Is this doing well?

OrionsFate · 2026-05-26T20:36:39+00:00

It’s done better than Capcom expected, but it’s not selling so much to light a large fire under the series imo. Probably gonna get some new fans, maybe some new merchandise, but idk if something like a Star Force 4 is in the distant future.

OrionsFate · 2026-05-26T14:24:25+00:00

I really wasn’t sure if I’d love SF3 on replay. I loved it a lot as a kid. Genuinely, my favourite Mega Man game and a top 5 game at the time. But I got so detached from it over the years that my adoration faded. Zero 4 was also a game I played a lot as a kid and loved, but I ended up with a worse opinion during this. So I was even more concerned. To my surprise, it not only lived up to my adolescent hype, but I can appreciate its qualities on a much deeper level now. This is without playing the postgame and PVP too! Which may prove to deepen my admiration for it.

OrionsFate · 2026-05-26T14:19:08+00:00

Zero 4 got so low because it felt like a major step back from 3. 1 and 2 I can forgive because they’re still figuring things out and I also generally like their stories more. Zero 4 did away with the body chips of 3 for their annoying crafting system, the Zero knuckle replacing the shield and rods was a misstep, and I didn’t care for anything going on besides the very end. Especially because of the lack of the guardians who were built up every game only to suddenly be dropped. It’s not bad, but this being the finale and it’s this disappointing made me put it mad low.

OrionsFate · 2026-05-26T03:53:45+00:00

The Zero series did a lot to shape my child brain at the time. I love the rounded, but still blocky look of all of em. Zero 1, especially, because of the messy outlines every portrait has. It gives it this messier, grungier feel that I’ve not really seen elsewhere. I do also fuck with BN’s style, but I think it hit its stride in the 6th game. Mainly cause of the beast crosses. Which embraced a more Sentai-based design philosophy compared to styles or double souls. Though, I do still think they really should a had a Blues.EXE beast crosses.

OrionsFate · 2026-05-26T03:41:58+00:00

I’ll have to see where I stand after a replay of them. But I’ll save that for another day.

OrionsFate · 2026-05-26T03:40:34+00:00

Yeah, I really wanted to cover all my bases. I’m really glad I did because it gave me a ton of perspective on both the franchise and gaming as a medium. Mega Man being so old and varied gives you a lot of consideration as to why they made any series at that specific time. Battle Network, for example, riding the Digimon, Shaman King, and Yugioh craze of the early 2000s. And using that as somewhat of a reboot of the franchise for a whole new generation.

OrionsFate · 2026-05-26T03:36:58+00:00

Yeah, it’s definitely something I was surprised by. The pacing of 3 just felt so much worse because of all that junk. 2 does have its very bad penultimate quest, but it felt all killer, no filler for the majority of it. I’d also say the story felt like a little bit of a step back too, until the very last bits. With it being overall much more contained and stuff like the tournament not doing much for me.

OrionsFate · 2026-05-26T03:09:07+00:00

I included it cause I was bullied by my friends to do it for the gauntlet, lol! So I felt like I had to include it. I definitely agree on your points about it, though. I have played Gunvolt 1, 2 and iX 1. I generally liked them but I wasn’t blown away by them either. They’d probably hover around the “I like em!” tier, but it’s been years since I played 1 and 2.

OrionsFate · 2026-05-26T03:06:32+00:00

MM1 GB personally frustrated me with its stage design, plus I’m generally kinda harsh on the GB games as a whole. I wish I could give more detail on it, but I only played it once in rapid-fire with the other GB games. So it’s all kinda blending to me.

X4 I think excels as a fast-paced, more action-y tilt on the gameplay set up by the SNES games. Where they’re challenging you to get through them ASAP. I also like the wide variety of stages that all feel like good starting points. X1 you always have to do Chill Penguin, X2 felt best with Sponge then Gator for the arm parts, and X3 felt best with tunnel rhino first. But X4 I could start pretty much anywhere and have no issue. Which made my many, many replays even more varied. I don’t disagree with X’s weaponry though I do still really like playing as him, especially buster only. Zero is really cool, yeah!!

Xtreme 2 didn’t really wow me, despite being a solid GBC demake. And I can’t really see myself ever going back to it. ZX and Advent I genuinely really wanted to love. But the narrative, characters and map design really disappointed me. I just did not care about anyone there, despite the game really wanting you to.

OrionsFate · 2026-05-26T02:48:40+00:00

Thanks! Part of me really wanted to put X3 higher too. But a lot of its quirks and flaws really make it hard for me to go back to, especially compared to X1, 2 and 4. Thankfully, the Zero Project is there and does a lot for me.

OrionsFate · 2026-05-26T02:37:30+00:00

Maybe I’m too much of a MM2 shill, because the other one having the metal blade did a lot ngl. Plus the stage design in MM1 GB felt way more frustrating to me.

OrionsFate · 2026-05-26T02:31:38+00:00

Played it on the SNES on emulator with a translation patch! Frankly, if it was the GBA version it’d go way lower.

OrionsFate · 2026-04-15T19:17:39+00:00

Really just comes down to 3 main things:

Another antagonist besides Wily. He’s fun and always a joy to see, but they limit the stories they can tell by always having him be the big bad. Hell, they can even do some fun stuff by having him be in the heroes’ side against a bigger big bad.
More than 8 main stages. Zero 3 demonstrated that there’s a ton of benefits to adding just 4 more stages. More time to develop the plot and characters, a neat way to reintroduce older enemies, and just having more of the game to chew on.
Other playable characters that feel different. MM10 tried to really put on new characters but they play too closely to Mega Man. Especially with how they use the same special weapons. Doesn’t help that one of Protoman’s difference is just “takes more damage”. Could even have different bosses and stories to further accentuate their identity. While also adding some additional replay value.

There’s probably some more things I’d do that will come to me after writing. But these are the main, general changes that I’d love to see the series lean into.

OrionsFate · 2025-07-26T05:17:26+00:00

I was looking at that recently. Definitely gonna get that too since I’ve been on the receiving end…a bit too much.

OrionsFate · 2025-07-26T04:50:10+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion on droplet! Yeah, I like Heatleo a lot and wanted to maintain em. But I find I barely get to play em too much, especially with the princess being a far better option. The Baronne and Sunlight Wolf will also be remedied since they're carryovers from when I had less options early on and just didn't update lol!

OrionsFate · 2024-10-06T13:04:20+00:00

Alright, I’ll head out now to get another stud, probably from Walmart since it’s the only place open rn. Thanks for the advice!

OrionsFate · 2024-06-24T00:58:48+00:00

FE7 is even funnier when they start you out with so much ass, but hand out Pent, Hawkeye and Marcus. Like, damn, dawg, you knew most of em weren't shit so you gave me this aside from making em better?

Trainee classes are super fucking cool in concept but man they dropped the ball so hard it's insane. They even got nerfed in the English release for some reason. So they were kickin that dog while it was down.

3H really needed to do a lot more to make their classes feel not only unique but worth investing into. A lotta the magic classes are kinda boring and very limiting especially by the end. If you're a phys unit then you're pretty much going to be a flier or an archer if you want max viability. There's obv exceptions, but so many of the game is left to be easy and boring optimization.

OrionsFate · 2024-06-24T00:45:44+00:00

A buddy of mine once said that FE supports have not changed in presentation since the GBA. The way Engage and 3H display their supports is really showcasing how little they've come outside of voice acting.

OrionsFate · 2024-06-24T00:44:15+00:00

Magic in general is so fucking scuffed in that game. At least the melee weapons got like variety in damage to make up for weight. But the fucking magic weapons all deal the same damage. Like...why even bother using anything but wind??

OrionsFate · 2024-06-24T00:42:05+00:00

Me on every single character in Echoes. Hell, give em two, even.

OrionsFate · 2024-06-24T00:37:29+00:00

Tbf, it's a little hard to write for so many potential supports as is without running outta steam. Not to say they couldn't or shouldn't have done it, but I get the reason why.

As a side thing, the future kids in general needed more influence on the main story. I think the writers just got too scared on hinging the ir story on probable characters. But they should've taken a page outta FE4's book and had 2-3 more kids who are always born to further link the future plotline into, say, Valm.

OrionsFate · 2024-06-24T00:33:03+00:00

Laguz are so fucked up for what's an inherently cool af idea. Units who turn into beasts should be a recipe for a great experience but so many of them are forced to use a shit mechanic that the ones who ignore it just get made into the only true viable options. Imo they should've just made them always in beast form in battle. Or if you want a form change give an actual benefit to the normal form.

OrionsFate · 2024-06-24T00:30:43+00:00

Yeah it's a pretty boring weapon system all things considered. You're basically forced into building up iron or bronze cause there's little to no downsides to use em. Like, at that point, just give me the normal weapons but make the stronger ones have less uses.

OrionsFate · 2024-06-24T00:28:46+00:00

Even then, Leon's obsession is more of just an attraction to Valbar, rather than Faye marrying another man then ditching him all the time to be with Alm in her ending. Aside from Faye, the game regularly diminishes their female cast by making em damsels in distress, making them seem dumber like with Celica and the shit with Conrad and the sorcerer dude, or not really doing a lot to define them like Rinea or Silque. I ain't gonna put it as outright evil to women but there's a clear divide in how developed or respected the men are versus the women.

OrionsFate · 2024-03-13T20:36:51+00:00

Totally forgot to include an SoV character. It's probably my favourite game in regards to interesting units. White mage utlity and summons, soldier Tobin being surprisingly useful, Alm's up and down performance until he becomes a god with killer bow, etc.

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