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 Videos: ================ Episode 01 - It's Zero Time!    Episode 02 - Drew Does Not Suck  Episode 03 - Fwost Walwus  Episode 04 - Uppercutting Peacocks  Episode 05 - What Am I Fighting For?  Episode 06 - Sound Board Sully  Super Bonus 01 - Drew Sucks at Cheats  Super Bonus 02 - Double  ================ I just want to preface this LP by saying that this is one of my favorite Mega Man X games (and by extension one of my favorite games period), but it is not without its flaws. It has the tight action packed gameplay we've come to know from the Mega Man X series up to this point and having X and Zero both completely playable with wildly different play styles blew my freaking mind. Finally, this was the Mega Man X game I had been waiting for. The story on the other hand... well let's just say they tried. I will do my best to point out specifics of why the story falls short instead of just complaining about it, but I'll get into that later. Without further ado... The Story So Far... ================ It's been some time since the events of Mega Man X3 (it's not really made clear exactly how long but we know Mega Man Xtreme 2 takes place between X3 and X4 so we can assume at least several months). At this point I think it's safe to say we're well over a year since the events of Mega Man X1. Fearing that the Maverick Hunters would not be enough to combat the Maverick threat, a new army is created: Repliforce. Repliforce seems to follow a much more rigid and traditional military structure than the Maverick Hunters, having an explicit chain of command (at least we can assume this due to the presence of General and Colonel, and their apparent authority in Repliforce). Repliforce and the Maverick Hunters have been working side by side and during this time Zero befriends the colonel of Repliforce, aptly named Colonel, and his sister Iris. Zero even seems to be romantically involved with Iris, though the exact details of their relationship are unclear (this is an area of the story I have some issues with, but again more on that later). Things seem to be going well between Repliforce and the Maverick Hunters, until X and Zero are summoned to action... ================ Characters: ================ The Heroes  X uhhhh has been fine I guess? We don't really get much information on what X has been up to since the events of MMX3 but we do know that he has apparently taken a rookie Maverick Hunter named Double under his wing. Once again X seems to have traded in his armor upgrades for store credit and gotten a crap deal as he starts off with no armor.  This game may be called Mega Man X4 but it might as well have been the first Mega Man Zero game. Finally we can play as Zero for an entire game and this time he plays wildly differently than X. His buster is gone entirely, as his new fighting style favors his Z-Sabre exclusively. It's never said explicitly but I like to think that Zero trained with Colonel to master this new style, as Colonel is also a The Villains  We don't see this in Zero's opening cutscene, but in X's opening cutscene (which we will showcase in a bonus episode after the Zero playthrough) there is a shadowy figure speaking to General and urging him to action against the Maverick Hunters. He seems to be the one pulling the strings behind the events of the game. I'm leaving his identity a secret in good faith, but if you can't guess who this is then I'm very disappointed in you. The Not Quite As Villains Quick side note, I'm including these in their own category, as their motives are not inherently evil. They are being manipulated by the shadow figure and I felt it an important distinction to make.  General is... well he's the general of Repliforce. Both his military status and his physical stature make him an imposing figure, as he towers over all of the other reploids in Repliforce. He is a man of honor and principle.  Colonel is the colonel of Repliforce. He serves under General as second in command of Repliforce and has become a personal friend to Zero. He has a strong sense of duty and pride and takes his job in Repliforce very seriously. Colonel was created as one half of the perfect reploid soldier. Colonel was the aggressive fighter and his sister, Iris, was the diplomat and arbitrator. Originally the scientists of Repliforce attempted to merge these personalities into one, much like X, but decided the two were irreconcilable and split them into the pair of Colonel and Iris. The Supporting Cast  Iris is the sister of Colonel and second half of the ideal reploid soldier. She represents the level headed, intelligent diplomat. She works with her brother in Repliforce, but she also lends aid to the Maverick Hunters as a navigator (which she can be seen doing in the later released Mega Man Xtreme 2 as well). Despite her involvement with Repliforce, she sides with Zero and helps him and the other Maverick Hunters.  Double is a rookie Maverick Hunter who is currently shadowing under X. He's eager to help, but is something of a klutz. He assists X as X's navigator during the events of X4. Not much else is known about this new recruit. ================ Ceraph fucked around with this message at 18:12 on Dec 16, 2016 |
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Nov 3, 2016 17:59
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Episode 01 - It's Zero Time! It's been a while, but I'm back with some more Mega Man X action! It's finally time to jump into the PSX era as we tackle the first Mega Man game released on the PSX. As always I am joined by my buddy Alden (A440V) and we also have our buddy Sully along for the ride this time as well. As the title suggests we'll be doing the Zero run as our main playthrough, but we'll also be doing a bonus episode to showcase the differences between X and Zero as well as the X Specific cutscenes. The introduction to Zero's playthrough raised so many questions when I first played it. Did Dr. Wily create Zero? If so, then why are X and Zero friends? And what was with the scene with all the blood? Do reploids even have blood? They really dangled a lot in front of the player right off the bat, and if this game had been about Zero remembering his past and coming to grips with his role in life then I think it could have been an awesome story. Instead we get jerked in a completely unrelated direction and follow the Repliforce plot thread through most of the game. One of the issues I have with the story is evident right from the start in that there is just too much going on and very little of it seems related to each other. A plot doesn't need to have global stakes to be compelling, and yet we're left with what feels like a very forced fate of the world plot. I just never felt like Repliforce had a good reason for staging a military coup. Zero asks Colonel to disarm and come in for questioning and suddenly we're at war? That's a huge overreaction unless it came after years of tension between the two groups and maybe some prejudice and/or persecution on the part of the humans. Repliforce seeking independence just seems so out of place without first making the player sympathetic toward their situation. This could easily be fixed by showing scenes of people being belligerent toward Repliforce, etc. Ceraph fucked around with this message at 18:17 on Nov 3, 2016 |
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Nov 3, 2016 18:00
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Ceraph posted:
loving Tangela, I always knew it was you!  Wait, we're not playing Whose that Pokemon are we? Looking forward to finding out what you're fighting fooooooooooooooor.
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Nov 3, 2016 20:58
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Geez, how long ago was your X3 LP? It was the first one I saw from your group. The X4 plot seems ripped wholesale from X3, except that game had a (supposedly) peaceful utopia and not a coup as a catalyst for the (totally not) mysterious villain's plans. Give my regards to Alex and Jackie and whatever they named their baby.
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Nov 4, 2016 20:07
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get that OUT of my face posted:Geez, how long ago was your X3 LP? It was the first one I saw from your group. The X4 plot seems ripped wholesale from X3, except that game had a (supposedly) peaceful utopia and not a coup as a catalyst for the (totally not) mysterious villain's plans. It has been a while! Other endeavors have kept me from my work on the X series but it's finally time to sit back down with some good old Mega Man X. The plot as a whole feels like they were trying to do something a little more in depth than previous games but still make it feel like a Mega Man X plot and really it just falls short. There is a line between being true to the series and being formulaic and I think this one falls squarely in the latter category. Consider your regards given! I just saw them and little baby Abby is doing very well 
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Nov 7, 2016 20:11
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Episode 02 - Drew Does Not Suck It's time to pick up one of my favorite moves for Zero: Kuuenbu (Sky Waltz)! Also known as the double jump! Being able to double jump in and of itself is really nice from a platforming perspective, but Kuuenbu also changes Zero's jump attack. I like the flip attack much more than his regular attack as it gives a lot more range to Zero's attacks. You have to get a little bit closer but being able to attack above, below, and behind Zero is totally worth the trade off. This is one of the best examples of why I like playing Zero over X. With the whole move set mechanic beating a boss really feels like you're upgrading Zero's abilities, not just accumulating a bunch of limited use weapons you'll probably only use on the respective robot master. Because Zero doesn't get capsule upgrades having this feel to his special moves is really important, and I think they really nailed it. So much so that X feels kind of boring by comparison.
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Nov 8, 2016 02:38
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How come Slash Beast's life bar had the Repliforce symbol but Split Mushroom's had the symbol of the definitely-not-ultimate villain of this game? The thing about the plot of all Mega Man and Mega Man X games is that they're secondary to the gameplay, it's just funny to see what hoops a given game goes through to just to get to the reveal. Zero's aerial attack reminds me of Luke's lightsaber air attack in the Super Star Wars games, and it looks just as handy.
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Nov 8, 2016 04:58
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Because slash beast is a repliforce member and hasn't specifically gone maverick yet (You're attacking their supply train) but Split Mushroom is a Maverick.
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Nov 8, 2016 08:28
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get that OUT of my face posted:How come Slash Beast's life bar had the Repliforce symbol but Split Mushroom's had the symbol of the definitely-not-ultimate villain of this game? The thing about the plot of all Mega Man and Mega Man X games is that they're secondary to the gameplay, it's just funny to see what hoops a given game goes through to just to get to the reveal. I've never really played a Mega Man game for the story, and I'm totally fine with games that let the story take a back seat to the gameplay. The big problem I have with this game is it seems like they're trying to make the story more complex but just failing at it. I would have been totally cool with a lampshaded "Sigma's up to his old tricks again" story, much like Mega Man 9 and 10. Also I had completely forgotten about the Super Star Wars games until you said that but yes, you are absolutely correct.
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Nov 8, 2016 16:38
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Episode 03 - Fwost Walwus It's time to tackle the hardest robot master fight in the game: Magma Dragoon! That is, he is the hardest if you don't take the ride armor into the boss fight. Having that almost makes it trivial. We will have to fight him again for the robot master redux without the ride armor, but by then we'll have all the heart tank and sub T upgrades so it won't be nearly as bad. I do appreciate the fact that Dragoon has been built up as this awesome Maverick Hunter and his boss fight is legitimately harder than all the others. For our troubles though, we get Ryuenjin (Dragon Flame Blade) which looks really cool but is really only useful in boss fights and finding heart tanks. A short jump and Kuuenbu is much better for getting enemies above you without putting yourself in danger. By beating half of the robot masters we're treated to a cutscene with Colonel in which nothing much happens. I'm not just being vague to avoid spoilers, it legitimately just feels like filler. Worthwhile to note, though, that if you're playing as X you actually have to fight Colonel. Next up is
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Nov 11, 2016 01:01
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Episode 04 - Uppercutting Peacocks Ohhhhh boy, it's time for everyone's favorite stage! I am talking of course about Jet Stingray's stage. I go in depth in the episode itself so I'm not gonna repeat myself too much but whenever games pull the "we're gonna throw a new control scheme at you" kind of thing it never seems to end well. For beating Jet Stingray we get Hienkyaku (Flying Jump). This move always seemed underwhelming compared to the double jump and it's really only used for a couple specific platforming sections. In general I will either just dash jump or double jump. Cyber Peacock's stage is cool, I dig the idea of getting rewarded with stuff for clearing the sections quickly enough. That does mean, though, that if you don't get the time you have to restart the entire level to try again. I forgot to point out in the video but the first section has a capsule if you're X. Defeating Cyber Peacock gets us Rakuhouha (Fallen Phoenix Crush), which is the only move Zero gets that consumes weapon energy. This move looks really cool, and it has a very wide range of attack, but given how long it takes to perform I never use it outside of Storm Owl. That being the case the weapon energy tank is all but useless in Zero's run. We also tack on the last robot master, Storm Owl! I like the aesthetic of his stage, I really like the idea of jumping around on different airships that are soaring above a cityscape. We also get the second ride armor in this stage, which has a cool homing charge shot and can hover if you double jump. I always liked the fact that there were two distinct designs for the ride armors in this game: one modeled after Zero (the red energy blade one) and one modeled after X (the blue charge shot one). Since you can't switch characters once mid game it's the only time where, for a brief moment, you get a sense of what it's like to play as the other character. With Storm Owl defeated we get our final ability: Tenkuuha (Sky Command). In addition to turning Zero's sabre purple it also lets him cut through energy projectiles and supposedly it increases his attack as well, though to what extent I'm not sure.
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Nov 16, 2016 05:32
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Episode 05 - What Am I Fighting For? Sorry for the lack of updates the past few weeks, work had me super busy. But I am back now! It's time to pick up the last few upgrades and head into the Repliforce Stages and along with it the most infamous line of dialogue from this game. Rather than encase the entire rest of this post with spoiler tags I will give you this warning: if you are not familiar with the story and you don't want the events of the episode spoiled for you go ahead and watch it and then come back. The cutscene with Iris is supposed to be this really heartfelt moment where someone that Zero is presumably in love with dies in his arms. Instead what happens is just really awkward and kind of out of left field. This cutscene has been made fun of so many times it's almost not funny anymore (except somehow it still makes me laugh every time). The voice acting definitely plays a factor in this, but the problems go much deeper and this is the perfect opportunity to talk about why the story in Mega Man X4 falls short. First up: the characters. This is probably the most important part of any story. There can be drama and action and the fate of the world could be hanging in the balance, but if I don't care about the characters then I have no attachment to what's happening in the story. This game introduces so many new characters and it does one of the story telling tropes I hate the most: it establishes relationships between characters off screen. Instead of actually showing us meaningful interactions between characters (like Zero and Iris getting to know each other and falling in love) we're simply told that they've known each other for a while now and I guess they're close or something. Likewise the relationship between Zero and Colonel (hell, the entire existence of Repliforce) is established off screen, so when in the intro level they are branded as traitors we as the audience are just kind of confused about what's going on and don't really care. That lack of connection between characters deflates a lot of the tension they try to create with Iris having to choose between Zero and Colonel and Zero being forced to kill Iris' brother. It certainly makes me care a lot less about the cutscene where Iris dies because Zero hasn't really shown any emotion or feelings toward her, but now all of a sudden he's so distraught that he's lost his motivation to fight. That can be a really compelling character arc for someone, but as it stands we just don't know enough to care. Next: the plot. I'm not gonna get super nit picky and point out plot holes etc, but there is one glaring problem with the plot that I have to touch on. There is just too much going on. We have one plot thread that starts with Zero's opening cutscene about him being created by Dr. Wily and maybe having killed a bunch of people and now he has to come to terms with that or learn about his past. That's an entire game plot right there. Then the plot shoots off into this fate of the world plot with Repliforce, but the cast seems so detached from the entire thing that I care less about that and more about Zero's past. I like Zero as a character and I want to know more about him. As it stands they don't touch on that again until the very end of the game, and even then it's just a little tease. We also have the plot thread about Sigma manipulating General into making the coup, and the whole relationship between Zero, Colonel, and Iris. There's also the mini plot of Dragoon's betrayal, which could make for an interesting story in and of itself as well. Really what it all comes down to is the fact that this story has potential, but it falls so short. It bothers me because it feels like they tried to do something more serious but then phoned it in. Have a character story about Zero or X discovering their past and coming to terms with their place in the world. Have a story about Zero and Iris who fall in love and then have to deal with the fact that Colonel is on the opposite side of this conflict as Zero. Or just lampshade the whole thing and do a "Sigma's up to his old tricks again, time to save the day" story. I would be totally fine with that, because we all know why we played Mega Man X4 and it certainly wasn't the story. I hope my little rant wasn't too long or nit picky, but I saw this as an opportunity to cover some basic tenants of storytelling and I had to take it. I hope I brought some constructive criticism to the table and helped people understand the underlying reasons why it doesn't work instead of just ragging on it.
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Nov 29, 2016 01:29
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EWR Spaceport? Please, in the future it'll be called "Newark Liberty Intergalactic Spaceport," if we survive that long. It seems like the plot problems stem from Capcom squeezing way too much of it into the traditional Mega Man X game format. An intro stage, eight boss stages, and the last few stages doesn't allow for nearly enough game time to go over the coup, a love story, the relationship between all of the major characters, and the origins of Zero, even if you put plot-related cutscenes in between the traditional eight boss stages. For whatever reason, they decided not to do those even though they had that kind of plot exposition in X2 and X3. I'd say it's a case of showing and not telling, but they didn't do a good job of showing things either. By the way, there is no situation where a rap airhorn isn't appropriate.
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Nov 29, 2016 08:03
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get that OUT of my face posted:EWR Spaceport? Please, in the future it'll be called "Newark Liberty Intergalactic Spaceport," if we survive that long. I would agree that there is just not enough game time in the traditional Mega Man X game format to tell the story they're trying to tell. They would have to spend a frustratingly long time on cutscenes to the point where it would become a Metal Gear Solid game, having more cutscene time than actual gameplay time.
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Nov 29, 2016 17:57
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Episode 06 - Sound Board Sully It's time to finish out Zero's playthrough, as we have just the robot master redux and the final boss fight to go! Right before the final boss we are treated to a little anime cutscene and I have to say I was all about this back in the day. I'm pretty sure they do drop hints about Zero having formerly been a maverick in previous games, but I was not a particularly observant child and that took me completely by surprise. I appreciate them giving a little insight in Zero's backstory. This final fight is one of the harder final bosses in the X series, certainly up to this point. The fact that they took away two of the Sub Tanks definitely doesn't help, but the final form can be rather difficult to hit as zero without taking damage yourself. Without save states this boss can be a huge pain, as there are four separate health bars you have to chew through. Overall this is still one of my favorite entries in the series. The story is very flawed, but it doesn't really get in the way of the gameplay. Introducing Zero as a completely separate playable character was really well done and he feels very different from X. Controls are still really tight and the level design is solid. All this makes for a very enjoyable entry in the series. Up next is a bonus episode showcasing some of the highlights of X's playthrough. It's probably going to be on the longer side and I've got a lot of footage to sift through so it might be a little bit before it goes up, but I hope to have it up before too long.
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Dec 3, 2016 01:58
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I don't think its canon, but I think the reasoning for the Zero Virus leaving him was that Apparently Dr. Cain, once again fucks things up and included random strings of code from X that didn't give Sigma X's copy powers, but still downloaded it anyway. I can't remember the point I was making since now I have something else to hate Dr. Cain about, that loving idiot.
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Dec 3, 2016 03:18
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Fuuuuck this game. 8 year old me couldn't beat a single boss with X; and I never made it past the intro stage with Zero. The only upgrade I could ever even locate was those drat hover boots and that's it.
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Dec 3, 2016 03:44
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Sigma's plot reveal didn't even say much that was new. The first Mega Man X said that Sigma was a Maverick Hunter, either in the game or in the instruction booklet. At the end of X2, Sigma says that X will fight Zero, who is "the last of the doctor's creations." The only wrinkle they added was how Zero infected Sigma with Wily's virus.
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Dec 3, 2016 06:54
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Ceraph posted:Next: the plot. I'm not gonna get super nit picky and point out plot holes etc, but there is one glaring problem with the plot that I have to touch on. There is just too much going on. We have one plot thread that starts with Zero's opening cutscene about him being created by Dr. Wily and maybe having killed a bunch of people and now he has to come to terms with that or learn about his past. That's an entire game plot right there. Then the plot shoots off into this fate of the world plot with Repliforce, but the cast seems so detached from the entire thing that I care less about that and more about Zero's past. I like Zero as a character and I want to know more about him. As it stands they don't touch on that again until the very end of the game, and even then it's just a little tease. We also have the plot thread about Sigma manipulating General into making the coup, and the whole relationship between Zero, Colonel, and Iris. There's also the mini plot of Dragoon's betrayal, which could make for an interesting story in and of itself as well. It seems like the basic format of the Megaman games really doesn't have room for a plot as complex as what they were attempting. And what was up with Iris' dying words of wanting to live in a reploids-only world? We never hear of the major characters interacting with humans in any context, let alone anything that might plausibly incite a robot uprising.
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Dec 3, 2016 16:47
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FeyerbrandX posted:I don't think its canon, but I think the reasoning for the Zero Virus leaving him was that That's a really good point, I hadn't thought about it like that before. It would make a lot of sense for Dr. Wily to include something to sabotage Mega Man's copy ability. It would make for a pretty cool twist if X were the one who actually ended up with the Zero virus, leaving Zero and the ghost brain scan of Dr. Light to deal with him. Although that's kind of the plot of Mega Man Zero? Except not really? Cockmaster posted:It seems like the basic format of the Megaman games really doesn't have room for a plot as complex as what they were attempting. Yeah that line always felt weird to me too. The only human we've seen in the entire series up to this point is Dr. Cain and while he's incredibly incompetent I don't think he's a bad guy. Also maybe Dr. Light, but he's a dead guy who lives in a portable armor smith so I don't think that counts. Again, it's a missed opportunity, because that could have been a compelling motivator for Iris and Repliforce at large if we'd seen them persecuted and feared by the humans.
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Dec 3, 2016 16:57
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Super Bonus 01 - Drew Sucks at Cheats This ended up being longer than I was expecting so I cut it into two separate episodes. In addition to the first half of X's playthrough we showcase the Ultimate Armor for X. If you enter the following button sequence on the character select menu: O, O, Left, Left, Left, Left, Left, Left, then hold L1 and R2 and press start, you will be able to pick up the Ultimate Armor by going to any capsule location. The easiest one to get to is the Leg upgrade in Web Spider's level. The ultimate armor give you infinite uses of the Nova Strike ability and comes with all of the other armor upgrades, all in one neat little package. The other armor upgrades we pick up in this are the leg upgrade and the arm upgrade. The legs are pretty underwhelming, the hover is cool but it doesn't get you any distance over the dash jump. It can be useful in dodging attacks during some boss fights, but other than that it never sees much use. The arm upgrade is pretty cool this time around, and I like both variants of it. The fact that they give you a choice is cool in and of itself as well. I prefer the ability to hold 4 charge shots because the other version doesn't actually do more damage to bosses, and they have long enough invincibility frames so the little DoT thing doesn't do much. The shot size increase of the other one is nice too, but I don't think it's worth the trade off.
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Dec 13, 2016 00:37
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Super Bonus 02 - Double There had been a point of contention between Alden and myself regarding whose playthrough is easier, X or Zero. Having played through both back to back, I have to concede that most of the game seems to have been designed to be easier for X. Many of Zero's abilities don't work as a boss weakness, so it's impossible for him to get bosses like Magma Dragoon stuck in their weakness pattern. I still play as Zero almost every time, and at this point I've gotten better at his side, but I am now inclined to agree that he is hard mode. We get to see Double's true colors and again it's kind of a missed opportunity. Double doesn't really get enough character development for his betrayal to have any real impact on the player. We also pick up the head upgrade for X, which is far and away my favorite head upgrade thus far. Giving you infinite weapon energy is pretty hard to top. I feel like they did that to make it comparable to most of Zero's special moves not taking weapon energy. The chest upgrade gets you the Nova Strike ability, which we showcased in the previous episode with the Ultimate Armor. Having to get hit a lot before being able to use the Nova Strike makes it significantly less useful. It is handy in that it grants you some invincibility frames, but it doesn't do a ton of damage (it seems comparable to a charge shot). As is tradition, though, the chest armor also gets us a 50% damage reduction, which is always appreciated. This episode is gonna wrap up our Let's Play of Mega Man X4! Thanks for watching, everybody!
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Dec 16, 2016 18:11
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Your video is on private.
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Dec 16, 2016 19:16
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get that OUT of my face posted:Your video is on private. Sorry about that! It should be good now.
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Dec 17, 2016 15:54
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