shadowhedgehog's Full Review: Mega Man X Command Mission for GameCube
It had come to that nasty point when I even thought about uttering the three letters "R-P-G" and everyone immediately began spewing out "FINAL FANTASY! FINAL FANTASY!". I'm going to be quite blunt with this-- FF is, was, and probably always will be a hit-or-miss series that whiffed quite a bit for me (NES FF2, FF4, FF8, and FF X and its sequel to name just a few). CapCom had entered the realm of RPG's as early as 1991 with the classic RPG, Breath of Fire that maintained its own (albeit, smaller) fan following-- myself included. However, one of my all-time favorite heroes ever since I was a child, the famous MegaMan of sequel-stardom, had never been in a TRUE RPG-- as the closest runner-ups were the Legends (which were more or less action games) and Battle Network (which followed the suit of a chess game/card collecter). However, all that has been changed as the true blue hero of the not-too-distant future, MegaMan X, and his friends have come full-force into an unbelievable RPG expierence that will certainly glue you to your TV screen, permanently. But a new question arises from all these new, addictive games-- is it a good or bad thing to be addicted for 15 hours in the first weekend of gameplay? Hmm...
Story: After a strange meteorite finds its way into the Pacific Ocean, scientists find that the fallen space object (perhaps a MegaMan Battle Network reference? Probably not...) inside to have strange metal alloys with powerful energies. Well, these metals have been named "Force Metals" and when equiped on a Reploid makes them incredibly powerful and made their old energy sources obsolete! However, a very powerful reploid, Epsilon, rebelled after being super-charged by the force metals and called for a rebellion against humankind and that their new, artificial island and city, (Gigantis Island-- Giga City), be declared an independant nation. The government, fearing for the sake of the humans and reploids alike, sent X and a few others in to stop Episilon, and branded them all Mavericks. Now, X must join forces with a resistance to stop the Liberion Army from causing unneeded damage and save innocent lives!
GamePlay: Whew! Okay, on the map you play as MegaMan X, and move around with amazing ease-- and even have X's traditional dash with the "B" button, access of a map with "X" button, your menu with the "Y" button, check/talk/look with the "A" button and full control over the camera and mini-map with L, R, and Z. The overworld is nice and simple but the ultimate fun in the gaming expierence comes from first-hand battles! Everything is labeled in a simple diagram on the upper-right hand corner where everything is explained (so, it's redundant for me to bother telling you this) and on the lower-right hand corner is a chart (from what I've been told-- the format is similar to Xenosaga) where up to 8 moves in advance are shown-- the characters in which their turns arrive and their average HP amounts. With this, the battle screen is extremely simple but also, very beautiful as your screen isn't constantly flurried by useless information and even your Sub-Weapons are simply named so you won't forget which button lets you wield what or how much Weapon Energy it consumes. Weapon Energy (or WE) is this game's varient of the typical RPG MP and replenishes itself by roughly 25% each turn and allows you to not only use your Sub-Weapons (two extra add-ons each character can use and each has their own extra effect) and also each characters' respective Action Trigger-- used by the R button and has different affects per each user. On an interesting note, I have also been able to play the PlayStation 2 version-- the graphics hiccup some in that varient and also has a much longer loading time but also fewer random encounters...
Graphics: Wowowowowowowowowow~ BEAUTIFUL! When I heard it was going to be cell-shaded like Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker or Wild ARMS 3 I couldn't help but sigh. However, when I saw the first screenshots of this amazing game I gasped and almost had a heart attack! Each graphical scene is flawless, smooth and never has even one graphical hiccup! While the lip sync is often odd (as it was originally sync'ed to Japanese and some character's mouths just never move for one reason or the other) most of the time it runs perfectly. The battle and map graphics are excellently toned to each situation and the cinematic scenes show excellent expression using hand motions and lively facial expressions.
Music/Sound/SFX/Voices: FINALLY! CapCom has found the perfect set of voice actors for each and every character in the game! Whoever they are (I do not know) they are perfect and CapCom should never let them go from these games and their respective characters! For instance, X's flat, boring voice that he's had since X5 and his "I-haven't-hit-adulthood-yet" voice like X4 have been fixed to a perfect 16-year-old sounding voice and each and every other character has been set excellently. The music is awesome, up-beat, techno-esque styled with a sharp beat keeping the action fresh and alive each time around, whether it's a boss battle or a decisive conclusion from the characters during diplomacy! The sound effects are just perfect! Some sounds were borrowed to retain a sense of nostalgia (such as X's charge shot sounds) but some totally new ones have been introduced to give each character and movement a sense of individuality. Just a flawless job on CapCom's part!
Replay: Okay, I'll be blunt-- it's short for an RPG. However, the game itself is difficult as each new mission becomes gradually tougher-- forcing you to adapt to a new set of enemies each and every time, so be prepared! But the true replay comes from a series of little add-ons. First is X's own playroom, called the "Sky Room". You can put up your own posters, you can listen to music, watch cinemas from earlier in the game, check your battle and result records and even change the color of X's cyber scarf! However, most of these little goodies are obtained by finding broken enemies, turning them to your own use, and sending them out on expeditions to even find keys for dungeons you have cleared and even find more and more goodies! There are alot, though, so be prepared to play a lot in the Sky Room. Another fun addition is finding tokens to use in vending machines to collect figurines of important characters through the game (including X himself!) which are fun little collectables, but I haven't found much about them to be of use other than bragging rights and closely examining each character. But overall, this game is just flat-out fun! I can't quit playing! CapCom! Do what you guys do best and make a sequel!!!
All the great Mega Man action is here, plus new role-playing elements alow you to improve your characters' performance New heroes like Axl and Zero wi...More at Amazon Marketplace
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