourist Trap
- Part 10: Snake Eater
- Part 11: What a Night for a Knight
- Part 12: The Hottest Mix-Tape of 20XX
- Part 13: Magnetic Personalities
- Part 14: The Ice Age
- Part 15: Freezing Point
- Part 16: Resurrection
- Part 17: The Super Navi
- Part 18: Epilogue
- Part 19: The Chosen One
- Part 20: The Ultimate Navi

Battle Network 3: Blue
- Part 1: True or False
- Part 2: In A Bad Light
- Part 3: CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED
- Part 4: The Beast from the East
- Part 5: Do I Feel Lucky?
- Part 6: Scrubbing Bubbles
- Part 7: Back in Style
- Part 8: Tourist Trap II: Beach Boogaloo
- Part 9: Hell 2 U
- Part 10: Saving Room for Desert
- Part 11: An Ounce of Prevention
- Part 12: A Pound of Cure
- Part 13: Wither on the Vine
- Part 14: Hero for a Day
- Part 15: Flames of Vengeance
- Part 16: Rank Amateurs
- Part 17: This is not a Drill
- Part 18: Martial Law
- Part 19: Cybergeddon
- Part 20: Wily's Castle
- Part 21: The Beast
- Part 22: End of an Era
- Part 23: Light in the Darkness
- Part 24: S
- Part 25: Rebirth
- Part 26: Seven Stars

A revamped Let's Play is currently in the planning stages!

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

2 (edited by Hobgoblin 2021-06-28 22:09:36)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Battle Network/Operate: Star Force

Part 1: 200 Years in the Future

Music: Theme of MegaMan Battle Network

https://lpix.org/3148301/Pic9.png

As I mentioned in the preface, Battle Network 1 was kind of rough. So rather than playing the original GBA game, I'll be playing the DS game: Operate Shooting Star (or Operate: Star Force as the English patch is called). This game wasn't released in America because it sold poorly in Japan due to labeling itself as a crossover between Battle Network and its sequel series Star Force when it was really more of a (lazy) BN1 remake that happens to have a bonus scenario featuring Star Force cameos.

But let's not start out too negatively.

https://i.imgur.com/Ts8sdQu.png Are you ready, MegaMan?

https://i.imgur.com/pxiTQEW.png ...Yes!

Instead, let's start 200 years after this game has ended.

Music: WAXA HQ

http://lpix.org/3148253/Pic46.png

This game features a prologue that takes place after the events of Mega Man Star Force 3, which is the last game in that series.

Am I going to cover the Star Force series? Maybe! We'll see how I feel down the line.

http://lpix.org/3148254/Pic47.png

In any case, this part is a bit wordy because RPGs, so I'll cut down on it to save myself some time and energy.

https://i.imgur.com/gmFVHmr.png T-Two hundred years!?

https://i.imgur.com/fFBxEf7.png What's an Inderned? Is that a kind of food?

The kid with the glasses is Zack Temple. It feels a little sad introducing him first considering he's the least important character in the Star Force games. His role is to be the resident smart guy, but he's... not really that good at it, honestly.

The pudgy kid is Bud Bison. On the off chance I don't get around to the Star Force series, let me just assure you that there's more to his character than "Haha, chubby guy likes food."

http://lpix.org/3148258/Pic50.png

Blondie here, Luna Platz, helpfully explains the internet to the both of them. I'll wait on touching that when we actually get to the setting of the main game. As for who Luna is, she is the class president of our group of characters. She's also incredibly tsundere for the main character because Japan eats that up with a spoon.

Personally, I could do without it.

http://lpix.org/3148266/Pic58.png

When Zack expresses worry whether Mega Man, the kid in blue above (also known as Geo Stelar), can safely enter an archaic internet, Dr. Goodall, the glasses lady here, informs him that it'll be fine as long as he remains Wave Changed.

Mega Man, as you might expect, is the hero of the Star Force games. His actual name is Geo, and he's in 5th grade as of this point. Which is kind of weird, seeing as he was in 5th grade in Star Force 1 and Star Force 2 took place over the span of summer vacation.

Dr. Goodall, meanwhile, is a scientist who... aids him with some things in the third game, to put it simply. Let's just say that she's a life saver.

http://lpix.org/3148270/Pic61.png

In order to become Mega Man, Geo merges with Omega-Xis (aka Mega) here in order to become an EM body. That allows him to travel on the EM wave road and enter electronics. Conveniently, this will work for heading into the internet as well. Mega is an alien from Planet AM who merges with Geo to unleash his full power. He also tends to have a different catchphrase in every game he's in, though his usual is "buck wild".

Mega suggests that he goes into the portal on his own to handle their situation, but Geo protests to that due to Mega not knowing what they're looking for.

And also because he's the more reasonable half of their fusion, while Mega is the more "smash everything" type.

http://lpix.org/3148274/Pic65.png

Now that we're done with character introductions, Dr. Goodall explains that the portal into the past isn't exactly stable, but it's their only way to get to where "she" was taken. We'll meet "her" later. Assuming I don't quit on this Let's Play project before that point.

http://lpix.org/3148286/Pic76.png

Despite the risk of being permanently stuck in the past, Geo decides that going to save "her" is worth it. Dr. Goodall tells him not to cause any time paradoxes and his friends tell him to come back or they'll be upset.

http://lpix.org/3148307/Pic95.png

With that, Geo heads into the time portal, leaving the Star Force world behind.

Did you enjoy getting to meet those four characters that were talking with Geo? I hope so, because we never see them again.

Music: Boundless Network

http://lpix.org/3148202/Pic101.png

Geo winds up inside of what players of BN1 will recognize as the internet. You will become intimately familiar with this backdrop over the course of this game. Painfully so.

http://lpix.org/3148208/Pic107.png

Of more immediate concern is the fact that the portal has indeed disappeared. Mega thinks Geo is trying to quit early, but Geo says that he's totally pumped up and ready to do his best.

https://i.imgur.com/pxiTQEW.png I'll save you...

http://lpix.org/3148214/Pic112.png

Did you enjoy getting to meet these two?

I hope so, because we're not seeing them again until nearly the end of the game.

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

3 (edited by Umbramatic 2019-05-02 15:42:43)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Did you enjoy getting to meet these two?

I hope so, because we're not seeing them again until nearly the end of the game.

O O F

But this is a fun start. Looking forward to more.

My girlfriend is a Volcarona, your argument is invalid.

4 (edited by Hobgoblin 2021-06-28 22:07:44)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Part 2: Tutorials

http://lpix.org/3149505/Pic1.png

We start the series off with what is going to become a familiar scene: someone (specifically this character) telling Lan to wake up so that he's not late for school.

http://lpix.org/3149586/Pic2.png

Operate Shooting Star has new mugshots for the main protagonists, but reuses the old mugshots for everyone else. Which looks nice for the ones who got updated expressions, but it looks poor alongside the old ones. Why not just redo everyone? The Star Force cast is using their Star Force 3 mugshots, incidentally.

That little bit of trivia aside, a news report comes in about a terrorist group called the WWW, who are planning to take over the Net. I'm sure that'll have no bearing on our protagonist whatsoever.

http://lpix.org/3149652/Pic8.png

Lan's father also sends some email mentioning that he was too busy from work to come home yesterday, and will be home tonight (Monday). This is also a recurring thing.

http://lpix.org/3149517/Pic11.png

Music: In the Room

Our protagonist, Lan Hikari, finally wakes up. At this point, we can control him without any fanfare. Also worth noting is that OSS has an Auto-Run feature for Lan and MegaMan, whereas in other games you have to hold down the B button to get them to run. That definitely isn't going to trip me up.

You can immediately go to the corner shelf to pick up what will continue the plot...

http://lpix.org/3149550/Pic14.png

or you can examine the room to get a bit of an idea as to what kind of character we're playing as. Lan's a bit of a slacker if you can't tell.

https://lpix.org/3149584/Pic18.png

There aren't too many details to check, though, so eventually Lan picks up his PET, or PErsonal Terminal. Think of this as something of a really advanced smart phone.

https://i.imgur.com/kGwa3VL.jpg

Even if it looks really archaic by today's standards...

http://lpix.org/3149589/Pic22.png

Lan greets MegaMan.EXE, who is now on the bottom screen (only in the DS version of this game, of course). MegaMan is his Net Navi, an AI that can travel through the internet for him and battle viruses. More on this later.

Lan and MegaMan also both have voice acted lines, ala the much less lazier remake of BN5. Geo, who has voice acting in two of his three games in Japanese (and Star Force 3 in English), also has some as well.

http://lpix.org/3149592/Pic25.png

Anyway, a quick run down of what we can do now that we have Mega Man!

- Folder: The folder is what Mega Man uses for combat. More on that later when it's relevant. To give the quick of it, you can have 30 weapons (Battle Chips) in one folder, which determines what weapons you get to use in combat.
- Library: Basically a list of what Battle Chips you've acquired. There are quite a few and some were event exclusive, with those events no longer occuring. Fortunately, through the magic of Action Replay, I managed to acquire those for completion.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/447562002827837450/573531305044606986/unknown.png

- MegaMan: Shows MegaMan's stats, which will of course increase over the game. The original BN1 had three armors you could also equip, but those have been done away with for the remake.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/447562002827837450/573529876515258378/unknown.png

- E-Mail: Plot relevant messages, though some might also relate to sidequests.
- Items: Key Items.
- Network: Multiplayer.
- Save: You know good and well what this is.

http://lpix.org/3149599/Pic31.png

Checking the apology email from Lan's dad, Yuichiro Hikari, yields a new Battle Chip. Neat.

http://lpix.org/3149601/Pic33.png

Downstairs, Lan's mother, Haruka Hikari, is also glad to see her son is awake. She's also made breakfast for him to eat.

http://lpix.org/3149605/Pic37.png

I'm assuming she also hid this down there for... some reason. Maybe it's her way of being cute and gifting him something? It's a Recover 10, incidentally, which restore 10 HP when used in battle.

Worth noting is that neither of Lan's parents have a new mugshot.

http://lpix.org/3149606/Pic38.png

Not like Mayl Sakurai here, Lan's next door neighbor and childhood... friend? I'm not going to play coy: the fact that she has a new mugshot means that she's going to stick around as a friend of Lan's, but he doesn't seem to like her very much in Battle Network 1.

Granted, the series was just establishing itself at this point, so there's some oddity with how characters are portrayed here when viewed next to the rest of the series.

http://lpix.org/3149613/Pic44.png

Like this moment, where MegaMan snarks about Mayl being a chatterbox to Lan, while the latter tells him to shush.

http://lpix.org/3149615/Pic46.png

Music: Home Town

The two head to their school, ACDC Elementary, which is of course in ACDC Town. On the way, Mayl mentions that the WWW have probably been sending out viruses to cause people's ovens to shoot fire. As you will quickly learn, everything is online in Battle Network, even when it really shouldn't be. This includes ovens.

Also, somehow viruses can magically do things like cause ovens to shoot fire. Get used to that.

http://lpix.org/3149618/Pic49.png

The pair soon reach the school, which isn't too far from their homes.

Music: School

http://lpix.org/3149621/Pic51.png

In another example of how jarring the mugshots for regular characters is, this nameless NPC tells us that a character named Dex is looking for us

http://lpix.org/3149635/Pic64.png

and sure enough, we find him in the back of the classroom. In all versions of the story, Dex Oyama at the start is basically summed up as "Wannabe tough guy who thinks he's great, but looks like a joke next to Lan". This will become more apparent with time.

Dex challenges Lan's MegaMan to a Net Battle with his GutsMan, but they're interrupted by the last of Lan's "friends"

http://lpix.org/3149637/Pic66.png

Yai Ayanokoji. I... don't really remember her doing a lot in Battle Network 1, so uh... I guess the only thing I can say about her is that her forehead is shiny.

https://i.imgur.com/XEF6mnJ.jpg

Dex gets grumpy about Yai being a snitch and also calls her a shrimp for good measure, which irritates her. Class starts, though, ruining Dex's plans for a Net Battle anyway.

I'm gonna go ahead and address this now, even though it's more of a Battle Network 2 plot point, but it seems like Net Battling (having your Navi fight someone else's Navi) is supposed to be a restricted thing, like heroics in My Hero Academia. I presume this is to cut down on net terrorism or possibly deleting someone's virus combating AI. In any case, at the start of Battle Network 2, Lan gets a license to Net Battle whenever he wants, so it never comes up again.

http://lpix.org/3149648/Pic76.png

Lan's teacher is Ms. Mari, who starts class off with Virus Busting 101. Unless this is Lan's first day of school, this is kind of weird. You'd think they'd have had this lesson before. (Spoiler Alert: They're going to have this lesson at the start of every game.)

Dex boasts about how good he is at Net Battling and how he could even take on the WWW, but Yai isn't impressed. Ms. Mari interrupts their bickering and tells everyone to Jack In (the process of sending your Navi into the net).

http://lpix.org/3149657/Pic84.png

This comes with its own little animation that will change in every game. OSS allows you to skip this animation, surprisingly.

http://lpix.org/3149658/Pic85.png

Within the school network, class is in session, with the Navis arranged in desks that correspond to their operators' desks in the real world. That's cute. This is our first look at GutsMan, whom you can see somewhat in the center, as well as Mayl's Navi Roll, who is to the right of MegaMan.

Music: Operation!

http://lpix.org/3149660/Pic87.png

We then get three combat tutorials against Mettaurs, which are the Battle Network version of Mettools. This series seems to have a lot in common with the Classic universe so far, huh? Well, just wait.

The 30 Chips you have are randomly generated and appear on the Custom Menu in a set of five. When you have a chip highlighted, the Custom Menu shows you what type of chip it is, its code, and its attack value. You can also check the chip's information to see how it works. All Chip Codes are also shown under each chip.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/518625662815174666/573540401755979786/unknown.png

- Lesson #1: Chips that are the same type can be selected. Above, Lan has two Cannons, so he can pick both of those in one turn. Should you be unable to defeat the viruses with the Chips that you have, you can wait for the gauge at the top of the screen to refill. MegaMan isn't helpless during this time, though, as he has a buster that he can fire (or even Charge once he levels that stat). You can also run from random battles at the Custom Menu... in the DS version. In the original, you couldn't run from battles unless you had an Escape chip. Running does not work in mandatory fights or boss battles.

- Lesson #2: Chips come in multiple codes as you can see above with the A, L, N, and J codes. If multiple chips have the same code, you can select all that match that code. This is a good reason to build a folder with as few codes as possible. Typically, people build around one code, but two isn't a bad idea either.

- Lesson #3: If you need more chips, you can use the Add button to fill your Custom screen with an additional five chips for the next turn only. However, you can still only select five chips per turn.

OSS also adds a feature from later games: the * code. Think of it as a wild-card code that can be selected with any other code, allowing you to do something like select three C coded chips and one *.

http://lpix.org/3149666/Pic92.png

After class, MegaMan suggests going home, but we can finally make good on that battle that Dex wanted.

Boss Fight: GutsMan

Poor GutsMan doesn't even get the actual boss theme at this point, being more of a mini-boss than anything. His attacks are very simple, too.

- Shockwave: GutsMan sends a slow shockwave down one row. This is literally the same attack that Mettaurs use.
- Guts Hammer: GutsMan cracks the panels on one of your rows. If you step on a cracked panel and then step off, it will break and remain unable to be stepped on for a while until it repairs.
- Guts Punch: If you stay in the column closest to GutsMan's, he will occasionally come to punch you in the face.

You get nothing after defeating GutsMan (this time) except the satisfaction of showing a 5th grader who's boss. After that, Lan decides to leave school for the day.

Or, at least, he will in the next update.

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

5 (edited by Hobgoblin 2019-05-05 21:45:09)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Part 3: Steamed Hams

http://lpix.org/3149508/Pic101.png

So, let's stop to talk about the setting for a little bit. As I've somewhat alluded to in the previous updates, the MegaMan Battle Network setting takes place in the year 20XX, a future where just about everything is online. For example, this doghouse has no dog, but instead a security program that makes loud barking noises if someone breaks in.

In any case, what this means is that you have a wide variety of objects around the world that you can jack into in order to fight several viruses or find power ups, Battle Chips, and the like. I won't go into all of these because this isn't really meant to be a game walkthrough, but I'll note some amusing ones as they come up. One of my favorites is late in Battle Network 5.

http://lpix.org/3149510/Pic103.png

Inside of cyberworlds, in addition to Navis and viruses, you have Mr. Prog. These programs typically just give flavor text about whatever device they're in or say something cute.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2002/5-OvenComp008.png

On the way home, Lan gets an email from his dad mentioning that he has a PowerUp program for MegaMan. But it's too big to embed in email, so he's just going to hold onto it for now and bring it home later.

http://lpix.org/3149525/Pic117.png

Heading inside, Lan finds that his mother has someone from Net Safety over. As mentioned in the previous update, there have been all sorts of oven fires lately, so it's not exactly unusual to have a bit of a check-up to make sure everything is in order.

http://lpix.org/3149532/Pic123.png

I'm sure we can trust him.

Haruka sends Lan up to his room so that he can be out of the way while the man goes about his business. And so Lan decides to surf the web with MegaMan.

http://lpix.org/3149533/Pic124.png

Inside of Lan's PC, there's this Normal Navi who sells chips if you have points from a mini-game you can play at the main menu of the game. Only in OSS, of course. We also see the continuation of Lan's love for soccer, which I don't think is ever really touched upon in the series.

http://lpix.org/3149542/Pic132.png

In any case, we head into the Internet. Your immediate thought process might be "Oh, this is that area that Geo was in earlier!"

Well... to be honest, I have no idea!

The Battle Network series in all other games tends to make its areas look distinct, giving each section of the Net a distinct color palette and visual aesthetic. Battle Network 1 does not do this, instead making its areas all look the same. And there are about... I want to say 16 internet maps?

Have fun getting around!

At least OSS was kind enough to add a map on the lower screen, but I would've preferred redone maps.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2002/25-OvenComp035.png

Up ahead, we find Yai's Navi, Glyde. As opposed to most other things in this game, he's a reference to a character from MegaMan Legends of the same name. I haven't played Legends, though, so I hope that character got more screentime than his Navi counterpart, who typically fades into obscurity not long after the start of every Battle Network game.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2002/28-OvenComp039.png

One of Yai's programs has gotten lost, and Glyde wants MegaMan to find it and bring it back. This is pretty much just an excuse for you to travel Internet Area 1, as the program is nearby a Net Merchant that is selling in the area.

Glyde also gives you @Yai, which is another case of early installment weirdness. As opposed to the later games where you can go to a person's homepage at will, you need their @(Name) in order to access homepages here. Once you have it, you can stand on their access points in order to link them to the main internet, allowing you to use their PCs as a faster entry point to the net rather than using Lan's to start from the beginning of Internet Area 1 each time.

http://lpix.org/3149552/Pic141.png

Around the net, you'll also find Green, Blue, and Purple Mystery Data. What is the difference between these? I wish I could tell you!

Later games would go on to make Green Mystery Data respawn in certain spots every time you log into the net, Blue Mystery Data be a one time reward that you pick up in fixed locations, and Purple Mystery Data be similar to BMD only locked and with rarer rewards, but Battle Network 1 (and its lazy remake) have yet to incorporate those traditions. So they're just kind of random.

http://lpix.org/3149558/Pic147.png

Anyway, MegaMan eventually finds the lost program and goes to tell Glyde in Yai's PC.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2002/37-OvenComp054.png

Glyde gives MegaMan a reward for his trouble, allowing us to move on in the plot. Mom said something earlier about making something for us, so let's see how that's turning out.

http://lpix.org/3153719/Pic3.png

Oh.

Music: Incident Occurrence!

Lan asks why the oven is on fire since it was just repaired; kind of odd choice of words since it wasn't broken in the first place, but whatever. More importantly, the oven is on fire and we don't have a fire extinguisher. So naturally, we'll put out the fire the only way we can.

http://lpix.org/3153763/Pic7.png

By going into the internet!

Yes, really.

I suppose it's not a bad idea given the oven will just keep spitting fire otherwise.

Music: Fire Field

http://lpix.org/3153640/Pic12.png

For whatever reason, the inside of Lan's oven is a dungeon, albeit a comparatively small one when looked at against what we'll be going to in both later games and later in this game. The Mr. Progs are freaking out, because of the invasion of viruses, so MegaMan sets out to take care of the problem before things get too out of hand.

http://lpix.org/3153707/Pic19.png

Since the main route is blocked off by flames, MegaMan heads down a side path and runs into a WWW virus! And a tough one too, as MegaMan points out.

We're an elementary school student dealing with a terrorist organization that has caused untold destruction for an undetermined length of time!

What sort of horrible threat must we deal with in order to stop this catastrophe from continuing?!

http://lpix.org/3153713/Pic24.png

...Hm.

http://lpix.org/3153720/Pic30.png

After that "grueling" encounter, MegaMan continues on ahead. Speaking with some Mr. Progs reveals that they're not really cut out for fighting viruses the way that Navis are.

http://lpix.org/3153728/Pic38.png

In the "Thawing Section" of the oven network, MegaMan finds a Mr. Prog who gives him an "Iceblock" program. This will let him disable the fires that are in his path... for some reason? He only gets seven uses, though, and coming back to reset those uses will result in the flames restoring. It's the first dungeon, though, so it's not difficult to deal with.

https://imgur.com/hwi9TEW.gif

Not like, say, being fire bombed before you can even do the mini-game in the first place.

Back in the real world, Lan tries to get in touch with MegaMan while the fire worsens when he suddenly gets a call.

http://lpix.org/3153740/Pic49.png

In a shocking twist, the culprit is the only side character we've met up to this point with a custom portrait.

Mr. Match gloats that he's actually a WWW operative. And now that he's taken care of MegaMan, Lan and his mom will be joining him soon. But they can just leave the house, right?

http://lpix.org/3153746/Pic54.png

Oh. It seems he had his Navi jam the electronic lock on the door.

Well, uh... that got dark really fast.

Granted, there are a few windows we can break out in this house, so it's not all bad. Let's not have things come to that point, though.

http://lpix.org/3153747/Pic55.png

Fortunately, Lan has a water gun...

http://lpix.org/3153749/Pic57.png

that isn't a toy, apparently?

I'd assume this was supposed to be a fire extinguisher, but it'd be weird to keep it all of the way up in Lan's room.

http://lpix.org/3153750/Pic58.png

Despite spraying what is likely an electrical fire with water, no further complications arise from this.

Furthermore, putting out the fire in the real world somehow caused the fire that attacked MegaMan to disappear.

Battle Network!

http://lpix.org/3153757/Pic64.png

The puzzle goes by without any real hitch, but here's an image of what it looks like.

http://lpix.org/3153778/Pic91.png

Once MegaMan makes his way through Oven Comp 2, he heads to the end where he finds a face that is likely familiar to fans of Classic MegaMan: FireMan.

http://lpix.org/3153785/Pic98.png

http://lpix.org/3153786/Pic99.png

In a series tradition, every battle begins with Lan and MegaMan saying the above.

Boss Fight: FireMan

Music: Net Battle

FireMan is the first actual boss of the game and... he's still pretty easy. I guess one thing he has over GutsMan is 100 more HP? His attacks have a pretty long start-up, though, so he's actually worse off offensively.

- Fire Arm: FireMan attacks with a flamethrower that covers the entire row.
- Flame Tower: FireMan summons a Flame Tower that travels forward, slowly moving up and down as it tracks the player's position.
- Fire Bomb: FireMan launches a few bombs that set the panels they come into contact with on fire, leaving them burning for a while.

http://lpix.org/3153624/Pic105.png

After the battle, Mr. Match doesn't seem too bothered by FireMan being deleted, mainly because he achieved his mission. As it turns out, Lan's oven had a plot device in it called the Fire Program.

I'm not sure what to make of Match's plan in light of this. Was he just killing people beforehand while looking for the program? Or did he always know it was in Lan's oven and just did the rest for funsies? It could go either way with these guys.

http://lpix.org/3153630/Pic110.png

Mr. Match realizes too late that he's been monologuing like a JRPG villain, but he says it's fine because soon war will start and Net Society will be dead. He then leaves while Lan ponders over what this means.

http://lpix.org/3153635/Pic115.png

I'm going to assume for the sake of my sanity that defeating FireMan didn't put out the rest of the fire and that Lan's mom smothered the flames while we were Net Battling. Lan and MegaMan discuss their concerns about the WWW and resolve to just beat them up again if they cause more problems for them.

http://lpix.org/3153649/Pic128.png

Unfortunately, the damage has been done and Lan's pie did not survive to see the upcoming battle.

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

6

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Part 4: Number Munchers

http://lpix.org/3153652/Pic130.png

While we can go to sleep and immediately start the next scenario, I suppose it's not a bad idea to show off ACDC a little bit first.

As mentioned previously, Mayl lives in the pink house next to Lan's. Because she's a girl, you see.

http://lpix.org/3207799/Pic115.png

While this isn't something that comes up for a number of scenarios, it's mentioned that Mayl's parents are not around very often due to being overseas for work. I assume this is the reason why she latched onto her next door neighbor so hard, especially since they go to the same school and all.

http://lpix.org/3153654/Pic132.png

Mayl is inside her house at this point in the game. I don't think it's something that is ever brought up in dialogue, but Mayl is a piano player.

http://lpix.org/3153656/Pic134.png

In fact, in this game her piano even functions as the host for her homepage for some reason. It's also full of ghost viruses, likely because they use Recovery chips when damaged. You can also find @Mayl there, though her link starts nearby Lan's, so it's not terribly helpful.

http://lpix.org/3153664/Pic141.png

Upstairs, you can find Mayl's bedroom, which also has a MegaMan Legends plushie.

http://lpix.org/3153670/Pic147.png

To the southwest of ACDC is Dex's house, which is next door to the Metroline Station.

http://lpix.org/3153671/Pic148.png

Unlike Mayl's house, it's only one room. I also don't recall ever hearing anything about Dex's parents outside of maybe Battle Network 3, so I guess they also are overseas?

http://lpix.org/3153689/Pic164.png

Dex keeps his homepage on his PC, sensibly enough. @Dex is also good for skipping to the end of Internet Area 1 early on, but it's overshadowed in usefulness compared to later links.

http://lpix.org/3153693/Pic168.png

Finally, Yai's extravagant manor is to the northeast.

http://lpix.org/3153696/Pic170.png

It's only one room, but that may change in future games. Yai's homepage is inside of a portrait of herself.

Don't ask me how that works.

http://lpix.org/3158601/Pic1.png

At the end of scenarios, Lan can go home and go to sleep after inspecting his bed.

http://lpix.org/3158729/Pic4.png

There is a transition several days ahead and we see a suspicious man outside of ACDC Elementary School.

http://lpix.org/3158754/Pic6.png

But never mind that, because the next day Lan's late for school!

http://lpix.org/3158642/Pic13.png

Inside of the lobby, MegaMan informs Lan that he has two emails: "NetCrime is on the rise" and "Yai called your name in homeroom, so you owe her one". Lan seems kind of grumpy about owing Yai a favor for some strange reason, but he continues on to class.

http://lpix.org/3158666/Pic15.png

Compared to later games in the series, ACDC Elementary School is rather large, having a nurse's office, a section for the first graders, a supply closet, and a number of other screens. Later games typically trim the school down to only Lan's classroom, or at least only a few relevant rooms.

http://lpix.org/3158709/Pic23.png

Amazingly, Lan manages to sneak into his desk without Ms. Mari noticing. Despite sitting at the front of classroom. And being directly in her field of view. Also, somehow Ms. Mari didn't notice Lan was late despite her classroom only having nine students.

I can't even blame internet weirdness for this one.

http://lpix.org/3158712/Pic26.png

More importantly, it seems Ms. Mari has a new teaching assistant for the next two weeks: Mr. Higsby.

http://lpix.org/3158715/Pic28.png

He is... a character.

There is a small break before class begins in which Dex complains that Higsby is a weirdo, which isn't incorrect. Yai, meanwhile, gives Lan a tip about Program Advances: a powerful super move created by putting together three or more specific chips in a specific order. In this case, she talks about how putting three Cannon chips together creates the Zeta Cannon PA.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2003/18-Higsby029.png

Meanwhile, this girl seems to think that ACDC is due for another terrorist attack. But what are the odds of that happening?

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2003/19-Higsby030.png

Another NPC talks about how chalkboards are obsolete in the internet age, which is one of many prescient moments the Battle Network series tends to provide.

http://lpix.org/3158728/Pic39.png

Higsby returns to teach class, explaining that Ms. Mari wasn't feeling well and went to the nurse's office. And so he begins study hall, having the class practice their math drills. He also jacks in his Navi while striking a disco pose, because why not?

Higsby excuses himself from the classroom and everyone goes about doing their math work.

http://lpix.org/3158731/Pic41.png

However, something soon goes wrong and the blackboard begins flashing an error message.

http://lpix.org/3158735/Pic44.png

It's the plot of Danganronpa 3!

http://lpix.org/3158738/Pic47.png

A familiar face for Classic players begins spouting how the WWW will control the net and delete society. Usual bad guy stuff. Several people in the classroom begin to panic, and Mayl deduces the reason that NetCrime is on the rise is because they were exposed to the WWW's mind hack technology.

http://lpix.org/3158749/Pic55.png

It seems to be a fairly sound theory.

In any case, the doors are locked, much like in the FireMan scenario, so the only choices are to succumb to brainwashing or to jack in and defeat the culprit.

http://lpix.org/3158752/Pic58.png

Dex decides that it's up to him to get everyone out of this.

http://lpix.org/3158762/Pic65.png
http://lpix.org/3158763/Pic66.png

Well that was pointless. Fortunately, Dex has a backup of GutsMan's data so he's not gone forever.

You might be wondering: then why is it a Game Over when MegaMan is deleted? Well strap in, because that answer exists but we won't be getting there for a while yet.

http://lpix.org/3158769/Pic71.png

Lan is initially hesitant to get involved, but eventually decides to give it a shot after prodding from his friends.

http://lpix.org/3158771/Pic72.png
https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2004/3-NumberMan004.png

Mayl also decides to give Lan a chip that lets him summon Roll for an attack while in battle. This becomes a series tradition.

Music: Running through the Cyber World

http://lpix.org/3158774/Pic74.png

You may notice that the area theme for this dungeon is a re-arrange of the title theme. Fitting for a moment where Lan has to save someone other than immediate family.

The layout of the dungeon also resembles the school. If you look closely, you may also notice this is where the tutorial scene took place.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2004/11-NumberMan015.png

Throughout the dungeon are a series of electronic doors. The first three correspond to details in the real world, but all after just become random two digit numbers from (01 - 99) with no hint. You get about six or seven tries to guess the number before it changes, though you do get a hint as to which digit is incorrect if one is right. The game also tells you which digit it is changing if you exhaust all of your chances, though that may have been an OSS addition, as I don't remember any such courtesy from the original.

Eventually Lan gets the door open, though the students are remaining her for... some reason.

http://lpix.org/3158791/Pic88.png

If you talk to NPCs while checking on the hints, you'll see the other students aren't doing too well

http://lpix.org/3158793/Pic89.png

or being too helpful. At least they're trying.

http://lpix.org/3158623/Pic115.png

On the way towards the AV Room, MegaMan runs into a trap. A Mr. Prog you can speak to along the way tries to warn you about this, but even if you talk him up, there's no way to avoid it.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2004/32-NumberMan057.png

Lan is knocked over by a fleeing Higsby when he heads to the AV Room, but he manages to find the malfunctioning device and fix it, freeing MegaMan from the trap.

http://lpix.org/3158651/Pic138.png

In order to proceed, though, MegaMan now needs the ID card of a faculty member.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2004/36-NumberMan064.png

Meanwhile, the brainwashing is getting worse.

http://lpix.org/3158654/Pic140.png

As it turns out, Ms. Mari wasn't in the infirmary after all and was abducted by Higsby. I hope he planned that out well, because it seems really lucky for him that he wasn't spotted shoving her into a closet and tying her up by any of the other teachers in the building.

http://lpix.org/3158657/Pic143.png

Ms. Mari hands over her ID Card, allowing Lan to use a card reader in the hallway (that Higsby didn't break!?) to deactivate the final door leading to his Navi: NumberMan. He is the first custom Navi to not have a Classic counterpart and was instead apparently based on bean sprouts. Alrighty.

http://lpix.org/3158662/Pic147.png

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2004/45-NumberMan079.png
https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2004/46-NumberMan080.png

Lan is disappointed with Higsby lack of scruples, and Higsby admits that initially he did feel bad to be taking advantage of others. But all of the rare chips he got for working with the WWW made up for it. Curiously enough, NumberMan seems horrified that Higsby felt bad about exploiting others.

http://lpix.org/3158670/Pic153.png

Lan says terrorists are scrubs, though, and tells Higsby to square up, leading to the next boss.

Boss Fight: NumberMan

Unlike the previous two bosses, NumberMan prefers to sit in his back row. In fact, I don't think he ever moves at all. While this is very annoying/bad if you rely on close range weapons, it means you can beat him fairly handily if you typically use long-range attacks.

- Dice Bomb: NumberMan throws a Dice Bomb into the player's area. If it is not destroyed after a set time, it explodes, hitting MegaMan's whole field one column at a time.
- Number Ball: NumberMan sends three balls down all three rows. Each ball displays how much damage it will do and how much damage is required to destroy it.
- Time Bomb: NumberMan summons a Time Bomb. If it is not destroyed in time, it will hit MegaMan's whole field one column at a time.

http://lpix.org/3158676/Pic159.png

After the battle, Lan bullies Higsby until he cries.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2004/57-NumberMan096.png

However, Higsby also decides to have a change of heart and become a good guy. And... that's all the game intends to do about punishing him! Even Lan points out that he should have to pay for his crimes!

Oh well...

http://lpix.org/3158694/Pic172.png

Fortunately, Lan is able to shut down the brainwashing server in time. And I guess no one is long-term affected by it?

Lan congratulates MegaMan on a job well done, but

http://lpix.org/3158699/Pic177.png

apparently classes aren't canceled just because terrorists attacked.

http://lpix.org/3158700/Pic178.png

[canned laughter]

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

7 (edited by Hobgoblin 2019-05-05 17:27:03)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Part 5: Papa was a Rolling Stone

http://lpix.org/3160577/Pic181.png

Unlike the FireMan scenario, the last incident doesn't end with Lan going to sleep, with this scenario being a continuation of the last.

http://lpix.org/3160578/Pic182.png

In any event, we have our objective for the day.

http://lpix.org/3160584/Pic188.png

Also, the teachers still assigned homework after everyone in the school was nearly brainwashed. Priorities, I guess.

http://lpix.org/3160586/Pic190.png
http://lpix.org/3160587/Pic191.png

An NPC helpfully adds some lore to the Battle Network universe. Rather than talking about Lan's father, Yuichiro, though, this is a reference to his grandfather: Tadashi Hikari. More on him later.

http://lpix.org/3160588/Pic192.png

Here's another school map that never shows up in any other game, incidentally. We'll be seeing it a bit in this game, though.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2005/7-GokGok009.png

Curious.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2005/9-GokGok014.png

A landslide has caused the Metroline to stop working, unfortunately. Or, rather, a landslide happened, but there's also a virus that's preventing the train from running. Or maybe a landslide happened on the internet?

Either way, this is a job for MegaMan.

http://lpix.org/3160567/Pic11.png

To get to the relevant area, we have to beat GutsMan again in order to get Dex's access privileges. For some reason.

Again, this kind of thing never comes up in later games.

Dex is also willing to admit that Lan is better than him now, allowing them to become friends now that his ego is in check, and gives him a GutsMan chip as a token of their new friendship.

Worth noting that is that GutsMan has been upgraded to V2, which is a thing that tends to happen with friendly bosses as you progress the story.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2005/18-GokGok027.png

Story bosses tend to be found in little corners of the net where they can be beaten for their V1 chip, like the one of Roll that was given to Lan last update. Their V3 then roams a specific area of the net and can randomly be encountered to get further chips from. Usually these are just their V1, V2, and V3 chips.

http://lpix.org/3160609/Pic35.png

After going through Internet Area 2, MegaMan finds a Navi named StoneMan has been causing the landslide.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2005/46-GokGok079.png

StoneMan has a very strange manner of speaking. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be a certain dialect or something, but MegaMan seems to be able to understand him just fine. He's with the WWW, at any rate, so he's going down.

Boss Fight: StoneMan

StoneMan is a big HP sponge that never moves. That's... all there is to say about him. He's basically NumberMan again, only with less interesting attacks.

- Rock Cube: StoneMan can summon a RockCube to obstruct the player.
- Stone Drop: StoneMan uses his hands to slam the ground, causing rocks to randomly fall on MegaMan's field.
- Totem Finish: His totem hands disappear, then rise from a panel and shoot a very powerful laser beam down the whole row the totem is on.

http://lpix.org/3160619/Pic44.png

After the fight, StoneMan is deleted. He has no operator, unlike the previous two Navis, so there's nothing else to say about him.

MegaMan shoots the giant rock on what seems to relate to the Metroline track, which is why I'm assuming the landslide was virtual and not actually rooted in reality.

http://lpix.org/3160630/Pic54.png

And so Lan is able to take the Metroline to SciLab!

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2006/3-GokGok089.png

Due to Battle Network 1 taking place entirely in DenTech City, though, there is no new area music for this location.

At any rate, Lan finds himself outside of a government building, half of which is devoted to the city waterworks and the other half devoted to SciLab and their research.

http://lpix.org/3160632/Pic56.png

Outside, we meet Sal, who immediately takes a liking to Lan due to his large appetite.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2006/10-GokGok098.png

As it turns out, she's another of the friendly Net Battle opponents in the game!

Boss Fight: WoodMan

WoodMan's a little annoying if only because his attacks come out of random portions of your field fairly quickly. Aside from that, there's not much to say about him.

- Woody Tower: WoodMan summons a Wood Tower that travels down his row every time he moves.
- Death Forest: WoodMan presses on the ground, causing panels to flash and wood spikes to shoot out of them.
- Growth: WoodMan releases a seed, which then grows into a tree. If the tree is not destroyed, it will produce an apple that recovers WoodMan's HP.

http://lpix.org/3160638/Pic61.png

After the battle, she gives Lan her access privileges and you can jack into her cart in order to get @Sal, which brings you to Internet Area 3. In the original game, she also is the NPC that introduces you to the armor system for MegaMan.

http://lpix.org/3165429/Pic15.png

If you were so inclined to take advantage of her access privileges, you could head into the Undernet now: an area that's typically devoted to the late game in the series.

You'll notice that it looks exactly the same as the Internet Areas despite the different name.

As mentioned before, I'm not too big a fan of Battle Network 1's internet design. Everything is a bit too samey.

http://lpix.org/3165451/Pic17.png

That said, I do appreciate that the Undernet does at least have some generic bad guy Navis around instead of the usual guys we see in the main internet.

http://lpix.org/3181422/Pic89.png

In case you forgot what they look like, here's a handy reminder.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2006/13-GokGok107.png

Inside the Government Complex, a scientist explains the elemental system. Fire > Wood > Electric > Aqua > Fire. Neutral element is not strong against or weak to anything.

http://lpix.org/3173311/Pic93.png

There's also further insight into how the future works. Apparently children don't have to pay bills for their PETs, though.

Kind of strange that this transaction isn't done online, now that I think about it.

http://lpix.org/3173316/Pic98.png

Unfortunately, upon arriving to Dad's lab, Lan finds that he's not around. MegaMan decides to check and see if the PowerUp Yuchiro promised is inside of his computer.

http://lpix.org/3173182/Pic101.png

It is not.

http://lpix.org/3181429/Pic103.png

And so they do.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2006/26-GokGok138.png

In the back of the area we find @Dad (which also connects to Internet Area 3) and a Virus Battler: a machine that produces viruses on the level of the person using it. This is a device that will come up a few more times in the series, sometimes in different forms. For now, though, it serves as a way of seeing what types of viruses will be in the upcoming dungeon.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2006/28-GokGok141.png

In another computer in the background, another Navi has some information about Yuichiro's work.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2006/29-GokGok142.png
https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2006/30-GokGok143.png

Aw.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2006/31-GokGok144.png

A different Normal Navi informs MegaMan that Yuichiro is the one responsible for modern day Navis being more human-like.

http://lpix.org/3173207/Pic124.png

And here we see more proof that Lan's dad basically lives at his job.

http://lpix.org/3173215/Pic131.png

As Lan returns back to ACDC Town, he gets a message from his dad, who apologizes for missing him. However, he was able to compress the PowerUp after all and sends it to MegaMan.

http://lpix.org/3173216/Pic132.png

As I mentioned in Part 1, the MegaMan section of the menu is devoted to his stats. Every time you get a PowerUp, of which there are twelve total, you can raise either his Attack (buster damage), Rapid (buster speed), or Charge (charged shot damage) by one point. Each caps out at 5.

http://lpix.org/3173222/Pic138.png

With that bit of disappointment out of the way, Lan goes to bed.

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

8 (edited by Hobgoblin 2021-03-11 16:28:07)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Part 6: The Iceman Cometh

http://lpix.org/3180265/Pic01.png

Time skip!

http://lpix.org/3180276/Pic02.png

Turns out stopping a few fires, some brainwashing, and a Metroline snafu wasn't enough to set the WWW back.

As a small bit of trivia, WWW is pronounced "World 3".

http://lpix.org/3180300/Pic04.png

Back with Lan, he is again late for school. The patch for OSS has MegaMan correct him that it's Friday, but the original game has MegaMan state that he has weekend school. I'm assuming this is something that the original Japanese audience could relate to better.

http://lpix.org/3180356/Pic09.png

Heading downstairs, we find that Haruka apparently didn't pay the water bill. Lan complains that he wants breakfast, but there's nothing that can be done about it.

http://lpix.org/3180273/Pic017.png

Upon arriving at school, Lan discovers that the fountain has also dried up, making it clear that the water being shut off at his home wasn't just an isolated incident.

http://lpix.org/3180279/Pic020Kid2.png

Yai also mentions that there's a missing child in another class, which she finds suspicious. What makes you think he isn't just sick or something?

http://lpix.org/3180280/Pic021.png

During class, Dex and the other students complain that they have no water, and Ms. Mari notes that she's been having similar issues. Due to the uncertainty of when the situation will be fixed and the effect that it's having on the class, Ms. Mari decides to cancel class for the day.

http://lpix.org/3180286/Pic027.png

Hmm... that's concerning.

Also, GutsMan V3 is able to be battled at this point, which feels very early.

http://lpix.org/3180395/Pic128.png

GutsMan is also one of those few Navis that has chips other than his V1, V2, and V3 Navi Chips.

http://lpix.org/3180292/Pic032.png

In the park, we find a Waterworks employee investigating. You can tell he's legit because he's a non-descript NPC.

http://lpix.org/3180294/Pic034.png

Higsby has also opened up a chip shop nearby the school. Throughout the game his stock will change depending on which scenario you're on.

http://lpix.org/3180297/Pic037.png

You can also have friendly rematches with NumberMan in a nearby machine. He's at V2 at present.

http://lpix.org/3180299/Pic039.png

Higsby also has two Chip Traders. The red one gives you a random chip for three chips while the blue gives you a random chip for ten. Both of them gave me junk, so I don't know if they have better pools in later games or I just got unlucky here. You can cheese these in the original game, however, due to the fact that they don't save the game when used. Later games force save the game when you use the traders to get around this exploit.

I want to believe you've renounced your evil ways, Higsby, but I don't know if I can buy that if you decide to dabble in gacha!

http://lpix.org/3180302/Pic041.png

Detective Yai discovers that the missing kid was abducted. I'm assuming she overheard something from his mother?

http://lpix.org/3180303/Pic042.png

This is a mercy, actually. Soda would only make people thirstier.

http://lpix.org/3180306/Pic045.png

Inside of the Waterworks lobby, we find this kid mulling over checking the building interior before he turns to snap at Lan and wanders off.

Nice guy.

http://lpix.org/3180309/Pic048.png

As it turns out, he's actually an important character.

In what is perhaps the most genre savvy move in the (early) series, the police decided that the best way to catch criminals was to recruit a child to the police force. And, to his credit, Eugene Chaud is typically presented as the most competent member of the police.

Go figure!

http://lpix.org/3180312/Pic050.png

To get around the building, Lan decides to lift his dad's ID. Up to this point, he'd been getting to his dad's lab because the receptionist was opening the elevator for him, but now he can come and go through both the SciLab and Waterworks elevators with ease.

Don't ask me why Lan's dad has access to the Waterworks area. You'd think they'd limit access to where it was appropriate.

Lan's dad also never asks for his ID back, so I assume he gets a replacement. But the government officials never deactivate the ID that Lan has, which is even weirder!

http://lpix.org/3180318/Pic056.png

Heading inside, Lan speaks with Dr. Froid, who candidly tells Lan that there is a bug in the pump program that the Waterworks team is working to fix.

http://lpix.org/3180320/Pic058.png

Nothing ominous about that.

http://lpix.org/3180323/Pic060.png

As they return to the lobby, MegaMan reasons that something strange is happening. Why would the Officials, what I'm assuming are the equivalent of the FBI, come to investigate a small bug. He also points out the kidnapped child, which... obviously is going to be connected in the future, yes, but it has nothing to do with this right now.

http://lpix.org/3180327/Pic064.png

MegaMan tells Lan to hide until everyone leaves and then do a bit of checking.

http://lpix.org/3180328/Pic065.png

Good thing Dad is never around! Hahaha!

This is actually kind of sad.

http://lpix.org/3180330/Pic067.png

After everyone leaves, Lan discovers that someone is staying behind in the Waterworks area!

http://lpix.org/3180332/Pic069.png

He starts to jack in...

http://lpix.org/3180335/Pic071.png

but he's caught by a woman with a custom sprite!

http://lpix.org/3180336/Pic072.png

Lan decides to play the dumb kid card

http://lpix.org/3180337/Pic073.png
http://lpix.org/3180338/Pic074.png

and it works!

She even leaves without making sure that Lan left, allowing him to continue with what he was doing moments prior.

http://lpix.org/3180340/Pic076.png

Music: Cold and Silent

Today's dungeon mechanic is ice physics. Ugh.

http://lpix.org/3180346/Pic080.png

Occasionally, you also have to turn on a faucet of water to melt some ice so you can slide in a direction you couldn't previously.

http://lpix.org/3180348/Pic082.png

Up ahead, MegaMan runs into a red Navi with a sword.

http://lpix.org/3180349/Pic083.png

The red Navi takes offense to this and swipes at MegaMan.

http://lpix.org/3180351/Pic085.png

As it turns out, this is ProtoMan.

http://lpix.org/3180352/Pic086.png

You might've guessed that he's the Navi of the character that was just introduced.

http://lpix.org/3180357/Pic090.png

As a fun bit of trivia, this seems like a good moment to talk about Navi Chip codes. Typically, a Navi's chip code relates to the first letter of their name. Roll is R code, GutsMan is G, FireMan is F, and so on. ProtoMan's code, however, is B rather than P. This is because his Japanese name is Blues.

http://lpix.org/3180358/Pic091.png

There are a few other Navis in the series this holds true for, and I'll try and point them out as we go along.

http://lpix.org/3180361/Pic094.png

Incidentally, there were a lot of Navis with names that started with S in BN1, resulting in the S code being very powerful. In order to prevent that imbalance, OSS changed some of those codes.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2009/8-TopSecret010.png

Nothing suspicious about an out of place clown.

http://lpix.org/3188272/Pic100.png

The way past him has a broken faucet, preventing us from going that way. Heading down a different route, however,

http://lpix.org/3188255/Pic109.png

leads to MegaMan being attacked by polar bears. Now this is more in line with a WWW virus.

Or, at least, I'd like to say that. Their HP is more impressive than the solo Mettaur, but their attack patterns are still shooting in a straight line.

http://lpix.org/3180378/Pic111.png

Maybe next time.

http://lpix.org/3180379/Pic112.png

Lan sends MegaMan a... thing...

http://lpix.org/3180382/Pic115.png

which melts the ice on the water supply program.

http://lpix.org/3180385/Pic118.png

Unfortunately, while the water is back, it's also not looking too clean.

http://lpix.org/3180386/Pic119.png

That doesn't stop this guy from coming over and taking a drink though.

http://lpix.org/3180387/Pic120.png

He then immediately dies.

Or maybe he just passed out. Either or.

http://lpix.org/3180389/Pic122.png

Can... can they not see that it's purple?

http://lpix.org/3180390/Pic123.png

Chaud says that Lan is a dummy who made the situation worse by not noticing that there were two bugs in the system. Presumably the WWW intended for this exact thing to happen: take away the water and then, when the water is resupplied, the restored water is tainted and undrinkable.

Pretty nasty.

http://lpix.org/3180393/Pic126.png

Lan figures he should give this another shot.

Not a FireShot, mind you. That never shows up again in the series.

http://lpix.org/3180399/Pic132.png

Yai decides to email Lan at this point to mention that the kidnapped kid was last seen in ACDC Town. And also happens to have the exact same name as the guy we talked to earlier at the Waterworks.

http://lpix.org/3180402/Pic135.png

Lan complains about Yai not disclosing plot information sooner, and goes to search for Froid's son.

http://lpix.org/3180405/Pic138.png

Apparently, the kidnappers just put him in a car, parked it next to Higsby's (AND THE SCHOOL GATE) and then just left. The door wasn't even locked.

He's not even tied up!

http://lpix.org/3180407/Pic140.png

Lan then proceeds to get the handle for the broken faucet. I'm not sure why he has this, given the implication was that the WWW broke the faucet. Why would they give it to their hostage?

http://lpix.org/3180411/Pic144.png

Froid's son also gives us this message to send his father instead of emailing him himself like Lan has been doing with his dad the whole game.

Why? Because we have an upcoming boss, that's why.

https://i.imgur.com/hsRCa8m.png

As a fun fact, the anime made Froid's son into a full on character named Tory. Tory is the operator of the upcoming boss in the anime universe.

http://lpix.org/3180412/Pic145.png

I'm not even sure why I'm playing coy about who it is given his name is in the title of this update.

http://lpix.org/3188264/Pic167.png

After repairing the faucet, MegaMan proceeds through the rest of the Waterworks since Froid isn't opening the door to have a conversation.

http://lpix.org/3180442/Pic175.png

As it turns out, he might have been a bit occupied.

http://lpix.org/3180445/Pic178.png

IceMan gets back up to fight ProtoMan, but Chaud suddenly gets mail from HQ.

http://lpix.org/3180449/Pic182.png

How these WWW members get their ranks is never really expanded upon. But the concept of WWW ranks comes up again at least one more time.

http://lpix.org/3180451/Pic184.png

As it turns out, the actual WWW member is after the Aqua Program and is using IceMan as a patsy while they make off with it. Chaud and ProtoMan head off to intercept them, and MegaMan tries to talk with IceMan.

http://lpix.org/3180455/Pic188.png

Negotiations go poorly.

Boss Fight: IceMan

IceMan has some pretty simple attacks, but he's actually the first story boss since FireMan who doesn't just sit there and let you slap him in the face. Just try not to get hit by Freeze Bomb and he's not too bad.

- IceCube: When the player is too close, IceMan will sometimes create a block of ice in each row in the front column of his area. IceMan can also kick his iceblocks sending them at the enemy, leaving them in the back row if they miss.
- Freeze Bomb: IceMan will fire a glacier bomb in a cross patterm, centering at the opponent's panel that freezes on contact.

http://lpix.org/3180460/Pic193.png

After the battle, Lan hands over the message to IceMan and Froid, and they finally decide to calm down.

http://lpix.org/3180463/Pic196.png

IceMan then sucks the second bug off the Waterworks OS.

http://lpix.org/3180467/Pic200.png

Meanwhile, ProtoMan realizes that the suspicious clown from earlier is actually a bad guy.

http://lpix.org/3180469/Pic202.png

Unfortunately, ColorMan (another EXE original Navi) escapes along with his operator Ms. Madd. In Japanese his name was apparently ColoredMan, but that sounds dumber and is problematic for other reasons! As a result, he's one of the few Navis I don't use the original name for.

http://lpix.org/3180474/Pic207.png

MegaMan and IceMan show up, much to Chaud's annoyance. Lan ignores his hostility and tries to get information out of him, but Chaud just jacks ProtoMan out and leaves.

http://lpix.org/3180478/Pic211.png

Back in ACDC, Dr. Froid reunites with his son.

http://lpix.org/3180481/Pic214.png

Lan seems a bit choked up by this, perhaps because he wishes he could spend more time with his own father.

http://lpix.org/3180485/Pic218.png

But never mind that. We have terrorists and rivals to show up. Next time!

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

9 (edited by Hobgoblin 2019-05-05 21:52:25)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Part 7: Color Me Crazy

Man, I did a lot of updates today. I guess it makes up for not doing anything over my off days, though.

http://lpix.org/3186662/Pic002.png

Despite Lan and MegaMan's continuing thwarting of the WWW, their plans are still proceeding apace.

http://lpix.org/3186666/Pic006.png

Their leader isn't too happy about them being shown up repeatedly, though.

http://lpix.org/3186667/Pic007.png

You might notice that Mr. Match is still here despite having been beaten a good while back, as well as two characters who haven't done anything yet. I think it's a safe bet they're going to be future bosses.

As another bit of trivia, these four WWW members go on to become Team Rocket-esque characters in the anime.

http://lpix.org/3186679/Pic019.png

The group tries to explain that this kid named Lan keeps getting in their way, but their boss isn't exactly impressed with the idea that his flunkies are getting beaten by someone who hasn't even gone through puberty.

As he leaves for a moment, the group grumbles among themselves about how it's not fair that they're being treated so disrespectfully after they gathered two of the Super Programs.

Speaking of the Wood Super Program, we never find out where it came from and they have it later without explanation. I think this is the only time it's even mentioned in-game.

In any case, it seems their boss is planning on putting the Super Programs together to create something called the Life Virus.

http://lpix.org/3186682/Pic022.png

Hmm...

http://lpix.org/3186684/Pic024.png

Meanwhile, MegaMan has finished doing maintenance on Lan's homepage.

http://lpix.org/3186686/Pic026.png

Roll shows up to give him a letter from Mayl. Apparently it's Yai's birthday and she wants to get her something nice.

You don't have to answer immediately, though. There are other things that are available at this point.

http://lpix.org/3186696/Pic036.png

Like speaking to Lan's mother about her strained marriage,

http://lpix.org/3186705/Pic045.png
http://lpix.org/3186706/Pic046.png

or telling a preschooler about her impending mortality.

http://lpix.org/3186697/Pic037.png

NumberMan V3, WoodMan V2, and IceMan V2 are also available at this point. And Dr. Froid also subscribes Lan to the Official Mailing List.

http://lpix.org/3187213/Pic058.png

Dentown is the last Metroline location in the game and it sucks to get around because you have to wait for traffic before you can cross the street. Also, there's very little indication as to which exit is a real exit or a fake one. One exit even leads to a dead end where you can't do anything!

http://lpix.org/3186718/Pic059.png

In DenBlock 2, you can find an Antique Store run by a woman named Miyu.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2010/14-BackwardsGas041.png
https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2010/15-BackwardsGas042.png

She really likes talking about souls, though strangely enough, she doesn't show up in Battle Networks 4 or 5.

She also can be Net Battled.

Boss Fight: SkullMan

SkullMan just kinda stands around and waits for you to pummel him. It's pretty easy to interrupt his attacks, the only real threat being if you stand in the column nearest to his side of the field, in which case he might hit you with a fireball before you can react if he teleports directly in front of you.

- Boomerang Bone: SkullMan detaches his arms and they follow MegaMan around his side of the field.
- Ghost Fire: SkullMan summons two flames that rush straight down a row.
- Skull Stomp: SkullMan launches his head upward, and then crushes MegaMan with his enlarged skull head. This move breaks shields, but leaves SkullMan wide open for a counterattack.

http://lpix.org/3186719/Pic060.png

Miyu gives access privileges to Internet Area 4. You can also get @Miyu from her desk.

http://lpix.org/3186731/Pic072.png

It has a spooky skull motif.

http://lpix.org/3186738/Pic079.png

Inside of a school on DenBlock 4, we find a palette swapped Ms. Mari.

http://lpix.org/3186739/Pic080.png

As another bit of anime trivia, Yuri was actually a villain for a while in the anime of this series. She eventually redeems herself, though, and becomes a hero. Curiously enough, her Navi in the anime, NeedleMan, has no relation to her in the games.

http://lpix.org/3186740/Pic081.png

Yuri also asks this question afterwards, oddly enough. If you say yes, she mentions Mari never told her about having twins in her class. If you say no, she mentions that twins have a special bond with one another.

Neat.

http://lpix.org/3186743/Pic084.png

Inside of the Blackboard, we find a Mr. Prog who has reformed from a life of crime.

This has nothing to do with anything. I just found it cute.

http://lpix.org/3207801/Pic117.png

Back with the plot, MegaMan gives Roll Lan's response and he meets up with her at the Metroline later.

http://lpix.org/3207805/Pic121.png
http://lpix.org/3207806/Pic122.png

However, Mayl mentions that she needs to bring something to her grandmother's house. We never see this grandmother or her house, curiously enough. In any case, she sends us ahead to go to Dentown without her.

As we do, MegaMan notices something odd about the traffic light, which is flickering.

http://lpix.org/3207825/Pic141.png

It then turns green from both ways.

https://imgur.com/o0e049u.gif

Alright, someone DEFINITELY died from that.

http://lpix.org/3207831/Pic147.png

Shortly after, Madd sends out a mass email extorting people for a fix to the traffic system for 1 million Zenny per person. I'm not sure how this works. Maybe it's something for each individual's car? But they bugged the traffic lights.

http://lpix.org/3207836/Pic152.png

Incidentally, 1 million is 1 more zenny than the maximum Lan is allowed to hold in his inventory.

http://lpix.org/3207838/Pic154.png

Lan, being the only sane person, asks the very reasonable question of "Why not just jack in and get rid of the bug?"

And so he does.

Music: Red or Blue

http://lpix.org/3207839/Pic155.png

The gimmick for this dungeon is very easy.

http://lpix.org/3207842/Pic158.png

Every time MegaMan passes through an orb, the pathway switches from red to blue. The goal is to proceed without accidentally shutting off the path in front of you.

http://lpix.org/3207847/Pic163.png

Eventually MegaMan reaches the end and sets the traffic light to stop.

http://lpix.org/3207852/Pic168.png

Lan then goes and tells the civilians not to buy from the WWW.

http://lpix.org/3207853/Pic169.png http://lpix.org/3207854/Pic170.png http://lpix.org/3207856/Pic172.png

It may be apparent by now that the average person in this universe is kind of stupid.

http://lpix.org/3207864/Pic180.png

Madd isn't too happy about Lan's continued interference, so she decides to target someone close to him.

http://lpix.org/3207870/Pic186.png

It's Mayl, of course.

http://lpix.org/3207879/Pic195.png

There's not a whole lot to say about this upcoming portion.

http://lpix.org/3207888/Pic204.png

Lan goes around to a bunch of different lights to try and deactivate them before the bus passes through.

http://lpix.org/3207889/Pic205.png

Madd also tells us that she rigged the bus to explode after a while.

For some reason, Lan doesn't call the police even though she's just standing around the city and he knows what she looks like.

https://i.imgur.com/tvX1rr0.png

As a fun bit of trivia, a character from a spin-off Battle Network game is on this bus right now. This event winds up giving him admiration for Lan.

http://lpix.org/3207940/Pic256.png

We already did the first light before Mayl got caught, the second light misses, the third slows the bus a bit with a barrier, the fourth brings it to a crawl, and the fifth stops it.

http://lpix.org/3207944/Pic260.png

However, it's too late! Madd prepares to detonate the bus

http://lpix.org/3207950/Pic266.png

but Mayl remembered that she has a Navi, unlike most NPCs, and Roll is distracting ColorMan from triggering the explosion.

Fortunately, the traffic light system is connected to the bus net... somehow.

http://lpix.org/3207960/Pic276.png

ColorMan is being a creep

http://lpix.org/3207964/Pic280.png

but fortunately MegaMan shows up to save the day!

Boss Fight: ColorMan

ColorMan stays in the back row, much like most story bosses before him, but he actually moves a little just to spice things up. Aside from that, he typically just tries to box you in with obstacles.

- Color Ball: ColorMan's polka-dot ball follows MegaMan around on his side of the field, attempting to hit him.
- Flame Tower: ColorMan's red helper shoots columns of fire down the row in front of him. The tower can turn once.
- Aqua Tower: ColorMan's blue helper shoots columns of water down the row in front of him. The tower can turn once.

http://lpix.org/3207968/Pic284.png

After the battle, MegaMan checks on Roll and she turns out to be just fine.

http://lpix.org/3207975/Pic291.png

Mayl is also fine and clings to Lan a little bit, while he gets flustered. MegaMan and Roll tease him for getting red.

http://lpix.org/3207981/Pic297.png

Mayl says it's a secret and leaves, while Lan is completely clueless as to what's going on.

http://lpix.org/3207984/Pic300.png
http://lpix.org/3207985/Pic301.png

[canned laughter]

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

10 (edited by Hobgoblin 2019-05-16 20:25:15)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Part 8: Electric Slide

http://lpix.org/3219533/Pic002.png

Back at the Hall of Doom, Mr. WWW isn't very happy with Madd bumbling around again.

http://lpix.org/3219536/Pic005.png

He also has a strange stuttering problem for this scene. Not sure what that's about.

In any event, he tells Count Zap to "take down this town once and for all".

http://lpix.org/3219540/Pic009.png

Now there's a smile only Colgate could love.

On a less goofy note, I do believe this is the first time we actually get the WWW leader's name in-game, so I can stop playing coy. Yes, this is Dr. Albert Wily as the head of the WWW/World 3. I'll have more to say about him later.

http://lpix.org/3219541/Pic010.png

Time skip!

http://lpix.org/3219546/Pic015.png

In the park in ACDC, Lan is hanging around complaining about how hungry he is. That seems to happen a lot more than I recall. In any event, MegaMan suggests that he go home seeing as a MegaMan Legends parody of The Brady Bunch is about to start.

Alright then.

http://lpix.org/3219550/Pic019.png

However, before we can see what that entails, Lan's dad messages him to tell him that there's a party tonight at the Government Complex.

And he's *gasp* actually going to show up!

Seriously, Yuichiro is a great guy, but this game underused him so much that I was genuinely shocked that he is only making an appearance a few scenarios before the game ends.

By the way, we're almost at the end.

http://lpix.org/3219553/Pic022.png

Lan and Haruka are, of course, invited to the party.

http://lpix.org/3219554/Pic023.png

Dr. Froid has a WWW Pin for Lan if you visit him at the Waterworks, which lets you open the various skull doors that have been erected around the net.

https://lpix.org/3221818/update_11_0003.png

There are also some NPCs around the world that will trade chips with you. This has nothing to do with the plot; I just like this image of this girl being so excited to trade chips with Lan that she asks to be his friend.

http://lpix.org/3219602/Pic072.png

Yai also gives Lan 10,000 Zenny if you visit her in this scenario as thanks for the birthday gift. I'm not sure when we became friends, but it seems to have happened at some point over the course of things. I'm going to assume this is a case of Mayl and Yai being friends already and Lan being roped into buying her a birthday present paving the way for them to be something more than casual acquaintances.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2011/16-PartyOfDeath031.png

In more important news, another friendly shopkeeper has shown up. This time it's Masa.

Boss Fight: SharkMan

SharkMan is a huge jerk. At V1 and V2 he's not so bad, but at V3 his attacks come out ridiculously fast to the point where he'll probably ruin your S-Rank if you aren't careful. Not helped by the fact that two the fins are invincible and have a habit of positioning themselves in front of him to block your attacks. At least you can still damage him while he's "underwater", though.

- Fin Cutter: SharkMan's main attack. SharkMan (or one of his two decoys) does a swift dash down one row.
- Aqua Tower: Same as ColorMan's.

http://lpix.org/3219589/Pic059.png

@Masa is available inside of his cart and connects to Internet Area 3. Just like the last two we got.

I feel like these could have been spaced out better.

In any case, that was the last of the homepages, so I hope you enjoyed me talking about them.

http://lpix.org/3219615/Pic085.png

Aside from SharkMan being available, both IceMan and WoodMan have hit their V3 forms.

http://lpix.org/3219642/Pic112.png

I neglected to mention it earlier, but friendly bosses only battle you once in V1 and once in V2 unless mandated by the plot. Once they hit V3, they are able to be challenged freely whenever you like.

http://lpix.org/3219643/Pic113.png

Anyway, it's party time.

Lan's mom is taking a while to get dressed, so Lan decides to go ahead.

http://lpix.org/3219652/Pic122.png

Chaud is here, being as pleasant as ever. I bet he's just mad Lan was invited and he's here on business.

http://lpix.org/3219657/Pic127.png

He wanders off, mumbling something about dumb kids, and Lan's father eventually shows up.

http://lpix.org/3219659/Pic129.png

See, he does exist.

http://lpix.org/3219665/Pic135.png

Lan's mother shows up shortly after in a new outfit. The family then heads downstairs to eat.

http://lpix.org/3219668/Pic138.png

This is because the restaurant is apparently below sea level in order to facilitate the conflict for the next scenario provide a pleasant ambiance.

Battle Network!

http://lpix.org/3219671/Pic141.png

In the dining hall, we have this scientist drooling over Lan's mother before realizing that she's the wife of the guy who probably signs his paychecks.

http://lpix.org/3219672/Pic142.png

Woops!

http://lpix.org/3219684/Pic154.png

Fortunately, Lan's dad is distracted with talking to his family about work.

The one time he's gotten to see his family this whole game after getting away from work and he still makes it about work.

Geez, man.

http://lpix.org/3219687/Pic157.png

Dr. Hikari starts to explain that MegaMan is very special in a way unlike other Navis...

http://lpix.org/3219689/Pic159.png

and suddenly he's paged and has to go.

http://lpix.org/3219692/Pic162.png

Would it console you to know that other games are not nearly this bad about dangling time with his father in front of Lan's face and then yanking it away?

http://lpix.org/3219695/Pic165.png

Anyway, somehow this guy managed to get into a government building without lifting any eyebrows.

Did I mention that the people in this universe are kind of stupid?

http://lpix.org/3219701/Pic171.png

Count Zap says that he's hosting a "WWW Party of Death" and then has ElecMan kill the power.

http://lpix.org/3219702/Pic172.png

Which will kill everyone else since the air has shut off.

This is why you don't make an underwater restaurant.

http://lpix.org/3219704/Pic174.png

Count Zap inexplicably teleports out of the building... somehow. Or maybe he just hid in a corner somewhere with an oxygen tank and was banking on everyone else dying. Either seems plausible.

http://lpix.org/3219707/Pic177.png

But it's okay, because Lan has night vision.

http://lpix.org/3222590/Pic001.png

Lan jumps into a... trash chute apparently? to get to the Power Plant floor. Don't worry; that's not even close to the most dangerous thing he's going to do in this series.

Or this update.

http://lpix.org/3222594/Pic005.png

Lan prepares to jack in, but a nearby scientist balks in horror, saying that jacking in now would be suicide. Because if he did, it'd drain the battery of Lan's PET quickly. And if that happens, then MegaMan can't fully heal after every battle!

The horror?

http://lpix.org/3222603/Pic014.png

This seems like a good time to bring up that MegaMan fully regenerates his health after every battle in Battle Network 1.

http://lpix.org/3222604/Pic015.png

Later games in the series do not do this due to features that will be mentioned when we get there. Suffice it to say, this normally would not be a big deal if you are used to later games.

Normally.

http://lpix.org/3222605/Pic016.png
http://lpix.org/3222606/Pic017.png

Worry for his mother prompts Lan to take the risk, and so Lan jacks into the terminal.

Music: Electrical Crisis

http://lpix.org/3222614/Pic025.png

So, let's discuss all of the fun restrictions we have here, shall we?

- You can't jack out. Once you enter this dungeon, you can't leave until you defeat the boss.

- If the PET battery gets too low, MegaMan's HP does not restore to full after every battle. Unlike other games, there is no easy way to heal up after battles, meaning your best option is to throw a ton of Recover chips into your folder and pray you aren't immediately oneshot by a virus. In conjunction with the above, this means that you can potentially save your game into an unwinnable situation if your HP gets too low.

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2012/3-PowerPlant005.png

- The pathways ahead are invisible. Have fun trying to figure out where to go while you're on a time crunch.

http://lpix.org/3222616/Pic027.png

Granted, that only holds true for the original. Operate Shooting Star gives you outlines of where there are paths. However, if you look at this picture, another problem becomes apparent. You might think that there are three paths here that you can walk on, but you'd be wrong. In actuality, there's only one path forward. The horizontal path is a road that's "above" where MegaMan is currently standing.

The only way you can really tell that is by looking at the colors on the bottom screen, but even then it's still disorienting.

http://lpix.org/3222622/Pic033.png

- The puzzle for this dungeon is inserting batteries into a box and flipping a switch. Except the correct battery position is not always immediately clear. The only hint is "Don't place the batteries adjacent to one another.", but there's not even another battery here. Oh, and to make matters worse, in the original game you had to stop and recharge the battery every time you got it wrong.

http://lpix.org/3222641/Pic052.png

And you also start getting significantly more boxes.

It may not surprise you to learn that I stopped my original playthrough of Battle Network 1 here.

After I killed the boss to vent my rage, but still.

https://imgur.com/vy78yIx.png

On a different note, some of the Mr. Progs in this dungeon have been corrupted by ElecMan

http://lpix.org/3222626/Pic037.png

and will actually try and fight! They lose 5 HP every second, though, due to being corrupted. Poor things.

http://lpix.org/3222648/Pic059.png

Oh yeah, did I mention some puzzles expect you to not use all of the batteries that you're given?

http://lpix.org/3222661/Pic072.png

For a small mercy, the game does throw you a bone if you completely run out of power.

http://lpix.org/3222663/Pic074.png

The nearby scientist MacGuyvers a device to recharge your PET, giving you a bit of time to mash the B button before the device breaks.

http://lpix.org/3222689/Pic100.png

Not sure if that's a one time save or if it happens every time. I didn't stick around long enough to find out!

http://lpix.org/3222690/Pic101.png

The NPC in the hallway isn't doing too well.

http://lpix.org/3222693/Pic104.png

But the generator seems to be active! I wonder if that ElecMan guy might be responsible for an improper flow of power.

http://lpix.org/3222696/Pic107.png

ElecMan compliments MegaMan on reaching him, but states that he's already acquired the Elec Program. And with that, the WWW has all four. Oh no!

http://lpix.org/3222698/Pic109.png

For some reason, MegaMan seems oblivious as to what the Elec Program is whereas earlier Lan seemed to intuit that the Aqua Program was similar to the Fire Program Mr. Match stole.

http://lpix.org/3222699/Pic110.png

ElecMan is surprised that MegaMan isn't an Official, but decides it doesn't matter and decides to zap him.

"Boss Fight": ElecMan

ElecMan is more mobile than the last several bosses, an-

http://lpix.org/3222710/Pic121.png

Oh, never mind. This is one of those unwinnable bosses.

http://lpix.org/3222714/Pic125.png

ElecMan gloats that he can't be beaten as long as there's flowing electricity.

http://lpix.org/3222717/Pic128.png

So Lan decides to subject himself to high voltage electricity in order to deactivate the generator.

Surprisingly enough, this is not the most outlandish thing that Lan survives in the series.

That would be in the next game.

http://lpix.org/3222719/Pic130.png

Ahem. As I was saying.

Boss Fight: ElecMan

ElecMan is more mobile than the last several bosses, and he likes to lock MegaMan down with obstacles to boot. Ideally you'll hit him hard in order to cancel the attacks out, because he hits pretty hard if he can actually connect a blow with you!

- Sequence Bolt: ElecMan makes several panels flash a few times, then proceeds to hit those panels.
- Electric Boomer: ElecMan creates a ball of electricity between Tesla coils that hits MegaMan twice.

http://lpix.org/3222723/Pic134.png

As it turns out, beating ElecMan did nothing to stop the impending plans of the WWW.

http://lpix.org/3222728/Pic139.png

ProtoMan shows up and laments the fact that MegaMan deleted ElecMan before he could get the location of the WWW Server.

I think the point of luring people into a trap is not letting them actually get the thing you're luring them with...

Also, apparently they couldn't break the security on the device they'd set the trap inside of.

Keep in mind that I still have no intention of retracting my comment of Chaud being one of the more competent characters in this setting and realize what that means for this universe.

http://lpix.org/3222733/Pic144.png

Rather than try and stop his blunder from having dangerous repercussions, Chaud decides to double down on being a jerk.

http://lpix.org/3222734/Pic145.png
http://lpix.org/3222735/Pic146.png

Did I mention that everyone is still suffocating?

Boss Fight: ProtoMan

I hope the dungeon and previous boss fight haven't worn your HP down too much! ProtoMan's fast, has good range, and also likes to counter your attacks by blocking with a shield occasionally. This also has nothing to do with the boss, but I'd like to point out that the designer of this dungeon actually apologized for this marathon of madness.

- Proto Shield: ProtoMan's basic defense.
- Step Sword: ProtoMan teleports in front of MegaMan and uses a Wide Sword attack.
- Fighter Sword: ProtoMan stands in the front row of his panels, and swings a Fighter Sword, hitting three panels ahead to the back row.

http://lpix.org/3222736/Pic147.png

Well, Chaud has failed at every conceivable step of his plan, including deleting MegaMan out of spite.

Sucks to be him, I guess.

http://lpix.org/3222743/Pic154.png

MegaMan points out that his being a civilian Navi is why he won. Because he has to rely upon Lan, they fight as a team as opposed to ProtoMan who fights alone. Chaud tells ProtoMan not to listen to their rubbish

http://lpix.org/3222750/Pic161.png

but ProtoMan actually seems affected by MegaMan's words.

http://lpix.org/3222751/Pic162.png
http://lpix.org/3222752/Pic163.png

I bet you'll never guess which one of these two comes around to MegaMan and Lan a lot sooner than the other.

http://lpix.org/3222754/Pic165.png

ProtoMan finally jacks out and Lan reactivates the generator.

http://lpix.org/3222758/Pic169.png

Lan assures his mom that he was just fine, and also gets an email from Yuichiro, who is checking in on everyone. Apparently, he was oblivious to the true nature of the blackout, so I assume he was clear of the building when it happened.

At least, I hope he was. Kinda dickish if he's upstairs or something and can't come down to bother to check.

http://lpix.org/3222766/Pic177.png
http://lpix.org/3222767/Pic178.png
http://lpix.org/3222768/Pic179.png

[canned laughter]

http://lpix.org/3222769/Pic180.png

No seriously, this time the scenario actually ends that way.

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

11 (edited by Hobgoblin 2019-05-13 22:45:30)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Part 9: Strange, Isn't It?

http://lpix.org/3234785/Pic182.png

You may recall me mentioning that the Wood Program was never shown being obtained onscreen. I presume this is because of a cut scenario or maybe because of development time.

http://lpix.org/3234786/Pic183.png

What's bad about it not being fixed here is that this new scenario for OSS adds a scene of the WWW gloating over the collection of the Super Programs here. A scenario that could have also mentioned Yahoot here being sent to collect the Wood Program while Zap was getting the Elec Program. Instead they STILL never bring it up.

It's part of the reason I haven't been saying much about this game's plot aside from recapping: when it comes down to it, the first game was a bit barebones about its narrative, save for one point, and the remake "crossover" doesn't really try to add anything.

http://lpix.org/3234791/Pic188.png

Zap wants to know if Wily is in a charitable mood and would be willing to recreate ElecMan for him. Madd also wants ColorMan brought back.

Wily proceeds to yell at them both for being incompetent enough to lose to MegaMan, says no, and walks off along with Yahoot.

Considering that Dex made a successful backup of GutsMan earlier in the game, I can't blame him. It must be really distressing to discover your henchmen are less competent than a 5th grader. And not even the 5th grader that's been embarrassing them this whole game!

http://lpix.org/3234809/Pic206.png

Madd and Zap whine about how unfair it is that they were bullied by a 5th grader, so they decide to go kidnap Mayl and Roll to teach Lan a lesson.

Crime unrelated to the internet? In my Battle Network? Most unorthodox!

http://lpix.org/3234642/Pic004.png

Speaking of Lan, our protagonist happens to be talking with MegaMan about what he thinks of the WWW. Unsurprisingly, MegaMan's response is "WWW = bad. Deleting WWW Navis = good."

I'm not really sure what Lan hoped to gain by asking this question given that the WWW aren't exactly morally grey characters. Higsby aside, all of them have been rather unrepentant about their evil ways. For that matter, so far Higsby's the only one who wasn't involved in a plot that could have potentially killed someone.

That aside, the conversation gets a bit odd at this point.

http://lpix.org/3234650/Pic012.png

If I can digress for a moment, I'd like to talk about the Ace Attorney series. In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Phoenix is a rookie attorney who has to learn how to pave his way in the legal world. His rival is a man named Miles Edgeworth, who is significantly more experienced than Phoenix. However, Miles lacks Phoenix's earnest belief in people and commitment to the truth, which leads to him reevaluating his ideology as a prosecutor come the second title.

http://lpix.org/3234651/Pic013.png

A DS remake of the original game inserts a new case between these two games called Rise from the Ashes. In this game, Phoenix manages to hold his own in court against a person in high-standing in the legal world with competence above what he'd displayed in the first game, while Edgeworth also works with him in court to find the truth. Both of these things that are more indicative of what happens down the line in the trilogy. Which is fitting, because the case was written after the trilogy had ended.

What I'm getting at is that it feels like later characterization was bleeding into what was supposed to be an earlier point in the series,

https://i.imgur.com/BVKkkxn.jpg

which is how I see the above scene in regards to MegaMan talking about Mayl. To be fair, he does mention that "Mom and Mayl have been caught up in the WWW's incidents", but it's rather curious he doesn't talk about Lan wanting to keep his mom safe considering she's been caught up in just as many attacks as Mayl at this point.

http://lpix.org/3234657/Pic019.png

Anyway, Roll's in danger again, having been kidnapped by some mysterious Navi.

http://lpix.org/3234668/Pic030.png

MegaMan freaks out over this, even though he's only talked to Roll maybe twice this entire game so far? I mean, I figure MegaMan wouldn't want Roll deleted, but it didn't seem like they were close enough at this point for him to panic like this.

http://lpix.org/3234669/Pic031.png

Besides, couldn't Mayl just restore Roll from a backup?

http://lpix.org/3234674/Pic036.png

Actually, that raises an interesting question. If your Navi was kidnapped and you just recreated them from a backup and the original Navi found their way back, what happens then? Do you just have two Navis? Is it a Thunderdome situation?

http://lpix.org/3234685/Pic047.png

Random musings aside, it seems like the WWW isn't behind this kidnapping attempt. Somehow Mega Man showed up in the real world and foiled the both of them. Neither Lan nor MegaMan have any idea what to make of this declaration.

http://lpix.org/3234710/Pic071.png

Inside, Mayl literally hyperventilates over Roll being kidnapped until Lan calms her down. After she's more lucid, Mayl explains that a blue Navi showed up in the real world before going into her piano and appearing next to Roll. Lan opts to send MegaMan in to look for them, recalling the WWW agents outside said the same thing about a MegaMan-like Navi in the real world.

http://lpix.org/3234713/Pic074.png

Hey wait a second. Why aren't you calling the police about the WWW agents outside!?

For that matter, why are they kidnapping Mayl and Roll instead of just grabbing Lan? They don't even have Navis anymore so it's not like they plan to Net Battle him again.

http://lpix.org/3234715/Pic076.png

Speaking of people not doing the smart thing, Mayl clearly knows more about the situation than she's relaying, but opts to not say anything at the moment because we need this next stretch of plot to happen.

http://lpix.org/3234722/Pic083.png

On Internet Area 1, MegaMan runs into Mega Man. If you hadn't noticed, I've been trying to put a space in Geo's name to make them distinct, but I probably haven't been consistent on that. So I'll just call him Geo from now on to make things easier.

http://lpix.org/3234726/Pic087.png

Continuing the trend of people doing smart things, Geo turns around and shoots at MegaMan before walking away without saying a word.

http://lpix.org/3234739/Pic100.png

This continues for a bit, with MegaMan believing Geo to be the kidnapper.

Now, I know Dr. Goodall said not to interfere with time, but I think it'd be really easy for the conversation to go

"Did you kidnap my friend Roll!?" "No, I did not." "Oh, okay then."

http://lpix.org/3234748/Pic109.png

At any rate, there is certainly a more sensible way to handle the proceedings here while being mindful of the need to be discrete. If anything, Geo shooting up the place and running away just makes him seem more suspicious and clearly isn't serving to dissuade MegaMan from following him.

http://lpix.org/3234749/Pic110.png

But why should we make sense when we could just have two characters fight!?

Boss Fight: Star Force MegaMan

Hey, an actual new boss! And it only took until the end of the game. So, you'd think they'd put in some effort here, right? Well... kinda. Geo's an alright boss and does the things you'd expect him to do with only his base form. They even went the extra mile to give him a different defeat animation from other bosses in the game!

But this is also the only fight with Geo in the game because the V3 fight was event exclusive DLC that is now permanently unavailable. Good job, Capcom!

There is a bit of a silver lining, though: Prof. 9 on SomethingAwful did a recreation of what the event was probably like. If you insert the Action Replay code in that link, it'll replace ProtoMan V3 with a fight against the stronger Geo.

- Mega Buster: Geo fires three shots straight ahead when on the same row as MegaMan.
- Charged Shot: Geo charges his buster, before warping to MegaMan's row and attempting to blast him.
- Lock On: Geo brings up a target reticle. If MegaMan steps into it, Geo warps directly in front of him and attacks with a Long Sword.
- Shield: Geo brings up a shield that negates any attacks (except Breaking ones?) used on him while it's up.
- Beast Slap: Geo summons Omega-Xis to (very slowly) cleave a 2x3 area.

http://lpix.org/3234770/Pic131.png

After the battle, Geo is defeated. For whatever reason, MegaMan doesn't consider immediately deleting him like every Navi he's fought in the game he believed was affiliated with the bad guys.

Probably because he read the script and knows that Geo is important.

http://lpix.org/3234773/Pic134.png

Remember how last scenario MegaMan chided ProtoMan for doing things on his own instead of as a team?

Good times.

http://lpix.org/3234775/Pic136.png

Meanwhile, with Geo, Omega-Xis chides him for battling MegaMan and also letting him get into the warp hole.

http://lpix.org/3234780/Pic141.png

Geo, of course, was holding back due to recognizing MegaMan.

https://i.imgur.com/nqbYdyv.png

So I guess this is canon?

But that MegaMan is from after this game, so he should recognize Geo if they meet in this game, right? But he never commented on it at the time. I know that was written earlier, but...

Screw it. I hate time travel.

Music: Space!?

http://lpix.org/3235270/Pic003.png

MegaMan enters a new area called ???. Creative. Inside he finds Roll, who is standing on a giant clock, but is unresponsive despite seemingly being unharmed.

http://lpix.org/3235276/Pic009.png

Lan finally gets MegaMan to calm down, and notes that this place looks very out of place compared to the rest of the net.

Probably because it actually has a distinct appearance!

http://lpix.org/3235286/Pic019.png

Unfortunately, as MegaMan begins to head down the path

http://lpix.org/3235288/Pic022.png

he falls into a trap.

http://lpix.org/3235292/Pic026.png

Meanwhile, some mysterious jerk feels happy to have captured MegaMan at 3:00 sharp and goes on a long self-indulgent rant about how smart he is.

http://lpix.org/3243482/Pic031.png

Geo and Omega-Xis finally catch up at this point.

http://lpix.org/3243483/Pic032.png

I'm not sure how Geo went from searching for "her" on the net and wound up saving Mayl from the WWW, but it seems like this could have been avoided.

http://lpix.org/3243495/Pic044.png

Ah well. We gotta justify this crossover somehow.

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

12 (edited by Hobgoblin 2019-05-21 19:28:29)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Part 10: Shooting Star

Music: Shooting Star

http://lpix.org/3243496/Pic045.png

Geo apologizes to Mayl for being unable to protect her Navi.

Which is interfering in the past, right? So why didn't he just explain what was happening to MegaMan instead of shooting at him?

http://lpix.org/3243500/Pic049.png

Oh right: obligatory boss fight.

http://lpix.org/3243501/Pic050.png

As it turns out, Mayl knows fully well that Geo was trying to help her. And she's been standing next to Lan this entire time.

So she just never bothered saying anything about Lan audibly talking about MegaMan chasing after a Navi that looks like himself. Even though Lan has to stay here in this house for the plot to progress.

http://lpix.org/3243503/Pic052.png

Not only is this a lazy remake, it's a lazy crossover.

http://lpix.org/3243518/Pic067.png

Geo decides to come clean after that nonsense and explains that he is from 200 years into the future. In his future, a Navi named ClockMan was created that has control over time.

How? Uhhh...

Anyway, ClockMan went rogue and kidnapped "her" before going back in time, prompting Geo to follow after.

http://lpix.org/3243539/Pic088.png

There's also an explanation of the fact that Geo is a human fused with Omega-Xis to become MegaMan, which causes Lan and Mayl to freak out over Geo's arm talking and that being weird. Good thing they never saw his original appearance.

http://lpix.org/3243548/Pic097.png

If I had any photoshopping skills, I'd have put Ven's head over Lan's here.

Worth noting is that Geo keeps calling Lan "Mr. Hikari" here. I'd assume it'd be something like "Hikari-san" in Japanese. Lan tells him to be cool and just use his first name.

As an aside, Lan's first name is Netto in Japanese, just in case you thought the puns were an English thing.

Lan opts to use Geo's name as well, asking if that's what his arm Navi called him earlier.

http://lpix.org/3243555/Pic104.png
http://lpix.org/3243556/Pic105.png

I never realized how much Lan was the Omega-Xis of the Battle Network games, but it seems so obvious now.

In any case, in order to free MegaMan from the time trap, Lan has to go find some Clock Data.

http://lpix.org/3243567/Pic116.png

Clocks are kind of rare nowadays since everyone has a PET, and man I am really familiar with that scenario. It really is lame when you want to check the time in a public place, but your phone is dead.

Fortunately, Dex has a clock at his place, so off they go. For now, Geo decides to hide in Lan's PET since he wants to minimize the amount of people that know about him.

http://lpix.org/3243585/Pic134.png

Lan and Geo proceed to break into Dex's house and ignore him before Geo goes into his clock.

Poor Dex.

http://lpix.org/3243600/Pic149.png

While Geo is able to find the Clock Data, viruses have gotten hold of it.

Because of course.

But MegaMan is still frozen in time. Whatever shall we do?

http://lpix.org/3243604/Pic153.png

Here's where the "Operate: Shooting Star/Star Force" part of the title comes in.

Omega-Xis figures they don't need Lan's help to beat some viruses, but Geo points out that MegaMan was able to beat them in a fight. Omega-Xis says that doesn't count since they were holding back, but relents on the matter. I'm assuming their Hunter-VG's Battle Card function isn't working right now due to the time travel or something.

http://lpix.org/3243615/Pic164.png
http://lpix.org/3243616/PIc165.png
http://lpix.org/3243617/Pic166.png

Lan takes a bit of time to teach Geo how to properly initiate a battle in this timeline

http://lpix.org/3243622/Pic171.png

and the fight begins!

Music: Ride On!

http://lpix.org/3243623/Pic172.png

Kinda late for a tutorial, isn't it? I feel like this scenario would've benefited from being placed somewhere after NumberMan or StoneMan.

Geo plays differently in three ways, much like in his actual games.

- Geo's buster charges automatically rather than needing to be held down. If you do hold it down, it rapid fires. Omega-Xis explicitly points out that this is a better buster because it doesn't make you button mash until your finger hurts. Omega-Xis is great.
- Geo can use a Shield with the Y button to block attacks. There's a bit of a delay in movement afterwards, though, so there's a bit of risk.
- Geo can use the Mega Attack to lock onto enemies and attack them up close with short range weapons. If he gets hit, though, he's wide open for a short while afterwards.

http://lpix.org/3243648/Pic197.png

Mega Attack!

After the battle, Omega-Xis complains some more about Lan continuing to refer to him as an arm Navi while Geo retrieves the Clock Data.

http://lpix.org/3243742/Pic291.png

And wouldn't you know it, it's 3 PM. The exact time that MegaMan was frozen at.

Omega-Xis also sends an email to Lan recapping the tutorials in case you forget.

http://lpix.org/3243667/Pic216.png

More importantly, it's back to saving MegaMan from being frozen in time.

http://lpix.org/3243676/Pic225.png

Afterwards, MegaMan is caught up to speed on things. Geo laments that he wanted to prevent people from getting involved, but Omega-Xis points out he kinda messed up big time on that one.

https://i.imgur.com/k0oNF5l.png Don't worry about it! Don't listen to your stupid arm Navi!
https://lpix.org/691710/__MegaFace.png Grrrr! You! Don't call me an aaaaarrm!!
https://lpix.org/700703/__MegamanFace.png (But he's fine with the "stupid" part...)

http://lpix.org/3243689/Pic238.png

Anyway, MegaMan still wants to save Roll because she's precious to him for... some reason. Again, I'm going to chalk this up to Lan and Mayl (and, by proxy, their Navis) getting closer down the line, as opposed to this game where we outright see MegaMan expressing annoyance at Mayl for being a chatterbox right at the start. They're clearly not too close!

http://lpix.org/3243694/Pic243.png

At this point, we can choose to switch between the two MegaMen at will for the rest of the game.

You might be wondering what EXE has over SF considering that Geo has all of those fancy abilities. Mainly is that his buster does more damage. Geo's buster maxes out at about 30 damage charged while MegaMan's gets up to about 80 or more!

http://lpix.org/3243705/Pic254.png

The way forward is blocked by two more clocks, so we need two more Clock Datas. MegaMan mentions seeing one while they were waiting for Mayl

http://lpix.org/3243720/Pic269.png

and it's in Miyu's shop. SkullMan V3 is also available at this point, incidentally.

http://lpix.org/3243721/Pic270.png

She also comments on seeing Geo during this scenario, interestingly enough.

Too bad this is the last time she shows up in the games. She was kind of interesting.

http://lpix.org/3243758/Pic307.png

The last clock is at Lan's school. Also, here's what the bottom screen looks like now that Geo is around. It will look this way for the rest of the game.

http://lpix.org/3243774/Pic323.png

After clearing out the last trap, we FINALLY get the name of the person Geo is here to save. Oh right, he mentioned her name at the end of the prologue.

http://lpix.org/3243780/Pic329.png

It's Sonia Strumm, Geo's first friend. As it turns out, she can also Wave Change into Harp Note, the Roll analogue of the Star Force series.

ClockMan comments that he never expected Geo to follow him from 200 years into the future and that Geo "suuuuuure is stubborn".

Music: Boss Encounter

http://lpix.org/3243785/Pic334.png

Meet ClockMan.

http://lpix.org/3243788/Pic337.png
http://lpix.org/3243789/Pic338.png

He's basically Hyde from Star Force, only replace "scripts" with "schedules". I guess that also makes him like Clock King from Batman the Animated Series, too.

I was never a fan of Hyde, so that should clue you in on my initial impression of this jerk.

http://lpix.org/3243798/Pic347.png

Especially when he reveals his evil plan is collecting beautiful women and freezing them in time as part of his collection.

You do realize that Sonia is, like, 12 years old, right?

http://lpix.org/3243804/Pic353.png

Even MegaMan is disgusted. ClockMan says that MegaMan can't appreciate the thoughts of a geniuuuuus like him (presumably an allusion to the fact that he was originally designed to be an EM Being named Clock Genius, which makes more sense than people making a time traveling Navi and not seeing the potential issues that might arise).

http://lpix.org/3243808/Pic357.png

Mega says what we're all thinking.

ClockMan gives the usual "Blah blah blah, I'm going to delete you, blah blah blah, I'm so smart" speech and it's time to fight.

Boss Fight: ClockMan

Music: Wave Battle (V2)

http://lpix.org/3243821/Pic370.png

ClockMan's a bit weird compared to other Navis in this game because he fights as if he's from later in the series. As has been apparent up to this point, most Navis in this game use blank fields and just throw attacks at MegaMan. ClockMan, however, has a large clock in the background that cannot be interacted with but is used in a number of his attacks.

I feel like a Battle Network 6 remake with a bonus Star Force scenario would've been a better use of him, but that would've required more effort than this game seemed to have been given.

- Clock Slicer: ClockMan throws small blades that move slowly in the floor.
- Clock Laser: When the clock in the background points to 3:00, he fires a laser from a Warp Hole.
- Calling Crimson: When the clock in the background points to 6:00, ClockMan summons the Crimson Dragon, the final boss of Star Force 3, to attack behind the player.
- Rogue Call: When the clock in the background points to 9:00, ClockMan summons Rogue, Geo's "rival", to attack three times with a sword slash. Interestingly, this is Star Force 2 Rogue given he doesn't have Laplace as his sword.
- Mega Clock Laser: When the clock in the background points to 12:00, it fires a giant laser from the background.

http://lpix.org/3243833/Pic382.png

After the battle, ClockMan has been defeated. You'd think a guy with temporal powers would be more difficult to beat or at least use his powers smarter.

http://lpix.org/3243834/Pic383.png

If he can summon the Crimson Dragon, why not just spam as many powerful abilities as possible until they die?

For that matter, why not rewind time whenever you take damage? There's a boss a few games down that has low-key temporal abilities and he can do that much.

http://lpix.org/3243839/Pic388.png

After the battle, the MegaMen reunite with their kidnapped friends.

http://lpix.org/3243842/Pic391.png

Harp Note also has a new mugshot for this game, curiously enough.

Sonia apologizes, saying she's always causing Geo trouble, but he says that's not true and things get a little mushy.

http://lpix.org/3243854/Pic403.png

Also, apparently Geo/Sonia is canon.

http://lpix.org/3243857/Pic406.png

Lan's a kid! And I'm not showing all of the dialogue, but Geo's pretty flustered by these insinuations, too, so I doubt their relationship is that much more advanced.

Then again, I guess Geo recognizes he likes being around Sonia, at least.

http://lpix.org/3243860/Pic409.png

In any case, it's time to say goodbye to the Star Force cast. Geo and Sonia opt to take ClockMan's portal back to the future before it closes and they're stuck here.

Of course, they have no guarantee it'll take them back to their time.

http://lpix.org/3243865/Pic414.png

Mega even teases Geo about it.

http://lpix.org/3243868/PIc417.png

Fortunately, it is indeed connected to the future, just to remove any ambiguity from the situation. Wouldn't want people to think that Geo and Sonia got lost in time forever or something.

http://lpix.org/3243874/Pic423.png

Before he leaves, though, Geo asks to become Brothers with Lan and MegaMan.

http://lpix.org/3243878/Pic427.png

This is kind of amusing for reasons I'll mention later.

http://lpix.org/3243882/Pic431.png

Seeing as their devices aren't compatible (and, spoiler alert, Lan will upgrade his PET a few more times over the series which breaks BrotherBands anyway), Geo decides to give Lan a program that lets him keep playing as him even after he goes back to the future. This also lets you view some silly conversations, much like a program in later games, by tapping Geo's mugshot on the bottom screen.

One conversation even reveals that Lan goes to school with a kid whose last name is Stelar, who is believed to be Geo's ancestor.

http://lpix.org/3243883/Pic432.png

He also gives him a chip for himself. Incidentally, you also get a chip from beating ClockMan unlike other V1 Navis.

http://lpix.org/3243894/Pic443.png

Both Geo and Sonia wave before heading into the wormhole.

http://lpix.org/3243912/Pic461.png

Seeing Geo come back in time to save Sonia inspires Lan to do something about the WWW.

Which... he was already doing, right? I guess this is supposed to just be Lan deciding to be more proactive about stopping terrorists from now on.

http://lpix.org/3243914/Pic463.png
http://lpix.org/3243915/Pic464.png

After a dig at Chaud, MegaMan admits that he'll be right there to help Lan stop the WWW.

Well, obviously.

http://lpix.org/3243917/Pic466.png

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

13

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Reading through this now

Oh hey, Omega-Xis, I know that guy because of a furry who likes him

Hobgoblin wrote:

Save: You know good and well what this is.

Do I though?

I just noticed the computer pun names and I've played BN2 before ^^;

Welp, Mr. Match looks like he's got them in a Hot mess

Hobgoblin wrote:

Unfortunately, the damage has been done and Lan's pie did not survive to see the upcoming battle.

Yeah, that's a shame it went up in flames

Suspicious man! :o

'delete society'

That was definitely some brainwashing

Oh huh, that's how you pronounce WWW? Interesting.

Hobgoblin wrote:

or telling a preschooler about her impending mortality.

Good

Whoo, Night Vision!

Poor Corrupted Mr. Progs :(

That was an interesting scenario!

"Welcome. Do you have some... b u s i n e s s?"

"Halt dein Höllesobst mir fern, Versucher." ~ jedesdummisel

14 (edited by Hobgoblin 2019-05-12 18:09:45)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Part 11: Boom Boom Boom Boom

http://lpix.org/3265602/Pic003.png

Oh right, plot was happening.

http://lpix.org/3265603/Pic004.png

Wily celebrates his victory by... making doge memes, apparently?

Battle Network was very prescient.

http://lpix.org/3265605/Pic006.png

Wily laughs himself to exhaustion, noting that he can make YOU-KNOW-WHAT with the Super Programs, and then delete the world.

I'm not really sure why he's being vague what it is while he's in the room by himself. And his goons already told us he's making something called the Life Virus.

http://lpix.org/3265607/Pic008.png

In any case, Wily seems to be very happy that soon the world will be rid of millennials.

http://lpix.org/3265608/Pic009.png

And he may have something of a grudge against Lan's family.

http://lpix.org/3265612/Pic013.png

Speaking of Lan's family, Yuichiro mentions that Chaud has been hanging around SciLab and seems to be rather down. He suggests Lan come to see him and cheer him up.

They're friends, right?

http://lpix.org/3265667/Pic069.png

Best friends.

http://lpix.org/3265619/Pic020.png

For some reason, Yai is available to tell information about the Undernet at this point in the game. An NPC outside of Mayl's house will mention that this is something she tends to do often, curiously enough.

So what's the Undernet? Well, in the Japanese games it's referred to as the Ura Internet or the Reverse/Backwards Internet. This is because it's home to all manner of criminals and a series of black markets that sell items at exorbitant prices.

Naturally, Lan visits the place in every game, because why wouldn't he?

http://lpix.org/3265664/Pic066.png

Also, this is a thing. For some reason.

http://lpix.org/3265673/Pic075.png

SharkMan V3 is available to battle now as well. Have fun, because this is the most annoying version of him.

http://lpix.org/3265676/Pic078.png

As it turns out, we just missed Chaud.

http://lpix.org/3265683/Pic085.png

He's in the city harassing random people about being WWW agents due to trying to get into some deeper areas of the Undernet.

I think losing to Lan is really messing with his competency.

http://lpix.org/3265689/Pic091.png

Upon seeing Lan, he gets mad at him and storms off with Lan wondering why he's such a jerk.

Anyway, if you visit the Undernet, you can indeed find that there are areas that are blocked off by the WWW, so we need to find some members in order to break those locks.

http://lpix.org/3265703/Pic105.png

Talking to Higsby (while you're behind his counter, otherwise you trigger his shopkeeper dialogue) gets you one memo.

http://lpix.org/3265706/Pic108.png

Given that he seemed to be a new member, he only is C-Rank. This is where I mentioned the ranks come back up.

http://lpix.org/3265715/Pic117.png

Using Higsby's memo lets you open the WWW link in Internet Area 4.

http://lpix.org/3265719/Pic121.png

Unfortunately, Wily isn't an idiot, so he bugged the access point with an actually tough virus battle. The blue guys (Hard Heads) lock you down by destroying your area, and then the FroShell bombs your remaining spaces with heavy artillery. Each of them also is heavily shielded, making it difficult to damage them until they're either attacking (Hard Heads) or have taken enough damage to their shield (FroShell). Attacks like Fighter Sword that hit multiple spaces or ranged attacks also get around FroShell's shield, though.

http://lpix.org/3265724/Pic126.png

Higsby helpfully informs Lan that there are more levels of protection needed to reach the Undernet. It seems we need more keys to get in deeper.

http://lpix.org/3279940/Pic132.png

Higsby is kind enough to direct us to a B-Rank member, but the other two have to be found.

http://lpix.org/3279974/Pic166.png

As it turns out, Ms. Mari's sister was previously affiliated with the WWW. I probably should've held off on mentioning her being a villain in the anime until this point. She mentions that her being a twin is why she was able to become an A-Rank member, which makes me wonder about Ms. Mari being tied up in that closet. Was she meant to take the fall for the school attack? She would've been the only one who wasn't hypnotized.

http://lpix.org/3279979/Pic171.png

This guy in ACDC also mentions that he was one of the original members of the WWW. We never find out exactly what his deal is, sadly, but he's got S-Rank access.

http://lpix.org/3279988/Pic180.png

He mentions that despite Wily running things in a way he doesn't like, he used to be a nice guy. Maybe we'll find out more about that later.

http://lpix.org/3279989/Pic181.png

ProtoMan V2 is also available to be fought in Dentown.

http://lpix.org/3280045/Pic237.png

Making it through the Undernet, MegaMan comes across BombMan, who is protecting the path to the WWW Area.

http://lpix.org/3280051/Pic243.png

Well, that's an understatement. Let's get rid of this guy so we can stop Wily.

Boss Fight: BombMan

I've heard that BombMan is supposed to have Area Grab and Iron Body, but I never saw him use either. Mainly he just stood in place and let me beat him down. So, basically, he's not too tough to beat. Honestly, I never even saw the Mine attack.

- Stealth Mine: BombMan sets a hidden mine in the opponent's area, and will set off if landed on.
- Bomb Fire: 3 bombs appear in front and both side panels besides BombMan and kicks them onto the opponent, exploding in a cross pattern causing heavy damage.

http://lpix.org/3280056/Pic248.png

After the fight, though, BombMan reveals that he's actually a bomb

http://lpix.org/3280061/Pic253.png

and somehow blows up the path behind him without damaging the platform he was actually on. Weird.

http://lpix.org/3280070/Pic262.png

So Lan goes to see his dad. After a brief talk about Chaud, Lan shows him the WWW link that he got.

http://lpix.org/3280071/Pic263.png

Lan gives the Timmy Turner answer.

http://lpix.org/3280087/Pic279.png

Yuichiro is hesitant to send his son into someplace dangerous, so he tells him straight up that if all goes poorly, MegaMan could be deleted and Lan's actions could trigger a war. He asks if Lan understands.

http://lpix.org/3280095/Pic287.png

When Lan says yes, he immediately acquiesces. Alright then.

http://lpix.org/3280102/Pic302.png

Lan goes home to sleep, and so begins the final scenario.

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

15 (edited by Hobgoblin 2019-05-12 18:29:43)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Part 12: Endgame

http://lpix.org/3285862/Pic001.png

For whatever reason, Wily has decided to only keep Yahoot on for this point of the story onward. Don't ask me why Mr. Match was still around during earlier scenarios.

I'm going to assume that the reason they were gotten rid of is because of either their recent blunder with Geo causing Wily to kick them out or their inability to recreate their Navis making them worthless to him. Don't ask me about the reason in the original game.

http://lpix.org/3285865/Pic004.png

Wily isn't concerned about being found out, though, and merges all of the orbs together into the Life Virus.

http://lpix.org/3285869/Pic008.png

Oh no!

http://lpix.org/3285875/Pic014.png

The next day, Lan gets a message from his father pointing out how far away the WWW site is. It's too far to walk, there's no roads, railways, or helipads. But the agents have to be getting to Den City from there somehow...

http://lpix.org/3285880/Pic019.png

Wily announces that he's going to murder everyone on television, something that will become a staple move of villains in the rest of this series and also Star Force.

http://lpix.org/3285883/Pic022.png

Wily is going to be launching a hacking rocket towards the world's military satellites, and then going from there.

http://lpix.org/3285884/Pic023.png

Sounds pretty bad!

http://lpix.org/3285887/Pic026.png

Lan runs off to try and find a way to stop Wily, leaving a distress Haruka behind. If you return to talk to her,

http://lpix.org/3285888/Pic027.png
http://lpix.org/3285889/Pic028.png

you can see she's not doing too well.

http://lpix.org/3285890/Pic029.png

Chaud is also in ACDC now, where ProtoMan V3 can be challenged.

http://lpix.org/3285961/Pic100.png

Also, black comedy

http://lpix.org/3285896/Pic035.png

and useless (or genre savvy?) adults.

http://lpix.org/3285948/Pic087.png

As it turns out, Wily had Higsby (as well as the others) grabbed for their betrayal. Not sure who came to get them, though. We never see any other WWW agents.

http://lpix.org/3285951/Pic090.png

Fortunately, Higsby left a pass behind for Lan.

http://lpix.org/3285954/Pic093.png

Unfortunately, Wily made sure it wouldn't last too long.

http://lpix.org/3285967/Pic106.png

Upon heading to the school, Lan hears a strange noise. Investigating the surrounding area reveals that there's a hidden passageway under the statue!

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2005/7-GokGok009.png

Turns out that the statue was a cover for a secret Metroline that runs to the school.

Here's further evidence that Mari was intended to take the fall for some plan that probably involved Yuri. I presume this is also where the stolen tracks went, but it seems odd they're only noticing they were nabbed now. Wouldn't that have had to have been gone for a while?

Then again, this is the universe where people think purple water is safe to drink, so them only discovering now is about their speed.

http://lpix.org/3285973/Pic112.png

Mayl also happens to see Lan enter into the secret passageway.

http://lpix.org/3285986/Pic125.png

In a bit of an incompetent move from Wily, Lan attempting to use the secret Metroline just sets off a loud alarm that does nothing else.

Which... kind of defeats the purpose of hiding the Metroline!

http://lpix.org/3285993/Pic132.png

Yuichiro is able to fix up the pass so that Lan can use it

http://lpix.org/3285995/Pic134.png

and it's done! With that, Lan returns to the secret Metroline and proceeds to the WWW base.

http://lpix.org/3286001/Pic139.png

At the same time, Haruka calls her husband and expresses her concerns about what Lan might be getting up to. Yuichiro assures her that he's watching over Lan.

http://lpix.org/3286011/Pic149.png

Unfortunately, he didn't know that Wily had access to the Life Virus.

http://lpix.org/3286013/Pic151.png

Lan and who?

http://lpix.org/3341743/Pic002.png

Disappointingly, Wily's Castle has no new music, so I held off on posting the theme until just now. It's just a song that plays during bad moments.

Music: Suspicious Mood

http://lpix.org/3341747/Pic006.png

And so Lan goes to infiltrate the lair of the main villain.

http://lpix.org/3341751/Pic010.png

It doesn't take long to find out what happened to the agents who helped Lan.

Except for the SciLab guy, strangely enough. Was he never grabbed? Or maybe Wily made an example of him first?

http://lpix.org/3341757/Pic016.png

Old Man is pretty hardcore.

http://lpix.org/3341760/Pic019.png

More importantly, though, the way forward is blocked by security doors. So Lan jacks in to deactivate them.

Music: Void

http://lpix.org/3341763/Pic022.png

Hey, this place looks familiar.

http://lpix.org/3341765/Pic024.png

The gimmick of the "final dungeon" is going through a shorthand version of all of the old dungeons. Usually they'll keep their gimmicks, barring one case.

http://lpix.org/3341789/Pic047.png

At the end MegaMan runs into an obstacle preventing him from clearing the area

http://lpix.org/3341791/Pic049.png

one of his friends shows up

http://lpix.org/3341796/Pic054.png

and helps him get through so MegaMan can destroy the lock program.

http://lpix.org/3341799/Pic057.png

I do like that the people that Lan helps throughout the game come back to aid him in the end.

http://lpix.org/3341801/Pic059.png

Yai also gives the final Roll chip to Lan afterwards.

http://lpix.org/3341804/Pic062.png

On to the next area.

http://lpix.org/3341810/Pic068.png

Which is NumberMan's dungeon again.

http://lpix.org/3341819/Pic077.png

At the end, the Navi himself shows up to help break the encryption on a door with four digits.

Higsby will remain outside of this door for the rest of the game for NumberMan V3 rematches.

http://lpix.org/3341827/Pic085.png

Wily's prepping his rocket, but Yahoot has noticed the intrusion. Wily sends him to deal with everyone.

http://lpix.org/3341762/Pic090.png

On to the next area

http://lpix.org/3341834/Pic093.png

which is the ice dungeon again. It's also the point that I started to notice that they're reusing bits of the actual stages these areas are based on.

http://lpix.org/3341845/Pic104.png

IceMan shows up to suck up the ice and then we're done.

http://lpix.org/3341849/Pic108.png

This may seem a little boring, and it kind of is.

http://lpix.org/3341860/Pic119.png

At least later dungeons in the series have boss rematches at this point.

http://lpix.org/3341864/Pic123.png

For some reason, there's a rock here in the traffic program. Probably because they couldn't think of any other way to involve GutsMan.

http://lpix.org/3341874/Pic133.png

Ah well.

http://lpix.org/3341875/Pic134.png

Dex also remains here for the rest of the game. Froid goes back to the Waterworks, strangely enough.

http://lpix.org/3341878/Pic136.png

As Lan enters the final hallway, he gets an email from the Officials. This one is actually worth reading, because it does add in some lore for the series.

http://lpix.org/3341876/Pic135.png

"Life Virus: Ultimate virus made up of 4 programs (Fire, Aqua, Elec, and Wood) and possesing no elemental weakness. No effective combat strategies known..." That's what it says! I've got some other info here: apparently there's evidence that the Life Virus defense program was copied by someone... Something to do with WWW or the EndGame? Who knows?

Hmm... sounds pretty dire.

http://lpix.org/3341885/Pic143.png

For some reason, there's a door here that goes nowhere.

http://lpix.org/3341889/Pic147.png

In the next room, which is where the WWW was meeting most of the game, Lan finds a jack in port behind Wily's portrait.

http://lpix.org/3341908/Pic166.png

The last dungeon is a repeat of the Power Plant, but without any of the gimmicks aside from the invisible pathways.

http://lpix.org/3341909/Pic167.png

MegaMan even comments on it when the path at the end is revealed to be out.

http://lpix.org/3341917/Pic175.png

Mayl shows up, revealing that she's the one who organized this little rescue party.

http://lpix.org/3341918/Pic176.png

Lan is not impressed. Or maybe just tsundere.

http://lpix.org/3341922/Pic180.png

Roll then does ...a thing... that causes a path to appear.

http://lpix.org/3341931/Pic188.png

After MegaMan destroys the program, he tells Lan to stop being tsundere and thank Mayl properly. And so Lan does.

This is the last time I recall him being so obstinate about thanking his friends.

http://lpix.org/3341933/Pic190.png

Lan and Mayl start to have a heart-to-heart, where Mayl says she meant to be cheering him on rather than crying.

http://lpix.org/3341939/Pic196.png

But Yahoot finally makes himself known.

http://lpix.org/3341944/Pic201.png

And his Navi attacks!

Boss Fight: MagicMan

MagicMan's whole gimmick is having viruses do the bulk of his fighting for him while he throws out one attack. A boss in a later Star Force game steals this gimmick, curiously enough. In any case, it doesn't make MagicMan very hard to fight unless you get unlucky with the timing on his fireballs.

- Magic Fire: MagicMan fires a slow-moving flame down his row.
- Virus Summon: MagicMan disappears for a while, and reappears with two viruses summoned to his side of the field. Defeating MagicMan will immediately delete any remaining viruses.

http://lpix.org/3341948/Pic205.png

After the battle, Wily is distressed to see that even Yahoot has failed him.

http://lpix.org/3341949/Pic206.png

But unfortunately, he has a plan this time and powers up MagicMan!

https://imgur.com/JkdUVaD.gif

Gasp!

http://lpix.org/3341950/Pic207.png

In the end, Wily was just too powerful. I guess this is the end of our journey...

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2016/15-Hub033.png

Oh, and ProtoMan ganks MagicMan.

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

16 (edited by Hobgoblin 2019-05-12 18:29:08)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Part 13: Hub

http://lpix.org/3347821/Pic004.png

Oh boy. Who's ready for a big text dump?

http://lpix.org/3347822/Pic005.png

As Lan accepts the batch file, he's contacted by his father.

http://lpix.org/3347844/Pic013.png

Yuichiro says that if Lan uses the Hub.bat then he will save MegaMan, but he needs to tell him something important first.

And here we go.

https://i.imgur.com/Cyji3v0.png
"About 10 years ago, I was working on a new kind of Navi. A kind of Navi that could truly befriend its operator."

https://lpix.org/3219687/Pic157.png

"But a program is only a program. Though I could make a Navi follow its operator's orders, I couldn't make one think and act on its own. So I started thinking... Maybe if you had some connection with your Navi... The Navi could respond to your emotions... and thereby create its own emotions... So I tried."

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2006/31-GokGok144.png

"Looking at human DNA I came to a conclusion. If I made a Navi with DNA just like its operator's its basic values and emotions would be the same. Operator and Navi would become a single entity! Making an ultimate Navi!"

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2010/15-BackwardsGas042.png

"But, it was tough making a program with DNA...I could make about 95% of the program, but no more...I just couldn't figure out that last five percent! My research came to a sudden stop..."

http://lpix.org/3173316/Pic98.png

"It was about this time that I had a son...A cute baby boy...We named him "Hub." But our happiness didn't last long...He had heart trouble and became too weak to live...So I thought...Somehow I will keep his memory alive. Lan, Hub was your twin brother."

https://lpix.org/3186740/Pic081.png

"You were born from the same egg...your DNA is identical. I could use Hub's DNA to make a Navi for you...Suddenly, I had the DNA solution I had been searching for! The Navi I made...was MegaMan.EXE! And the results proved that I was right!"

https://lparchive.org/Mega-Man-Battle-Network/Update%2006/28-GokGok141.png

"MegaMan.EXE is a new generation of Navi. As close to you as a brother...But there was a danger...If I made the DNA 100% the same...The Navi's internal and external state might synch with you. So damage to the Navi would also damage you, too! So I changed MegaMan.EXE's DNA by 0.001%. If you use Hub.bat, that 0.001% will disappear..."

http://lpix.org/3347943/Pic054.png

Alright, so that was a lot of words for a twist that was foreshadowed very well for a good chunk of the game!

Basically Yuichiro turned his dying kid into a Navi so that he'd have a chance at life. Understandable, but I'm not sure if it's wholly ethical considering the dangers of the procedure and the nature of his existence as MegaMan. Not to mention the potential effect on Lan.

http://lpix.org/3347953/Pic057.png

https://i.imgur.com/Cyji3v0.png I asked Hub to keep it a secret. If you knew the truth, you'd be too scared to use him.

I mean there's kind of a good reason for that. Multiple, actually.

https://i.imgur.com/Cyji3v0.png And a Navi that you can't use isn't a good Navi...

That comment's a little dehumanizing. And it's coming from the guy who made Navis more human!

http://lpix.org/3347967/Pic061.png

Lan vacillates on this, worrying that he'll lose MegaMan in exchange for gaining Hub. This is actually an interesting concept given that MegaMan in the anime and manga based on this series is a straight up Navi that has no human DNA at all.

http://lpix.org/3347976/Pic063.png

Yuichiro reminds Lan that with a 100% DNA sync, anything that affects one of them will affect the other as well.

http://lpix.org/3347991/Pic068.png

We never really see anything that Lan goes through affect MegaMan, though.

http://lpix.org/3347994/Pic070.png

And so Lan begins to apply the Hub.bat.

http://lpix.org/3347995/Pic071.png

A flash of light affects MegaMan

http://lpix.org/3347998/Pic074.png

and he awakens!

http://lpix.org/3348002/Pic078.png

I don't really want to take away from this scene, but Roll has been standing here staring into space ever since she made this pathway. It's a little awkward.

http://lpix.org/3348004/Pic080.png

Also, while MegaMan is powering up, Lan isn't going to become Super Lan. I think...

http://lpix.org/3348005/Pic081.png

Kinda hard to upgrade from being able to get electrocuted by a generator and survive.

http://lpix.org/3348008/Pic084.png
http://lpix.org/3348009/Pic085.png

Hub laments that he never got the chance to be around as a brother for Lan, but that watching him grow up and be happy was an enjoyable experience in its own way.

http://lpix.org/3348014/Pic090.png

Lan wonders if he should treat things any differently, but Hub says to just treat him as MegaMan and things will be fine.

http://lpix.org/3348016/Pic092.png

After the cutscene, none of the Navis really react to the revelation.

http://lpix.org/3348018/Pic094.png

Though, it is worth noting that Lan goes on to create the BrotherBand feature in the Star Force universe due to his bond with Hub. It's also why I prefer the game universe as the canon adaptation of the series given that the BrotherBand is simply a thing that exists in the anime and manga universes.

That's what I found so entertaining about Geo asking to be Brothers with Lan. He might very well have known that, too, given that there's a sidequest about it in Star Force 2.

http://lpix.org/3348019/Pic095.png

Also, a Mr. Prog here points out that the game can't be saved after this point to avoid locking you into the final boss segment that starts with MagicMan. I don't think this was the case in the original game.

Oops!

http://lpix.org/3348028/Pic104.png

Lan heads on ahead to the final room and finally confronts Dr. Wily.

http://lpix.org/3348029/Pic105.png

A good question. Let's find out.

http://lpix.org/3348031/Pic107.png

Time for another plot dump!

"...Me,and your grandfather, Dr. Hikari! I made robots,and Hikari specialized in networks. We were both lost in our research. Then, one day... In order to win an international competition, our country had to pick one of our projects to fund. After long debate... They canceled my robot research! I couldn't believe it! My research was vital! Vital! I had no place to turn to, and so I left the lab. That's why I'm mad! If it wasn't for Hikari...! So I made the WWW to get back at him! He made this world what it is, and now I'll destroy it!"

In case it's not obvious who Dr. Tadashi Hikari is by now, perhaps this helpful picture will better illustrate things.

https://i.imgur.com/A3f9uqq.png

Heya, Dr. Light.

http://lpix.org/3348043/Pic119.png

Wily complains that Thomas Tadashi said this, too, but he doesn't care. He's gonna blow up the world and it's all because he didn't get a research grant.

Kind of a petty motive, but that's Wily, I suppose!

http://lpix.org/3348048/Pic124.png

For this scenario, Hub Batch boosts buster power to 6, one more than maximum. I believe this let MegaMan's charged shot do 100 damage in the original game, but here's it's nerfed to 96 for a reason I'll get into momentarily.

Geo's leftover data also gets a boost from the Hub Batch. Why? Reasons. His charged shot only does 36 damage, though, so it's not as impressive.

http://lpix.org/3348049/Pic125.png

The Rocket Computer is a straightforward path, though there are still some virus battles along the way, because of course there are. This will be a tradition in every final dungeon.

http://lpix.org/3348056/Pic132.png

And so, the twins reach the end of the road. The only thing standing between Wily and global annihilation is the pair of them.

http://lpix.org/3348058/Pic134.png

And so begins the final battle.

http://lpix.org/3348059/Pic135.png
http://lpix.org/3348060/Pic136.png

Final Boss: Life Virus

Music: VS. Life Virus

The Life Virus is... well... pathetic. As in "the buster damage from the original had to be nerfed because you could kill him with only that" pathetic. Not to mention that, in order to attack, it has to slowly charge up first and then attack. And it drops its barrier to attack you, too! The only real threat is its viruses, because it doesn't move at all.

Again, Prof. 9 from SomethingAwful came through here and made an actually challenging version of the boss, accessible via Action Replay. I believe it replaces ProtoMan V3 while active.

- Scuttles: Summon the virus species within four basic elements to attack player.
- Life Aura: Life Virus' basic defense. It allows it to repels all attacks under 100 damage and features self-regeneration.
- Laser: Fire a purple-ish laser forward.
- Sword: Slash a purple-ish sword in a 2x3 figure.
- Meteor: When its HP is nearly depleted, it throws a meteor that will collide and send shockwaves on all areas.

http://lpix.org/3348062/Pic138.png

The Life Virus has been defeated.

http://lpix.org/3348064/Pic140.png

Wily doesn't take this very well.

http://lpix.org/3348067/Pic143.png

Oh, and the rocket is beginning to self-destruct, too.

http://lpix.org/3348069/Pic145.png

This is a terrible day to be Wily.

http://lpix.org/3348080/Pic156.png

Lan and Co. decide to get while the getting is good.

http://lpix.org/3348081/Pic157.png

But Wily stays behind and is consumed in the explosion.

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

17 (edited by Hobgoblin 2019-05-25 19:07:57)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Part 14: Epilogue

http://lpix.org/3348083/Pic159.png

Sometime later, friends and family reconvene outside of Lan's house in ACDC Town.

http://lpix.org/3348084/Pic160.png

Lan apologizes to his mother for making her worry.

http://lpix.org/3348086/Pic162.png

Unsurprisingly, she seems to be up to date on the Hub thing. I have to imagine Yuichiro got her consent to even do the procedure in the first place.

http://lpix.org/3348088/Pic164.png

Lan's parents start to get all mushy.

http://lpix.org/3348093/Pic169.png
http://lpix.org/3348094/Pic170.png
http://lpix.org/3348095/Pic171.png

And Mayl suddenly reveals her immense thirst.

Japan, please.

http://lpix.org/3348096/Pic172.png

Lan, of course, has no idea how to react to this.

http://lpix.org/3348097/Pic173.png

While Hub just takes the whole situation in stride.

http://lpix.org/3348098/Pic174.png
http://lpix.org/3348099/Pic175.png

I guess now MegaMan and Roll are a thing?

http://lpix.org/3348101/Pic177.png

Mayl seems to think so.

http://lpix.org/3348102/Pic178.png

Mayl gets huffy with Lan about not understanding her feelings.

http://lpix.org/3348104/Pic180.png

And Lan is the only one who seems to understand that he's, what, 10 years old?

http://lpix.org/3348105/Pic181.png
http://lpix.org/3348106/Pic182.png

Not that it stops his friends from needling him.

http://lpix.org/3348107/Pic183.png
http://lpix.org/3348108/Pic184.png

In all future games, I'm pretty sure Lan forgets that Mayl outright spells out that she likes him here.

http://lpix.org/3348109/Pic185.png

Though she's also a lot less pushy about it, so maybe it was a soft reboot to their relationship.

http://lpix.org/3348114/Pic190.png

The conversation topic shifts to Lan thanking everyone for assisting him, even though Yai busts Dex's chops about needing more practice.

http://lpix.org/3348118/Pic194.png

Even Chaud gets thanks,

http://lpix.org/3348119/Pic195.png

though he at least acknowledges he came out of the situation looking like a tool.

http://lpix.org/3348120/Pic196.png

Oh, and Lan had basically done everything short of finish off MagicMan by the time he showed up.

http://lpix.org/3348121/Pic197.png

By the way, what happened to Yahoot? I'm going to assume he blew up.

http://lpix.org/3348124/Pic200.png

Chaud ultimately does decide to accept Lan's gratitude, but says that next time they should leave things up to him and ProtoMan.

Seems like they might be getting along a bit better now as a team?

http://lpix.org/3348127/Pic203.png
http://lpix.org/3348128/Pic204.png

Well, this is going to take some getting used to.

http://lpix.org/3348129/Pic205.png

Or not.

http://lpix.org/3348130/Pic206.png

Well, it's good to know that everything is back to normal.

http://lpix.org/3348133/Pic209.png
http://lpix.org/3348134/Pic210.png
http://lpix.org/3348135/Pic211.png

[canned lau-

http://lpix.org/3348137/Pic213.png

Oh?

http://lpix.org/3348139/Pic215.png

It seems the dog alarm is going off. And... sounds like a foghorn, for some reason?

http://lpix.org/3348141/Pic217.png
http://lpix.org/3348142/Pic218.png

Ah well. Just another job for Lan and MegaMan.

http://lpix.org/3348143/Pic219.png

And with that, the credits roll.

Credit Roll

Music: End Roll

http://lpix.org/3348145/Pic221.png

ACDC Park seems to be lively again now that the threat of war has passed.

http://lpix.org/3348146/Pic222.png

And the Mr. Progs in Lan's oven are all operational again.

http://lpix.org/3348147/Pic223.png

Class has resumed as normal at ACDC Elementary.

http://lpix.org/3348148/Pic224.png

And I'm assuming NumberMan is fixing all of the damage he did to the system.

http://lpix.org/3348149/Pic225.png

Sal's taking some time off for a few games to deal with her increase in customers.

http://lpix.org/3348150/Pic226.png

IceMan and GutsMan are up to some kind of shenanigans at the Waterworks.

http://lpix.org/3348153/Pic229.png

Higsby seems to be establishing himself within town while Dex presumably Net Battles NumberMan.

http://lpix.org/3348154/Pic230.png

MegaMan meets up with Glyde and a Mr. Prog, presumably the one he found at the start of the game.

http://lpix.org/3348155/Pic231.png

Chaud wanders through the city

http://lpix.org/3348156/Pic232.png

and GutsMan helps a Mr. Prog cross the street.

http://lpix.org/3348157/Pic233.png
http://lpix.org/3348160/Pic236.png

Lan's class also seems to be enjoying the Power Plant more than I did.

http://lpix.org/3348161/Pic237.png

There's another shot of our villains again, though they're not really around anymore...

http://lpix.org/3348163/Pic239.png

Oh hey, I guess I was wrong about never seeing them again.

http://lpix.org/3348165/Pic241.png

Luna's as tsundere as ever.

http://lpix.org/3348166/Pic242.png

And for the last shot, we get what seems to be a dream of MegaMan meeting Lan in the real world.

http://lpix.org/3348169/Pic245.png

And that was MegaMan Battle Network.

There are a few postgame bosses that exist, but admittedly I haven't touched them yet. There's no cutscenes surrounding them, and all three show up in future games, so I'll deal with them then.

Overall, I feel like Battle Network 1 is an okay game, but it's bogged down by a lot of things that I can't really enjoy having started with later games in the series. The dungeons are either too easy or really annoying, the internet layout is abysmal, and the bosses feel too one note to be memorable. And sadly, the updated re-release didn't do a whole lot to add anything. I think it's a good foundation for what comes afterwards, but I find myself enjoying what came afterwards a lot more.

I hope you all enjoyed me going through this. I'm going to try and be more in-depth next time, and maybe even use my own screenshots if all goes well! I want to make these as entertaining as possible to keep people reading.

See you all next time!

But I do wonder... whatever became of that copy of the Life Virus' defense program?

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

18 (edited by Hobgoblin 2019-05-15 19:23:30)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Battle Network 2

Part 1: Network Transmission

Music: Kaze wo Tsukinukete (Pierce Through the Wind)

Network Transmission is an interquel that takes place between the first two games in the series. Unlike the traditional Battle Network games, it is done in the style of a Classic MegaMan game. It seems rather neat, though it is typically remembered for having quite a bit of difficulty. It also uses the anime theme song linked above as the hero theme of the game, even in the American release.

Network Transmission features the return of multiple Navis from the previous game, including FireMan, ElecMan, and ColorMan, who have all been recreated. Aside from the latter, they are infected with the Zero Virus, though ColorMan is only goofing around in an arcade system and leaves after his fight with MegaMan. Given that MagicMan doesn't return, I assume this verifies my theory that he died in the explosion of the WWW Base.

New Navis introduced are: NeedleMan, BrightMan, QuickMan, SwordMan, GravityMan, StarMan, and another character mentioned in the plot summary below. Only two of these characters appear after this game, and only one has a major plot role.

https://i.imgur.com/cYaPwKn.jpg

Plot: One month after the defeat of the Life Virus, a new incident spreads through ACDC Town. A strange virus has been infecting Navis, causing them to run wild and attack indiscriminately. This "Zero Virus" is actually a ploy of a newly resurrected WWW, now spearheaded by a man named The Professor. Presumably an S-Rank WWW agent in Battle Network 1, The Professor distributes the Zero Virus through fake vaccines created from a viral entity: the eponymous Zero.

Zero was a virus created by Dr. Wily. While initially he didn't have sentience and spread his viruses as a means to gather information and brainwash Navis, time saw him gain a "soul" and become filled with regret for causing so much trouble. Despite that, he still fights MegaMan when confronted, if only to protect his own life.

While Lan and MegaMan defeat Zero, they feel sympathy for him, and Yuichiro aids him by modifying him into a Net Navi. (Unless you don't find a certain Key Item, in which case ProtoMan just deletes him because MegaMan can't bring himself to.) Heading to the Undernet, Lan and MegaMan confront the Professor's ultimate weapon: a recreated Life Virus. Again, it is defeated, and the Professor is incarcerated with the aid of Zero. (Or the Life Virus' deletion just deactivates his cloaking signal if Zero is gone.) Peace returns to Electopia once more.

At the same time, a Navi and his operator receive a missive from a shadowy organization...

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

19 (edited by Hobgoblin 2019-05-25 19:08:46)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Part 2: School's Out Forever

Music: Theme of MegaMan Battle Network 2

https://i.imgur.com/17qC6L4.png

Woo, new title theme! Woo, new LP!

And this time with my own screenshots! And it's a LP of the first game I ever played in the series!

I'm excited!

But let's not stretch things out too much and just hop right into one of my favorite games in the series.

And also, quite possibly, the weirdest.

Music: Secret Maneuvers

https://i.imgur.com/xilcLWH.png

The game begins with a lot of dialogue against a black screen. A good deal of it is obscured, but it quickly becomes apparent that it's a conversation between some type of leader and a subordinate. Given the sinister theme music and the fact that they're talking about "Ruling the net like the WWW", it's safe to assume these may be our new villains.

https://i.imgur.com/z6BXnQo.png

Boss man doesn't seem too happy about the comparison to the WWW, though.

Person 1: Sir... ...research on final stage...last
Person 2: What took...so long?
Person 1: Forgi...me
Person 2: Hmph... ...delays ...be punished!
Person 1: Sir! ...
Person 2: Just...get things started, will you?
Person 1: We will...rule the world, just like the WWW!
Person 2: Fool...! Not like the WWW... Don't...our "...!" Begin...Projec...!
Person 1: Sir! ...

Just in case you think I'm glossing over things. We really don't get a lot to work on here! Seems our new guys are trying to be a bit more cryptic and secretive than in the last game, where the WWW was already known for causing trouble.

https://i.imgur.com/g2q6tSt.png

But never mind that, because it's time for the last day of school! The school theme is unchanged from BN1.

However, unlike in Battle Network 1, Lan isn't late for class! Granted, MegaMan chides him for getting up so late, saying that a bit of earlier preparation might save him some stress.

https://i.imgur.com/hb9wElg.png

Since BN2 and BN3 didn't get a remake like BN1 did with OSS, you'll get to see the characters' original mugshots now. I'll be using the OSS mugshots for transcribing, though.

At any rate, it's the last day of school and Lan is excited because that means it's time for summer vacation!

https://lpix.org/3446737/OSS%20Mega.png And report card time, too!
https://lpix.org/3446735/OSS%20Lan.png No problem there!
https://lpix.org/3446737/OSS%20Mega.png Hmm...You sure?

MegaMan encourages Lan to go make plans with his friends for the vacation either way.

https://i.imgur.com/14ZeQsO.png

Mayl is here and glad to see Lan, as usual. As I mentioned before, Mayl has gotten a soft reboot. She still has a thing for Lan, but she's not nearly as pushy about it now. At any rate, she tells Lan that Dex wants to talk with him. This is the next plot flag, so it's nice that she points you in that direction. It's likely why she was positioned right at the door.

https://i.imgur.com/XTwRBIo.png

There are a few NPCs around to talk to, though. They either brush you up on terminology in case you didn't play the first game,

https://i.imgur.com/4aaCOWl.png

have a bit of flavor text,

https://i.imgur.com/P4DayJT.png

or give you a little nudge about the fact that the overworld has hidden items. You can get a PanelGrab P from this student's desk.

https://i.imgur.com/3x1QtxJ.png

He's even a good sport about it if you talk to him afterwards.

At the bottom of class, we find Yai.

https://lpix.org/3446739/OSS%20Yai.png Why if it isn't Lan. Good morning. I suppose you want to hear about my collection, right?

That sounds like kind of a long conversation. Dex was waiting to talk with us, so maybe another time?

https://i.imgur.com/NMZKxmQ.png

O-or we could talk now. Choosing No just loops this choice.

https://i.imgur.com/Z3RAJTF.png

https://lpix.org/3446739/OSS%20Yai.png They're like little pieces of fan shaped art, you see? A special privilege of the upper class, I suppose.
https://lpix.org/3446739/OSS%20Yai.png Well, you probably wouldn't understand.

Hey, I understand art!

https://i.imgur.com/4gSID1V.png

...Hm. Is it just me or does Yai seem a lot more condescending than before?

https://i.imgur.com/bpD4ZMV.png

Dex is the same as ever, but we don't get to chat for very long before Ms. Mari shows up! Incidentally, her twin sister Yuri will never appear again for the rest of the series (outside of the anime).

https://i.imgur.com/YL2eMuh.png

Ms. Mari greets the class and asks about their vacation plans. One kid says that he plans on spending his vacation with his grandfather.

https://i.imgur.com/ZlowMq6.png

Yai, meanwhile, takes the opportunity to rub her wealth in her classmates' faces.

Good old Yai.

Ms. Mari reminds everyone not to forget about their homework, and then begins to hand out report cards. Dex and Lan are not terribly thrilled about what they see.

https://i.imgur.com/6BYydnP.png

Uhh... distraction!

https://i.imgur.com/EWlOvu4.png

Dex decides to bring up the fact that the Net now has a Square. What is a Square, you ask? MegaMan chimes in to helpfully inform that a Square is like a city for Net Navis.

https://i.imgur.com/Swwsokk.png

Well, maybe not that extravagant. This is a GBA game, after all.

At any rate, vacation has begun, so we can leave school! But first, let's talk to our friends.

https://lpix.org/3446739/OSS%20Yai.png That Net thing Dex was talking about? I'll pass. I wouldn't want to miss my daily afternoon abulations!

https://i.imgur.com/MWonYnP.png

G-good old Yai.

https://lpix.org/3446736/OSS%20Mayl.png You really should do your homework... But then again...

Then again what? Ah well, let's leave school.

Music: Home Town

The ACDC Town music actually did get changed, though the track still has the same name.

https://i.imgur.com/sdMXOl3.png

A salesman outside of the school mentions where you (and Mayl) live, just in case you don't know. Amusingly enough, he prides himself on knowing where everyone lives, but doesn't recognize that he's talking to the person whose house he's pointing out.

https://i.imgur.com/eiYzSFj.png

Higsby's shop is also non-existent in this game, sadly. Fortunately, this is the only game in the series to do this.

https://i.imgur.com/o2XuNwn.png

An adult standing around gives us a bit of an idea of something that may be of interest in a bit.

https://i.imgur.com/RWLpLRI.png

And there's a man outside of Lan's house. He seems to be here to fix a gas problem, but he's mistaken Lan's house for Yai's. That's kind of an impressive mistake to make considering Yai lives in a mansion.

https://i.imgur.com/zt8SccA.png

Heading inside, we find that the music for Lan's home is still the same as the last game.

Lan greets his mother and heads upstairs.

https://i.imgur.com/wkfOqWl.png

Unfortunately, she remembers his report card. We don't know what grades Lan has, aside from an A+ in Virus Busting, but Haruka is NOT happy with what she sees.

Hilariously, if you check Lan's bookshelf, you'll see that he's still been stealing the answer keys to his tests and still managed to do badly in his classes. I don't know he managed that. Maybe Ms. Mari's onto him and started switching the tests up?

https://i.imgur.com/YlTI2DJ.png

Lan gives a very insincere apology for his grades, so Haruka makes him do homework before he can go onto the main internet.

https://i.imgur.com/0Uxuydz.png

And by homework, I mean a virus busting tutorial. But that's the class Lan is actually doing well in!

Music: Virus Busting

https://i.imgur.com/frAaDtr.png

The tutorial is basically the same as Battle Network 1, with one slight difference on Lesson #3: now you have to sacrifice chips to use the Add function. The more you sacrifice, the more chips you have when the Custom Screen comes back. And this lasts for the rest of the battle, even.

So say I sacrifice three chips. Every time I go to the Custom Screen from then on (for that battle), I can select from eight chips minimum.

Basically, this helps you mill through your chips, and I like it more than BN1's system. Also, the random battle music for this game is fantastic.

https://i.imgur.com/RaI5e3x.png

See? Even the homework program says that Lan is good at this already! And yet, that won't stop us from having this tutorial four more times.

https://i.imgur.com/UrTZGeg.png

Dex sends an email encouraging us to hurry up and so we finally begin the game proper.

https://i.imgur.com/Uhz03YE.png

Here's what jacking in looks like in this game, incidentally.

Music: Internet World

https://i.imgur.com/GLCZ64M.png

The internet got a MASSIVE redesign in Battle Network 2, and I felt a bit of childish glee seeing this screen again for the first time in many years. Den Area, the ACDC Net, is now a three map location (plus the Square) characterized by blues and greens, with tree outlines popping up in the background as well.

https://i.imgur.com/n6rHtgL.png

Look how happy Mr. Prog is with these changes!

You might also notice that he's not speaking in ALL CAPS in this game. That was a feature of the games starting with Battle Network 4, as I recall. In the first three games, they all spoke in lowercase. OSS changed that to be more in line with the end of the series.

https://i.imgur.com/YTjJUBf.png

Right out the gate, you'll notice a little blockade preventing you from heading to an area. These types of objects will be in the internet field now, though this one is exclusive to this area that will open up much much muuuuch later in the game.

https://i.imgur.com/BcXZ9cV.png

We also see a new type of Normal Navi on the way through Den Area 1, who lets us in on these new obstacles that replace the access privileges from the last game.

https://i.imgur.com/3FJ95zL.png

Security Cubes! In order to get past these, we need a code from the person who set them.

https://i.imgur.com/MtZKo0z.png

Mystery Data has now been properly defined in the ways that I mentioned in the original BN1 LP. To reiterate:

- Green Mystery Data contain a pool of decent prizes and respawn in certain locations whenever you jack out.
- Blue Mystery Data can be thought of like an RPG treasure chest in that it gives a set prize once. These are better than GMDs.
- Purple Mystery Data is now locked (more on this later), but is otherwise a BMD with a set prize typically better than usual.

https://i.imgur.com/8H1ClSX.png

Green Normal Navi is still around, too, in case you were worried!

https://i.imgur.com/gjUdRpu.png

Warp Pads are also around now, allowing you to reach upper paths in areas that have them.

https://i.imgur.com/t1anikZ.png

A Mr. Prog in Den Area 2 informs MegaMan that HP now does not automatically recover to full after battles. Fortunately, he heals MegaMan to full whenever you speak to him. What a swell guy!

I believe he might disappear later in the game, though you'll have your own healing options by then.

https://i.imgur.com/wsRRC9h.png

An Official Navi informs MegaMan about Busting Level

https://i.imgur.com/Cj4qGcB.png

which shows up after battles. Typically "Don't move a lot and delete multiple viruses at once quickly" is the key to getting higher ranks.

https://i.imgur.com/tXkc0iv.png

Den Area 3, which is in a different direction from the Square, has two security cubes locking the ways forward. A Purple Navi nearby mentions that these are the Nets of foreign countries, which have many dangerous viruses within them. Interesting!

https://i.imgur.com/PEA4l7b.png

Eventually, though, MegaMan finally reaches the Square where an impatient GutsMan and Roll are waiting!

Lan complains that his Mom held him up, but MegaMan points out that it wouldn't have happened if he'd gotten better grades!

https://i.imgur.com/eKfAbD0.png

GutsMan and Roll head on ahead, and you can proceed as well. But let's talk to some NPCs first. Can you tell that I really like this game?

A Mr. Prog informs us that we're not actually in the Square at this point, but the entrance to the Square.

https://i.imgur.com/RisVVdw.png

There's a warp leading to KotoSquare, but it seems like it's not operational at the moment. Maybe it will be once we find out what "Koto" is?

https://i.imgur.com/MagYgi9.png

There's also a warp here, leading somewhere. We can't access it now, at any rate.

https://i.imgur.com/jzIfgXD.png

Heading further into the Square brings us to more NPCs! And a bigger area!

https://i.imgur.com/1j919Hm.png

Roll is loitering near an area that will soon host a message board.

https://i.imgur.com/pLnw4RU.png

And a Normal Navi nearby is excited about the fact that the Squares have no viruses, essentially serving as a "hub world" for an area.

Heh. Hub world.

https://i.imgur.com/qn3T0Py.png

To contrast the Green Normal Navi that sells chips and HP Memories, a purple Normal Navi is now selling Sub Chips.

https://i.imgur.com/4l9WQ5w.png

Sub Chips have their own menu and are used for a number of things.

- MiniEnrg: Heals 50 HP.
- FullEnrg: Heals MegaMan to max HP.
- Untrap: Disarms viruses inside corrupted data, giving free access to the items contained within.
- Unlocker: Unlocks PMDs that are specially encrypted.
- SneakRun: Avoids random battles below MegaMan's level, V2 and V3 bosses excluded.
- LocEnemy: When used after an encounter, it makes that enemy configuration more recurring. Helpful for finding V3 Navis.

https://i.imgur.com/Z1F6H7c.png

Here we find yet another new type of Normal Navi, this one designated for female Navis.

It also seems like child Navis are a thing. Or maybe she's just referring to MegaMan and Co. looking fairly young?

https://i.imgur.com/72KopzM.png

GutsMan seems excited about some type of exam being offered nearby.

https://i.imgur.com/OV13ERR.png

It turns out to be the ZLicense Exam. Apparently, if we pass this and other tests, we'll be able to gain several privileges! Fun!

https://i.imgur.com/7ouvGO4.png

This update might be dragging a bit, so I'll trim down on this.

https://i.imgur.com/DhCdIuL.png

MegaMan, GutsMan, and Roll decide to take the exam and go looking for these two pieces of data: HeroData and HopeData.

https://i.imgur.com/3Bajn8F.png

Roll gives you a general idea of where the HopeData is, both she and it being in Den Area 1.

GutsMan is searching Den Area 2.

https://i.imgur.com/iISNEII.png

And the HeroData is in Den Area 3.

https://i.imgur.com/t7YIFjO.png

Ultimately, all three manage to pass the exam!

https://i.imgur.com/EduueNF.png

And the reward is an upgrade that wasn't in the first game!

https://i.imgur.com/sTzTEN4.png

The female Navi nearby helpfully explains.

https://i.imgur.com/SZIq9Jw.png

At the top of the screen, you can see where it says 4 MB? That's MegaMan's current max capacity. The Regular Chip system allows you to automatically register a chip to obtain at the start of battle, but only if it doesn't exceed the your max capacity. So these Cannon chips, which are 16 MB, are not able to be registered, but I can register the 4 MB Shotgun chips.

Anyway, I think that's enough for now. Next time we'll dive into the first dungeon!

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

20 (edited by Hobgoblin 2021-01-19 20:04:35)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Part 3: Life's a Gas

After the test, both GutsMan and Roll are nearby to speak to. They're both excited to have gotten their ZLicense, which is kind of cute, but it was just a scavenger hunt. Don't get too excited!

https://i.imgur.com/kHYLhOI.png

What IS exciting is that completing the ZLicense exam caused the Board Room to open up! Now we can see everyone's forum posts! Too bad MegaMan doesn't ever really use them.

https://i.imgur.com/gGhhhmM.png

Right now only two boards have anything substantial. The first is the Street Board.

Poster: Vishnu
Subject: Hey dudes
This is the Street Board! Post whatever handy info you know on this board!

Poster: Tiger
Subject: This board...
The Center, which manages the Square, is in Marine Harb. That's also the fanciest spot in DenCity! Residential areas near Marine Harb. would be ACDC Town, and Kotobuki... Where is everyone jacking in from?

Poster: Roll
Subject: Hello!
Hi, my name is Roll. Nice to meet everyone! My operator is a girl living in ACDC Town. Her name is a secret but I'll say this-it's really cute! I'm hanging out with a friend in the Center today. Cya!

Poster: GutsMan
Subject: Gutttsssss...
The name is GutsMan! I'm Master Dex's Navi-he lives in ACDC Town too. How are y'all doin'? Master Dex, how does this look!?

Poster: Admin
Subject: The Net (#1)
I can see there are many youngsters here so let me teach you the best way to walk around the Net. You have seen cubes that block off certain roads, right? Roads like that lead to people's home pages. Those cubes keep strangers from barging in. So if you get to be friends with that person and they tell you their code, you will be able to open their cube.

Poster: Admin
Subject: The Net (#2)
By the way, have you ever been to Den Area 3? The cubes there are a little special, the country runs them. Those roads go to the Nets of foreign countries, so the cubes prevent people from coming and going at will. Many of the viruses in other countries are stronger than domestic viruses, so to go through, you need a ALicense. You youngsters ain't ready for that yet, of course!

https://i.imgur.com/eViSTnn.png

And the other is the Chat Board.

Poster: Egghead
Subject: Off topic!
This is the Chat Board. Feel free to share any kind of info you like on this board.

Poster: Suzie
Subject: Yo!
The Square is so fun! I'm gonna hang out there everyday now. See you guys there!

Poster: Chuck
Subject: My ZLicense!
Hello there! Did everyone get their ZLicense!? I can't find the HeroData anywhere, and wandered around for an hour. I'm so frustrated! So what's your default chips? I use "Recov10".

Poster: Ms.Tater
Subject: CyberSquare?
The Square is fun, with all the shops and bulletin boards. These kinds of "cybersquares" are a big city thing. The server for the Square is in Marine Harbor, in a place called the Center. Kotobuki, which is the next town over, has one too I think.

Poster: Mary
Subject: Kotobuki too
They're making a square in Kotobuki too! It's still under construction at the moment... There'll be a road from the Square Entrance to KotoSquare!

Well, that was some neat worldbuilding. And now we know what this KotoSquare is tied to.

Seems like we've gotten a lot accomplished today!

https://i.imgur.com/you5HR4.png

Upon jacking out, however, we suddenly get a phone call.

Music: Suspicious Mood

https://i.imgur.com/O8oihXi.png

It seems that Yai has been in the bath longer than is normal. Lan thinks it might just be her relaxing, but Glide says that Yai never takes long baths since she finds it bad for the skin. There's also something going wrong with the gas heater.

This sounds like a job for DenGas! I hope that guy isn't still looking for Yai's house...

Also, Glyde is spelled Glide in this game. I don't trust myself to keep using the y consistently, so I'll probably call him by this name until the next title.

https://i.imgur.com/pyMN26t.png

Mayl and Dex decide to get involved as well in order to make sure everything is okay, and so the trio heads to Yai's place. Along the way, you might notice some NPCs have updated dialogue.

https://i.imgur.com/55Wo2tH.png

Of course, despite the fact that everyone can see that something strange is going on

https://i.imgur.com/CLI6qeE.png

and can smell an odor that suggests there may be some kind of gas leak, no one is going to contact the authorities about this!

https://i.imgur.com/FsWQx5j.png

Oh hey, here's the DenGas guy! Hiding behind these trees! That's kind of weird. He seems pretty happy, though, so I guess he's just taking care of the problem. Hopefully he'll be done soon!

https://i.imgur.com/8J9kWlW.png

Dex decides to go check on Yai given that there seems to be a gas leak. He doesn't want to endanger everyone, though, so he opts to go in first, saying he'll be back in five minutes.

Five minutes pass, however, and there's no sign of Dex.

https://i.imgur.com/S6kC7zM.png

Mayl waits outside while Lan heads in to see what has become of the two.

https://i.imgur.com/A3oOE0c.png

Upon heading inside, Lan is surprised to find that there is indeed a gas leak. Even though a kid farther away from the house could smell it.

Then again, Lan is apparently flunking everything not related to Net Battling, so this is about the intelligence we should expect from him.

In any case, he does have enough awareness to realize that there's some shenanigans going on when the door locks behind him, probably evoking some memories of the oven incident in the last game.

https://i.imgur.com/AjLilJI.png

Fortunately, the PETs have a gas sensor screen that shows where the befouled air is most concentrated. This effectively serves as a blockade for now.

https://i.imgur.com/DudxbIV.png

Mayl is getting worried, so she decides to send Lan a Roll chip.

With that placed in his folder, Lan heads to Yai's bathroom. Incidentally, this is the only time in the series we get to see the entrance hall of Yai's house, as well as her bathroom.

Music: Incident Occurrence!

https://i.imgur.com/JU5Z81j.png

Inside, Yai is buried under a giant cloud of gas.

https://i.imgur.com/dMwEDZ3.png

Dex isn't faring much better. I'm assuming he might've panicked in the face of so much gas and tried to get some air from the ventilation, only to pass out. Or maybe it started spewing gas directly underneath him?

Either way, he's out cold for the moment.

https://i.imgur.com/Q9JS3sr.png

This looks like a job for the internet!

Music: Smoky Field

https://i.imgur.com/nSG6PzH.png

Maybe you'd be able to tell if you opened your eyes!

MegaMan says the interior seems normal, but it's pretty clear something is wrong, as a nearby Mr. Prog explains.

https://i.imgur.com/RnCsLCE.png

Another also points out that Dex did manage to send GutsMan into the system before he passed out. Glide is here as well.

https://i.imgur.com/2RmFUvc.png

A third Mr. Prog bravely tries to solve the problem

https://i.imgur.com/AeRORxp.png

to no avail. Mr. Prog, no!

https://i.imgur.com/ie40Ia9.png

Oh, never mind. Well, at the very least, he managed to demonstrate the gimmick of this dungeon. The valves will blow gas towards MegaMan that will push him down a side path if he doesn't manage to dodge it. Later in the dungeon, though, you'll need to get hit by the gas in order to cross gaps to other platforms.

https://i.imgur.com/q2ZKhCV.png

Up ahead, GutsMan doesn't seem to know what happened to Dex and is panicking a little.

https://i.imgur.com/Ghbl61r.png

Fortunately, there's a ventilation system just across the gap that MegaMan fixes, allowing the vents to start blowing clean air once again.

https://i.imgur.com/7qpKjuo.png

Fortunately, Dex comes to almost immediately after the air around him cleans up. Given the Power Plant scenario in the last game, I'm just going to assume that every child in this universe can survive nonsensical amounts of punishment.

https://i.imgur.com/nF3MkeS.png

Dex figures that Lan has things in hand, so he decides to do something helpful and deactivate the bugged door lock. Not a bad idea, all things considered.

https://i.imgur.com/Jwuwgpj.png

In Area 2, MegaMan runs into Glide, who mentions the gas flow ahead is a bit too strong. So MegaMan proceeds alone through the puzzle.

https://i.imgur.com/Fy4AWl6.png

I had forgotten to mention this earlier, but there's a new type of item in this game called a BugFrag. What is this? Well, we'll find out later since there's nothing we can do with it now.

https://i.imgur.com/PX82Pqt.png

MegaMan deactivates the gas at an intersection, allowing him to proceed ahead.

https://i.imgur.com/XMkv0rp.png

Somewhat. There's still this plot gate blocking the way. Fortunately, it's not in front of the next ventilation system.

https://i.imgur.com/ajTkNnI.png

Unfortunately, the gas still isn't clearing. However, MegaMan reminds Lan that earlier this morning, Yai mentioned she had a collection of rare fans.

There's an option here to see if you remembered what Yai said, with one of the options being "I spoke to Yai today?". I wanted to choose that, but it seemed a bit too mean-spirited for the present situation.

https://i.imgur.com/aPSM1z3.png

Lan goes to look for the fan, stopping to admire a statue in the hallway. If you speak to Dex, he gives you a hint that Yai probably keeps the fan tucked away somewhere.

Fortunately, the gas cloud that was blocking the way to Yai's room earlier has disappeared.

https://i.imgur.com/39CI5Ej.png

It's not really hard to find either way.

https://i.imgur.com/ta4kFwn.png

While Lan is able to clear the gas blocking the way to the bath, the bath itself is still too heavy on the gas to get Yai free. There's also a weird line from MegaMan here that I think is supposed to say "You found Yai".

https://i.imgur.com/nsYk6gH.png

However, MegaMan has managed to get the last system exposed. All we have to do now is fix it and

Music: Pressure

https://i.imgur.com/pT7JqMb.png

Oh no, it's... Santa apparently?

https://i.imgur.com/iTPebEb.png

After clearing one last easy puzzle, MegaMan reaches the culprit behind the attack.

https://i.imgur.com/dKcHvPk.png

As it turns out, the boss turns out to be AirMan, operated by the guy we saw earlier. We don't get his name here, but it's Arashi. I find it odd than they changed Netto and Saito to Lan and Hub (among other names), but then kept so many other clearly Japanese names for people and locations.

At any rate, Arashi's evil plan is to hold Yai for ransom. Not a terrible plan, but it's kind of hindered by the fact that we never see Yai's parents in-game. So I can't tell if he's already contacted them or he just got really excited to gas Yai. Either way, with how much gas Yai is currently under, this doesn't really seem to be conducive to giving her parents time to wire a transaction.

https://i.imgur.com/PLPB1Cl.png

Lan and MegaMan aren't impressed by his hostage taking and the usual dialogue goes here. Battle routine set, execute, etc.

Boss Fight: AirMan

Music: Battle Spirit

https://i.imgur.com/QZVqAsh.png

What can I say about AirMan? He's the first boss, his basic attack is basically a Mettaur shockwave (get used to this being the case for the first boss), and there's not really a lot to say about him otherwise. He's got low HP and he's fairly easy to deal with. His only real notable trait is moving about three or four times before doing an attack.

Neat boss theme, though.

- Air Blast: AirMan fires an explosion that travels down the row.
- Triple Tornado: AirMan summons three tornadoes on all three rows. The tornadoes then travel down at different speeds, with a gap for the player to dodge them. The tornadoes also serve as shields for AirMan that block any shots sent towards them.
- Double Tornado: AirMan summons two tornadoes on the player's area, and these tornadoes will move towards the player's current location.

https://i.imgur.com/XH4IRCj.png

Arashi complains that his evil plan was ruined and flees for now, swearing to meet Lan again. With that, MegaMan deactivates the last of the gas, finally clearing up the air in Yai's house. Dex also succeeds at getting the door open.

Yay, teamwork.

https://i.imgur.com/hk8N87y.png

Back in Yai's room, the girl in question finally comes to. Mayl explains how Lan risked his life to save her from the gas, and Yai is extremely grateful for Lan's heroism.

https://i.imgur.com/wReR6nf.png

No, just kidding. She just accuses Lan of peeping at her unconscious body.

Good old Yai.

Mayl explains that Yai's modesty was preserved, though, as she was the one who got Yai out of the bath.

https://i.imgur.com/HkWiGDg.png

Haha, that's such a Yai thing to s- I'm sorry, what?

https://i.imgur.com/Jayk0ql.png

While Lan and his friends laugh over an 8-year-old talking about people missing out on seeing her naked body (Did I mention that BN2 was weird?), Arashi meanwhile takes a call at the Metroline.

https://i.imgur.com/qhRjYxa.png

It seems that Arashi might be tied to that group that we saw at the beginning. Or maybe DenGas is just really hardcore.

https://i.imgur.com/j8kSxTR.png

In a rather humorous exchange, Arashi's boss (who is symbolized by a shaded out NPC mugshot for some reason) tries to continually make tryhard threatening statements towards Arashi for his failure while he is wholly unimpressed.

https://i.imgur.com/yY1t3hF.png Hello, Arashi here.
https://i.imgur.com/xOpOgNr.gif It didn't go quite as planned...
https://i.imgur.com/yY1t3hF.png I made a mistake.  But I'll get it next time!
https://i.imgur.com/xOpOgNr.gif You don't seem to understand...the harshness of Gospel!
https://i.imgur.com/yY1t3hF.png C'mon, don't be so over-dramatic.
https://i.imgur.com/xOpOgNr.gif We're the netmafia. Soon Electopia will find out too.
https://i.imgur.com/yY1t3hF.png So what!
https://i.imgur.com/xOpOgNr.gif Forget it, you've had your last chance.
https://i.imgur.com/yY1t3hF.png Ha! That's fine by me!

This is why you never work for an edgelord.

https://i.imgur.com/mL6JfBd.png

Unfortunately, Arashi found this lesson out a bit too late.

https://i.imgur.com/zkpUvk9.png

And he happens to notice a nearby briefcase containing his severance package.

https://i.imgur.com/a4kZOjw.png
https://i.imgur.com/KKrDGmF.png

Needless to say, Arashi never meets Lan again.

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

21 (edited by Hobgoblin 2021-01-19 20:13:40)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Part 4: City Netbattlers

https://i.imgur.com/NOXQhTn.png

Elsewhere, where people aren't being violently blown up, Yai has fallen asleep. Checking under her pillow reveals the code for her Security Cube, as well as a note pondering whether she should give it to Lan or not.

https://i.imgur.com/RYdUIlR.png

He decides to take it.

https://i.imgur.com/nTZBDo9.png

I also get a chance to mention these. These are what up your max capacity for chip selection. The maximum amount of MB MegaMan can have by the end of the game is 50.

https://i.imgur.com/BCnad26.png

Inside of this antique phone is a sad Mr. Prog who laments the fact that he isn't used much anymore. Aw.

https://i.imgur.com/PIuefsr.png

Since we have Yai's Code, I take a moment to visit her homepage to unlock her Security Cube. The wallpaper is very... garish.

A few NPCs around ACDC Town also have their dialogue updated to praise Lan for saving Yai.

https://i.imgur.com/w0yxXoC.png

There's also this guy.

https://i.imgur.com/MtpYCkd.png

hahaha what

https://i.imgur.com/ciGxcUz.png

Dex is available for GutsMan battles now.

https://i.imgur.com/g2pov7X.png

I got carelessly hit a few times, but he's basically the same as in the first game. The only differences are:

- Guts Hammer now cracks all of MegaMan's panels.
- Guts Punch is upgraded to Rocket Guts Punch at later versions, allowing him to launch his fist at MegaMan for ranged options.
- At V3, GutsMan uses AreaGrab to try locking MegaMan down, and also Recover 200 once at low HP unless he is deleted before hitting the point where he's pressured to use it.

https://i.imgur.com/obVEqgs.png

Yay.

https://i.imgur.com/HyFG2VV.png

Dex gives you his code after the battle, and you can see his ramen themed background as I go to unlock his Security Cube.

https://i.imgur.com/e18jZoi.png

Here's what that looks like, btw.

https://i.imgur.com/8EZuLaT.png

Finally, I also go to Mayl's place because I forgot that she gives you her code in email earlier and didn't check it until now. Woops.

Her piano isn't the source of her homepage in this game, with it instead being her laptop.

https://i.imgur.com/jNHHhFh.png

Despite the fact she apparently never plays piano, she still seems to have a thing for it.

https://i.imgur.com/Q5J1Hly.png

Lan eventually goes home and goes to bed given there's nothing else to do. We then time skip a bit.

https://i.imgur.com/yODlrGh.png

MegaMan is unsuccessfully attempting to try and get Lan to do his homework. Y'know, considering he failed almost all of his classes? Lan decides that he can afford to put that off a while longer, though, and suggests that he and his friends go camping.

https://i.imgur.com/2oHM8R8.png

Haruka is apparently okay with this. And they're not even going to be chaperoned!

https://i.imgur.com/xG5XJgx.png

Lan shows his appreciation by throwing shade at her taste in aesthetics.

https://i.imgur.com/xnftZID.png

Karma comes back to bite Lan, however,

https://i.imgur.com/Es6Izft.png

when it turns out

https://i.imgur.com/LFToOzx.png

all of his friends can't go camping today.

https://i.imgur.com/WUSqkay.png

Ms. Mari also reveals that she doesn't really get to enjoy a vacation when the kids are off. Oof.

Lan is bummed out a while later at the ACDC Park, when he happens to get a letter from the Official Center. City Netbattlers are in demand, so Lan can come and take his BLicense exam now.

https://i.imgur.com/G9DYfB3.png

Squirrel!

https://i.imgur.com/F0kOMpF.png

Lan decides to head over to Marine Harbor to take his exam, where we get this little tidbit. Being a kid in the Battle Network universe sounds great. Free train rides AND no PET bills.

As Lan arrives in Marine Harbor, Dex sends an email saying that tomorrow he'll be free to camp. But only if he gets to be camp leader!

https://i.imgur.com/Tp84v3s.png

Sort your recyclables, you heathens.

Music: Marine Harbor

https://i.imgur.com/tB9Hfuz.png

Marine Harbor is an interesting area.

https://i.imgur.com/rpoELoU.png

Aside from sounding like the name of a Sonic stage, it's basically just one screen. That's because the rest of this area doubles as the Official Center.

https://i.imgur.com/a83Ts3l.png

Despite that, it has its own area theme. More effort than BN1, at least!

https://i.imgur.com/Vl0vA7v.png

While wandering around the harbor, Lan runs into a young woman named Ribitta. As it turns out, she's the first of a number of new friendly Net Battle opponents in this game.

Boss Fight: ToadMan

https://i.imgur.com/xAOMvYI.png

Oh boy, it's this guy. For an early game boss, ToadMan has a lot of annoying gimmicks. First, if you're on the same row as him, he'll hop to his other lily pad. Second, his lily pads are pretty much constantly releasing tadpoles in a straight line in front of them, which is bad news if you're using short range weapons. Third, he uses a combo attack that first stuns you and then follows up with another strong hit. Definitely pretty tough. You get better options to deal with him later, though!

ToadMan's kind of interesting in that he's a water boss that uses an electric attack, which typically doesn't happen often. Plus, he's really hecking cute.

- Tadpoles: Tadpoles fire from the lily pads every couple of seconds. These don't give mercy invincibility when they connect.
- Shocking Song: ToadMan fires a music note which homes in on MegaMan.
- Frog Smack: ToadMan appears in front of MegaMan to smack him if he's stunned.

https://i.imgur.com/ydvniOF.png

After the battle, Ribitta gives you her code, letting you unlock her security cube.

https://i.imgur.com/QRuXLqq.png

Her van is her connection source to the internet, which has a frog themed wallpaper as well as shrimp viruses. And wild Shellder, apparently?

This also gives me a good excuse to talk about Navi Emblems. Somewhere on a Navi, they'll have an emblem that serves as an identifier for both them and their operator, who also tends to have it somewhere on their person. Typically it relates to the operator or their family, though autonomous Navis have their own symbols. The one linked there is ToadMan's, of course, which Ribitta also wears on her hat.

I'll be saying something more about Navi Emblems down the line, but it's gonna be a good while before it comes up!

https://i.imgur.com/tyHeQNI.png

Let's head into the Official Center.

Music: Official Center

https://i.imgur.com/29nP0OK.png

Inside some NPCs are talking about how Chaud is super cool or whatever.

https://i.imgur.com/asjXBfU.png

The wall panel behind them takes you directly to the square, where this Navi gives more insight into what Navis were like before Yuichiro came along.

https://i.imgur.com/5rUN7WE.png

There's also this Mr. Prog who makes an off-hand comment about something that will be proven wrong four games later.

https://i.imgur.com/hbgyskl.png

Off to the side is a woman reporting a problem that might seem familiar, if very much resolved!

https://i.imgur.com/VCyCEsx.png

It seems like even with the WWW taken care of, there are still a lot of criminals causing trouble on the net. This Gospel group probably isn't going to help matters at all.

https://i.imgur.com/HygdhCh.png

But never mind that, we're here to take an exam.

https://i.imgur.com/QSGQ63a.png

Lan heads downstairs and down a hallway to a testing room, where he meets this smug guy. Kids are allowed to be licensed too!

https://i.imgur.com/sqSyld5.png

A different guy, one of the Officials, is taking a much more rigorous exam than we are. Maybe we can reach his level someday.

https://i.imgur.com/XehLzlC.png

And here's a housewife trying to get a BLicense for her family.

https://i.imgur.com/eSezWWl.png

As we log in to take the exam, Yai emails us saying that she can spend time with us tomorrow. She traveled the world really fast, huh?

https://i.imgur.com/6zBAask.png

The BLicense Exam is not really noteworthy. You first fight a series of five virus battles.

https://i.imgur.com/ZLhWZwI.png

The second quest is to beat up a Heel Navi for a walking program he stole from a Normal Navi,

https://i.imgur.com/4uxxGOH.png

which gets us the Nice Data. Mayl also responds at this time saying she'll be free tomorrow.

https://i.imgur.com/2M3y8NL.png

and then beat five more viruses in a row back at the proctor. Easy-peasy.

With that, Lan has his BLicense now! Chaud also contacts him to say that he can't go camping tomorrow (when did we ask him?) because he's too busy with work and that Lan is a NERD.

https://i.imgur.com/b6nFFZ6.png

A female Navi in the Square helpfully mentions that she's heard of a shop somewhere that trades Bug Frags. Hopefully we find it soon.

https://i.imgur.com/F3xXIku.png

The boards have also all updated with current information!

Chat Board

Poster: Kiddo
Subject: I'm gonna...
There's this girl I like. I want to ask her on a date. Can you guys give me some good ideas for date spots?

Poster: Ms.Tater
Subject: Best for date
Marine Harbor! There's an upscale cafe by the station. You can show her the Center... The salty breeze feels great- you can confess at the sea! She'll definitely be moved by that! Good luck!

Poster: Kiddo
Subject: I got it!
Marine Harbor, eh. OK! I'll work up my courage and confess! Thanks for the info!

Poster: Sarah
Subject: Marine Harbor
Good luck on your confession! By the way, they also do a lot of TV reporting in Marine H. Ribitta, the popular announcer does a "NetBattle Corner" show there a lot. Ribitta's "ToadMan" Navi is so cute!

Poster: Zack
Subject: Ms. Ribitta...
Yeah, not just cute, also very skillfully run by Ribitta!

Poster: Egghead
Subject: In that van
Ribitta's homepage is in her parked TV broadcasting van. You can jack in if you want- I'm gonna try!

Ribitta's rather interesting. Despite being a minor character, she shows up in half of the games in the series.

Virus Board

Poster: Cuz =P
Subject: Virus info!
This is the Virus Board. Post info about outbreaks and deletion methods!

Poster: Comicker
Subject: Bunnies
Hello, this is my first post! Mettaur was never rare, but these day you run into virus like a rabbit-Bunny... Cute as they may be, they fire these paralyzing rings! Does anyone have a good strategy for these guys?

Poster: Oozy
Subject: Re:Bunnies
Bunnies are hard to hit because they move unpredictably. I try to delete them before they first move. It's pretty intense! Hit them when they line up to shoot the rings at you. Good luck!

Poster: Dex
Subject: Beetanks
Dex here! My homepage is infested by Beetanks! I can't dodge their LilBombs and bust them! Someone help!

Poster: IronMan
Subject: Re:Beetanks
Beetank's LilBombs really are nasty. I guess the trick is to back up? The bombs fly slowly so they are easy to dodge. Try taking one step forward when you see a bomb coming, too! Hitting them twice with a cannon before they move is best!

I imagine this is probably the least interesting board for you all to read about given it's a more about gameplay. Would you like if I showed off some viruses sometime?

Street Board

Poster: Marble
Subject: ACDC Town!
Hello there! I live in Kotobuki, but the other day I went to ACDC Town for the first time. I like the huge houses, just walking around is fun. Bust I couldn't believe the doghouse you can jack into! It's actually a security system!

Poster: Alice
Subject: Kotobuki rlz!
I live in ACDC Town! The other day I went to Kotobuki and saw huge apartments! It looks so much more urban than ACDC Town! I went shopping in Kotobuki Mart on the way home. Was fun!!!

Poster: Maple
Subject: Chip shops
The chip shop in ACDC Town shut down, didn't it. When I went the other day there was a notice on it! I wanted to try the chip trader they had there. Oh well...

Poster: Scummy
Subject: Chip traders?
What do you mean, "chip trader?" Fill us in!

Poster: Oozy
Subject: Re:Chip trade
I was gonna try it out for the first time myself, so... Anyway, you trade a number of chips you don't need for a different chip! The chip you get is all luck, so it's pretty exciting. I'd be so happy to get a rare chip, I could... Ahhh! I wanted to try it out!!!

Poster: Yaz
Subject: Wow!
Chip trader eh... That sounds totally fun! So are there no plans to set it up again somewhere? If I find it somewhere, I'll let you know-and vice versa!

Kotobuki sounds like an interesting place. Hopefully we get to go there soon.

Hopefully those searches for a Chip Trader yield fruit!

Battle Board

Poster: Cuckoo
Subject: Trade info!
Yo! Let's use this board to share info on virus busting! Tell us everything, from secret techniques to new chips! First, here's some battle info! If you upgrade your Charge wit ha PowerUp, you can shoot a Charge Shot by holding the B Button down and releasing!

Poster: Vanessa
Subject: Virus info!
I ran into a virus called "Bunny" in Den Area 3. It shot this um, light ring at me, really fast! When the ring hit me I couldn't move for a short time. I was able to get away after that 'cuz it was just that Bunny, but if there were other viruses there...(gulp!)

Poster: NaviNavi
Subject: Mettaur strat
Here's some good news for those of you who can't beat Mettaur. To knock Mettaur around, use the following chip! PanlOut1 The annoying shock will shut out his attacks! Give it a try.

Poster: Noogie
Subject: On the Net...
Recently I was hanging out on the Net... I saw a Navi I've never seen before... I wonder what that was...

Poster: Baldy
Subject: I saw it too!
I saw it too! It looked STRONG! Wouldn't it be terrifying if it suddenly attacked!?

Poster: Cuckoo
Subject: Techniques
I'll tell you my technique. You can paralyze your enemy with a ZapRing, right? Use that time to hit it with a hard-to-land attack. I've had a lot of success with a ZapRing, then a Quake!

Imagine needing a strategy for a Mettaur. The "strong" Navi everyone is talking about there is AirMan V2, incidentally.

Anyway, let's see how the other test takers are doing.

https://i.imgur.com/xI4zftZ.png

Aw, that's a shame.

https://i.imgur.com/kVipmug.png

Mr. Official is still in the middle of his exam.

https://i.imgur.com/zc2nlJi.png

This never fails to make me laugh.

Well, let's head home and go to bed!

https://i.imgur.com/H6isuws.png

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

22 (edited by Hobgoblin 2021-01-19 20:14:36)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Part 5: Dynamite with a Laser Beam

That night, while Lan sleeps, ProtoMan inspects the Den City BBS and finds the most heinous of criminal activity.

https://i.imgur.com/35hI7gU.png

I am of course referring to shitposting.

https://i.imgur.com/N3J9LPG.png

As ProtoMan erases the message, Chaud wonders if Gospel could be related to "that secret file" before dismissing the idea. I'm sure it'll never come up again.

https://i.imgur.com/q3I7awE.png

Unsurprisingly, Lan wakes up late for the camping trip. Dex sends an email threatening to go without Lan if he doesn't show up within 5 minutes.

https://i.imgur.com/EbM4Ac3.png

Ms. Mari is wandering around town to speak to, though she won't be coming on the trip. Aw.

What kind of excuse is that, though? You could just change. And Mayl and Yai are also wearing skirts!

https://i.imgur.com/e5hHKB1.png

There's also this kid who might be a future villain down the line. He's actually just roleplaying cops and robbers with a friend.

https://i.imgur.com/IAyeOpF.png

Lan's friends don't have a whole lot to say, aside from this gem from Yai.

https://i.imgur.com/pqUdp9x.png

But soon everyone piles into a bus and heads out for their camping trip.

Music: At Okuden

https://i.imgur.com/Q6ASnlm.png

Hooray, another new location! This one won't be visited too much over the game, though. You'll see why in a little bit.

https://i.imgur.com/TXGICKt.png

Lan's friends all merge into his body to avoid having too many characters onscreen at once, and he heads north to find Chaud. Clearly here's here to follow up on that Gospel lead

https://i.imgur.com/KEOkrBj.png

but from Lan's perspective he's just being really tsundere suddenly.

In any case, Chaud is now a member of the camping crew for this segment. Checking the nearby bus stop reveals that there aren't often many buses to Okuden Valley. Fortunately, there's a Metroline nearby that will allow us to circumvent that little problem when we need to revisit later in the game.

https://i.imgur.com/rcPOdfz.png

There's also this lady selling lunches. I miss Sal!

https://i.imgur.com/loRtUMc.png

A guy in a bandana screams loudly to show how excited he is about being in the great outdoors. I feel like there's a Hiker in a Pokemon game that does this. I want to say Generation IV?

https://i.imgur.com/XcqRm5r.png

Heading over to the campsite, we meet this guy. He is VERY SERIOUS about litter laws.

https://i.imgur.com/17ifndz.png

He is also standing next to a giant swarm of bees that we now have to deal with.

https://i.imgur.com/hjDG00x.png

So now you have to wander around and press A in little corners in order to find what you need to move on. There are a few NPCs nearby who give some vague hints, at least, but it's something like "Someone threw away a newspaper and left it stuck to that tree" in an area with multiple trees.

https://i.imgur.com/weVfIcN.png

This guy also gives you some vague hints.

https://i.imgur.com/C42uukL.png

By gathering together a discarded lighter, a newspaper about the Jumbos making a home run, and a stick, Lan is able to make a fire to chase away the bees. Hooray!

https://i.imgur.com/nuV8Fy8.png

Nearby is a guardian statue that can be jacked into. It's actually designed to check the air quality of the valley.

https://i.imgur.com/1ljvnVT.png

It's not terribly important, but there is a Mr. Prog who suggests that the air in the area is getting befouled. It seems like people aren't really too mindful of casually polluting the area.

https://i.imgur.com/yup7xHF.png

No wonder this guy is so serious.

At any rate, the party has no reason to loiter forward and begins to head over to ca

https://i.imgur.com/EEsOJJT.png

BEAR

https://i.imgur.com/YaaWfe8.png

The group collectively freaks out and decides to put off camping for now.

Or, at least, that's what I would do. In actuality, if you press the L button to ask MegaMan for advice, he says something to the effect of "Bears are bad, but we can't let them ruin our camping experience."

Good looking out, Hub.

https://i.imgur.com/qRDlKes.png

Seeing as this is another pixel hunt, you're expected to wander around until you find these Binoculars behind the waterfall. There actually is an NPC who tells you about them being back here

https://i.imgur.com/sdMqjzL.png

except his dialogue changes when the bear shows up. Capcom, please.

At any rate, it turns out that the bear is... a fake! Dun nun!

https://i.imgur.com/1nK2IuE.png

Yes, instead of a real bear, it's actually a robot bear! This... doesn't make it less dangerous! If anything, that probably makes it MORE dangerous!

Regardless, Lan jacks in to handle the problem. Conveniently, the bear decides not to maul him for his insolence.

https://i.imgur.com/MDwPDJU.png

Inside of the bear is a Mr. Prog, who tells us how the bear was originally a mascot for a park before it was infected with a virus and began to maul people for their insolence, injuring many people.

And that virus is still here to this day because apparently no one ran diagnostics on it.

https://i.imgur.com/5md1kV8.png

I forgot to get a picture of the viruses, so here's one from Miss Echelon's BN2 LP. These are Spikies, and they'll be a recurring enemy family in the series from now on. They're wolves that spit fireballs.

https://i.imgur.com/gr8rkjQ.png

After the battle, the bear calms down and the group decides to move the bear so that passers-by won't be scared.

https://i.imgur.com/hcKn7F3.png

I'd say that they tried, but that's clearly a lie.

https://i.imgur.com/eVEMms4.png

At camp, everyone prepares to make BBQ. Unfortunately, Dex needs firewood, Mayl needs another knife, and Yai wants fish.

Naturally, they expect Lan to take care of all of these problems.

https://i.imgur.com/gCPdXW8.png

Nearby, Ribitta has also arrived to do a report.

https://i.imgur.com/mVp1900.png

She may be a bit lost.

https://i.imgur.com/fS2y0gq.png

If you haven't beaten ToadMan yet, you can challenge her here. Otherwise, she'll just ask for a raincheck.

https://i.imgur.com/VZPeLwo.png

Ribitta's misfortune is our fortune, however, since she brought her van. Seeing as Lan is currently locked into Okuden Valley at present, Ribitta's van allows you to access Den Area's internet in the event you need any chips or upgrades in the event of a (hypothetical) terrorist attack.

I want to say the AirMan scenario might have been the same, but I don't think I've ever gotten the Yai Code sooner than post-AirMan, so I don't know.

This is the reason why Okuden isn't visited much, incidentally. There's no major internet area tied to this location.

https://i.imgur.com/ElGFAgX.png

Fortunately, there are three NPCs nearby who are able to help Lan with what his friends need.

https://i.imgur.com/KeBIDTM.png

There's also this guy, who prevents you from going to the next screen. In exchange for his insolence, though, he does give up a Bubbler Battle Chip, which is also dropped by the Shrimpies in Ribitta's van. I'll put a picture of them in the next update.

https://i.imgur.com/0wVYgs7.png

Someone also left a canteen here. Litterbugs!

Oddly enough, there's no water or liquid in it at all.

https://i.imgur.com/uihnHuE.png

At any rate, Lan's friends celebrate their camping trip with some barbecue. Mayl wonders where Chaud got off to, but everyone else wants to start eating instead of looking for him, so they do.

Everyone is having a grand old time.

https://i.imgur.com/gNEFSZM.png

And then a bomb goes off.

https://i.imgur.com/fOj2J9v.png

Well, that sounds pretty bad.

https://i.imgur.com/NPAYTds.png

And unfortunately there's no service out here, so we can't get any information from the Net.

The phone feature still works, though, and will be used momentarily.

https://i.imgur.com/ouEUFrP.png

Ribitta has updated dialogue now, and has a few other things to say as the scenario progresses. It's not really a lot of extra dialogue, but it is neat how they put in some effort here.

https://i.imgur.com/G9Qzqwp.png

This guy is also pretty worried.

https://i.imgur.com/86VG6z0.png

As are a few NPCs who try and get Lan to evacuate. Sorry folks, only preteens are qualified to deal with terrorists.

https://i.imgur.com/K0hSxt8.png

The screen that was blocked off originally by the Bubbler guy is now open, allowing Lan to find Chaud.

https://i.imgur.com/ojrk5Wd.png

I wish I could get the blink animation to pause on funny lines like the SomethingAwful crew...

Chaud explains that last "nite" (Capcom, please.) he saw the post claiming there would be an attack at Okuden. And it's nice that he came to intercept the attacker and all, but you'd think he'd have some other Officials on standby for when things went down.

https://i.imgur.com/HDB42lr.png

Anyway, Chaud wants Lan to find four detonation devices around the valley and deactivate them while he deals with the bombs.

https://i.imgur.com/S51AHMY.png

As this nearby NPC explains, this entire sequence was setup just to justify even more pixel hunting. Yaaaay.

https://i.imgur.com/E24Eilj.png

Chaud also sends us this email a short while later where he tells us to find the bombs... which is what he's doing.

Capcom, please.

https://i.imgur.com/Y5wthwe.png

The first detonator is a PET that has been discarded haphazardly. Lan and MegaMan jack in to handle the detonation program.

Music: Time Limit

https://i.imgur.com/BTXgE0n.png

Time for another easy dungeon.

https://i.imgur.com/IYOwNfM.png

After Chaud gives Lan instructions on how to disarm a detonator, of course. It's not like Lan is in bomb disposal.

https://i.imgur.com/wGeZs46.png

So, there's supposed to be a gimmick here, related to the addresses on the floor. By following them you can figure out where you're supposed to go.

https://i.imgur.com/fGIncSe.png

If you go the wrong way, the floor explodes. This has no negative effect on MegaMan at all.

https://i.imgur.com/nZYdj5E.png

Basically, this means that the gimmick of the dungeon is nonexistent, since you can't even use the pathways that blow up no matter what. The only real "danger" is that the pathways blow up on specific tiles. So, if I walk across the above pathway while going northeast, it'll blow up in front of me. But if I walk across it while going southwest, then it'll blow up behind me and I'll be cut off from where I came from.

https://i.imgur.com/unxskmQ.png

Just blow up all of the fake paths to avoid any irritation. It's not hard at all and the puzzle is really vague and non-intuitive.

https://i.imgur.com/pYeI4NN.png

More play-by-play from Ribitta.

https://i.imgur.com/Gf7M2CI.png

The second detonator is the canteen that the girl mentioned someone left behind. Starting with the second detonator, bombs will appear on the enemy's side of the field. This will hold true for this and the next detonator.

For the fourth detonator, the bombs tend to show up on MegaMan's side of the field. Additionally, these dungeons have a few Spikies as well as a totem-esque virus that can use fire attacks. Be mindful of where you lead them to attack!

https://i.imgur.com/QfHS35B.png

This guy seems pretty worried about us.

https://i.imgur.com/cOhxOXI.png

And oddly excited about the bomb that's going to destroy the valley?

https://i.imgur.com/FZkTG04.png

The third detonator is where the binoculars were.

https://i.imgur.com/QdzUc49.png

At the end, Chaud calls to explain that the person who set this all up is probably holding the last detonator given that they're all short range devices.

https://i.imgur.com/p7fTAyx.png

In a shocking twist, this guy was actually the bomber.

https://i.imgur.com/WtjYsfA.png

Dave actually apologizes for deceiving Lan, surprisingly enough, but he claims that the reason he did all of this was to get revenge on people for sullying nature!

By... destroying nature.

It makes sense if you don't think about it.

https://i.imgur.com/98bQzjA.png

Dave decides to spoil who his Navi is in advance, but allows Lan to jack into his PET to try and stop him if he's got the guts!

https://i.imgur.com/gZHrj5y.png

Lan does.

https://i.imgur.com/SMKxVNA.png

Incidentally, the moment you enter this detonator, you're locked in. I hope you're ready, because you're not leaving until you beat QuickMan.

But before we do that, let's turn back time a little and talk about Network Transmission. I already glossed over it a bit since I never played the game, but it's worth mentioning that MegaMan and QuickMan have actually met before.

Of course, the meeting is retroactive due to NT coming out two years after BN2's official release and thus has no bearing on any relationships established here, but it's not like there's anything to talk about in QuickMan's dungeon.

During the Zero Virus incident when Navis were going crazy, Mayl and Roll wound up in danger as they're wont to do. Lan sends MegaMan to save them from being trapped inside of a bank.

https://lpix.org/3446737/OSS%20Mega.png Huh!? Who are you!?
https://i.imgur.com/CXioHKA.png The name's QuickMan! The fastest Navi in the Cyberworlds! Fastest!!!
https://lpix.org/3446735/OSS%20Lan.png What are you doing here!? Hey, are you the one causing all this...?
https://i.imgur.com/CXioHKA.png I'm zooming all over this system! You wouldn't believe how fun this is!
https://lpix.org/3446737/OSS%20Mega.png I see...
https://lpix.org/3446737/OSS%20Mega.png Lan! This guy's running all over the security system, and that's what's causing all the errors that have Mayl trapped inside!
https://lpix.org/3446735/OSS%20Lan.png He's the one out of control this time, MegaMan! We've gotta stop QuickMan!
https://i.imgur.com/CXioHKA.png Go ahead and try! If you think you can stop me - go for it!
https://i.imgur.com/CXioHKA.png But there's no way you can match my speed! Vrooooom!
https://lpix.org/3446737/OSS%20Mega.pngMan, he's fast! My processes can't keep up with him...!
https://lpix.org/3446735/OSS%20Lan.png Dang! Let's go after him, MegaMan!

As will become apparent in a bit, QuickMan was a bit more manic than usual due to the Zero Virus.

https://i.imgur.com/KR3XQV7.jpg

MegaMan heads through QuickMan's stage, which is full of, you guessed it, frickin' laser beams. I guess this was to make up for BN2 not using any in his dungeon.

https://i.imgur.com/CXioHKA.png I can't believe you followed me this far!
https://lpix.org/3446737/OSS%20Mega.png Why don't you just give up already!
https://i.imgur.com/CXioHKA.png No way! I'm still not fast enough! If you're planning on getting in my way, then I'll get rid of you here!
https://lpix.org/3446735/OSS%20Lan.png Heh, I've heard that before! MegaMan! Battle routine! Set!
https://lpix.org/3446737/OSS%20Mega.png Execute!

Needless to say, this game wouldn't be happening if Lan lost.

Also, I have no idea what he means by "I'm still not fast enough!" after he said he was the fastest earlier.

https://i.imgur.com/CXioHKA.png Aaaahhh... Huh!? What have I been doing?
https://lpix.org/3446737/OSS%20Mega.png QuickMan, you're...
https://i.imgur.com/CXioHKA.png Jack out command? OK!
https://lpix.org/3446735/OSS%20Lan.png He jacked out! This one's operator has been monitoring him!?
https://lpix.org/3446737/OSS%20Mega.png Probably... But anyway, the system should be back to normal!

With QuickMan gone, Mayl is able to leave the bank, though she forgets to make her transaction due to all of the hectic happenings. Afterwards, Lan winds up getting an email. While there is no mugshot in NT to preserve continuity, we already know who he is now, so there's no point in hiding it.

https://i.imgur.com/5gtvlOD.png Nice to meet you. I'm QuickMan's operator.
https://i.imgur.com/5gtvlOD.png Thanks for stopping QuickMan's rampage. I have to stay hidden, but I'd still like to thank you.
https://i.imgur.com/5gtvlOD.png Please accept this small gift in return for your help.

Fittingly, the reward is a Fast Gauge, which reduces the amount of time needed to access the Custom Menu again, allowing you to select chips faster.

I'm assuming that QuickMan going out of control wasn't intended on Dave's part, but given what we know about him now, I doubt he was too torn up about it. If anything, it gave him an excuse to let QuickMan run wild while also being able to claim innocence.

https://i.imgur.com/HqCNg92.png

We now return to our regularly scheduled terrorist bombing.

https://i.imgur.com/amb0Yq1.png

Dave says QuickMan should teach Lan and MegaMan a lesson since they're kids.

https://i.imgur.com/vOWeLAd.png
https://i.imgur.com/VTDI5tK.png

You know, I'm not sure, but I think this guy might be fast.

Boss Fight: QuickMan

When I was a kid, I remember being a little bad at MegaMan Battle Network right out the gate. I think I may have died on the tutorial virus battle once. And I think I also remember losing to AirMan once. I don't know, my memory might be wrong.

What I do remember is QuickMan walling me hard. For a good long while. To the point that I almost broke my GBA in frustration. I mentioned that ToadMan was tough for an early game boss, correct? Battle Network 2 likes to mix things up a bit from the first Battle Network by giving its bosses gimmicks. These range from mildly annoying to "Dear God why?".

QuickMan's gimmick?

https://i.imgur.com/RoISLLb.png

Complete invulnerability when he's standing still.

Now, fortunately, he does become vulnerable to damage after he launches his attacks (as well as while he's moving, but, y'know... QuickMan), but that was a very very VERY nasty surprise for me when I was younger. If you have GutsMan's chip, using it on QuickMan will help narrow his field, making it likely he'll be restricted to just one panel until they repair which will make it easy for you to attack him. Otherwise, you'll just need to wait until he drops his guard!

- Quick Boomerang: QuickMan will fire a boomerang down the row. His V3 form can fire it in a figure-8 formation.
- Double Boomerang: QuickMan fires one boomerang down one row, then immediately teleports to another and does the same.
- Quick Slash: When QuickMan runs low on HP, he can move up to the player and slash in a Widesword-esque manner.

https://i.imgur.com/AJkoDAh.png

After the battle, QuickMan is shocked that he lost. But even though he has, he boasts that he's won because

https://i.imgur.com/d2Uyfax.png

his post-battle explosions are a touch more lethal than most people MegaMan deletes. Oops.

The screen fades to white as an explosion goes off...

https://i.imgur.com/wDCgnsK.png

only to clear revealing that nothing happened. Apparently, ProtoMan came in at the last second and deleted QuickMan.

Which... is supposed to set off the bomb, right?

https://i.imgur.com/MMcMOBw.png

I guess ProtoMan deleted QuickMan harder? I don't get it.

For that matter, how the hell did ProtoMan get here? This is the inside of Dave's PET, which should be unconnected to any networks.

https://i.imgur.com/S6ifWnj.png

Did Chaud just come over and jack into Dave's PET and no one said anything about it?

I guess my IQ isn't high enough to understand this scenario or Dave's keikaku.

https://i.imgur.com/Bq61A2R.png

Chaud throws some sick bantz at "Speedy Dave" and then uses his authority as an Official to arrest him.

https://i.imgur.com/RVo53G7.png

I'd like to tell you that Dave doesn't set the standard of sensibility for the rest of Gospel, but that's only partially true.

https://i.imgur.com/yicryDa.png

After the battle, Ribitta interviews Lan and calls him a hero. While Lan protests that Chaud was the one who prevented the bombs from going off, he's long since departed with Dave and Ribitta points out that Lan was the one to defeat QuickMan anyway.

https://i.imgur.com/Z3suwIu.png

Ribitta then closes out with mention that the netmafia Gospel was behind this incident. A few NPCs around have mentioned that the netmafia has apparently been overseas before this point, so this is their first time publicly making waves in Electopia given that Yai was an isolated incident.

That said, I don't really know what the Yai incident had to do with Gospel's overall plans. Maybe they just needed some quick cash?

https://i.imgur.com/BGxi7oW.png

Back at the Hall of Doom, Mr. Leader laments the incompetence of his minions.

https://i.imgur.com/xOpOgNr.gif Well, they were just the bottom ranks, anyway. The world will soon know the true power of Gospel!
https://i.imgur.com/xOpOgNr.gif ...Dark! Your time to "shine" has arrived at last!

https://i.imgur.com/plQ33Hy.png
https://i.imgur.com/WudIlzR.png

Oh dear. We've reached the Mercenary Tao portion of Battle Network 2.

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

23 (edited by Hobgoblin 2021-01-19 22:13:34)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Part 6: A Cut Above the Rest

https://i.imgur.com/QA83rJz.png

The next scenario begins with Lan in the park yawning. He's not too thrilled about having to work on this summer homework assignment.

A nearby balloon (which you can see above) caught in a tree catches his attention, however.

https://i.imgur.com/WCUiPuI.png

Attached to the balloon is chip data from Yumland asking for the finder to be their pen pal.

https://i.imgur.com/jBLpF5o.png

Lan sees this as an opportunity to get some good food do his summer project, and so he decides they should visit Yumland on the Net.

Of course, I've already pointed out a while back that the way to Yumland is blocked off by a Security Cube, so that's a no go. You still have to examine the cube to progress the scenario, however.

https://i.imgur.com/4HfZdmV.png

A kid has also left a broken toy in the park, leading to the Mr. Progs inside to question the nature of their existence and whether they'll ever get the chance to play with kids again.

This is probably a better Toy Story 4 than what we'll actually get, to be honest.

https://i.imgur.com/bUOVYLq.png

As per usual, the NPCs have new things to say at this point in the game. Like this guy, who got married in Netopia!

https://i.imgur.com/0WdqkNm.png

And it seems like Lan isn't the only ACDC citizen to get a penpal recently.

https://i.imgur.com/GxnFsap.png

There's also an Official reminiscing about her school days.

https://i.imgur.com/MrYzJgm.png

We won't be visiting the actual Yumland anytime soon, unfortunately. But at least we have something of an idea what it's like.

https://i.imgur.com/WpKTWYF.png

Dex isn't working on his summer project yet, of course, and instead has GutsMan V2 ready for action.

https://i.imgur.com/vhw4V3J.png

Sadly for him, an upgraded GutsMan is still GutsMan.

https://i.imgur.com/wN73yuo.png

Mayl seems to have finished all of her assignments, possibly while doing her Netopian homework the other day. Good for her!

https://i.imgur.com/zxiLWqf.png

It's not clear whether Yai has or not, but she seems to be enjoying her wealth at least.

https://i.imgur.com/7vvXZ0U.png

You can also speak to Lan's mom, who is happy he decided to actually start doing his homework.

https://i.imgur.com/q2DcSl8.png

And this Mr. Prog, who is inside of the Hikari residence's A/C control.

There's no reason to talk to Mr. Prog usually, but why wouldn't you? They're adorable.

https://i.imgur.com/RBVbRCA.png

Lan is intent on getting his ALicense to get to that food despite the Security Cube presenting an obstacle.

https://i.imgur.com/ITRzrVc.png

It's for the best, really, given that the only other foreign net in the game has different entry requirements.

https://i.imgur.com/hPqPH4s.png

Ribitta still isn't available for rematches, but I'm finding it fun to see how often her dialogue updates.

https://i.imgur.com/Kas6D4P.png

Her cameraman also continues to rib her.

https://i.imgur.com/rzW0Fcx.png

Hey, Lan's famous! I bet all kinds of people will recognize our heroic deeds now!

https://i.imgur.com/OQDyymt.png

Upon entering the Center, you get mail from "a mysterious person", huh. Turns out he's installed a chip trader in the Official Center, huh! It's the same as the last game: by putting in three chips, you can trade them for a new chip. This time around the game saves when you use it, though, so no gaming the system. Huh!!

There's also a kid in Marine Harbor's Metroline station that tells you about this in advance if you like talking to NPCs.

https://i.imgur.com/SYx0ch4.png

A nearby elderly Official mentions that this center is the central network of the organization that protects the entire country of Electopia. Not only that, as a City Netbattler, Lan also represents the Officials.

That last part never really comes up in any other game, though. Probably because it takes away from Chaud's whole thing.

https://i.imgur.com/O0UbZ7h.png

More importantly, this guy.

https://i.imgur.com/9cRJBq3.png

This guy is the guy.

https://i.imgur.com/bUeBTQJ.png

This is Mr. Famous, a character who will go on to appear in every game in the series henceforth. He is based on Masakazu Eguchi, the scenario writer for the Battle Network series and director of Star Force 2, and has a habit of using fan-made Navis in each of his appearances (barring one).

The anime also gives him two gags. First, his shirt depicts the age of the MegaMan franchise based on whatever season he shows up in. When he first appears it's a 15 and by the last time it's a 19. Second, Lan has a habit of referring to him in a way that always bothers him. In English, he insists upon being called "Just Famous" without the Mr. at the front; in Japanese, Netto calls him "Meijin-san" and he complains "No need for -san!"

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/302630171574272005/578413088165068830/Pic006.png

He also shows up in the Operate Shooting Star demo in his Battle Network 6 appearance for some reason.

As you can see, he loses the mask at some point. I'm sure it must have been extremely painful.

https://i.imgur.com/kuUrijx.png

For you.

Boss Fight: GateMan

https://i.imgur.com/VyWkn6x.png

Old memes aside, let's talk about GateMan. As I mentioned before, Mr. Famous will use a different Navi in every appearance, making him the owner of the most Navis in the series by one. GateMan is arguably his most prolific Navi due to appearing in both this game and a later spin-off (Chip Challenge). Ironically, Mr. Famous has no Navi in the anime despite all four of them showing up.

In terms of fighting, GateMan isn't too bad out the, uh, gate due to Mr. Famous nerfing him hard for the sake of gameplay balance. As a result, GateMan typically only uses most of his attacks at low HP. Later on, though, he gets a bit more annoying about his mechanics once his attacks start getting faster! It's worth fighting him for his Navi Chip, though, because ahahahahahaha you'll see later

- Gate Soldier: His chest opens up and mini sword wielding soldiers come out to attack. This attack is tricky because the soldiers follow MegaMan up and down the panels, but they can be destroyed.
- Remote Gate: He summons a gate which sets in front of GateMan's front column. It moves up and down the rows as the player would, blocking any attempt to attack GateMan. After a while, it will open up and attack with a hand and stop moving. For this moment, GateMan is vulnerable. The gate is also vulnerable and able to be destroyed while it is open.
- Gate Cannon: His chest opens up and a cannon appears. The cannon fires a blast down the row it's on. To dodge, move to the row above or below.

https://i.imgur.com/PzkNLOl.png

After the battle, Mr. Famous congratulates Lan and gives him an HP Memory for winning against him. Neat!

https://i.imgur.com/a4zcWea.png

Back in the land of NPCs, this guy seems to be coming to a realization about what kind of series he's in.

https://i.imgur.com/t2Q7vbs.png

We also have another person mentioning having a penpal. That sure came up a lot all of a sudden!

https://i.imgur.com/qWSCuRt.png

Mr. Prog is also here, valiantly protecting the Square from any malefactors.

https://i.imgur.com/wAGoY3o.png

This guy also sums up my feeling on the Square pretty nicely.

https://i.imgur.com/rMCONAw.png

Lan tries to go and take his ALicense, but he's not allowed to at this point until he gets a soft tutorial on the Request Board.

https://i.imgur.com/6K0q9gQ.png

At this point there are five jobs available, three of which are mandatory (and marked Mission). They're fairly unremarkable, barring one, so I'll briefly summarize them.

- Optional Job #1: One of Lan's students has misplaced her younger sibling. Turns out she took the Metroline to Marine Harbor.
- Optional Job #2: An Official hires Lan to put out a hit on a Heel Navi. This is because, as an Official, he can't allow the bad guys to see his face. Which seems kind of counterproductive to the point of Officials, don't you think?
- Mission #1: A scientist needs us to delete some Heel Navis that have gotten into appliances around ACDC.
- Mission #3: A camper at Okuden Valley needs us to find a lost Mr. Prog.

Mission #2 isn't terribly interesting in terms of what you can do, just being a "Get this program back from a bad guy" quest. However, it is noteworthy because

https://i.imgur.com/y215ARS.png

The path to Kotobuki Area is now open!

https://i.imgur.com/1dDFwcJ.png

I also may have gotten into a fight with QuickMan V2 along the way.

https://i.imgur.com/ndDQZh0.png

KotoSquare!

https://i.imgur.com/f2p3YPR.png

We're hearing a lot about Kotobuki Town. I'm surprised we can't visit it yet given how close to Marine Harbor it seems to be.

https://i.imgur.com/fs31hWM.png

Towards the bottom left of the screen is a gate, but we're not allowed to go through it at this point in the game.

https://i.imgur.com/6exAFXe.png

There are also a few NPCs around who explain the nature of BugFrags. If left alone, they will become bugs. However, Kotobuki Traders collect them and dispose of them properly, exchanging Battle Chips for them.

https://i.imgur.com/Z1HbXOi.png

Like this shop here.

https://i.imgur.com/UzS6A48.png

Here's that Shrimpy picture I promised.

https://i.imgur.com/3k49rlx.png

And in case you were worried about QuickMan's dungeon being a one-time thing, returning to the dam shows that the four deactivated detonators are there.

https://i.imgur.com/Tdqc4zR.png

Alright, let's take that exam!

https://i.imgur.com/ShA8x17.png
https://i.imgur.com/QFh7mg8.png
https://i.imgur.com/V5HmyHK.png

Seems like the same people from last time are here, too!

https://i.imgur.com/BJPOoid.png

The exam itself isn't very interesting. Much like before, it's just "Kill five viruses in a row", "Here's a job to take care of some bad guys", and "Kill five viruses in a row again".

https://i.imgur.com/wVXr46v.png

Here are some more viruses, though. Including the red Mettaur2! Worth noting that, unlike in the Classic series, Mettaurs don't hide under their helmets to block attacks until they're upgraded to Mettaur2.

And while we're hanging around the Square, let's check on the boards, shall we?

https://i.imgur.com/PPIp2yW.png

Battle Board

Poster: Akira
Subject: "Atk+10"
I was thinking, the Atk+10 might work best if you put it on something with a wide attack range, like a V-Gun, instead of something like a Cannon.

Poster: Chuck
Subject: Busting level
I heard your Busting Level goes up if you kill multiple viruses with one attack, or if you take no damage.

Poster: Baldy
Subject: DashAtk?Huh?
Hey guys. Are you using DashAtk? That chip takes a long time to activate...

Poster: Nooge
Subject: Re:DashAtk?Huh?
I use DashAtk cuz it packs quite a punch. But yeah, it is slow. It's easy to get hit before it works. That's why I use it in combination with Invis1!

Poster: Akira
Subject: Busting level
No matter what I do, I can't get my Busting level over 6!!!

Poster: Famous
Subject: Re:Busting level
How's everyone doing!? NetBattler Famous here! So you wanna raise your Busting Level? Multiple deletes!!! 3 is beter than 2, which is better than 1 for your level! That doesn't mean you have to finish them off together. Anyway, look for opportunities! Good luck! Cya!

Poster: Hoss
Subject: Mr.Famous!?
No way! Mr.Famous!? From the Center!? For real!? I can't believe it! I challenged your Navi, GateMan once! He demolished me... Please battle with me again sometime!

Poster: Skeeter
Subject: Re:Mr.Famous!
Mr.Famous!!! Wow! I'm a huge fan of yours! I can't believe this! Next time I'm in DenCity, I'll be sure to visit the Center. NetBattle with me, please!

Poster: Yaz
Subject: My deck
I used to use only attack chips for my default chip. Nowadays, I try a different strategy & use Repair only. Kinda sneaky, eh? It may seem like a weak strat, but it comes in handy!

Poster: Pow!
Subject: Re:My deck
Repair is sneaky! I use AreaGrab. I only use swords. Different strokes...

Poster: Dex
Subject: Re:My deck
The name's Dex. Wasssup! My default chip is the same as always, GutPunch! But to tell the truth, I just can't get a RegUP1...

Poster: Santa
Subject: Breaking thru
Let's talk about different kinds of battlechip attacks. Some of them are good for getting past guards. I use the Hammer. This can even delete nasty ones quick!

Poster: Hoss
Subject: Re:Breaking thru
I tried it too! It brought the guard down! I looked for others and found Wrecker, which works too. Guard-breaking works best against hard, heavy attacks. Maybe there are others...?

Poster: Skeeter
Subject: Re:Breaking thru
I didn't know there was a chip like that! I wonder if I can find a CannBall!?

Poster: Mickey
Subject: Sword rumor
It's just a rumor... Sword, WideSwrd, and LongSwrd are a series of chips. I've heard that if you select them in order... Something happens. I wonder what happens? I wanted to try it but unfortunately I don't have them all.

Poster: Skeeter
Subject: Is it true?
That is completely fascinating... I'll have to try that!

Mickey's talking about the LifeSword Program Advance. And I actually will be talking about Program Advances this time.

Later.

https://i.imgur.com/iQiZdvC.png

Street Board

Poster: Zack
Subject: Camping
I went camping with my dad in Okuden Valley yesterday! And get this- there was a bomb scare!!! It was fun! It's so nice to get back to nature! I wanna go again!

Poster: Baldy
Subject: Re:Camping
Okuden Valley! I went there too, last summer. I wanted to do a BBQ so I used the stove there but the fire was so strong it burnt the meat! So I jacked in & fixed it!

Poster: Roll
Subject: Re:Camping
We went to Okuden Valley too! It was during the bomb scare, so it was the same day. There were bees too, and even an attack by a robot bear! It's almost as if that's the whole point of camping... Hehe! By the way, a good friend of mine chased both away! It's sure nice to have a guy you can count on at camp!

Poster: Yaz
Subject: Traders again
Hi there! Since you're here reading this, you probably know, but... I found a chip trader in the Center lobby! It's as fun as the rumors say! I'm already hooked! And the results... Muwahahaa... I got a rare chip! :) There you have it!

Poster: Crow
Subject: Re:Traders again
Thank you for sharing your chip trader infor with us. Anyway, congrats! Yeah, Recov10s are overstocked lately. Tomorrow I'm going down to the Center to try all my chips! Oh I'd better be sure not to use my favorite ZapRing1!!!

That last post doesn't show up at this point, but I stuck it in here for solidarity. I'll be doing this in a few other places, too.

https://i.imgur.com/MaKHn93.png

Virus Board

Poster: Ms.Tater
Subject: HardHeads
What's up with HardHeads? I can't damage them at all! I can't beat them!

Poster: Noogie
Subject: Re:HardHeads
Well, Ms.Tater... When that virus closes its mouth, it takes no damage. So time your attack so to hit when its mouth is open!

Poster: Ms.Tater
Subject: Re:HardHeads
But while I'm waiting, the other viruses attack me! What can I do!?

Poster: Oozy
Subject: Re:HardHeads
I'll let you in on a little secret about HardHeads! This is only a hint so pay attention! Some chips penetrate viruses' guards and do damage! If you want to learn more, check the Battle Board!

Poster: Ms.Tater
Subject: Re:HardHeads
I checked the Battle Board... I see now... Alright, take that blockhead virus!!! Thanks everyone!

I mentioned Hardheads in Battle Network 1 during the BombMan scenario.

https://i.imgur.com/RvDa7UX.png

Chat Board

Poster: Vishnu
Subject: Camp incident
There was a bomb scare at the campground recently. I saw on TV that an 11-year-old deleted the criminal Navi! Must be a great NetBattler! I'd love to challenge him once!

Poster: Marble
Subject: NetBattles...
Speaking of NetBattles, guess who is back at the Center! You guessed it!

Poster: Scummy
Subject: That person!?
Is it true!? Wow, I'll have to challenge him! Last time, I had a nasty fight vs. GateSoldier. But I just bought a PowerUP, so I'll be ready for him now! I'll just have to look out for his Gate Cannon! It does overwhelming damage.

Poster: Oozy
Subject: NetBattle, eh
Been a while since I NetBattled. Since my trip to Yumland. Their level of NetBattling and virus busting is so high. They have a unique programming technology. Their secret program is kept as a national treasure.

Poster: Candy
Subject: Yumland is...
I did a homestay in Yumland myself. It's a beautiful, green country with delicious food. And to top it off, its network is totally modern!

I love how everyone immediately disregards Lan stopping a bombing to talk about Mr. Famous.

https://i.imgur.com/IkBuDPK.png

This is the last license we need for the story, so we won't have to stop to handle this anymore! Huzzah!

https://i.imgur.com/usqJ32f.png

I also like how the Officials are so happy for Lan when he passes. It's cute.

This guy gives a Recover 50 * when you talk to him afterwards.

https://i.imgur.com/osvfEmR.png

Yumlaaaand

https://i.imgur.com/UrHZQN3.png

Past this guy is the entrance to the next area.

https://i.imgur.com/PmE49Wn.png

Have I mentioned I really like how unique each area is? With Den Area's dark blue, Kotobuki's vibrant orange, and the light green here, it's very easy to remember where every location is as well as their unique characteristics.

https://i.imgur.com/gATaYyh.png

Is it? This is our first time visiting, but I'll take your word for it.

https://i.imgur.com/yKCZmx8.png

Hm... If that's the case, it is a little weird I've only seen about four Navis up to this point. And one of those was a Net Merchant.

https://i.imgur.com/cDlcBdd.png

I'm sure the Square will be livelier.

https://i.imgur.com/L6Hpioh.png

Oh, uh... well this is happening. Seems like some ninja is picking a fight with the Yumland monarchy and military. That explains the lack of people.

https://i.imgur.com/1FG6WD7.png

The King (named CookMan in the artbook) tries to mobilize his men to attack, but they're instantly deleted by some ninja flunkies.

https://i.imgur.com/T7jDv0t.png

https://i.imgur.com/9aHegQh.png Hmph...Well, these gospel music fans or something...
https://i.imgur.com/9aHegQh.png Wait. Rather than explain all that, let me cut to the chase.
https://i.imgur.com/9aHegQh.png Why'd I destroy your country? Simple! This Gospel group asked me to, that's why.
https://i.imgur.com/9aHegQh.png Hey, I was just doing my job... I guess it just wasn't Yumland's lucky day! Sorry!!

https://i.imgur.com/5UYyDqv.png

https://i.imgur.com/9aHegQh.png Mission accomplished, Mr. Dark.

https://i.imgur.com/eXTy030.png

Meet Dark Miyabi and ShadowMan. I wasn't kidding about the Mercenary Tao comparison.

The English games tend to refer to ShadowMan's operator by the name "Dark", but in Japanese Netto calls him Miyabi much like Yugi calls Seto Kaiba "Kaiba". Given that Dark is kind of a silly "name", I'll be calling him Miyabi as well.

At any rate, Miyabi informs ShadowMan of his next target and they depart for now.

https://i.imgur.com/fahCXUV.png

Fortunately, CookMan wasn't fully deleted yet and manages to pass on a message to a Normal Navi that managed to survive the slaughter.

https://i.imgur.com/R5t9RtU.png

He then fades away, lamenting that he was too impotent of a king to prevent this from happening.

https://i.imgur.com/2hdZ779.png

MegaMan arrives at the Square in the aftermath of this. Presumably this was all happening as he traveled through Yumland Areas 1 and 2.

https://i.imgur.com/TzKc7qo.png

Needless to say, the Square being empty like this proves to be a rather unsettling thing. To further emphasize this, the usual internet music also goes quiet here.

https://i.imgur.com/tIi5s9j.png

MegaMan hears something in the distance and goes to investigate.

https://i.imgur.com/x2KFR9F.png

The noise continues as MegaMan gets further in.

https://i.imgur.com/ZNosccF.png

And finally we come to the source.

https://i.imgur.com/WgdZI4O.png

The Normal Navi in question is speaking... whatever language they speak in Yumland, so MegaMan starts up a translator.

https://i.imgur.com/9kT6Ks4.png

MegaMan introduces himself and the Normal Navi mentions that they arrived late to find things as they presently are.

https://i.imgur.com/zkjAY6A.png

Though not too late that he couldn't get some worrying information.

Lan and MegaMan decide to go rely that information to the Officials

https://i.imgur.com/JWz075K.png

but someone arrives to prevent that!

https://i.imgur.com/4ImEC1N.png
https://i.imgur.com/ugQzymA.png

Oh no, he's flashing the peace sign! That's adorable!

https://i.imgur.com/XkVOfJ0.png
https://i.imgur.com/cMAvbJ7.png up survivors in the countries the Commander conquers.

Nobody tell him that even if he gets rid of MegaMan and the Normal Navi, Lan could still go and tell someone that ShadowMan is coming.

https://i.imgur.com/sjYaPSr.png

Why weren't you in Battle Network 1 with the rest of the original MegaMan's bosses?

Boss Fight: CutMan

https://i.imgur.com/TR2rGgD.png

CutMan has a very simple strategy. He puts a rock in the center of your area to limit your movement, then has a pair of scissors chase you around. While you're avoiding the scissors, he tries to lead you into his other attacks. The rock has a lot of HP, but can be broken, which basically neuters his strategy a decent bit. Still, it's not like he's terribly hard even with it.

- Rolling Cutter: CutMan summons a pair of scissors that chases the player around the battlefield. V2 and V3 summon two pairs.
- Scissor Chop: CutMan moves up to the front of his area and chops the player with his scissors. This attack only covers one panel.
- Scissor Boomerang: CutMan throws his scissors down the row.

https://i.imgur.com/TAiATqD.png

CutMan has a fatal case of explosions after the fight.

https://i.imgur.com/HyJEy7N.png

As it turns out, Normal Navi here was our penpal. Kinda funny how that whole thing wound up turning out, huh?

https://i.imgur.com/oAykvrk.png

Lan assures the guy that it's not his fault and that he'll defeat ShadowMan.

He then decides to go see his dad to determine the next course of action and jacks out.

https://i.imgur.com/2reIqH3.png

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

24 (edited by Hobgoblin 2021-01-19 22:24:40)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Part 7: Style for Miles

https://i.imgur.com/U0xYeXv.png

There's a bit of a time skip after the events of YumSquare.

https://i.imgur.com/coUSzCE.png

The Officials are getting up to speed on what happened. They aren't too excited to hear about what's going on, that's for sure.

Interestingly enough, they're contacted via telegram. I'm assuming Gospel's aim wasn't just to destroy all of the head Navis, but to cripple their communications.

https://i.imgur.com/B4jbpPS.png

When it comes out that Gospel's next target is Electopia, Chaud leaves to make preparations. Yuichiro begins to create an Anti-Navi weapon to terminate ShadowMan while also having the Officials contact all of the City Netbattlers to be on standby.

Incidentally, this is NOT SciLab from the first game. Yuichiro just does consultant work here. That said, he does have a laboratory here that looks much like the one from the first game, so I imagine he's here rather frequently.

https://i.imgur.com/8LNb9oh.png

Yuichiro sends a message to Lan saying he won't be home for a while. Which was kind of a given since he hasn't even shown up before this point!

However, unlike the last game, we're actually going to meet him fairly early this time around and he's inviting us to visit him at the Official Center.

https://i.imgur.com/AIeq3bn.png

Haruka seems to be taking things better than in the last game, at least.

https://i.imgur.com/wsJ3nPM.png

Yai suggests that Lan take this time to read a book instead of surfing the Net in order to avoid getting caught up in the inevitable struggle between Gospel and Electopia.

https://i.imgur.com/KO5C1Vl.png

Mayl has been set back on taking her BLicense exam by recent events.

https://i.imgur.com/RqkZHLq.png

And Dex is available to challenge GutsMan V3. That was a quick upgrade. He's not quite as much of a pushover as in the last game, but he's still not too bad. I'll have a video for him later once he moves to the final dungeon.

https://i.imgur.com/1FAde98.png

I also took this time to beat down AirMan V2, who is hiding in a dead end in Den Area 1.

https://i.imgur.com/Rsp0lab.png

A number of NPCs at Marine Harbor are discussing how things at the Center seem a bit more dire than before due to the increased Official presence online.

https://i.imgur.com/8U4tsc6.png

Ribitta is also using ToadMan V2 now.

https://i.imgur.com/vQh0YN2.png

A number of NPCs who originally receptionists are now crowded around the wall panel that connects to the Square.

https://i.imgur.com/ayFENqE.png

The Square is emptier than usual, which makes sense given what happened in Yumland.

https://i.imgur.com/1k8IC3j.png

This guy is still here, though, and is still great.

https://i.imgur.com/6TYv7DJ.png

Official Navis are patrolling the Net at present due to being on high alert.

https://i.imgur.com/KFODiBf.png

There's also a job available at this time that takes you to Yumland. A Heel Navi wants to pay you up front

https://i.imgur.com/H8S5qQq.png

so that he can rob you while your guard is down for chips to sell on the Black Market.

Needless to say, this doesn't end well for him.

https://i.imgur.com/eOqT0qV.png
https://i.imgur.com/dUnJW5D.png

Fortunately, the key he gave us is actually a very useful tool.

https://i.imgur.com/d5cTOU0.png

Back in Den Area 1, the construction zone has finally finished and can now be entered.

https://i.imgur.com/P73Sa9o.png

With Gate Key B, MegaMan can unlock the top left warp

https://i.imgur.com/bbrvLXY.png

creating a quick shortcut to Yum Square! This will be handy in a little bit.

https://i.imgur.com/aXM3LCX.png

The Officials also praise Lan for managing to foil the fake requester.

https://i.imgur.com/9pH7lvD.png

In his dad's lab, Lan speaks with Yuichiro about recent events.

https://i.imgur.com/FyVMsgd.png

Yuichiro tells Lan to let the Officials handle their job for now, as he has an important assignment for MegaMan as well. Due to ShadowMan's capabilities, Yuichiro thinks it would be best to prepare a power-up program for MegaMan on the off-chance that they're not up to snuff to handle them. So he wants Lan to find a Change.bat file.

Unfortunately, he also has no idea where to get one.

https://i.imgur.com/Vc8QFlm.png

Fortunately, this is the internet age! Behold, one of the few message board posts MegaMan will make in the series.

https://i.imgur.com/vLuTqfZ.png

To pass time while waiting for the answer, MegaMan goes around to speak with everyone that remains in the Square. That means talking to this guy again, and that's cool.

https://i.imgur.com/4D9hCwS.png

Mr. Prog is also ready for action!

After talking to everyone, the boards will have updated with the necessary information.

Battle Board

Poster: Santa
Subject: Insert what?
What is everybody using for their default chip? I'm a cannon fan! Hope I get Z-Cannon!

Poster: Noogie
Subject: Umm...
Program advances, huh. That's what I'm after, but it's hard. What's the main thing to do? default chip & ADD?

Poster: Pow!
Subject: Virus info!
A friend told me this... There are viruses that you can't beat with just a buster. Chips that fire through, like ShotGun and Shockwave, work!

Poster: Baldy
Subject: RockCube
Yesterday was my birthday. My girlfriend game me a chip as a present. I was so happy, and couldn't wait to get the box open... I was a RockCube. I was pretty disappointed, since it seemed useless. But my girlfriend gave it to me, so I put it in my folder. Is this chip useful for anything?

Poster: Noogie
Subject: Re:RockCube
RockCube is more useful than you might think... Against the right virus... heheheee!

Poster: Mickey
Subject: Re:RockCube
Which virus is RockCube useful against? I wanna know too! Don't tease us, Noogie!!!

Poster: Noogie
Subject: A huge hint
Noogie here. OK, a big hint! It's F***y! Ah that's too big a hint!!!

Poster: Baldy
Subject: I got it!
Ah, that one... I got it! I'll try it next time! And I'll tell my girlfriend! Thank you!

Poster: Famous
Subject: Try this too
Hello! NetBattler Famous here! RockCube is actually also useful when used with punches! Try it with a punch attack chip! Hahahahahahaaa!

Poster: Cuckoo
Subject: Re:Try this too
Wow, Mr. Famous! He knows everything! I'll figure out a new chip by myself too, you'll see!

Poster: Servebot
Subject: Asterisk!
Listen up everyone! I got a Invis1*! The * code rocks! Hehehe...

Fishy viruses like to fly at you in straight lines, but they can't go through obstacles, making Rock Cube good for avoiding them.

Street Board

Poster: Mr.beLLz
Subject: Mystery data
I have a question about the mystery data in the Net. I was wondering-why are some blue and some green?

Poster: Admin
Subject: Re:Mystery data
I'll tell yah. Blue mystery data disappears- you can only take it once. And you can take green data, um... how many times? Actually it comes back each time you jack out! And-get this-you never know what's gonna be in there! Like a box of chocolates! Sometimes, though, the green ones will have viruses. So you'd better be careful!

Poster: Mr.beLLz
Subject: Re:Mystery da
I see...! Got it! Viruses too! (gulp!) What if I buy the Untrap subchip? Alright, I'm gonna go get one!

Poster: MegaMan
Subject: Info wanted!
I'm looking for a Chng.bat. Info please! -MegaMan.EXE

Poster: Grimace
Subject: To MegaMan
This is your first post, right? Introduce yourself first. That's just proper netiquette!

Poster: IronMan
Subject: To MegaMan
Hi there. I don't really know much about programs. But I know someone who does. It's a girl. She hangs out with a tough boy in ACDC Park a lot.

Thanks, Mr. Stark.

Virus Board

Poster: Candy
Subject: Dominerds
I can't delete those Dominerd viruses. Who knows how to?

Poster: Skeeter
Subject: Re:Dominerds
Dominerd- you mean those viruses that look like dominoes? I hear they appear abroad, not in Electopia. So I dunno. Can someone post a strategy for these guys?

Poster: Grimace
Subject: Viruses...
Ask Kiddo, he knows a lot about foreign viruses. I think he reads this board actually. Kiddo, are you there?

Poster: Kiddo
Subject: Domnrd strats
Kiddo here! Dominerds, eh. Yeah, you see those all over in Netopia. They are usually in StoneBod form, which means that their bodies are as hard as a rock, and only take 1 point damage! So here's what you do! They open their mouths to bite, right? When the come to bite you, take one step back and... Chip attack! Fast attacks like sword, work best. Alright, good luck, all you virus busters! Later!

Poster: Vishnu
Subject: Mushies
There's a virus like a mushroom, called Musy, that can only move over grass panels, apparently. When all the grass panels are gone, they stand there shaking!

Mushies will be around soon. Dominerds not so much. Not that I'm sad about it. They're consistently one of the most annoying enemies in the series.

Chat Board

Poster: Servebot
Subject: What's wrong?
Hello! Today I had something to do in Marine Harbor. So I jacked into the Center to write this. The Center seems strange today. Frantic... What happened at the Center today?

Poster: Oopsy
Subject: Center people
I saw Official NetBattlers in the lobby today too. What happened there today?

Poster: Admin
Subject: From Admin
Thank you for using the Square bulletin boards. Due to circumstances at the Center today, we have raised the security level. The Square is at alert status. Please jack-out quickly, since it may be dangerous to you.

Poster: Baldy
Subject: Good luck!
Good work, everyone at the Center. Be strong today for DenCity- no, for all Electopia!

Poster: Cuz =P
Subject: A close one!
I was almost late for school today! That was close! I didn't get my wake-up mail from my pen pal in Yumland this morning and overslept!

Poster: Oozy
Subject: Yumland
I thought I just heard somebody who works at the Center say YumSquare was destroyed, but I must have heard wrong...?

I believe this is the last time pen pals come up in this series. Kind of weird how everyone's pen pal seems to be from Yumland, huh?

https://i.imgur.com/PVCylm0.png

As it turns out, the woman in question is married to the man who was talking about his Netopian wedding.

https://i.imgur.com/tLJXNL0.png

There's a bit of a series of fetch quests here where he has you take his wife a battery for her PET so she doesn't lose power in the mountains. She then directs you to visit a purple Normal Navi in Koto Square.

Incidentally, the NPCs in Okuden are mostly oblivious to what's going on online at present, featuring mostly kids who are camping or some elderly people who are out getting exercise.

https://i.imgur.com/zrDzQ4y.png

On the way to Koto Square, there are Official Navis patrolling the area as well. However, the Navis here seem to be largely ignoring their warnings to jack out due to respecting the idea of free choice too much. Curious.

https://i.imgur.com/8M0MBKM.png

At least they have some good sentiment towards Electopia.

https://i.imgur.com/Cmsfo4Z.png
https://i.imgur.com/kga7qUl.png

What a bunch of stand-up guys.

https://i.imgur.com/KAmzEMz.png

I forgot to show it, but here's what the shop room of Koto Square looks like.

https://i.imgur.com/s8VAzjO.png

The purple Navi here gives us a key to Yumland Square, informing us that the Change.bat is there. Go figure.

https://i.imgur.com/6DBPzb0.png

Going back to speak to the camper, she gifts Lan with Gate Key A. Handy!

https://i.imgur.com/Qs9YPkA.png
https://i.imgur.com/iA1g40O.png

People around ACDC don't seem too troubled by current ongoings.

https://i.imgur.com/aFdUNnP.png

And this guy brags about his wife a little. Cute!

https://i.imgur.com/YkKxWHY.png

Gate Key A unlocks the bottom right warp, which opens the locked warp in Den Square. Now we can warp straight to Yum Square from the Official Center by bouncing between teleporters.

Music: Vicinity of Sorrow

https://i.imgur.com/9DvJ6DK.png

YumSquare now has a sad theme playing over it. And that song will persist for the rest of the game.

It also played briefly when meeting the pen pal last time.

https://i.imgur.com/WndyUix.png

Heading back to the room where said Navi was, MegaMan unlocks the door in the back.

https://i.imgur.com/grA6d6q.png

And the Change.bat is ours!

https://i.imgur.com/TvggquP.png

Oh.

https://i.imgur.com/b43gyvc.png

Well, that's unfortunate.

Since the Change.bat is kind of important, YumSquare is now on lockdown and MegaMan is unable to jack out without leaving the Square the way he entered.

https://i.imgur.com/Ke60kHd.png

This leads to a series of fights against some automated defenses that release viruses at MegaMan.

https://i.imgur.com/kaws87X.png

Bunny!

https://i.imgur.com/4fDGDGe.png

After escaping from the Square, MegaMan feels a little guilty about looting the place, but Lan says that it's kind of a necessary evil for the moment given what's going on.

https://i.imgur.com/0xsGRTA.png

They also intend to return it, so that's good.

https://i.imgur.com/w6bYDL4.png

Yuichiro even collaborates on that point.

https://i.imgur.com/38LgocG.png

Yuichiro finishes the new program and installs it into MegaMan, which seems to have no noticeable effect at first. Yuichiro says that the program will develop over time in response to MegaMan's experiences, however, so we'll see how that goes.

https://i.imgur.com/A8nmgTc.png

Speaking of experience...

https://i.imgur.com/pF2ing5.png

It seems that the desk jockeys couldn't cut it. Too much time pushing pencils rusted their skills, I guess.

https://i.imgur.com/y3k7AtQ.png

In the Square, which is now empty, MegaMan confronts a Heel Navi with bad grammar.

Said Heel Navi then sicks a virus on MegaMan in an attempt to get rid of him.

https://i.imgur.com/wdqlqoT.png

Strangely enough, this guy has the boss music despite just being a run of the mill virus. Granted, it's one we haven't seen before this point.

https://i.imgur.com/TpVMUfY.png

His gimmick is being immune to damage while the mask is on his face. After a while, the eyes on the mask open and it launches forward one panel. If MegaMan is on that panel, it'll smack him for damage; otherwise, it just begins to release poison in a 2x3 area. To ensure the poison takes effect, he will steal one of your columns so you can't hide in the back.

While the mask is off of his face, it repels most attacks from the front unless they have spread effects. Ranged attacks or attacks from the side are still effective, though. He's also weak to Fire due to being Wood element.

https://i.imgur.com/Pua6UhD.png

He didn't last long.

https://i.imgur.com/Mc9NQXh.png

Yuichiro is still working on the Anti-Navi weapon, so Lan goes to handle the situation.

https://i.imgur.com/H4kZH8q.png

In the hallway, there's this waitress who laments that Electopia's central computer being attacked might mean bad things for her job since people won't be concerned about ordering lunches through her if things go bad.

https://i.imgur.com/QVpopBC.png

I guess that's not wrong, but it seems like a very minor concern to have right now.

https://i.imgur.com/eJVD9zK.png

In the next room, Lan finds the Mother Computer.

https://i.imgur.com/J1inZRv.png

It seems that ShadowMan has infiltrated the system and is locking everyone out with their own security.

https://i.imgur.com/gAPXSR1.png

The Officials decide to handle this problem themselves.

https://i.imgur.com/66hWz5h.png

It's very anime. One of them even says that they'll have to use that.

https://i.imgur.com/s4MLpty.png

They even shout their attack names!

https://i.imgur.com/qKz9OLG.png

You said it, Lan.

https://i.imgur.com/45zktkn.png

Since this would be a boring segment if there was no gameplay involved, the Officials accept Lan's help for the next area.

https://i.imgur.com/DBY54LP.png

I'll hold off on the music for now, but post it next update.

https://i.imgur.com/bNN1HrW.png

So, the Mother Computer. The most important device in all of Electopia. The backbone of our Net Society.

Surely its security system is top notch, right?

https://i.imgur.com/C5VVsEJ.png

ahahahahaha

https://i.imgur.com/HrmR8DN.png

I think ShadowMan is doing them a favor by dunking on their security.

https://i.imgur.com/CqumqQx.png

Random battles are beginning to show up as their second versions a bit more often now, but this first battle was nothing problema-

Music: Style Change

https://i.imgur.com/6tTXa7o.png

Oh?

https://i.imgur.com/27WQapW.png

MegaMan begins to flicker,

https://i.imgur.com/EOR15NO.png

before suddenly changing form!

https://i.imgur.com/P5lCvHv.gif

https://lpix.org/3448428/BN1YuichiroMug.png You are seeing a phenomenon called a "style change".
https://lpix.org/3446735/OSS%20Lan.png Dad!?
https://lpix.org/3446737/OSS%20Mega.png Style change...!?

https://i.imgur.com/oQmy8C7.png

https://lpix.org/3448428/BN1YuichiroMug.png Navis automatically evolve to reflect this effectively.
https://lpix.org/3448428/BN1YuichiroMug.png This is called a "style change". The data format is...

https://i.imgur.com/vjC93tO.png

https://lpix.org/3448428/BN1YuichiroMug.png This is an [Aqua] Navi style ideal for NaviChip combos.
https://lpix.org/3448428/BN1YuichiroMug.png This style starts with 7 chip options in the Custom menu.
https://lpix.org/3448428/BN1YuichiroMug.png Also, charged shots will turn into Water shots.
https://lpix.org/3448428/BN1YuichiroMug.png Careful, though, you take twice as much damage from [Elec]!

https://i.imgur.com/HnyfMo3.png
https://i.imgur.com/V9cZJok.png

Well. Guess I've got to talk about Style Changes now.

https://i.imgur.com/5m7g8aN.png

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2

25 (edited by Hobgoblin 2022-05-27 00:40:25)

Re: Let's Play the MegaMan Battle Network Series

Part 8: Shadow of War

When we last left off, MegaMan acquired a new power.

https://i.imgur.com/k17N7Gx.png

But we kind of have an important matter to attend to at present, so let's save the details of that for the next update.

As a note for future readers, you may notice a small disconnect between the videos and screenshots in terms of my Styles and some battle ranks. That's because these videos are from a playthrough I did in late 2020 - 2021 after I got the means to make my own videos, well after I took these screenshots!

Music: A Serious Mission

https://i.imgur.com/Rrw4kLD.png

So the Mother Computer.

https://i.imgur.com/Mm0j2x4.png

As we established last time, the password security here is a bit lacking. Especially for this first computer.

Hint: I lie in a bed, but never sleep. What am I?
Answer: RIVER

Hint: What are the two missing letters? "-et-attler"
Answer: "N", "B"

And so on. You walk on the letters that correspond to the answer, and then the pathway opens up for you. Fail and the puzzle teleports you back a distance.

https://i.imgur.com/ZJt2KIH.png

It's not terribly tricky to get through.

https://i.imgur.com/U3jGfZZ.png

After MegaMan disables the security door, one of ShadowMan's henchmen shows up to fight.

https://i.imgur.com/9LAjtZj.png

However, the Officials arrive to combat him in MegaMan's stead.

https://i.imgur.com/0plIiz0.png

Seeing as they're nondescript Normal Navis, they figure the best thing to do in this case is to self-destruct to take out the baddie. The "hero theme" of the game starts playing here, but I'm going to hold off on it for now. There's a point later in the game where it's more fitting.

https://i.imgur.com/Tu2nkjm.png

Fortunately, since this isn't Dragon Ball Z, minor characters doing a suicide move isn't completely pointless.

That said, all three of them blowing themselves up to kill one guy does seem a bit excessive.

https://i.imgur.com/AckQcG4.png

At the next computer, Chaud catches up with us and jacks ProtoMan into the computer to deal with the situation.

He doesn't really feel like working together at the moment, though, since he's Chaud.

https://i.imgur.com/Smrq5Vl.png

Also, here's a new virus. It shoots Wood Towers that slowly grow from a seed. Water attacks make the seed grow faster on contact, hence the Shrimpy.

https://i.imgur.com/XMwtULh.png

MegaMan and ProtoMan confront ShadowMan at the end of the computer.

https://i.imgur.com/FU8C5vi.png

ProtoMan's JRPG senses are tingling.

However, he decides to deal with ShadowMan himself and sends MegaMan to enter the Mother Computer in order to prevent them from causing further destruction.

https://i.imgur.com/rgKLkmd.png

As it turns out, there is another Navi present!

https://i.imgur.com/6B20BiX.png

He's spread grass all over the place. Grass panels make it so that anything that is Wood element recovers HP quickly while standing on them. The trade-off is that anything on a grass panel takes double the damage from fire attacks, or quadruple if it's a Wood element virus/Navi on grass panels.

https://i.imgur.com/hJuVWcy.png

Later parts of the Mother Computer use slightly more difficult puzzles, but it's still not too bad.

Hint: Make two words from "ere last moth".
Answer: Almost There

Hint: What letters follow A-C-E?
Answer: GIKMOQSUWY

See what I mean?

https://i.imgur.com/WTMAPn0.png

PuffBalls are also regular enemies now.

https://i.imgur.com/R6D7cGl.png

Eventually MegaMan reaches the end of the Mother Computer. The last password is "Virus".

https://i.imgur.com/qP3Am19.png

And at the end, MegaMan finds the Nintendo Gamecube.

https://i.imgur.com/qTBcsz8.png

And... ShadowMan?!

https://i.imgur.com/1R2kWIx.png

As a Mr. Prog before this point helpfully explains, ShadowMan uses the Kage Bunshin technique to make solid clones of himself.

MegaMan realizes that the ShadowMan that stayed behind to fight ProtoMan was fake.

https://i.imgur.com/uoHA8eU.png

Much like QuickMan before him, this is not the first meeting of MegaMan and ShadowMan. Ignoring the fact that he's a bonus boss in the first game (something that's treated as non-canon to the narrative), he also makes an appearance in Network Transmission.

After the Professor reveals his plan to recreate the Life Virus following the encounter with Zero, Lan and MegaMan attempt to obtain an AuthCode in order to access the secured WWW area. In the process...

https://lpix.org/3446735/OSS%20Lan.png Who's there!?
https://i.imgur.com/9aHegQh.png ... I am here to carry out my assignment.
https://lpix.org/3446737/OSS%20Mega.png Assignment?
https://i.imgur.com/9aHegQh.png To destroy the AuthCode here if someone tries to take it...
https://i.imgur.com/9aHegQh.png That is my assignment. And... I just completed it.
https://lpix.org/3446735/OSS%20Lan.png So there was an AuthCode here!
https://i.imgur.com/9aHegQh.png You were too late, by mere seconds. I've already destroyed it.
https://lpix.org/3446737/OSS%20Mega.png Lan! The Professor is one step ahead of us...
https://lpix.org/3446735/OSS%20Lan.png No! You...! Then we'll just make you cough up the Professor's info!
https://i.imgur.com/9aHegQh.png You think so? You really think you can defeat ShadowMan...
https://lpix.org/3446735/OSS%20Lan.png MegaMan! Battle routine! Set!
https://lpix.org/3446737/OSS%20Mega.png Execute!

A fight ensues. I'm sure you can guess who wins.

https://i.imgur.com/9aHegQh.png Grrrr... You're stronger than you look... Time to put an end to this...
https://lpix.org/3446737/OSS%20Mega.png Wait! I won't let you get away!
https://i.imgur.com/9aHegQh.png Time to hide in the leaves of these cybertrees!
https://lpix.org/3446735/OSS%20Lan.png What the!? He's gone...! Did he jack out?
https://lpix.org/3446737/OSS%20Mega.png I don't know...! There's no trace of him jacking out...

ShadowMan then disappears for the rest of the game until a stinger scene following the end credits.

https://i.imgur.com/9aHegQh.png Mr. Dark, sir... I'm back...
https://i.imgur.com/p7yfZHe.png ... The Professor was a great source of funding. But he's finished, now.
https://i.imgur.com/9aHegQh.png Yes, sir...
https://i.imgur.com/p7yfZHe.png Ah well... No matter. I've already found our next sponsor.
https://i.imgur.com/9aHegQh.png Next sponsor?
https://i.imgur.com/p7yfZHe.png Yes, it's a net crime organization that has been growing lately.
https://i.imgur.com/p7yfZHe.png They call themselves... 'Gospel.' The job is...
https://i.imgur.com/9aHegQh.png ... ... As you command, sir!

Based on dialogue, I'm assuming that ShadowMan had MegaMan fight one of his clones back then. It makes more sense that way since there's at least tension in whether MegaMan can beat the real ShadowMan or not as opposed to "I guess I'll just defeat him again".

https://i.imgur.com/nIIqFmo.png

Outside of recap land, Yuichiro has managed to complete the Anti-ShadowMan weapon: the Ultimate Blaster! While it can only fire once, it should delete him on impact.

https://i.imgur.com/bt6cKNM.png

There is the not-so-tiny problem of what happens if ShadowMan sidesteps the blast, though.

https://i.imgur.com/D13y5iu.png

This is a pretty serious dil- I'm sorry, what?

https://i.imgur.com/ZCtjlm5.png

While ShadowMan is distracted wondering how that line snuck in through the censors, ProtoMan suddenly appears from behind and gets him in a full nelson.

Ah, the Raditz Maneuver.

https://i.imgur.com/2jEe4Kp.png

Someone really liked this moment, apparently, because something similar happens in the Gospel season of the anime.

https://i.imgur.com/QXdQLbt.png

ProtoMan's on his last legs, but begs MegaMan to fire. MegaMan promises to bring ProtoMan back ASAP and takes the shot.

https://i.imgur.com/BwLzl7q.png

It doesn't hit.

https://i.imgur.com/FEMh4hQ.png

With ProtoMan too weak to keep up his hold, he jacks out.

https://i.imgur.com/7z30AZR.png

And ShadowMan attacks!

Boss Fight: ShadowMan

https://i.imgur.com/DJ0jImD.png

ShadowMan is not as strong as he was at the end of Battle Network 1, but he's a pretty decent challenge. He hits fast, and his clones help him spread out the range of his attacks. The good news is that landing a strong hit on him tends to dispel his clones, though he'll bring them back in a hurry. At later versions, he's one of the harder bosses in the game and he is prone to using faster and more punishing attacks.

ShadowMan also starts with the entire field covered in grass just to ruin your day with his fire attack. Hopefully you didn't go into this fight with a Wood Style!

- Kage Bunshin: ShadowMan summons two solid clones of himself. The clones can mimic his attacks, and can dissipate after being hit with a Buster shot. They also regenerate over time.
- Bakuen: ShadowMan sends a fiery jutsu down his row. His Kage no Bunshin clones will do the same if they are present.
- Kawarimi: ShadowMan will leap into the air outside of damage range and immediately throws three shuriken at him.
- Image Slash: ShadowMan sends blue clones to move around the player's field and slash rapidly if MegaMan is near them. These can only be destroyed by sword chips.
- Muramasa: Once ShadowMan has lost 1000 HP (V2) or 1300 HP (V3), he will appear in front of MegaMan and slash him with the Muramasa, instantly killing him if it connects. (Or reducing him to 1 HP if you have the Undershirt chip active.)

https://i.imgur.com/t7QYzJq.png

After the battle, ShadowMan is stunned that he lost, further adding credence to my theory that he fought MegaMan with a clone last time.

https://i.imgur.com/PZZAuc5.png

He then explodes, ending the threat on the Mother Computer. Miyabi, for his part, vanishes without a trace.

https://i.imgur.com/qqLVjKO.png

Once all is over and done with, Yuichiro tries to look at ProtoMan and fix him up.

https://i.imgur.com/qwx1hEI.png

But Chaud is as stubborn as ever and leaves.

https://i.imgur.com/BoHK9EP.png

Yuichiro checks on MegaMan next before praising his sons for their good work. Lan insists that the Officials that helped also deserve credit.

https://i.imgur.com/cEa8DGA.png

Speaking of which, the suicide attack guys are just fine.

https://i.imgur.com/wwV1Snt.png

As it turns out, with the crisis averted, Yuichiro can actually come home tonight! Lan says that ice cream dates are for kids, but MegaMan notes that he's blushing and looks rather happy about the proposal.

https://i.imgur.com/pcXl0CO.png

This segment is pretty adorable.

https://i.imgur.com/qu4Ga9j.png

Meanwhile, at the Hall of Doom, the Gospel Leader is displeased by the failure of Miyabi. I'd assume he'd (try to) give him the Arashi treatment if he had any idea where Miyabi was.

https://i.imgur.com/2sUky91.png So that Dark fellow was just a common mercenary after all.
https://i.imgur.com/2sUky91.png Wind and fury, signifying nothing! He has failed us...
https://i.imgur.com/hFQ0oZc.png Sir!
https://i.imgur.com/2sUky91.png But, I'm surprised those Officials have come this far.
https://i.imgur.com/2sUky91.png It sounds as if your report was slightly inaccurate?
https://i.imgur.com/hFQ0oZc.png Sir! Your apologies, sir! We had an eye on Chaud and Lan...
https://i.imgur.com/hFQ0oZc.png But their rate of growth was far greater than we...
https://i.imgur.com/2sUky91.png Have you forgotten the Second Rule of Gospel?
https://i.imgur.com/hFQ0oZc.png No, Sir! "Death to those who make lame excuses", Sir! B-But, Mr. Admin, Sir!
https://i.imgur.com/2sUky91.png I believe you know there is no escape from Gospel...
https://i.imgur.com/2sUky91.png But you might want to start running anyway...
https://i.imgur.com/hFQ0oZc.png P-please! Forgive me!

The henchman's connection is terminated. I'm assuming that wasn't the only thing.

https://i.imgur.com/oU8Dxaf.png

A second person then enters the fray.

https://i.imgur.com/JC90lT5.png Good evening. Sorry I'm late. How fares our "project?"
https://i.imgur.com/2sUky91.png Everything is on schedule.
https://i.imgur.com/JC90lT5.png And the necessary data? Did you get them?
https://i.imgur.com/2sUky91.png No, but the perfect opportunity will soon present itself.
https://i.imgur.com/JC90lT5.png You seem awfully confident.
https://i.imgur.com/2sUky91.png I'll be happy to deal with any...interference, as well.
https://i.imgur.com/JC90lT5.png Now that's what I like to hear!
https://i.imgur.com/JC90lT5.png It's my pleasure.

"Rex, you're weird!" - Preschooler, Pokémon White 2