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Yeah, yeah, Megaman... I'm a Japanophile.

I never thought I'd be excited over a Rockman game outside of DASH, but this one just looks too sweet. It's got most everything good about the series spanning from the original to X to DASH and Zero.

Commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioz6FIGHoec
Some actual gameplay:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa6D4nUM7zo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF5M4p_Vv54

Needless to say, things blow up. I guess the best way to describe it is a Rockman Mahou Shoujo/Shounen. o_O (FYI, I love Mahou Shoujo.)

Main characters Van and Elle (OMG FIRST RM HEROINE!) work for a delivery company that deals in the highly powerful Live Metals: sentient devices capable of bestowing Reploid-like powers to mere humans. Van comes into contact with Live Metal Model X and later is entrusted with Model Z, causing the combination Model ZX.

You can switch between either Van or Elle (plan to use her 100% ^.^) and acquire different Live Metals much as you would steal powers in previous games. It has many familiar and not so familiar elements and plenty of action, but somewhat lenient difficulty. That is, compared to the Zero series, which is known for its insanity in that field. There's a Hard Mode, though.

Finally, a character with pants.

I might want to get an SP just for the purpose of ZX.

But then again, the PSP has some promasing titles too.

Good thing I checked before I posted.

First off:
Elite, the game is NOTHING like a Shoujo. Thank god it isn't. You want that stuff, go see Ryuusei with the, "SAI-LAR MOON TRANS-FOARM!!!". ZX beats the crap out of its next-gen cousin anyways.

Well, I got the game yesterday... In "dub" format. But I don't even think it's right to call it that. My mind already filters "Mega" with "Rock" (thanks to reading so many EXE Mangas, XD), and the only thing I have to think about filtering was "W" to "V". ...but now I think W is V, so... =D.

Anyways. The game is just TRANSLATED. You heard me. Capcom got smart, and realized that if you can't hire decent voice actors, DON'T HIRE THEM AT ALL. Which is odd, because the game does have about 5 or so anime cutscenes. So how are those handled? Japanese dialouge, english subtitles, =D. Wait to see how many people go to Capcom US and go, "WHY DID HE SAY ROCKMAN?!"... then again, I'm pretty sure Capcom believes it has an educated audience now, so it doesn't matter.

That aside, what is the game actually like?

Well, the first thing you do is you get into the "area" (more later) you get out your Biometal you ROCK ON and you kill stuff. =D. I'm going to piss off so many people tomorrow by randomly shouting, "ROCK ON!"... nevermind my random rants.

The game itself has a Metroid-like layout, compared to other side-scrollers in the series (though I did hear Zero 1 had a similar set-up). You start out in Area A and advance to different areas of the country in order to deal with Maverick/Irregular Outbreaks. The Maverick/Irregular Outbreak Area is usually confined to a certain area, so it's like a stage anyways. The areas are Area A-O, with the addition of Area X as your main hub/base of operations. You select Missions on where to go and investigate the Outbreaks, and it tells you what area to go to. Boss encounters as with all Rockman games... Annoying, but once you pick up a decent strategy, they crumble. After defeating a boss, you'll obtain another Biometal Fragment, allowing you to ROCK ON to a different model. If you didn't get a Level 4 clear on the boss, however, you'll need to go back to base and repair the Biometal (So you can use it's full power and Overdrive), which costs money, but not too much that you can't just get from beating the stage. In addition to the main 10+ Missions (including the intro and final stages) there are various side-missions you can aqquire from talking to people at the base, in the city and such. These missions usually just reward you with money, but some give you valuable upgrades.

Controls and the like:
Human: As a Human you can... run and jump. Woo. Why do you need this? Two reasons: Humans can crawl under tight spaces (making puzzles more challenging as they are more vulnerable to damage), and people freak out/say you're dumb/hate your outfit/etc if you're in a Biometal when you talk to them. Basic controls here, and with those mastered you can go to...

Biometals:
X: The first one you get, and probably the best as far as projectiles. Sadly, you lose it early on in the game, =/. You can get it back after beating the game in either Normal or Hard mode (I've only done Easy Mode, after remembering how much a b***h Zero series was). Anyways, X can do the infamous Wall-Jump/Climb, Dash (L Button or double tap the direction you want to go) and his/her buster. Regular shot to shoot, charge up for a green laser, and charge up fully to fire a green laser, then a reserve shot of blue and pink. Really good for long range.

ZX: This is the main Biometal that you get. It has projectile range, and a sword. ....I tended to start abusing the close-range attacks, which ended up getting me killed a lot. Z-Buster can be charged up once, and fire a powerful shot, and Z-Saber can also be charged up to release a ground-attack. A nice thing is, both attacks are set to different buttons, so you can charge up BOTH. ZX's dash also seems to be superior, but that's probably just me.

HX: You receive the first part from a boss, and the second part from another boss. Element of Wind/Electricity. Model HX is for close-range aerial combat. HX allows you to tap a whilst air-borne and hover, as well as use dash in air to do an aerial dash in either direction and up (A nod to the Dash Upgrade in X3). It has two weapons: A saber for horizontal slash, and a saber for Vertical slash... though both seem extremely similar. Combo Horizontal, Vertical, Horizontal to get a sword beam attack. First charge ability of HX creates a ball of electricity, second (requires second fragment), while holding up, creates a fearsome tornado... that is EXTREMELY affective on bosses. Think Tornado Hold, but a crap load better. It also has the ability to scan enemies for health, and weak points (on bosses. If you hit a weak point on bosses, they die easily, but you get a lower defeat score)

FX: No, not sound! Also receive from fighting two bosses. Element is just fire. FX is probably the most experimental type. I personally hate it, but whatever. Model FX has two weapons: Left Arm Cannon, and Right Arm Cannon. FX's main issue is that you can only fire whilst being standing still... a draw-back, but you can also aim it upwards. It's first charge shot is a fireball, and it's second (requiring another boss victory), while holding down, unleashes a flame attack. Now FX's special is... BUSTER EDIT! This is what makes it so experimental. You can edit pathways for the shot to go on both arm slots, creating a variety of attacks (remember, you can use both one after the other). You edit the buster using either control pad, or the stylus (the only time it's ever used in the game). First boss you can move the shot's path 5 squares, second boss you can move it 9 (for each of course). I don't like it, but I'm sure people have come up with crazy Buster Designs.

LX: Also receive from fighting two bosses. Element is Water and Ice. Special abilties it gives you is better under-water combat. You can actually swim and do the dash move whilst underwater... but there aren't that many under-water spots so... =/. Kind of lacking. The main weapon is just one, a giant spear. Which is very powerful though, but close-range. First charge shot creates a platform of ice (But unlike the Chill Penguin one, it's stationary, =/), second charge shot, while holding up, creates an ice dragon that seeks out the enemies and kills them on impact. LX also has an item finder on the bottom screen. It can tell you where items are in a level.

PX: Also receive from fighting two bosses. Element is... Shadow? Ninja? I dunno. Special abilties.... none really, but the main attacks do more damage than other projectile attacks. You throw shuriken instead of buster shots. First charge is a giant shruiken (REALLY useful on bosses), seconde, while holding up, is a shield. Yay shield! You can also do a much faster dash whilst in Overdrive mode. PX shows a display of where enemies (not bosses) are on the second screen. A bit useful. It also widens the seeing range if you're in a dark area.

OX: I haven't gotten this one yet. Element: None. It's Omega, b***h. Die. You can only get it after beating Omega in Normal mode (secret boss) and beating the game. As you can guess, if it's Omega, expect god-modding attacks. If you don't know who Omega is. GET OUT, go play Zero 3 or at least read up on it.
~~~

Overdrive: Overdrive is a system that temporarily enhances the Biometal's abilities. Only can be used by HX, FX, LX, PX and OX. It drains the weapon gauge, however, so use it carefully.

~~~

This is probably one of the first Rockman games where I didn't find the plot TOO cheesy, or find tracks in the OST total s**t. In fact, of the Rockman games, this is probably my favorite soundtrack. I hope the sequel: Advent, doesn't screw it up.

The game itself, though heavily based on Zero as implied by the Biometals (Harpuia, Fafnir, Leviathin, Phantom? Remember them? The Guardians of X in the Zero series. Biometal V is obviously....), references Rockman X A LOT from level design. The third stage at the Highway (When you still have Model X) is nearly a replica of the highway in X1, nostalgic. And the events that happen at the end of if are similar to what happens to a certain blonde in X1... The secon flame stage (Area K I'd like to say), is very similar to that of Flame Stag's stage in X2. Racing aganist lava before it destroys you! And finally, Area J reminds me of... Bubbleman's stage from Rockman 2!! =D. Spikes on the ceiling underwater, DON'T JUMP TOO HIGH. (even though Spikes are no longer instant-kills...)
~~~~~~

As for characters... the difference between the stories is very slim. Just some dialouge (voice, obviously) and some of the sub-missions. I beat the game today on my Easy Aile file (no, I'm not implying anything), and started a Normal Vent file..... (I died on the Highway Stage enough times to get a game over, ;_; ) Easy Mode is what it is, Easy. Normal Mode and a rumored Hard Mode (Which I don't have yet) obviously make the most of the game's bosses, secrets and possibly story.

Anyways... now that you read that whole thing. If you're able to find the game (It's been out for a while), get it.

It's time to ROCK ON!

...but it ISN'T, that's the thing. It's not like that at all, unless Link getting a new outfit is the same thing... and it's not.

...

But... it's not. It's like putting on clothes. Ryuusei is like that, not ZX.