raylotus

[raylotus]

So now I've completed MMZ4.

Honestly speaking, this was the only one I liked. It's design wasn't anywhere near as asinine as the first 3 games, and the story is halfway decent. There's actual humans that give credence to why Zero would ever have a low opinion of them. The plot was also relatively simple to follow and didn't have so many leaps in logic (the whole Omega business).

But as a whole, I genuinely don't like this series. The characters aren't interesting outside of Craft, the Maverick bosses All have the same personality almost (sneering villains with only Z4 feeling fresh) which isn't helped by their names all being pretentious and extremely difficult to remember (except Phoenix Magnion because jesus Christ, he is tedious beyond words), there's a lot of unnecessary grinding for weapons and elves, difficulty resulting more from poor level design than legitimate challenge, and frankly speaking, this version of Zero is virtually unlikable. He's hyper-stoic to the point of being a black hole of charisma, is more focused on telling people how he feels than showing anything resembling emotion, suddenly hates humans while speaking of how everyone should believe in him, and we're expected to grieve his death at the end of Z4 when it's entirely unwarranted.

And again, I'm bothered by how much this series hates X

Zero gets a more emotional send-off than X who is unceremoniously stabbed by Elpizo in the second game, and that's all it really takes to end the strongest Reploid apparently, and you get to kill copies of him twice, and then his homoncula/aspects of his soul, so you're really beating him 16 times (3 deaths if you include Phantom), and too many times, the dialogue sort of frames X as someone who would rather sit back and Zero do all the work of "protecting the world", with Zero only giving a nod because edginess is allergic to having a personality. It makes it seem like X just gave up on the world instead of having it where X could've just asked for Ciel to make him a new body, or have someone other than Copy X be in control of Neo Arcadia, or something. A lot of the plot feels like it exists to explain why X can't join the fight against evil with Zero, and that's because they literally wrote themselves into a corner when they wanted X to turn evil. None of this Elf Wars stuff comes up until Z2, and it feels undercooked and horribly out of place by the time you get to Z3, and you've got two Navi knockoffs giggling about their mother. It feels nonsensical unless you go with the theory that they spent more time trying to justify why X isn't fighting alongside Zero.

And then Z4 has nothing to do with X or the Elf Wars, it's a simple, basic plot about a human settlement under siege which focuses on the ethics of humanity and whether or not Reploids should stick their necks out for them. And the plot was infinitely better as a result. Z2 and Z3 are like these black holes of convoluted lore while Z1 and Z4 are simple enough that they can at least get away with being considered an example of good writing.

While the X series has it's narrative woes (everything after X4), I think why the Zero series is praised for it's story has more to do with presentation rather than quality. If you try to think about them logically, the cracks show way too easily as the writers try to find excuses for their last minute change to the first game in the series. Aside from that, the stories are less episodic and feel like there's actual continuity between each installment. They have better narrative flow than they do actual quality, and what little quality the writing has is steeped in Anime Soapbox tropes of why humanity sucks. It comes off nihilistic which is the easy button to attracting edgelords. Granted, a lot of that doesn't come until Z3 and 4, it's no less unappealing to me. Especially when the main character is unemotional and randomly spouts things about how complacent humans are.

[raylotus]

Going through MMZ3 now, I'm still not feeling this series, but a big part of that is the story. Now we have magical elves and apparently they were supposed to get rid of the Maverick Virus. It's overly complicated the leaps in logic this series had to go through. Zero's original body somehow looking like his new body, and Zero himself is twice as unpleasant as he's ever been.v

But then we go into mid-2000s misanthropy soapbox mode where suddenly, Zero and Ciel have a low opinion of humans. How complacent they are, how they don't bother to learn anything because they have food and comfort, I really started to hate these games beyond gameplay issues and the incessant need to kill X at least once per game now.

This really came out of nowhere, this sudden "humans suck" attitude as Zero and Ciel never expressed anything like this in the previous two games (and at all in the entirety of the X series). It felt like this insincere chuuni attempt to make the games feel deeper than they really are. Because in the context of the situation, it wasn't called for and just seems unusually bitter of the heroes.

Dr. Weil staged Copy X's death to take over Neo Arcadia, and personally blamed the resistance for it. Here's the problem. It wouldn't have worked if Zero didn't go randomly attacking Copy X. He was right there when he blew up. So he doesn't have an argument. He got played just like the Arcadians. But "those stupid humans never bothered to learn anything!" How the hell do you expect them to immediately know Copy X's death was caused by Weil in that exact moment!?

A lot of people have told me that the Zero series has a better story. I don't see that yet. It's likely that it's just better written, more consistent, and doesn't have plot holes, but the actual narrative is dull. The characters are not interesting at all, and now we have this nonsense about the complacency of humanity. And now I'll be told to check the Japanese dialogue for something more coherent.

[raylotus]

So I'm playing the Zero series for the first time, going through the second game right now. I told myself not to let my distaste of Zero's shilling to color my opinion of the games.

Ironically, the games so far are doing a much worse job of convincing me they're any good. People mention that MM7 had sprites that were too big, but MMZ has a tiny screen that's zoomed in which makes it a shit show to see where the hell you're going, making several moments in the games a leap of faith (factory with the bombs and wooden platforms, sky stage with the spaced out flying ships for platforms), some enemies attack within a millisecond of appearing on screen which barely gives you enough time to react (especially those pricks that drop those rolling spike balls), and I don't like having to charge my weapons just to use elemental attacks. It seems like the developers thought "well Mega Man is hard, so let's do that", and didn't consider balancing anything on a platform with a relatively tiny screen.

But if you say any of this, you'll be attacked mercilessly for "not knowing how to play the game". Mega Man Zero is not only a Mega Man game that has the most popular teen angst power fantasy hero in the series, but is also another game in a long line of games that are championed for being "hard". And that's where fanboyism meets elitism in the mother of all super storms. "Brutal difficulty" is a badge of honor and praise where even the most jaded of gamers are forced to bow down and accept either out of fear of outright reprisal, or just.... reprisal itself. No one cares how the difficulty works, it's just difficult and that's all that matters. There's never any critical thinking about how difficulty should be approached or achieved. If the game frustrates you, then it's doing it's job.

This elitism has existed ever since games started getting "easier" around the 2000's, and it always felt like a massive flex by old-school gamers to feel a sense of street cred by beating hard games, which has only gotten worse with the rise of Soulslikes, and it has completely neutered any nuanced discussion of videogame design by declaring that difficult games are these untouchable sacred cows that you should never criticize unless you want to be branded as a wimp. It's pure gaslighting at it's finest.

I'm just glad they learned this early on and made the ZX series actually fun to play.

[raylotus]

Am I the only one who notices that in most trailers for games or products, X is always the one getting his ass kicked? Rockman online, he gets blown away by Airman. AIRMAN!!!

Some trailer for a rock album or something, X nearly gets folded by Zero in a fight in the city.

Mega Man X time rift (some cancelled game), gets sliced up and shot into a wall by MMZ Zero. Doesn't even get a single hit in before the trailer abruptly ends.

How do you expect anyone to take X seriously when you're literally constantly portraying him as weak and nigh useless in combat? I'm honestly surprised fan animations actually treat him as a significant threat.

[raylotus]

Did Zero really need 3-4 different love interests? Like they all existed to basically validate his sex appeal and power fantasy mythos over being genuinely likable characters.

Hell, as much as they tried to push Axl back then, I'm surprised he doesn't have anyone to be shipped with.

[raylotus]

If it's any consolation, most of those furries were those former cops.

Sigma and the original 8 Mavericks

Flame Stag

Magna Centipede

Wheel Gator

Bubble Crab

Overdrive Ostrich

Blast Hornet

Gravity Beetle

Magma Dragoon (this bastard especially deserved the smoke)

Practically all of Repliforce

Squid Adler

So technically, it's a far more accurate portrayel of cops. Abuse of power, rampant corruption and terrorism, the works.

The Mega Man X series is a science fiction famous for its cutting, realistic sociopolitical commentaries on war, tech philosophy, civil rights, and humanity. Its core themes bravely highlight the underlying truths of our modern society.

The cops always win, especially when they're wrong.

Furries and scalies are an oppressed minority.

[raylotus]

[raylotus]

Something else I noticed about X Dive.

Layer's default skin has an intro where she's doing some random sword thrusts and finishing off with a wide slash. But soon after, she notices that her breasts were practically flying all over the place, and in her embarrassment, she covers her chest with both her arms. That implies a certain level of self-consciousness (which is denied to her by her character design, but I digress).

Swimsuit Layer on the other hand does a barrel roll to chop a watermelon into pieces. Directly afterward, she looks at her breasts flying around again. But this time, she doesn't try to hide them. Instead, she quickly stands up, brushes her hair, and essentially poses for the camera.

Wtf?

X Dive isn't even consistent with it's own portrayels of the characters. How does one character seem shy or modest in one skin, but then she comes out as confident and alluring in another? This an issue that a lot of Japanese productions seem to have where a character who wouldn't want to be exposed or ogled by others is just suddenly ok with being exposed at the beach, and I honestly can't think of anything more dehumanizing than that. You can't simply ignore one's own psychology because the setting is different. Someone who doesn't want her body "seen" in a certain way wouldn't just automatically be ok with being seen on a beach or a pool where everyone is exposed and under scrutiny.

Both intros, Layer is clearly zeroed in on her assets, but she has two completely different reactions, one of mortification and the other of indifference. And even if we took her Normal skin intro as true to her personality, it'd be wild to even think about how she really felt about her body. She's practically a lingerie model, but she's embarrassed about her chest among other things. Layer is probably living in hell having to endure being stared at because of how she looks. But obviously, none of that matters because nothing about the X franchise is designed to make sense anymore. Layer, much like Alia and Iris and countless others, are just props being posed for titillation. Boundaries, personality, consent, all of that flies out of the window in favor of visual pleasure. For all I know, Layer's brief glimpse of modesty was to serve a fetish, just in time to be switched off for sexual utility.

We can have circular arguments about the so-called merits of fanservice, but consistent character logic is apparently off the table.

[raylotus]

"I had another designer create the new Mega Man, and I worked on Zero to release him as the ‘other main character’ that would steal all the good scenes!“

Doesn't that mean that the fandom was literally conditioned to love Zero beyond all reason?

I feel like this Sasuke from Naruto sometimes.

[raylotus]

It's always been weird how "X vs Zero" vids always have it where Zero can stop time, but X never does. As if X never had access to The Dark Hold power himself. The low-balling is too strong.

[raylotus]

Does anyone ever feel like the armors after Mega Man X2 got increasingly more pointless as the series went on?

Lore wise, it doesn't make a lot of sense. You seal X into a capsule for 30-100 years to confirm his loyalty, something you know you won't live to see, but you can make several linear armor upgrades that aren't all that different from the previous one before having a semblance of an imagination in X5 and beyond, and you just trust X not to abuse any of these weapons?

Functionally speaking, they offer things that X should literally already have programmed into him. This was tacitly admittedly when they gave him the dash function in X2, but a navigation system should've also been standard. The only things they add are different attack functionality that aren't inherently better than what X could do in the past. The Nova Strike would be more of a liability than a Hadouken if the latter didn't have strict usage requirements, but most Giga Attacks are glorified versions of the Giga Crush if I'm being honest. I guess one could say that there memory limitations that required the use of different armors for full functionality, but that just makes X feel clumsily designed if he has to constantly shift armors just to use a map or fly.

And design wise, they look worse than the First Armor alone. Sometimes there's just too much going on with the designs, and it makes them look cluttered and less mobile than the first two armors. And of course the X8 Armors are a masterclass in laziness. The Third, Forth, and Blade Armors all look pretty bad imo.

They feel more like methods to sell toys and model kits rather than legitimately natural expansions on X himself.

[raylotus]

Granarchy 1: They grow up so fast. Thanks @astrmastr for the killer name!

[raylotus]

Not to cut him any slack, but Inafune at least tried to fix this disparity in Maverick Hunter X by having it where they're essentially partners.

But too little too late, his ego and bitterness of his design not being the new Mega Man practically screwed the pooch on X's portrayel in the future.

Actually, why would a computer virus that was made a century ago have any affect on modern technology? Why the heck is it even AIRBORNE!?

Some minor corrections though. The manual for X1 implies that X was not directly involved with the Maverick Hunters until Sigma went Maverick, so his rookie status can be assumed that he just started. Secondly, he was sealed in a capsule for 30 years to confirm his loyalty to humanity (though yeah, what's the point of giving him a gun if you don't intend for him to use it?).

Overall, it was Inafune's ego overall. Companies have a habit of not fully developing stories at first before adding in details later on, and the concept of viruses didn't come around until X3. But then MHX still doesn't apply virus logic to Mavericks and we're still left with an extremely butchered storyline that no one cares to actually fix. X2 literally only exists to validate Inafune's ego by bringing Zero back and shoving X back to rookie status.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to seem bitter (although I totally am)

X and Zero in mmx 1 make no fucking sense

I've seen very few people talk about how weird the X1 and pre X1 story actually is when you think about it.

Part one: Why is X a rookie?

Well the answer is most protagonists in media, especially of the mmx era, tend to be fresh faced and inexperienced so that not only we can learn the world through their lens and watch them grow as the story progresses, but also so we can find them relatable.

That doesn't work here for 2 reasons

1- There is basically no real story in the first three X games, and what little we do get might aswell be bread crumbs. Narratively this decision serves no purpose as (out side of maybe MHX) we NEVER see any character be portrayed through X. Like he literally doesn't have a personality, his character is barely there. There is nothing to learn from him and nothing to relate to. Hell, in X1 he doesn't even speak!

2- It contradicts it's own lore. X had already spent 30 years in training and preparation by Dr.Light prior to the canon events and obviously he was conscious for that. I'm not saying he should act like a middle aged dude i just find it weird that he acts like he was just activated, when he's already lived several decades. Sure you can make the argument that maybe he was isolated during those years and Arcadia changed drastically through the century, but I don't think that reverse mental maturity.

Also he was the first reploid and was probably there when the Maverick Hunters were founded by Dr. Cain so why is he SO disrespect by peers??? He and Cain are technically the all fathers of reploid kind so why the mistreatment of X??

X was quite literally built for battle. That was Thomas Light's purpose when creating him, and it also probably shined through in the 30 year preparations I mentioned earlier. Rock was able to lift and hold an entire fortress/castle over his shoulders and X was built to surpass him. I get the reasoning behind his rank is because he holds himself back, but just how far is he going to suppress his abilities to sink into B-rank??

X being modeled after a teenager can be explained by the same out of universe reasons i losted earlier but it also doesn't make sense. You can justify Rock being modeled after children since his original purpose was to be just that, a lab assistant and home companion for Dr. Light. But X? Again, he was built with the goal of protecting people using his strength and morality so why on earth does he look 14???

So yeah out of the famous duo, I don't think X should be the baby. Which brings me to:

Part two: Why is Zero the mentor figure?

Once again I am fully aware of the developmental reasons behind this. With the rookie antagonist trope there's almost always a cool headed mentor figure to provide help to the protagonist and teach them about the world, which in turn helps the audience- or players in this case- learn aswell.

I already stated the first reason why this doesn't work so I'm not gonna repeat myself and I'm just gonna say that the X series practically has no form of character identity or growth.

Lore wise, this is also contradictory bullshit.

Zero was programmed to basically be an indestructible killing machine that would not only surpass Megaman, but also continue the takeover and rule over the world in Wily's honour. The thing is: unlike X, Zero was never actually trained by Wily. At least not in a way we're aware of and besides, Dr. Wily seems like type to objectify his own creations. Given his thirst for control and all.

On top that, when Zero transferred the virus to Sigma (who i assume had very strong defense systems which us why it was dormat for a while) he lost his memories. If anything HE is the fresh faced one of the two.

Like myself you can subscribe to the headcanon that when Zero was taken in by the Maverick Hunters he was taught how to follow orders, and that's it because there was still a large stigma around him, due to being a former maverick. He's also technically the first true/infected Maverick.

And again even if you wanna go that direction it still wouldn't make much sense for him to be Xs mentor/superior because he doesn't know anything other than being useful to hunter missions while X has already lived three decades, and a couple years if you count the time it took for Reploid kind to already spread worldwide and last long enough for the Hunters to be formed.

Sure X and Zero can still learn different things from eachother but it seems really nonsensical to be to portray X as this newbie, pathetic rookie getting by, and Zero as this cool, sharp and efficient mentor/superior companion of X.

TL;DR

The team behind mmx (especially Inafune) clearly wanted to follow the trope of "Young protagonist with much to learn and improve and his cooler mentor friend who serves as motivation for him" but it doesn't work narratively due the sparse story development and lack of character growth. And it doesn't work with it's own lore unless you were to reverse the character roles.

[raylotus]

Something I caught while reading trivia on the X Dive wiki (take with a grain of salt if wrong)

The Japanese name for Bridal Layer is Naive Layer(天真なるレイヤー).

Bridal Alia is named Pure Alia in Japanese (純真なるエイリア).

This could simply be an issue of translation or mistranslation as Layer's costume is supposed to read as "Tenshin" which implies innocence and an untainted childlike heart. But for Alia, "Junshin" is read as "Pure" or virtuous. It's idealized feminity in a Japanese context.

So Alia is framed as the perfect woman, ideal for a bride, while Layer is framed as guileless, immature, "naive".

That is a very bizarre distinction to use for an adult coded woman. I don't know why they would give her a somewhat different name for what is just another wedding dress. You would think Junshin would apply to Layer's bridal costume as well, but that would be disregarding Japan's long standing and unshakable history of colorism. Dark skin isn't favored in Japan. No matter how many times people point out Yoruichi from Bleach, that doesn't change (Yoruichi is mostly praised for utilitarian reasons which is in itself dehumanizing). While Japan has an addiction to fanservice, it is not neutral between color lines. Dark skin women are frequently portrayed with default sexual designs in most cases. While light or pale skin women aren't immune to this, the disparity between how often is apparent. They often have to wait until specific moments or beach episodes to be sexualized. Dark skin women in anime often have it as a default fashion sense.

Layer has been subjected to colorism from her first appearance, being the most overtly sexualized female in the entire franchise. Marino came first with her jiggle physics in Command Mission, but she was at least fully clothed. Layer is literally designed baring her midriff, exposed underboob, and wearing panties. Her eyes being covered is actually a subtle denial of person hood. She exists purely to be "seen".

So when they have these bridal costumes, Layer not getting the "Pure" connotation has a lot of unfortunate implications, but even worse is that her label infantilizes her. As though she is immature, childlike, simple-minded. And that really shouldn't be the case for Layer.

There's also the implication that she is "naive" for thinking she could ever be married unlike Alia which.... another can of worms. Her dark skin prevents her from being pure enough to be a bride.

Some might point to her cutscene in X8 where she struggles to talk to Zero as being the point of her being immature and childlike, but that doesn't even come close to being an argument.

While we could say that it's a matter of different national contexts and that they're not inherently being malicious, there isn't any real justification to not give Layer the "Pure" description unless they believed she wasn't. Instead, she's written off as being naive.

[raylotus]

This Executive Order would take us back 100 years.

Are they actually planning to do this!?

[raylotus]

OMG I love this!

(7.4.2025)

got inspired by @voidmetal-alloy 's redraw, I wanted to give mine a go as well w/ my own interpretations :3

I will upload refs of my designs as soon as I figure things out

og screencap

[raylotus]

Something I noticed about Mega Man X Dive. The White Day costumes are some sort of tradition in Japan where recipients of Valentine's Day gifts are expected to return them to the giver.

Axl has a White Day costume. X doesn't.

Granted, X doesn't get any special costumes outside of collabs, but let that sink in. Axl is considered more romantically desirable than X.

This actually says a lot about how developers feel about X as a character. They literally tried to replace him with Axl in the past with X7, which would allow him to "pair better" with Zero. Interviews regarding Command Mission's development suggested that the developers found X boring and assumed that the players would get tired of him, so they decided to alter X's personality and design to make him more appealing.... by taking away the element of his personality that made him stand out from the world around him, entirely missing the point of his character. In short, Japanese developers see X as disdainful at best, and mentally weak at worst. It intersects with toxic masculinity and patriarchal frameworks that says a man who is empathetic and mindful of his actions is weak and undesirable. Unlike characters like Zero and Axl who are action ready, and eager for battle. A mindset that Americans would easily go along with as they share some similar ideologies of masculinity as Japan does.

People are quick to say that Dive is good to X because he gets the most costumes, but those costumes are primarily functional, nothing that expresses a semblance of personality. It's a subtle form of dehumanization, even for a character that technically isn't human, and it sends a subtle message that X isn't deserving of love, either platonically or romantic.

Even Vile gets a Halloween costume, and he's one of the most irrelevant characters in all of Mega Man.

Personally, I don't think Collaborative costumes would count as they're essentially different characters rather than alt skins