#also been playing some megaman battle network

[mellotchi]

Useless fuckers

[obsidiannebula]

Had a dream where my husband and I were going to play a game called Lovers in an Infinite Time Loop, which seemed to be Outer Wilds crossed with a dating game but cribbing off the name scheme of Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime? And when I say it was pulling from Outer Wilds I do mean that I remember seeing the Outer Wilds Ventures logo at some point

[treepan0]

MMBN discussion

so a bit of history, I was introduced to Megaman/Rockman by my dad, but it was Bass/Forte and Protoman/Blues that really got me into it, this post is just me discussing my independent exploration into battle network and my possible predictions based off of my patterns for favorite characters. (side note I might explore X later, but it will be a while since I'm still catching up on classic and BN for now.)

so starting off I've had no choice but to watch gameplay footage, due to the platform limitations I face. (I'm stuck on an old mac with limited gaming budget for now, I'll probably by the legacy compilation when I can later.)

regardless here's some predictions I have so far:

I will likely fall in love with Bass.exe/Forte.exe since according to the wiki, most of what got me attached to mainline Bass is still there. (I have a soft spot for intimidating and/or grumpy characters, if they do cute things and/or have a heartbreaking backstory it's just bonus points. TLDR: Wolverine is pretty much the building blocks of my favorite character traits most of the time.)

If Chaud becomes less annoying, I may get attached to him and Protoman.exe/Blues.exe as well. (Seriously how does Chaud make Blue from pokemon seem so much less like a jerk?)

So far with the first game I love Roll.exe, as a have a soft spot for wholesomeness and Bunny inspired designs. (Bunny girl medic that is wholesome? I love her already!)

Lan is dense as a brick, but still charming in his own way.

Additionally I already like Hub Hikari/Megaman.exe/Rockman.exe he's just so wholesome, and determined and aaaaaaahhhhhhh.....

Iceman.exe looks like a combination of his cute artic design, combined with a new adorable almost night time like theming I love it so much.

Glide.exe and Elecman.exe are bees and I am obsessed with it, I love Bee designs hell my classic oc is inspired by carpenter bees.

and while I already made his BN redesign, Toccata.exe retains the odd traits he always had, so no one's toes are being stepped on thankfully.

(He also became a bit more of a wasp, but it works out in the end.)

Fireman.exe and Skullman.exe look so cool it's not fair.

Colorman.exe is a Clown and I already love Clownman so I love his fun design as well. I just love clown designs honestly, they're so fun, and can very so much.

I hope to get attached to Gutsman.exe, and many other characters this has been an enjoyable experience so far even if I can't play the game myself.

also it's a tactical rpg battle system, so when I have the ability to play for myself, I know I'm going to enjoy it and be fairly good at it as well. (Rpg and strategy games are more my pace, so the battle network system also excites me as well.)

TLDR: I found out at some point that Battle network was a thing, and I've been enjoying it while catching up.

[ick25]

Rockman EXE Movie Review. Part 1

Oh yeah! The people have spoken! The Megaman Battle Network Legacy collection is finally here! So to celebrate it I’m “Reviewing” the Rockman.EXE movie, The program of Light and Darkness.

A few things before starting. First, the “movie” is less than 50 minutes long, so it’s more of a very long episode with better animation than usual. Second, the movie takes place during the Stream saga, a season of the anime that never aired in America because the plot was “too dark” for a kid’s show, like Axess wasn’t violent and dark enough already. It’s even worse for people in Latinoamerica because Axess never aired there either, so enjoying this movie would’ve been impossible for me if I hadn’t watched the episodes online.

For those who haven’t watched the Stream saga, this is what you need to know:

1. The movie takes place somewhere after episode 17 but before episode 31 of Stream, I say episode 17 because Raika, the Hypocrite, now uses Cross fusion, just like everybody else.

2. The plot is based on Battle Network 5, minus the whole teams thing.

3. The whole story of Rockman.EXE Stream is not relevant, except for episode 2 because that is when Forte came back to steal Rockman’s Ultimate program, but after he fails to get it, he was defeated by an extraterrestrial Navi named Slur who throws him into the depths of the Undernet, where the movie begins.

Forte is shown floating in the cyberspace of the Undernet where he is woken up by strange light and a familiar evil laugh.

Those who played BN5 know what that thing is.

We cut to England, which is probably called Kingland, where a giant beam of light suddenly appears and disintegrates everything in it’s path.

Leaving behind a very ugly but also familiar face.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Japan, our heroes are in a Net Battle tournament taking place in a very weird building with roller coasters coming in and out of it.

Seems very dangerous to be honest.

Of course, as Netto plugs in Rockman, we get the theme song Be somewhere, with the karaoke, timing, and Spanish translations provided by yours truly.

Don’t believe me?

Yep, I was the head of this project, sure, I didn’t get paid and other people helped made this possible, but I’m still proud of this. Too bad not many people have access to this.

During the intro song we see Rockman fighting Gridman’s aka Footman’s first appearance in the anime, before becoming some random Navi in Beast. And in case you were wondering, no, Meijin is not Footman’s operator, it is actually this guy.

The guy who just gives hints in BN3 white version.

I think he is Mr. Famous’s aide, but I don’t remember.

Anyway, Netto wins, his friends, with new changes of cloths, congratulate him, and Meiru appears out of nowhere to hug him like she was already his girlfriend or something.

I personally don’t like this art style, it makes Dekao look even uglier and Meiru looks like she has less hair than usual.

Now, a surprise for those who haven’t  seen Stream, Dingo and Tomahawkman are now part of the cast! And Dingo for some reason has blue eyes in this shot.

I honestly don’t know why.

After Dingo wins his battle, we see more of the weird and unsafe building where they are with the indoor rollercoaster and all. Apparently this is Akihara’s 100th theme park.

We get a small appearance from Shuko and Higure-san who are riding the roller coaster, but its more of a segway to the next scene because Higure somehow spots Mariko-sensei while screaming. Like, how? Mariko-sensei was wearing a helmet until Netto and friends arrived. Turns out, she is cosplaying as her favorite Sci-fi character in a convention that also takes place in the weird building.

But she only appears for Netto and friends to mention that she has a lot of hobbies, and to have this very weird cut to the next scene that made me think it was an editing mistake.

Seriously, she didn’t even finish her line.

We immediately jump to a not so traumatizing scene of a group of men getting vaporized by the same light beams we saw in Kingland.

NOT TRAUMATIZING AT ALL! 

Turns out this was in Ameroupe as we join Meijin and Yuichiro watching footage of the damage.

Yuichiro seems to know something and after seeing a satellite image, his suspicions are confirmed.

The Internet service that is NOT all about you.

The light beams left what looks like giant algorithms, this is enough for Yuichiro to say some vague words, first “Spectrum”, and then “The Wily Program is active”.

HELLO? Why did we cut to a Duel Master scene?!

Oh, right, turns out the people who worked on this movie also worked on the Duel Master movie which was still a thing back then. That is why they made a little animation at the beginning of the movie were we see Crossfused Netto and Shobu working together to fight their respective opponents. They also put like 3 second cameos in both movies to let us know that both the Net Battle and the DM tournament are happening in the same weird building. 

For this movie, it’s a clip of Shobu summoning a monster or something, and for the DM movie we get an actual shot of Netto and friends cheering for Shobu in the audience.

It’s not even the same art style, or background! At least Meiru still has her hair intact.

In that movie they actually say Shobu’s name, in this one they just play the clip and then cut to Netto and friends reacting to something. Personally, I never cared for DM, I watched one episode and that’s it, I always saw it as a Yugioh bootleg.

The cameo is interrupted by Yuichiro who calls Netto to tell him that he must get to the Trident Tower ASAP, with no details whatsoever. Netto says bye to his friends and wishes them luck for their upcoming battle

Apparently some time passed after Netto leaves for the tower, because in the very next scene we cut to Yuichiro typing really fast in a computer (still not giving Meijin details as they watch the light beams appearing in Choina), and then asking if Netto is already at the tower.

LOL, he is stuck in traffic.

Although it is nice to see taxi drivers still have jobs in this future. At least the paying method is accurate.

Netto decides to skate all the way to the tower. I like this scene, its been a while since we’ve seen Rockman giving Netto directions from inside the PET and Netto showing off his sweet skating moves.

Will Netto  make it to the tower in time? Will Yuichiro finally tell us what’s going on? And will Meiru’s hair ever grow back? Stay tuned for part 2.

[canadianmaple416]

Alright, so I was tagged by @broken-obsidian to write three fun facts about myself. Damn. I feel like I've mentioned a lot of stuff here, so I'll do my best!

Fun Fact 1: I have been playing guitar for over 20 years! 21 years, to be exact. I absolutely love bands like Periphery, Intervals, Polyphia, Arch Echo, Monuments and Animals as Leaders. But I mainly play older metal, progressive rock and skate punk such as Sum 41, Megadeth, and SOME Dream Theater as that is what my hands are physically capable to play. Also adore video game music. I love playing my guitar over video game soundtracks.

Fun Fact 2: I cannot turn my left eye left! Due to a birth defect, the nerve that allows my left eye to turn left was not connected. I could have surgery to change that but I don't want to risk going blind.

Fun Fact 3: I am a massive fan of JRPGs, Action-Adventure, Beat 'Em Ups and Turn-Based RPGs. Games like Yakuza, Persona, Final Fantasy, Pokemon, The Legend of Zelda, Okami, Megaman Battle Network, No More Heroes and Devil May Cry. But I also like games like Jet Set Radio, Bayonetta, Banjo-Kazooie, Animal Crossing, Hollow Knight, Metal Gear Solid, Phoenix Wright and Danganronpa.

I don't follow very many people, so I'll just tag my lovely partner @odethepuppy!

[caramellody]

Alright tumblr im gonna finally put a poll to good use for once im i finally got back to having a switch after a while of it. going missing. so now Im back on my backlog binge but the

Some things of note:

Ive played P5 Vanilla but not royal, im also playing this on hard.

I havent even touched Raincode or Advance wars due to the sheer amount of games that were comming out at the time. literally did not have the time so these would be fresh start, same goes for the Mario+Rabbids DLC since i wanted to wait to play through them in one go

I Have played part of MMBN1, its been a while but i have played at least a third of the game at this point.

[sentient-rift]

HOW’S MY PORTRAYAL? 

TERIOS IS ADORABLE I LOVE HOW YOU PLAY THEM SMSMSM

TINKER IS REALLY GREAT HE'S SO KIND AND HEARTFELT AND OH MY GOSSSHHHHH

i can not say much for the characters i dont know but i CAN say the whole concept of RiFT and this whole multiversal THING where everyone works for the greater whole

it's so AWESOME IT'S SO AWESOOOOOME AAAAAAA

dont even get me started on torque i can just HEAR HIM IN EVERY POST and it's so incredible to hear and see his reactions to everything it's so great

and also huge props to going through so much effort to put torque into this blog, from the art to the story it's all SO GOOOOOOOD

incredible INCREDIBLE i LOVE IT

excited for more and whatever you have cooking i love seeing your blog aaaaaa

(How's My Portrayal?)

Wow... Just... Just wow... That means so much. I'm really glad that not only do you enjoy the portrayal of my muses, but also like the story I made to bring them together.

It's funny how this all started as just a canon divergent Bass.EXE rp blog that grew into a Multimuse. Even back then, I knew I didn't want a new muse to just pop in out of nowhere. There was always a story of how they came to join the team, which is why I usually give them an introduction page for them to explain how they joined in the first place.

I've always been a sucker for crossovers, but it was probably Into the Spiderverse that gave me the idea to make a Multiverse for my blog so I wasn't just limited to Megaman Battle Network muses on my blog. (I think it also makes it appropriate that Peni Parker and SP//dr eventually became muses here)

I also knew that with the Multiverse, I didn't always want to bring in the canon version of a muse. That's why I threw some curveballs here and there, such as a Duo.EXE who valued the good in the world rather than focusing on destroying all the evil in it, even if it meant destroying the good that comes with it. But I'm also a huge fan of redemption arcs, and I love bringing in a muse that was on the evil team, but clearly wasn't evil themselves, such as Storm Eagle and Elise, and give them proper arcs to redeem themselves rather than have them killed off like in canon.

And Mr. Tinker... I really loved the character when he was introduced him, and even though it was inevitable that he would go back to being Dr. Eggman, it still made me sad to see Mr. Tinker leave. That small moment when Eggman considered going back to his life as Mr. Tinker did spark some inspiration, but it was this comic made by SkullxCake and wonderfully dubbed by Swordtee40 and his crew that made me want to explore the idea of Eggman remaining Mr. Tinker after getting his memories back, thus making him a muse here, so I think we have them to thank for that.

Terios is an interesting case. I wanted to have Shadow as a muse, but didn't want Shadow as a muse at the same time, so I thought I'd use a Shadow Android instead. And this would work since I already had Mr. Tinker as a muse at the time. But I didn't want to just make him a cabon copy of Shadow, neither, especially since there were already so many other Shadow RP blogs out there. So I thought it would be best to give this Android a clean slate and have his own personality that's different from Shadow's. So I went with giving him a childlike personality since he was activated not too long ago. In a sense, he's a lot like the early days of Emerl, being a childlike like learning robot. Also kind of fitting that he sees Emerl as a brother. And to further solidify the Shadow Android being his own person, I gave him his own name, which comes from what Beta Shadow was originally called; Terios.

And man, was I an instant fan of Freedom Planet when it came out. I loved the gameplay, the story, and the characters, and it was a dream come true to get to interact with Freedom Planet muses like your Carol and @lilmissheropants Lilac and Milla. I was a little surprised that I didn't have a Freedom Planet character sooner, but I also knew it was because I didn't know at the time how to make it work with the Multiverse story at the time... But then I remembered one of my favorite characters that didn't appear in Freedom Planet 2 was perfect for the story. I've yet to see a single RP blog who had Torque as a muse, and wanted to change that. And since we don't know much of what Torque's been up to in Freedom Planet 2, I wanted to explore that. I'm glad I'm doing well portraying him because I enjoy writing him. The same can be said for my other muses like Terios and Mr. Tinker.

Again, thank you for the encouraging words. I want to become a professional author someday, and I feel role-playing is a way to improve. It's such an honor and a privilege to be able to write alongside talented role-players such as yourself. I sent it in already, but I'll say it again; Your portrayal of Carol is amazing and is a joy to see on my dash. She's just as cool and funny as I remember her in the games, but also made cooler and funnier with what you add to her. I can't wait to see more. And even though they aren't official yet, I also love the small bits of Neera and Cory you've done as well. Stay awesome and keep up the great work!

[emeraldthelynx]

1, 2, and 4 for the ask game? :3c

Wooo! First ever ask! Alright, here we go!

1 "He sighed, melancholy yet smiling. "I guess I just had to wait to come back naturally.""

I wrote a MegaMarch collection of snippets for unfinished ideas I had, and I've been slowly working on another one. This is one of the lines from an idea where Megaman (anime) went through the Past Tunnel from the Stream season and ended up staying in the past. The twist is that he's human here.

2 I can't say for certain who's perspective I've been tinkering with at the moment. I was exploring X's lack of feelings and emotion during the lead up to the Zero series the other day. It was kinda interesting and really depressing. Poor X.

4 Which one? I'm only half-joking. I have one idea where Lan ended up being a NetNavi as well, but during his development, his data got mixed up with the Auto-Navi project, leaving Lan to wake up in Bass' body. I've also been recently playing around with a Megaman Battle Network/Fullmetal Alchemist crossover where in the '03 FMA universe the Gate doesn't send Edward to Earth, it sends him to the Battle Network world instead. Both of these ideas require some fine-tuning though.

Thank you very much for the ask!

[sminny-wew]

Megaman Network Transmission final thoughts

(From someone who watched a playthrough instead of actually playing it lmao)

Despite my overall enthusiasm I can see why it's considered one of the weaker games, this definitely feels like something made to appeal to classic Megaman/X fans who might've felt too alienated by Battle Network's gameplay style

I know the main draw of the series is the Cyberworld, but compared to the mainline games where you also get to explore the real world, having any and all real-world events take place in Lan's bedroom (not even elsewhere in his house, only his room) feels cramped and sucks out a lot of the tension. Very much feels like a budgetary choice so the dev team could focus on the Cyberworld levels

The dialogue is a liiiiittle janky but it gets the point across

I'm sorry but Lan's 3D model is ugly. This is not my beautiful son

Some of the boss choices definitely felt a bit repetitive, but I liked the new navis like Quickman, Brightman, and Starman!! Also funny to see Bass pop up as a secret boss before he's been properly introduced to the story lol

Megaman trying to talk mean will never not be funny. This boy legally cannot say fuck

As repetitive as some things felt I will never not enjoy Lan and Megaman's allies coming together to help them during the climax

Professor is the Agent Stone to Wily's Dr. Eggman, you can't change my mind

I love Zero.EXE so so so much I would commit a felony for him

Really tho as simplistic as the story is, it still poses the interesting question of, "If data is not strictly good nor evil, is there such a thing as a good virus?" and I think it answered that pretty well with Zero. I was also pleasantly surprised by how his arc ended!! I was so convinced that Zero was going to have to sacrifice himself to save everyone from the Life Virus R, thus giving up the opportunity to be a real navi, but making peace with that if it meant keeping others safe and getting to feel happy that he could help. But nope!! Dr. Hikari just somehow made him into a real navi offscreen and now he gets to explore the Cyberworld!! It's a tad anticlimactic and I would've written it a little differently but hey I ain't complaining!!

The Life Virus R's design is also just as sick as the original, kinda reminded me of one of Lucemon's digivolutions

Idk how soon it'll happen, but when I eventually get to Battle Network 2, I'll actually be playing it for myself since I got the Legacy Collection for my birthday a while back!! In the meantime I'm gonna try to watch more of the anime when I can

[lunar-ensemble]

Nocturne (18+) Version 0.1.2.1 update

https://ivatox.itch.io/nocturne/devlog/625501/chapter-one-part-two-is-live

Hi there, everyone! Long time no see! Sorry it's been taking so long to release updates. Unfortunately, this update isn't as long or content-packed as I would like it to be. I had stated in a previous Dev Log that I would be breaking the bigger Update I had originally planned into smaller sections, allowing me to make more updates and only have to parse a smaller chunk of content at a time.

This update came a little later than I had originally planned, but it's here nevertheless. Hopefully, the next update should come out at most during January.

Anyways! About this update! I have implemented a chapter select! If you end up losing your save due to Ren'Py (or likely Avi) tomfoolery, you should be able to go back to a relatively close area of where you last left off.

(While we're on the topic of tomfoolery, if you are unable to update your game, uninstall it and install the update as a fresh installation. Sorry, for the inconvenience this causes... I will try to make an update to the chapter select so you can access your unlockables after Chapter Selecting)

With this fresh update comes seven new characters! Since I was a little crunched for time, I had to leave all of their portraits as static sketches. While you do get a rough idea of what each character looks like, I was unable to draw and code any emotes for them. So for now, pretend you're playing MegaMan Battle Network/Star Force and continue through the story like that...

Speaking of portraits... my style changed. Again. Meaning I am going to have to redraw Oak and Cypress' portraits. Again. They're not in the next few updates, so I won't focus on them for now. I'm thinking I could complete one character's set of portraits per upcoming update...

I also completely overhauled the music! And by completely overhauled, I mean I converted each mp3 file to ogg. I did, however, implement a new song! There should be a second, but I kind of rushed it and I hate it so please don't listen to it. To make up for this, I allowed a sneak peak of two upcoming songs! I hope you like them!

Most importantly, I've added twenty GDocs-Pages worth of content for you all to enjoy! Hope you like it!

Finally, I made some small changes. First, I changed the soundfile of Mori's horrific singing to make it sound more discordant and out-of-tune. I apologize for your ears. Secondly, I changed some stuff on the menu! The about page now contains links to my socials! I also changed the "accent" text color so the title doesn't blend into the flowers on the main menu. Finally, I changed out two of the Easter Eggs from the phone scene!

And that's it for all the changes in this update! In the next update which should come no later than January, I will add in twenty more Gdoc Pages worth of content, one new song, and one character's portraits completed. I also wish to start implementing my own backgrounds instead of use stock images, but we'll see.

Bye for now! Stay safe as you walk through the night, ok? Maybe it's good to be a little Fearful in those situations...

[krawlernyannyan]

Haven't been posting these updates as regularly since we've only been getting drip-fed one card at a time over the last week or so.

A speedrun of new cards since the last posted update, in chronological order:

A Link Monster for the ancient Spell, Sebek's Blessing, with neat Life Point manipulation effects hampered by hard once-per-turns.

What is probably the only new Visas card we'll get this set unless some of the Extra Deck cards are from that storyline. It's just a generic card that lets you have an extra Battle Phase, only the third card to do so after the ancient Weather Report and Unfortunate Report.

A new I:P Masquerena-related monster that acts as generic Link support, and provides a nice bonus interruption for using it in conjunction with I:P or S:P Little Knight.

Stealth Centurion support in the form of a new Synchro that looks straight out of MegaMan Battle Network.

A new Instant Fusion target that can Special Summon any Flip monster from the Deck. It immediately turns IF into a powerful one-of in any Flip strategy.

A new Counter Trap that's basically a Solemn Judgment or Solemn Warning but it also blows up everything in the column of the negated card. More of a sidegrade compared to those two, but it might see some use in decks that like having their own cards blown up.

A new Earthbound Spell that acts as a generic Quick Effect Polymerization for any DARK Fusion. It's just okay in Earthbounds but I could see this played as a poor man's Branded in Red.

It's six days until the set is released in Japan and they've got a lot of cards left to go, so the next week is looking to be pretty stacked for reveals.

[thephantombelow]

(the following post I originally posted as a long rant on discord. this is that but with slight edits to formatting since I think I made a few okay points worth archiving in a format that wasn't in a discord with less than 100 people in it). long post about megaman, x dive, it's offline version, and the reality of the franchise as a whole. doomer post sorry. go play 30XX and Gravity Circuit though and like any platformer Inti Creates (Gunvolt / Copen series and the Blaster Master Zero trilogy are pretty good!)

oh hey, mega man x dive's online version is dead. neat.

what an odd game that was. mega man as a gacha game was always an inherently flawed concept, and its gameplay sure showed that. some of the most stale levels in any mega man game. some of the most uninteresting fights, with all of them being recreations of older fights outside the honestly pretty cool final boss. crossover events that were neat but apparently not neat enough to get archived properly, a story that killed any pacing that the levels had when they were going, and again, holy shit those levels were bad

i am not sure whether or not I can confidently say it is the worst mega man game as that probably still is X6 but it sure was the most boring one. the offline version that for some reason is 30 dollars only further helps showcase how terrible the balancing was with how hilariously easy it is even on the challenge mode. it was the purest form of every disease the gacha game genre has at points. every single issue that every bad gacha game had x dive had. and also there is nfts or whatever I still don't know if those are official or not (though judging by them appearing at some cons it sure is a maybe)

like, we were pretty hopeful after 11 then nothing but the legacy collections came out and also looking back 11 was just okay but that is a topic for another day and also when I actually sit down and replay it, and still more legacy collections, and we keep buying them all as hey it is cool to have every mega man game in a series of bundles relatively cheaply on pc and console (besides starforce and legends at this point)

but like, lmao. what now.

the only new mega man game (since 2017, not including collections and odd ball things like the Mega Man X crossover in Minecraft Bedrock) was x dive and now that is dead, and the offline version kinda sucks even though I am glad it exists in the first place. (something something preservation is good and this is mostly the best way it could have gone out, and I hope more gacha games do the same in the future)

it kinda feels like we have looped back to the state the franchise was in back in like early 2010s (just with extra copium and better fangames)

people are like; guys the battle network legacy collection sold well that means there is going to be a battle network 7 right guys right right. and like yeah, I guess. it did, right. but man mega man will always be the 5th or 6th best selling franchise for capcom

capcom publishes devil may cry. capcom makes/publishes street fighter. capcom makes/publishes resident evil. capcom makes/publishes monster hunter.

battle network is the only good selling sub-franchise within megaman (best overall series for megaman), outside of, and this is true, mega man 2 (yeah). even still, it is not resident evil, monster hunter, or even ace attorney though it has been a while since I have seen the numbers there

so tl;dr of this doomer posting is that mega man as a franchise is like kinda dead and outside of potential extra legacy collection for spinoff games (&bass + wonderswan sequel, soccer, rockboard, battle and chase, etc), starforce collection, and legends collection (lmao collection for 3 games?) like that's it huh

the last actual proper mega man game was 11, which was back in 2018. besides that we have just gotten the collections and x dive, and that latter is now dead. it's pretty joever

[commenter2]

Bluepoint Games should make a R&C Future collection disc

Sony Interactive Entertainment has been doing a great job at keeping their promise of releasing more PlayStation titles for the new era of consoles as not only have we gotten several new games from various PlayStation franchises, but we have also gotten several remasters, remakes and collections of iconic PlayStation games.

Since they are on a roll, I want to recommend the idea that Sony should get Bluepoint Games (which is great at doing video game remasters, remakes, and collections) to make a PS4/PS5 Ratchet & Clank collection disc of the Future quadrilogy with Tools of Destruction, Quest for Booty, A Crack in Time, and Into the Nexus. Into the Nexus would be a good addition as not only does Insomniac Games state it is the epilogue of the Future storyline, but including this short game makes up for how short Quest for Booty is.

I personally see a lot of benefits to making such as collection one being how this gives Bluepoint Games another chance to show how talented they are. It is also long overdue, as the first 3 R&C games from the PS2 era were released as a collection for the PS3 over a decade again and sadly a Future collection was never made when the PS4 came out.

Not to mention it’s still going to be a few years before the next new Ratchet & Clank game comes out, so this would be a nice way to entertain fans until then. Plus I can see this finally giving Tools of Destruction and Quest for Booty trophies to earn. It is also a great way to help new Ratchet & Clank fans catch up on the franchise’s lore since the latest game kind of missed the chance to do so. 

I also want to throw out the idea that this collection could have digital version of the 2010 Ratchet & Clank comic series that was released after A Crack in Time that you can unlock while playing the game. Not only is it a fun addition but if my theory/idea about the next Ratchet & Clank game is right, then it can be a great way to inform fans about a small plot point.

I want to end this by saying that Capcom recently released a game collection of the Megaman Battle Network series for the PS4 and that was a great collection cause along with being able to play the games again they added a lot of content that made it fun, even changing some of the dialogue by replacing buttons found on Nintendo consoles to the buttons of the PlayStation. If they can do it for their old Megaman games then I bet Sony would have no problem doing this for Ratchet & Clank.

Do you think the people at Insomniac Games, Bluepoint Games, and Sony should do this?

[wanderingrustus]

It's been a hot minute since I posted an update, at least since the jam ended. Still blown away that my project did so well.

I can't say it's entirely good news, and as such I'll get the garbage right away.

I may be adding sleep apnea to my growing list of issues. We've suspected this for several years as, embarrassing as it is, my snoring rattles windows and knocks pictures off walls. I should be getting scheduled for a sleep study some time in the coming weeks.

Additionally, I am now completely without my own mode of reliable transportation, and am completely dependent upon my stepdad for any kind of errands out of walking range. My representative payee made the decision to not assist in any way, unless I am purchasing something completely brand new. It's not Thursday as I post this, but somebody is very much out of touch here. I have a plan, but it's wholly dependent on finding a buyer for things I'm getting rid of.

That said, it's not all bad news here. Legends of Ixion is still in progress, though it may take a bit longer as I work on other aspects of my life. I'm also still steadily dropping weight, having added some VR gaming to my routine. I can't put to words how much of a stress reliever it is to jump into a game and punch the hell out of some bad guys a la Streets of Rage, or cut my way through hordes of undead.

I have also been enjoying that other game with the word Kingdom in its name that came out recently (for the record, Dokapon Kingdom Connect... I didn't exactly care for BotW as much as I hoped I would, TotK doesn't look appealing as a result) as well as having finally buried one more piece of my past after finally finishing Megaman Battle Network 3 (was playing it the night of the accident...) and broke the negative association I had with it... even if that ending broke my heart in a wholly different manner.

Either way, I am still fighting my way through, and come what may, I don't plan on biting it any time soon.

Stay safe out there, and don't forget: you are enough.

[tenebraevesper]

Identity Without A Cause - Forte.EXE (Rockman.EXE, Axess, Stream)

After having given my thoughts on Bass.EXE/Forte.EXE in the MegaMan Battle Network/Rockman.EXE games, I decided to shift my focus to Bass’ anime incarnation. However, Bass’ role in the MegaMan NT Warrior anime can be summed up with this meme:

Yeaaaahh... With a few exceptions, he doesn’t really get to do much in the anime, with the exception of Stream. It’s really disappointing, but I’ll still give my thoughts on that. I’ll only cover the Japanese dub here, so I’ll be also using the Japanese names.

So, let’s plug in!

Forte.EXE appears in 14 episodes total, as well as the movie Rockman.EXE Hikari to Yami no Program (which takes place during Rockman.EXE Stream). His first appearance is in Rockman.EXE/MegaMan NT Warrior Season 2 Episode 32: Internet City (which kicks of the Gospel Arc).

He is spotted by Rockman while absorbing bug fragments with a rather vacant look on his expression, before jumping off the ledge and vanishing, only to have a cameo in Episode 33: Crush the Virus Factory!, being engulfed by a pillar of light. He doesn’t appear again until Episode 48: Cybernetic Monster!, where he confronts the Gospel Virus Beast.

Forte senses a connection between him and Gospel, with Gospel then leaving. When Rockman asks him who he is, he just vanishes without a word.

To note, Forte does not speak in any of these appearances (I’m talking about Japanese dub only) and his screentime per episode amounts to maybe a minute or two at most, and that’s a generous estimation. Despite being relevant to the plot, as explained in the following episodes, he literally does nothing aside from showing up somewhere and disappearing.

We get an explanation about his existence in Episode 49: Gospel, courtesy of Dr. Wily, as well as more focus on him during the episode.

Dr. Wily reveals to the audience, and the Gospel Leader, that he named the Solo NetNavi Forte and that he has a connection to the Gospel Virus Beast. The Gospel Leader sends FreezeMan.EXE after Forte to delete him, as he fears Forte would interfere with Gospel’s plans.

Forte is once again seen absorbing bug fragments when he suddenly gets confronted by Rockman, who questions him who he is and whether he works for Gospel, with Forte remaining silent through the entire episode (I’m not even kidding, he doesn’t even speak until the end of the episode, having only one line).

The two then get attacked by FreezeMan, who knocks Rockman away and impales Forte with icicles. Cue to Forte shattering the ground beneath FreezeMan, who in turn encases Forte in ice.

While FreezeMan gloats, Forte lifts the whole damn building, showing just how powerful he is. While FreezeMan gets distracted by Rockman and HeatMan, Forte disappears, having broken out of his ice prison, then promptly jumpscares Rockman and kidnaps him.

We learn that he has brought Rockman to an abandoned World Three server, where he scans Rockman’s memories, revealing that he is actually PharaoMan’s reincarnation.

About that part... I did some digging and found out that the MegaMan NT Warrior anime started airing before MegaMan Battle Network 3 had been released. By the time the Gospel Arc (which was the adaptation of the MegaMan Battle Network 2 storyline) had concluded, the anime team had decided to press skip on MMBN3 and use the MegaMan Battle Network 4 storyline for its next season, MegaMan NT Warrior Axess/Rockman.EXE Axess.

This is why characters like Dr. Cossak, Mamoru Urakawa and Serenade.EXE, as well as Alpha, never appeared in the anime, why Forte’s backstory is different and why nothing is done with his character since the game his backstory had influenced was never adapted into an anime. Had MMBN3 been released before the anime started, I’m sure Forte would’ve played a bigger role in it.

In any case, Rockman’s friends and the remaining World Three members arrive to save him, with Forte finally uttering his first line in this anime: “I have awakened.” and disappears. Seriously, I wasn’t kidding when I said that he barely does anything, at least until Stream.

We then continue into Episode 50: Forte, where we learn that Forte messing with Rockman’s memories had caused the latter to be infected with a bug. Forte is then seen confronting the rampaging Gospel Virus Beast (giving us the reveal that Gospel had also been formed from the remains of PharaoMan’s data).

He manages to defeat Gospel and starts absorbing its data (wanting its Ultimate Program), but we find out that it is too much for him (as Gospel had been absorbing excess data continuously in the form of other NetNavis) and he is literally torn apart.

Just to note, the Rockman.EXE franchise will later on get even more graphic when it comes to the deaths of NetNavis, with a special mention to ShadeMan’s death by the end of Axess. This part here is nothing in comparison to what Forte goes through in the manga.

Forte appears lastly in Episode 51: Moment of Break-Down!, after Rockman Bug Style defeats Gospel, having taken over the Gospel Leader’s body (who is a robot in this incarnation).

Having returned, he decides to use the Gospel Bot to explore the world of humans and take over it. However, instead getting some insight into Forte’s plans in MegaMan NT Warrior Axess/Rockman.EXE Axess, he doesn’t appear until Episode 41: Allegro.

He has constructed a robot named Allegro, who had been kidnapping NetNavis and making them fight for his own entertainment. He explains how he had observed the world in the Gospel Bot, deeming it worthless and then promptly shuts Allegro down, deeming his antics stupid. Dark Blues asks him to join Nebula due to his grudge against humanity, but Forte tells him to get out and tells Netto and co. he’ll cross paths with them again.

He doesn’t appear until Episode 46: The Great NetPolice Battle!, observing the unfolding chaos and plugging into the network to and deciding to revive ShadeMan.

When ShadeMan questions him why Forte revived him, Forte claims that he sees a future in the Darkloids and disappears, not appearing until Episode 50: Dark VS Dark, silently observing (in the Gospel Bot) ShadeMan’s rampage through the real world. This is followed Episode 51: At the Place Where Light Reaches, where he leaves (probably in disappointment) when ShadeMan gets brutally torn into pieces by the Cross Fused Dr. Regal and LaserMan.

Yeah, this was all of his contribution in Axess. Aside from reviving ShadeMan, there is nothing that can be said and his appearances were once again a minute or two long. At least he had some speaking role, but even that was minimal.

This brings us to Rockman.EXE Stream, where he is actually given something to do, albeit only in the first two episodes, in the movie (which takes place in the middle of Stream) and the last two episodes (aka season finale). Still, despite the fact that he appears only in four episodes + movie (which can be seen as an extended episode), I actually like his role here because he is more proactive than he had been in the previous seasons.

Despite that, don’t get deceived by his appearance in the opening. It may look like he has an important role, but it essentially boils down to only one thing - defeating Slur.EXE, the servant of Duo.

In Episode 01: Duo, Forte observes the Cross Fused Netto and Enzan fighting a virus, only to kidnap Rockman shortly after the battle.

He explains to Rockman how he wasn’t behind the virus attacks, but that there is another danger looming over them and, while he obviously doesn’t care what will happen to humans, he does want to protect the cyberworld since, y’know, he lives in it.

When Rockman questions him about it, Forte replies how he’ll absorb his Ultimate Program so he can have enough power to fight this threat (this threat being an AI named Duo). Rockman refuses to go down easily, resulting in a battle between them (this is technically also their first battle), with Forte easily having the upper hand.

Fortunately for Rockman, Enzan had sent out Blues to find him, but Forte manages to defeat him before Blues appears.

Is it just me or is Forte a lot more threatening in Stream than he was in previous seasons? I guess having him do more than just toss buildings around or absorb data works wonders for his character.

The resolution of the battle is followed up in Episode 02: Earth Erasure, with Forte attempting to absorb Rockman’s Ultimate Program.

He is stopped by Blues, who questions his intentions. Forte then notes that he wants Blues’ Ultimate Program as well (as it turns out, Rockman, Blues and Forte are the only NetNavis who have it).

Blues manages to create a distraction and escape with Rockman, with Forte finding them a few seconds later, easily shattering Blues’ sword and starts to absorb the his Ultimate Program. The weakened Rockman tries to fight Forte off, but it goes as well as you’d expect.

Yeah, fighting a powerful Solo Navi without your Operator won’t do you much good, Rockman. Fortunately, Netto and Enzan had found them, and team up, giving as a Rockman (Soul Unison: Blues Soul) and Blues VS Forte battle.

This is also the episode where Forte starts using attacks from the games, specifically Hell’s Rolling and Air Burst. While the battle was awesome, my only complaint is that it’s short, as Forte logs out once Rockman and Blues attack him with Sonic Boom.

He does appear again in the Gospel Bot, entering SciLabs and plugging in.

Once he’s inside the network, he uses the satellite connection Rockman and Blues were supposed to use to travel to Duo in order to fight the latter. However, another NetNavi is sent from Duo’s comet, clashing with Forte, the feedback frying the Gospel Bot and rendering Forte’s only form of transport in the real world useless (not that he is going to need it).

After Slur introduces herself as the servant of Duo, Forte attacks her, declaring how he’ll defeat Duo and take his power.

Honestly, I friggin’ love Forte’s depiction in Stream. He gets to say and do interesting things and his battle with Slur is pretty epic.

We also get to see him use Earth Breaker, Dark Arm Blade and Darkness Overload, the latter seemingly taking Slur out. 

Except it didn’t...

Yeah, Slur manages to wrap him up with the cables, then kicks him straight into Hell. *looks down at the script* No, wait, I meant she kicks him into the Undernet, where he remains until the movie. Seriously, what is up with this show and writing Forte out of the season until the finale? *shakes head*

Anyways, as noted above, Forte makes an appearance in the Rockman.EXE: Hikari to Yami no Program, which takes place sometime between episodes 22-29 of Stream. 

Anyways, we find Forte floating in the Undernet, where he encounters Nebula Grey, and then gets promptly brainwashed. Honestly, he can’t catch a break.

He returns from the Undernet to fight with Rockman (their second battle), who had been sent to destroy the Tadashi Hikari Program to save the world from deletion. We get another epic battle between him and Rockman, but Forte still manages to beat him.

Fortunately, Rockman is saved by Colonel, who fights Forte instead, realizing he has been under someone’s control the whole time.

Honestly, I loved the sword duel between him and Colonel, especially since he manages to keep up with the latter. Fortunately, after Rockman destroys the Tadashi Hikari Program, Forte is freed from his mind control.

A light appears, it being Nebula Grey, with Forte revealing that it was responsible for him going berserk and the trio plugs out.

Forte doesn’t appear until the final confrontation with Nebula Grey, pissed off at Dr. Regal for controlling him. He and Rockman jump into the core, where they get restrained by the cables, which start draining their energy and turn them into slime-like creatures.

In one last attempt to fight back, Rockman offers his Ultimate Program to Forte, so he can use his data to become more powerful and defeat Nebula Grey and save the world. Despite Netto protesting against the plan, Forte gleefully accepts, absorbing Rockman and fusing both of them. However, the result...

Despite being fairly powerful, Forte cannot control Rockman’s Ultimate Program, but unlike his encounter with Gospel, this one has a different, more epic outcome.

I swear, I was grinning like an idiot when I saw Forte Cross Rockman on screen. He then proceeds to kick Nebula Grey and Dr. Regal’s ass in the most awesome way possible.

Yeah, he beheaded Nebula Grey with what appears to be Darkness Overload. BAD. ASS!!!

Unfortunately for the two, this has put a lot of strain on the body, causing Forte Cross Rockman to pass out. Dr. Regal activates a black hole bomb that sends them back to the Undernet, although, after they separate back, Forte forcibly logs Rockman out, saving his life in the process and going back to the Undernet alone while laughing like a maniac. He had a taste of power of the Ultimate Program, but won’t pursue it, as he knows that he cannot control it.

Forte then reappears in Episode 50: Colonel Barrel.

He is back from the Undernet and ready to beat Slur, with both of them clashing as the episode ends. It is immediately continued in Episode 51: Toward a New Future.

This time, they’re more evenly matched, with Forte actually managing to overpower Slur thanks to the Nebula Grey fragments he had absorbed while he was in the Undernet.

He then reveals that, after defeating Slur, he wants to go to the cyberworld of the space and seek a new kind of power.

Honestly, this makes me instantly think of MegaMan Star Force. I really want to see Forte’s reaction upon running into an EM Being. X3

After clashing further, Slur is quite bruised, with Forte impaling her with his arm.

He gives her a choice: she can live, but is banished to the Undernet, or he’ll delete her. Slur chooses the latter.

“If the Earth continues to exist, we will meet again, Rockman.”

Uh, no, you won’t. Not because Earth had been deleted, but because writers decided to boot you out of the anime. You guys heard me right, this was Forte’s last appearance, as he doesn’t appear in Rockman.EXE Beast and Rockman.EXE Beast+. Admittedly, I can’t say that his farewell was disappointing - in contrary, having him defeat Nebula Grey and Slur was really epic, but unless its a oneshot character, don’t make them promise they’ll meet the protagonist again only to never appear further in the series.

Honestly, Forte.EXE was a character with a lot of potential, but because the writers had no idea what to do with him in Rockman.EXE and Axess, he got shafted, only to get some importance in Stream and Hikari to Yami no Program. I’m sure that more could’ve been done with him (e.g. have him absorb one of the Cybeasts to rival Rockman or have a confrontation with Zero.EXE), as we’re going to see in the manga.

Due to him barely doing much until Stream, this is why I feel that Forte.EXE was handled worse as a character than Bass.EXE in MegaMan Battle Network.

Thankfully, we still have the manga and I absolutely love how Ryo Takamisaki had written him. However, I’ll cover that one another time.

Plug out!

The Ultimate NetNavi (Story Archive)

[seer918]

Comparing MegaMan Robot Masters to their NetNavi counterparts; a thread in...probably a lot of parts

Because I’m hyped for the Battle Network collection’s anouncement I figured I’d shamelessly rip off a video by BumblesMcFumbles. Also it’s like way too fucking hot and I need something to hyperfixate over before I combust

Now just to note, I AM more of a fan of the Battle Network series compared to original MegaMan, hell my introduction to Megaman was the Battle Network anime so expect some bias.

(and once I’ve got the collection in hand and actually play more than just a version of 4 and 5, I’ll probably do a thread just talking about every named net navi)

Going in Robot Master Order (even if it will mean the quality of the net navi designs will go up and down as they got more used to the new design theme)

Cut Man and CutMan.EXE

Out of all the old designs that BN’s ocasional ‘chibi’ look touched, CutMan is probably the best. Never been too sure on the ‘ears’/handles on his head but the more sentai/super hero vibe I get from the BN design is rather cute. It’s a simple base design and they did all they could to it while still keeping the overal original vibe.

Though honestly I think it’s a tie because they’re just too similar and I’d have to start nitpicking to find differences. 1-all

Guts Man vs GutsMan.EXE

A complete overhaul of the original design, putting more of an emphasis on the construction equipment envoking yellows and greys than the original’s red and black.

The over pronounced chin and squaring of the head also invokes a loader. Not too sure on the backpack on EXE but I like how they turned the power crystal on the base design into the ‘emblem’ of EXE’s. The addition of green is also nice, just enough to pop but not enough to distract.

GM-EXE takes it, 1-2 in favour of Battle Network

Next is a pair I’d love to have right now to deal with the heat, Ice Man and IceMan.EXE

This one...did not take the chibification too well. And granted this picture isn’t...great for EXE’s head shape, I’m doing my best to ignore it....it’s like a ham chunk stuck in a glove...

Er, sorry. The shades of dark green and mint green aren’t really doing it for me, and are just making me wish for mint choc chip ice cream...The face swirls are...there, I guess...I like the contrast between the boots and gloves vs the rest of the design...

Yeah, classic takes it with a less is more approch. 2-2, tied up again

Bomb Man vs BombMan.EXE

...man, this was the coolest villain grunt from the show growing up, him and StoneMan.EXE introducing the concept of userless navi and how their looks are sometimes vastly different from ‘tame’ navi.

I like the overal, vaguely grenade like design for his armour decals, even if it cribs a bit from Grenade Man.

And I much prefer a ‘visable’ hammer space for pulling bombs out of-his shoulders-compared to them just appearing even though it’d make more sense for the virtual being to pull them out of thin air.

Obvious winner, 2-3 back into BN’s court

Fire Man vs FireMan.EXE

Doing my best to just let the designs do the talking instead of my love for .EXE’s user Mr Match, who was Scottish in the dubbed anime.

I really enjoy the colour inversion between the armour vs main body, with the splashes of blue and gold-y yellow adding more to the simple base design.

I can see why some wouldn’t like the head of EXE but since the clasic doesn’t have a mouth anyways, might as well go whole hog and create an imposing, slightly off-humanoid design

MMC 2-4 MMBN

And last of the first game’s robot masters, Elec Man vs ElecMan.EXE

Deffinitely my favourite change, and not just because I prefer the purple to the 4th robot master with red and/or black as their design

This took the concept of the digitized beings going more form over function (since so long as the code was good they COULD function) and ran with it. The tesla coil back spikes, the helmet mimicking the shape of the original’s...why does EM have a domino-mask, anyways?

Point being, a very imposing design and a superior one to the original

And so for this round, we end with a somewhat noticible gap of 2-5, and it would have been worse for MMC if I didn’t count draws as points for both sides. As we get further into the classic series it might even out a bit more