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GeneralYeti
Jul 22, 2012

Look at this smug broken asshole.


Virus Busting Goes Wireless: Let's Play MegaMan Starforce!

MegaMan Starforce (Ryūsei no Rockman in Japan), or Mega Man Star Force, or Megaman StarForce, or however you want to capitalize it, is the first in a trilogy of games on the DS. You might have found your way here from Giver and I doing LPs of the first series of games, the Megaman Battle Network series; this game is basically that but on Wi-Fi, and explicitly takes place in the same universe just... a little bit further in the future.

I enjoy this game more for the story than the gameplay, but it's by no means a bad game.

Who's who in this comedy of errors?

I'm GeneralYeti, in this font, with my usual partner-in-crime Giver, in bold.

What's this gonna look like?

It's our tried-and-true hybrid format, with screenshots of the game and videos for the bosses.

Table of Contents

Main:

-You'll find the majority of the updates here, since it's the game. Story stuff will be here.

Update 1-1: Mean Blue Mother From Outer Space (Part 1)
Update 1-2: Mean Blue Mother From Outer Space (Part 2)
Update 2: Invasion of Privacy
Update 3: Mr. Pork Chops
Update 4: This Is Bull
Update 5: Wait You Mean I Have To Help People?
Update 6: Discount NASA
Update 7: Exhibit A
Update 8: Rabbit Season
Update 9: Duck Season
Update 10: Blues Isn't My Forte
Update 11: Behind the Train
Update 12: It's Just Death Metal
Update 13: Brothers
Update 14: Success
Update 15: Getting Owned to Unlock My Powers
Update 16: THAT Part
Update 17: School Internet Sucks
Update 18: Checks and Balances
Update 19: School's Out
Update 20: School Days
Update 21: Dating Sim
Update 22: Dating Start!
Update 23: Something Something Plane
Update 24: Snake Charmer
Update 25: Trash Island
Update 26: Surprising Offer
Update 27-1: Pat-rayal
Update 27-2: Rey-patal
Update 28: Real Sad Boy Hours
Update 29: No Longer Sad Boy Hours
Update 30: Rematch
Update 31: The One Place That Hasn't Been Corrupted By Capitalism
Update 32: Constellations
Update 33: Sudden Exposition
Update 34: The FM King
Update 35: Postgame, On The Air!
Update 36: Truly Evil Giant

Bonus:

-Content that isn't applicable to the main game but still good to know, like sidequest collections.

Bonus 1: More Temporal Tomfoolery
Bonus 2: Scenario 1 Requests
Bonus 3: Scenario 2 Requests
Bonus 4: Scenario 3 Requests
Bonus 5: Scenario 4 Requests
Bonus 6: Scenario 5 Requests
Bonus 7: Scenario 6 Requests

GeneralYeti fucked around with this message at 16:56 on Sep 19, 2021

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GeneralYeti
Jul 22, 2012

Look at this smug broken asshole.
Reserved, just in case.

GeneralYeti
Jul 22, 2012

Look at this smug broken asshole.
Part 1: Mean Blue Mother From Outer Space



It's that time again.

That it is, Yeti.



When we start the game up, we're greeted with a nice neat cinematic. In this one, Geo Stelar is just doing a traditional hero pose while a shooting star shines overhead.




The other one has a bunch of 'shadowy' figures looming menacingly in the background, before Megaman appears in his full glory. (Kindly ignore the screen seam, it looks better on the actual game)

This is the DS, folks! The developers need to take advantage of their hardware. We'll see if they stick to that philosophy in this game.



And then we're kicked to the main menu. There's really only one thing we can do at the moment, so let's jump into things without further ado!


"...Extraterrestrial life has been discovered. The new space exploration agency, NAZA, in an effort to enter into a friendly relationship, or "BrotherBand", with the aliens, launched a space station named "Peace"..."

We open things up with... narration. Very exciting. Starforce, at least in the opening, is a lot more chatty than the first series. Though maybe it's roughly on par with the later Battle Network series and I'm misremembering thanks to playing Battle Network 1 most recently.

Definitely more chatty, but I can forgive it. "Hey cool alien guys. Wanna be a Brother???"







How... How do you lose a spaceship. Don't you have constant transmission?! Wouldn't the thing have the ability to be tracked no matter what?

If Star Trek has taught me anything, it's that you can definitely lose giant-rear end ships. If said transmissions were disabled, it's possible to be lost. Or it just blew up.


"...but the space station could not be found. And then, a few months after the incident, a section of Peace was found in the sea. All hope was lost after that. NAZA took it hard and stopped the search, and put the project on hold permanently. Three years to the day have passed since..."

Oh, I see. In other words, someone screwed something up and then politicians got scared and scrapped the whole project. Like nuclear power plants, come to think of it.



We transition from empty space to the inside of a house where two people are waiting. Get used to it, we'll be seeing this place a lot. You also might notice a few similarities to Lan's house, and that's not a coincidence.

"um r lan and geo bros.?"





...drat, Blinky, you're here too. Good to see you, buddy.

That being said, they've changed up how the portraits work. While text is appearing on the screen (and there are words people can have about how the text looks in this game compared to the later ones, but I personally like it) they have lip-flap animations; once they stop talking, the blinking animation takes over. Thing is, there's usually a grace period of a second where the speaker just stares without blinking, so there's less of a chance that Blinky will show up. This one was pretty lucky, and I don't think we'll get many more.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the font. Hard to read, for me.







It's not much of a secret that they're talking about who we'll be controlling. Speaking of, we'll meet Geo in a moment.


: ...who he loved dearly. That's gotta be tough. But if he's not going, what about his studies?
: We're managing with the Card Force System. He's studying from one of the texbook type card's Navi, TeacherMan.

Geo's dad, Kelvin, was in charge of the space station, so of course he was on it when the space station disappeared. Whoops, sorry kid. That's tough.


: But he's not really focusing. He fiddles with gadgets, or reads about the stars. He wants to move to outer space to find his dad.
: Oh, I see. If only we had more power, we could have found-
: Aaron, it's OK. It's not your fault. It was an accident...



You can tell that everyone is both feeling the loss, but in different ways. Geo is somewhat in denial, convinced that his dad is still out there; Hope (Geo's mom) is still mourning; and Aaron feels guilty. But the platitudes are starting to wear thin a bit.

Hope. Peace. Geo. Stelar. It's the usual Capcom non-subtlety.



And here's the star of the show! Technically unnamed right now, but I'm calling him Geo out of convenience.



Aaaand he just walks out without a word to anyone. Charming kid. But you can see while he walks down the room that things are roughly analogous to the Hikari house, just more open. Softer edges on all of the furniture, too, compared to the Battle Network stuff.




Oh boy, we get to play as the sullen, quiet kid.

"I hate everyone."






Aaron Boreal: trying his best. Geo: Having none of this poo poo.


: That was one brave man, your father. Oh yeah, I quit NAZA a while back, and now I work at my own lab just outside of town, researching the Earth, space, and the stars. If you want, you're welcome to drop by... um...




I wonder, is this really the first time Boreal has seen Geo? It must be, or he'd know Geo's name, but you'd think Geo's dad would brag about his kid at the workplace. Everyone seemed to know who Lan was, after all.

I think given Geo is a recluse, this is their first official meeting. A bit weird since Geo is 10/11 but I'll buy it for the sake of introductions.



Of course, none of that really matters. Unlike Battle Network, we get to name our main character, which is why the script goes out of their way not to mention Hope or Kelvin's last name, or Geo's first name, until now.



We could name him Biggus Dickus or Giver Stelar if we wanted, but I'll be sticking with Geo Stelar. I actually like the writing of the game, and it'd ruin things a bit to have a stupid name.




Nice to meet you too, Aaron Boreal! (why did they feel the need to use the full name?)


: This is a very special pair of glasses. It's called a "Visualizer". I heard your father used it in his work, but I don't know much else beyond that. I found it when I quit NAZA, and I just thought I'd give it to you.



Neat. Key item acquired. And also a memento of Geo's dad, which is nice.



You'll notice that Geo's mugshot has updated now that he has the Visualizer. There's also a brief pause between the ellipses and the "Thanks.", like Geo has to think about how to respond. Poor kid's really not used to talking to people. Either that, or he's overcome with emotion briefly.





I get the feeling Geo's out there every night whenever it's clear.





Oh hey, it's the other thing about this game.




The top screen is used for... well, for very little in this game. It's going to be this screen 90% of the time, so I'll only be including it when something changes or is relevant. As for what a Transer actually IS, that'll be explained in the next scene's text dump, don't worry :suicide:

Yeah, being the series-starter, it naturally introduces a lot of new concepts. However, it's all text-based, so, :suicide:

Motherfucker I saw what you did with that screenshot.


: Who cares? I don't have any Brothers, so no one is going to see my personal page anyway.
: ...What are you talking about? If your Transer isn't on, no one can see your ID info either.
: OK, I get it. I'm going now, mom*. Be back in a bit.

*Minor typo here, but Mom should be capitalized. Lazy proofreaders! Fuckup count starts! :v: But I joke. This game isn't like the cursed BN game, there's not a trillion errors. With this many words, I'll give them a pass.

"Always make sure your Facebook page is up to date, kids! :eng101: Feed your info to Net Zuckerberg!"



Exeunt Geo.





It's implied that Geo is not doing so great, and probably suffering from some form of depression. Or at the very least, he's isolated with no one his age to talk to.







And clearly Hope's not holding up all that well herself, either.

Narratively, they're trying to distance themselves from Battle Network, at least. This is good. We're going to need to do that to keep this series afloat.





Hope and Geo are both still suffering the loss of Kelvin, and it shows in how they're written. Geo has refused to go to school and spends the whole day staring up at the sky, and Hope is letting him do that because it's hard to force herself to face facts. It's not great, in other words.






Either way, we're kicked outside with Geo, and we get the traditional first-control email from the game.



This is the main menu, by the way. Instead of doing the proper thing and checking out the e-mail, let's take a look around here first! (Everything shown here will be on the top screen; the buttons are tappable, but all the information is displayed up there.)




B. Card brings us to our battle card folders. These don't do much for right now, but you can take a look at things if you want. It's the usual trash starter folder, and I'm going to look into replacing most of the cards as soon as possible.

Also of note is that while we can rename all the folders, the only one we can edit is GeoFldr.





Item brings us to the combination of Subchip (now called Subcard) and Key Item locations. The three Enrgy items all do exactly what you'd expect, as do Cloaker and SrchEye - reduce encounters and increase chance of repeating an encounter respectively. Unlockers are also used, but are used automatically when encountering locked data, which is nice.

Of course, we start with none of them and don't really need to worry about them for a while. We don't even have a Navi, and there's no way to log into the Internet in this game.





The Libry is gives us access to our library, duh. And the 12 chips we already have are from the starter folders. As for Mega and Giga cards, we can't even scroll around. No interface spoilers here, folks.



Geo comes and chats with us when we try to save the game.



That being said, let's get to the reason we're here. (You don't have to worry about the rest of the ??? panels on the screen, they're not used right now.)


"Transers are the mobile terminals everyone wears on their arms. They have a variety of functions, such as email and phone. They also store your Personal Page and other info."

Basically, Transers are the PET analogues of the new series. Just, fancier.

Yeah, this contradicts my earlier point about needing to separate from the BN game more. Keep this up and you'll get rejection by most of the fans, Star Force.


"...between the different screens of your Transer to display such things as your Personal Card, Brother Card, and Navi Cards. If your Transer is displaying a Navi Card, it means that Navi is currently in your Transer. If you swipe a Navi Card through your Transer, you will activate an incredible power. Navis are your indispensable friends, so talk to them once in a while with the L Button!"

Navis are also different here. They're stored in Cards instead of PETs, but fulfill roughly similar duties. There's an NPC that'll chat about them later in this update, don't worry.


"...1 of 3 Satellites up in outer space: Pegasus, Leo or Dragon. Thanks to these Satellites, Transer on the same Satellite can communicate with each other. Also, the very symbol of our modern age, the BrotherBand, is made possible thanks to them."

Finally, like they said everyone is registered to one of the three satellites. It's not a coincidence that Geo is currently registered to the Pegasus satellite. Your patron Satellite matches the version of the game you got. In this case, I've played both Leo and Dragon, so I'm playing Pegasus for the LP.



Anyway! That's enough faffing around in menus. Geo is helpful enough to remind us of our current goal if we hit the L button.



Welcome to Echo Ridge! This is the main town of the game, like ACDC was for Battle Network. There's really not much here, but there's still some stuff we can look at around scattered here and there. Like Battle Network, this game has an isometric viewpoint.



Like these flowers!



And this empty house! It's a neat small bit of level design here, but Geo's house is very isolated, at the very bottom left of the map. I usually think of the game's maps as representative of how the kid's see their hometown; so, the only things that stand out are the general landmarks and also any important places to them. Lan's house was in the center of town, while Geo is shoved off to the side.

Just a neat little bit of enforcing the feeling of isolation Geo is under right now.

What the gently caress is that spritework on the house. It's fugly, I swear.



Moving on, the obvious chip shop. It's closed for now, and there's nothing we can do about it. As for the guy outside, just standing there:


: ...there? They're called Pegasus, Leo, and Dragon. The 3 Satellites host a variety of Transers, and Transers on the same Satellite are connected in their own network.

So far, he's just reiterating what the email told us.


: ...3 years ago, they have been in charge of stopping harmful EM viruses from landing on Earth as well. Anyway, people of this country all belong to one Satellite or another. Which Satellite do you belong to? I belong to the Dragon one!

Apparently, there's such things as EM viruses. Which is weird. Well, hopefully we don't have to worry about those at all, that would suck.





Huh, Giver must have raided both of these already.

Eat poo poo. I need my sustenance to S-rank viruses






No Giver, I won't make a BrotherBand with you.

THINK OF THE POWER YETI. You can go from an amoeba to finally having some competence in your god drat life.


: ...enough to form a BrotherBand with them. Oh, but when you form a BrotherBand, you have to tell each other your biggest secret! Do you have any Brothers?





These people are pretty chatty. But really, these NPCs are mostly just reiterating things that were in that original email.




At least this kid gives us an option to avoid a repeat of information we already know.



This happens if we say yes, we already know about Navis, we read the email, shut up already.

gently caress you, Yeti, I don't wanna transcribe this. I DON'T WANNA


: In every Navi Card, there is a Navi. They're programs but they can do a lot of things. If you swipe a card with the skill you need through your Transer, that Navi'll appear. There are all kinds of skills on those cards! For example, if you swipe DriveMan's card through your Transer, he can drive your car.

Don't want to drive? There's a Navi for that!

Download those Navis off the EM Wave Store






Lookit this smug rear end in a top hat... Though really, that's a big difference. It's been 200 years, after all, so Navis have become less of a personal assistant and more of plug-and-play machines. You might have noticed that Geo's using the TeacherMan card for self-study; I'm assuming these new Navi cards are mass-produced, at any rate.


: These cards were created 3 years ago to help people deal with the EM viruses that started popping up. There are all different kinds, so they're more than just to stop viruses. You can have fun collecting them as well!

Oh look, I found Giver's descendent.

Ah, I see my kin are all dead inside. loving Zenny S-ranks amiright?





This is actually new information, which is... actually useful. Good job, game. You had 1 of 4 NPCs be useful.

Hah, my descendant was useful. Yeti was be furious.

The only thing that infuriates me is your typos.




There's some nostalgia stuff, proving that people anywhere, anytime, hate the present and wish they could go back to simpler times.



I really don't know, Geo.

What am I doing co-commentating a lovely screenshot Let's Play on a dead forum?

I really don't know, idiot.


: ...the wave inside that card will be activated. Then, you can operate electronics using the EM wave power of that card. Navis can become EM waves and control things too. You know, we can't see them, but I wonder if they really fly around...?

This game, by the way, was released in 2006. So WiFi wasn't really a new invention at the time? But most people were still relatively new to it compared to ethernet. Basically, this game took every reference to the Internet from BN, changed it to be a reference to WiFi/"EM waves", and called it a day.

Mega Man games tend to be very current in the worst possible ways. Battle Network was super guilty of this. Mega Man X took the action era of the 90s and ran with it. loving Legends was around the Y2k era.



Also, you can only cross streets at clearly-defined crosswalks. Unlike Lan, that hooligan, Geo is a good boy and would never jaywalk.

That is annoying



A name! This probably won't be relevant immediately.




As well as the requisite doghouse security system. They wouldn't forget something so important, after all.

Jack in and go find a V3 boss. I demand it.



The next house belongs to someone named Zack. That sounds like the name of a total loser.

gently caress him.




Just like the first BN game, the school takes up pretty much the entirety of the top right edge.



Stop sulking and go do things, you weird child.

Go play video games.



This is nominally a bus stop, but it's a plot-locked bus. They need to get some gas.




And that's it for the town. Not much is going on here just yet, of course. We're in the pre-game still.



Let's get going to Vista Point so we can...



Why am I not able to move?

Oh no, a cutscene :cry:



Oh boy. Time for... some characters.



Geo looks back, and then...



These three stroll up.

Run! Run like the wind!


: The boy who never comes to school. I am Luna Platz of Echo Elementary, class 5-A, which makes me your Class President! The big guy behind me is Bud Bison, and the short one is Zach Temple.



This is fantastic comedic timing.

Welcome to the idiot trio of the game, except they're supposed to be annoying instead of your friends. Some people are much more loud about their opinions than Geo here, though personally I just sigh in irritation when they show up.

Also hey, Luna Platz - have you noticed that the characters in this game have pun names just like Battle Network? I'm glad they kept that tradition, at least.






There are reasons for these characters to act the way they do and for what it's worth I do appreciate the way the writing handles Bud and Luna. We'll get into their whole deal later.

Except Zack. gently caress Zack and I hate him forever.





So you only care for your political gain? gently caress off. She's super ready to work in the real world, though.


: I hate it when things are not perfect, so having one person missing is unforgivable!
: Sorry, but I've got nothing to do with you.



There's a bunch of little animations. The visual designers gave quite a bit of love to how the characters act, at least compared to the rest of the BN series. I'll try to make gifs of some of the ones I like.

Get hosed New Idiot Trio.


: You can't say that to the Prez!!
: How dare you! The Prez is telling you to go to school!



Oh my god, shut up Zack you are the worst gremlin. (This is unfair to him at the moment, but also gently caress him and his smug face)






I mean, in this case I wouldn't want to be going to school with these jerks either. Just wanna go look at some stars, and then these two hooligans start yammering.



Geo, a boy of very few words, just walks away without another word.





Gee if only there were a way for characters to maybe form Bonds or Band together or something...

Well, if he won't open up, then he won't form a BrotherBand.

(It's so nice that the quality of your lovely screencaps is worse than mine.)






At the very least, Luna seems like she's going to give up for now. Which is... welcome.



: Mail? I wonder who it's from...? ...Ugh. It's from the "Prez".

Whoops, spoke too soon.

What a control freak. Jesus.






No thanks, I have no intention of going to school. Maybe if you kick Zack out I'd consider it.







I do like that somehow she managed to get the text in an email to type out the periods one at a time.

Um. Ellipsis feature on the email app? What.



This is the main reason a lot of people don't like her, as far as I can tell; Luna comes off as an arrogant, selfish character pretty much right off the bat (her whole reason for wanting Geo to come to school is so that things would be 'perfect') and that's not a great first impression.



That being said, she's also going to give us the second of the tutorials on the main menu. This time, we're knocking out the rest of the ??? pages.



It is, also, entirely on the top screen. Geo just stares at his Transer like a doofus the entire time. Get off the stairs, kid, someone will bump into you.





You don't really need to pay attention. Most of this mechanic is utterly pointless to me since I'm not going to be doing much in the way of online stuff and that's pretty much the entire Brother system in a nutshell. Still, I'm forced to go through it, so you're forced to read through it.

Unless someone out there and teach us how to BrotherBand. And make Yeti miserable.



: It shows you info about your Brothers. You can access this screen by selecting "BROTHR" on the Menu Screen. ...Ah! You don't have a single Brother! I can't explain anything like this!

"gently caress Geo, you're a sad sack of poo poo! Get some friends!"






Is it too late for me to just turn the Transer off. Yes? drat.

Turn the game off.


: ...Actually, do you need me to explain BrotherBand to you?

>Yes No





It doesn't help her case that Luna is constantly incredulous that Geo might not know everything. Again, she's a 5th grader, such things are to be expected.

Oh look, it's my daughter in the future.


: ...connects friends together through EM waves. Once you become Brothers, you can send mail and trade data no matter where you are! You can also see each other's Personal Page! ...Huh? What's a Personal Page? Why, your profile and Battle Cards are shown there!

Oh, very helpful.






I do wish this game were less hand-holding (heh) with the information dump about how to work the main menu. Though granted, the first one was optional.

Text tutorials are probably the least interesting way of explaining things to a player. The industry doesn't have a good grasp of how to properly convey information yeah.



: You can see this by selecting your Brother's or your own icon from the Brother Screen. So, a Personal Page is just that; it's where info about a person is displayed. You can see a Brother's info, and vice versa.

The screen that I'll have on top most of the time is the Personal Page. It's slightly more useful than the Brother Page, at least.






You also can't change your Name after setting it in the conversation with Aaron. Whatever you choose, you're stuck with it.


: Hmm? You can't see because I'm in your way? Alright. I'll leave for a second. Push the A Button when you're done, OK?



She actually removes the text box until you hit the A button again. Say what you will, the writing is pretty charming. It's the same main team that wrote Battle Network 6 (Masakazu Eguchi, who's been a writer since BN2, and Teruhiro Shimogawa) so they've got some credentials already.

More personality at least. Not that it was hard to beat Battle Network's.



: Well, even if you didn't, I'm back so moving on! Favorite is where the 6 cards you set as your favorites are displayed. Favorite Battle Cards can be used by Brothers so you should set only your strongest cards!

I'll explain Favorite Cards once they become relevant, like a lot of the other stuff.





We don't need most of this stuff right away.





Seriously most of this doesn't become relevant for the first hour or three of the game.

I wish I had a skip button for this.



: Do you see the "MES." and "SECR" buttons? "MES." stands for "message", and it's where you can leave a note for your Brothers. You can write about what you did recently, brag, or whatever you'd like. You can edit it any time, so for now, just hurry up and write a self-intro!



We're forced into setting something as a Message. If you have someone else with the game and set a Message it's like a very, very slow way to send information. Since I don't have anyone else with the game, it's utterly pointless to me. Still, we can write whatever we want.



That looks good, I think.



It's more like this



Please. No more transcription. :negative:

: "SECR" is where you write your secret message! Secrets you can't tell a stranger, you can tell to your Brothers! When you become Brothers with someone, they can see your secret. So be honest! You can change your secret at any time, so for now, just write something!



Like the Message, the game asks me to set something immediately.



...What? It's a Secret. Only my Brothers get to know what I put.

I saw what he put.






Yeah, yeah, whatever. Hurry up and stop the tutorial already, please.






I won't ever be using this system. It's just not that important, in my opinion. Plus, it was always bigger in Japan where handhelds were a huge thing and having multiplayer was super important.





(Translator's Note: This means "Beat the game you dingdong")


: ...so it's good to trade your own info through the Menu Screen's "On Air" section, OK? If both of you are On Air at the same time, something even better will happen, I hear.

This also serves as an 'introduction' to the online modes of the game, not that I'm going to be playing around with them much. Giver might show off how they work in the future if he wants.


: That concludes your BrotherBand homework! Now all you have to do is make some Brothers... go On Air... trade data... and come to school!

Thank you for slipping that last bit in.






You have to admire her dedication and determination, if nothing else.



And, just in case you wanted to sit through the tutorial again, you get the email with Luna talking about everything. It doesn't do the full walkthrough on the top screen again, but that's not really necessary.



As you can see, we've unlocked the third of the pages, as well as the last two menu options. We could now theoretically go online and get three Real Brothers and trivialize the game, but meh... that'd be boring.



Anyway, new area! Let's explore Vista Point.



Ooh. A train.

Do I need to get the jigsaw ribbon, Yeti?



I heard there used to be a Navi that looked like one, too. Had a pretty cool mini-game attached to it.

I heard you had to save useless-rear end Progs.




Very bench-like.

Can we jack in?



And a non-descript pile of dirt to round out the tour. Neat.



The next cutscene starts as soon as we step onto the main viewing platform. What? You thought we were done? Ahahaha, we're just beginning. While I love the story of this game, it's... very long-winded in the beginning.

My keyboard weeps.




No, he didn't spend several hours talking to Luna (though it might feel that way). My guess is, we started controlling Geo just before sunset.



This game has a lot of references to constellations, as befitting the game called Starforce. Cassiopeia was the queen of Aethiopia, married to King Cepheus and mother of Princess Andromeda. She got placed in the night sky as a punishment after boasting that her daughter Andromeda was more beautiful than any sea nymph (Poseidon is an rear end in a top hat). The rest of the myth is more well known, with Perseus using Medusa's head to turn Cetus to stone and rescue the chained princess.

Those lights aren't even animated. This game isn't doing any favors for itself in terms of presentation. That just looks so bad to me.


: ...came to our house. And he gave me your Visualizer... It's got some sort of special lens, and it feels like it has a special power, but what can I see with it? If I use it, will I see you...?



Geo is trying his best to find any way of connecting to his dad. This Visualizer is his newest clue...



...and it's useless. Nothing changed.




Suddenly, Geo's Transer starts blaring. It's got a nice loud alarm and a bright flash.






Whatever's causing Geo's Transer to freak out, it's using his dad's access signal. I'm not sure what any of those words means, but it probably means that something is broadcasting the signal to lock on to Geo's Transer.



Case in point.

loving smited.




That looks like it hurts...

GeneralYeti fucked around with this message at 16:57 on Sep 19, 2021

GeneralYeti
Jul 22, 2012

Look at this smug broken asshole.
The very first update needs to get split. This bodes well...

Double Update Bonus...?



Following a fade to white, someone's talking and it's not Geo.



Oh no, an alien!

Bad alien! Bad! Quick, someone get a can of Raid!




Upon recovering consciousness and discovering an alien camping on top of him, Geo reacts appropriately. That being, scream in fear and scramble away.







He's a two-eyed two-handed flying blue people eater, obviously.

So it's a Yeti?





I haven't mentioned it but yes, there are now blue and green glowing roads in the sky. It's kinda pretty, in my opinion.

Odd that they showed up now, though.




As soon as he flips the glasses up, both the blue alien and the weird sky roads disappear.



And then they're back as soon as he puts the Visualizer back down.



I gotta admit, I do like this pacing. We're learning just as this alien is.


: You can see my EM body with those glasses.
: But-But... But I didn't see a thing earlier.
: Hmph. I must've activated some hidden power of those glasses when I zapped them.
: Wh-Wh...?

This is all happening pretty fast for everyone. But basically, this is what Boreal was talking about when he said that Kelvin used them for work. They apparently gave him the ability to... see aliens and weird sky roads.







Meet Mega! He's shaped like a friend, if a friend were shaped like a dog-like alien thing.

Yeti, let's buy Beggin' Strips for our new family pet.





"No Geo, you are the zombie"

And then Geo was a zombie.


: ...which is made of electro-magnetic waves, but somehow, I guess with those glasses, you can see the Wave World. That road you see in the sky is a part of the Wave World; a Wave Road. You got all of that, Geo Stelar?

Basically, yes. When he's wearing the Visualizer, we can see all those pesky EM waves. Man, imagine wearing that while someone's streaming porn. That would be... interesting.

Help! Yeti said the p-word! Help, help!


: I heard it from a human I met in space.
: That human... Could it be...? Was it my dad!? Dad... Where is he right now!?

This has got to be an incredible feeling for him, all things considered. I mean, his dad's access signal, this alien that somehow knows his dad... All of a sudden, Geo's got like ten leads to where his dad disappeared to.



Before Mega can answer, though, something is going on.





Really? More aliens? What can they do to stop us?



:wtc:

Oh.

...How though? It's a train, it shouldn't be able to go off of the tracks!




That too, I guess.




The good news is, this game loves "Viruses screw everything up magically" just as much as the original Battle Network series.

Good to see that in 200 years, that weakness still wasn't addressed.


: If they did that, it'd be a disaster! Plus, mom's still at home!
: There's only one way to stop that train. Go into it and delete those EM viruses!

: Delete those viruses? But how?

Simple, just jack in and - oh.

I want MegaMan back. :(




In case you're wondering, he jumps into Geo's Transer.


: ...you do what I say. Got it? You humans have those Card Force things, right?
: Yeah.
: Take out one of your blank cards.
: Uh... um, OK...
: OK here we go! Hah!!

The weirdest part of all of this is that Geo just has a blank Navi card. What's he doing with that? Can he like, throw them at a wild Navi and capture them?

Mutha loving pokeballs.





Oh, that makes sense. Total sense.

I guess every card we get from now on will be powered up by Mega's energy. OK.


: Next, we've gotta find a wavehole!
: A wavehole?
: It's where a chunk of space has been warped into a whirlpool shape! I bet you can see them with those glasses.
: Space that's been warped into a whirlpool?

Now, where would we find something like that...?



Not this way.



Oh look, that suspicious crack of dirt on the grass!


: You don't need to wear your Visualizer for this next part, but... swipe the card I made when you're at a wavehole. You do know how to swipe a card, right?





Gotta yell exactly like that. For, uh. Reasons.


: Oh, and I guess I should tell you, kid, push the Y button to put your Visualizer. That way, you can see the Wave World. Now put those glasses to good use! Let's move!

Let's hurry! We have to go bust those EM viruses! There's no time to waste!

KILL VIRUS YETI! WE NEED COMPLETION!




Oh look, a telescope.



Oh look, a light.



Oh look, a - okay, you get the joke.




I know that when I see "weird orb with rings", I think science and nature entertwined.

I just think of the Atom Bomb



Choo choo.

I'm looking up spinners.



That's enough of that. Let's go take care of the viruses in the oven train.



It's a nice little touch that the texbox takes its time for "On The Air" all spaced out.




This cinematic is neat the 1st time. It's less neat the 1000th time.

You can't skip it, so you must suffer each time.




Welcome to the Wave World. You'll notice that Geo's icon has changed from Geo to... Geo in cosplay.





Mega, be nice. You just took the form of Geo's left hand. That one was his favorite, you know.



: Fused? You mean you and me - we became one!? And I'm a wave thingie now!? You've got to be pulling my leg! Change me back right now!!

Imagine if the Battle Network series had done something silly like 'Fuse with your Navi and get superpowers'. That would be ridiculous.

That would never catch on. Shut up.


: I need your power to stop the EM viruses.
: But I don't have any powers...
: *sigh* Look, it's a bit complicated, but for some reason, I'm not as powerful on this planet as I usually am on Planet FM, so I need to fuse with someone from here.

"I need some nerd so I can be powerful and looks like you're it."


: ...wave form, it's called "pulse in", and you "pulse out" to go back to the Real World. When you want to pulse out, press the R button.

This is basically jack in and jack out except on WiFi.







This is a perfectly acceptable activity for a young child to engage in. It's like primal scream therapy, but for destroying weird EM lifeforms.


: ...Comp Space, and fight those EM viruses. You ready, kid!?
: Am I ready?? I'm-I'm not fighting, am I!? I can't fight! I don't know how to fight!

Geo with the smart answers. "What the gently caress no I'm not ready to go fight something, I've never been in a fight before."

Slap fight? No seriously, I like Geo's reactions here. Perfect realism.





For as much as I like the writing in this game, Mega is extremely abrasive here. His reasons are explored a bit later, but really he's just shouting at a confused and scard kid.

I'm getting a Piccolo and Gohan vibe from this. Cripes.


: But that's impossible! How are we supposed to get inside the train's Comp Space, or whatever it is!?
: Get as close as you can to the locomotive, and then touch it. You'll fly in automatically because we're a bunch of EM waves!

At the very least, the game doesn't do any of the "What's a Touch Screen :downs:" bullshit so props to them.

Yeti, what's a touchscreen? :downs:




Heh. Get it?



Sure, sure.



Anyway! Welcome to the Wave Road. There's not much we can do here, but we can explore some of the changes.




If we hit the L button in Wave Form, Geo talks to us...



...and Mega yells at us to stop wasting time if we talk to him in the Real World.





Before we get to the viruses, let's talk to these little guys! They're adorable.

They're the replacement for Mr. Prog, Mr. Hertz. They're basically the same thing, messengers and equipment operators in one. They are also exactly as excited as Mr. Prog. Hope you're reading this, Echy!

In my experience, Prog fans hate Hertzes for reasons unbeknowest to me

Aww, but they're cute.



Unfortunately, we're not off the leash just yet. If we try to go anywhere other than the path that leads to the train, Mega yells at us.




Oh no, please stay safe Mr. Hertz.

Foreshadowing!






We'll explore around here more later once we have the ability to move around. For now, it's just a straight shot to the end - basically just follow the NPCs.







I just noticed this thing's eyes. I can never unsee them, and now neither can you.

This thing is weeiiird. "I see you over there."



Anyway, it's just a little bit past the delivery Navi (??? I think that's a Navi?) before we find the little bit of Wave Road that lets us jump into the train.






Game, I just gave you credit for not doing this joke, come on.

At least it was wrapped up in humor.

: Our body is a bunch of waves. If there's a Comp Space that is receptive to EM waves, then we can go into it. You see that wavehole above the train?


: If it's flashing, that means the Comp Space will accept outside EM waves.




This makes no goddamn sense to Geo at all.



If we try to do anything else other than touch the train, Mega (again) yells at us. They really didn't leave things open in this, which... The player can't get lost, but I feel like they should have designed things better to make the guidance more organic than "Don't do this yet dum-dum".

Tutorializing is actually quite difficult. It's hard to know how a player will take information and someone will always get lost. What you see here is just the natural result of making something idiot proof.

I'm not saying it needs to be this way, but what I am saying is that we don't fundamentally understand how each of us individually processes information.





Fine, I'll tap the stupid train.


(Oh wow I didn't realize this gif looked like that, flashing light warning, I'm very sorry everyone)





Fortunately, there's no extended conversation every time Geo jumps into a Comp space.




Inside the train, Geo, did you not pay any attention at all.


: In other words, we're inside the train's comp. Those EM viruses have gotta be around here, so let's find them and give it to them good!
: EM viruses...

Time to go find the viruses that have... somehow made this thing jump the rails and then move around on its own. I don't know how.

Start a "This is familiar" tally. This explains the rejection by a large portion of the community.



There they are!



Stop reading the script.



Surprising nobody, they're Mets! And also pretty cute.


: I think they're going to do the beating here...
: I told you I'm gonna teach you to fight! And you have to or you aren't going home!
: Stop scaring me with that kind of talk!
: Hmph. Your old man sure wasn't a wuss like you.!

And here's Mega's hook - he knows our dad, and can tell exactly how much Geo wants to know about what happened.





It's a lovely thing to do, but it gets Geo to do what Mega wants. Which, in this case, is fight some viruses.






Give me your angry face!



Good enough.




Hoofa. Only... about a half hour in, and finally getting to the combat tutorial. I don't remember how fast BN6 was, but I want to say it was faster than this.

All the BN games were faster than this.





Unlike the previous games, we get six cards a turn to use. There's also no codes.

THANK gently caress for no codes.





Unfortunately, we don't get to just snag all six cards like a well-chosen folder. This has led to some people complaining about simplified combat mechanics.


: ...in the same turn. Next, cards that are the same can be picked no matter where they are positioned. Think about what cards will work and pick wisely.

There's a few exceptions to this rule, but for now we're mostly going to be using two cards a turn. Think like the folder was built with alphabet soup codes, for a BN analogue.






The game also gives us the ability to read about what cards do, which is nice.


: ...you can press the L Button to try to run away. But whether you make it or not depends on luck. Ha ha ha.
: I knew there was a catch.

I promptly forget this mechanic exists. I've never needed to run, because the battles don't last long and why would I pass up the chance to get cards or zenny?

Because you suck dick at children's games.





In this case, I just want to move things along, so two Cannon cards will do nicely. You'll also noticed the other cards are greyed out to show you can't pick them.


: The cards you chose are in the bottom-right.


: This is the next card's name and attack power.



The HUD is very similar to Battle Network. You've got your HP, enemy HP underneath each model, the card info, all that fun stuff.





The buster is reversed from BN combat. Hold B for continuous fire, and stop firing for a second to let the buster charge for a 10x power shot.


: It's here in the upper-left. These numbers are your hit point (HP), and represent your health. If this drops to 0, we're kaput. Got it, kid? You can use the +Control Pad to move left and right to avoid enemy fire.

There's also only one row usable for Geo to wander around in. The rest of the field is for enemies to use. This is the other reason a lot of people see Starforce combat as 'dumbed down' from BN.


: Wait a sec! What if I use up all of my cards before I beat all of the enemies?
: Well, you're a troublesome one. Look here.


: This is the Custom Gauge. It fills up automatically over time. If you hit the L Button or R Button when it's full, you will enter the Custom Screen again.

Custom Gauge works exactly the same as it did in BN. Nothing new or revolutionary here, at least.




The combat itself doesn't really shine for now, so you'll just have to settle for a few still images.




Needless to say, they die pretty easily. These guys are literally just Mettaurs from Battle Network, with shockwave attack and all. (Their name is Mettenna :3:) Cannon travels the entire row and hits the first enemy in its path, so one shot takes them out.




One down, two to go.


: This bunch... Hmm, nah, I'll tell you about white battle cards first.
: White cards?
: Take a gander at the bottom screen.


: No matter where they are, they can be paired up with another card, even different ones!

White cards are just asterisk cards. This is the main exception to the two rules of selection.


: Yeah. For example, take this wide area attack, AirSpread... Choose the Attack+10 card in order to make it stronger. AirSpread hits 3 times in one attack, so these two cards are a great match. Plus, you can also pick the Sword card right below it.
: Hmm, guess I'll give these combo rules a try!

AirSpread (far right, top card) also hits in a square-burst pattern. It'll take out two of the Mets, but leaves one alive.



The problem is, Sword has a very limited range.





This is the solution to the problem, and the reason we're locked to just the back row.


: ...of you, which means it won't hit the baddies.
: Then, what am I supposed to do?
: That's when the MegaAttack comes in handy! Use AirSpread to deal with the two pests in the front first, and then, before you use the Sword card, press Down on the +Control Pad. Do that, and I'll lock-on to the enemy. When I'm locked on, a sight will appear on enemies in front or diagonal from us. When you see that sight, use the Sword card! We'll dash right up to him and cut him in two!

Basically, this will let us temporarily hop around the battlefield to attack enemies up close and personal. This helps out with the range issue.





...Thanks for telling us the exact thing that Mega just said? This is why this update is going to be split in two, Geo.



Anyway, using MegaAttack shows off this neat set of arrows. We can lock onto any enemy directly in front of us and on the diagonals. It prioritizes the enemy in the current column, then left and then right diagonals.




As soon as we see the lock-on icon, press A and we'll pop over. The default settings show a neat little camera angle as Geo lunges, but that can be turned off. (I'll probably leave it on.)

I prefer to keep it off. I like being able to see what other enemies on the field are doing. It also helps fight disorientation. A shifting camera angle means you need to spend extra time getting your eyes adjusted, even if it's a tenth of a second. That's a lot of time in a system like this.




Alright, only one more to go.





You might have noticed that, when I killed the last Mettenna in the last fight, it said something about Counter Hit and I had extra cards. This explains that.






Every enemy has several frames for every attack where using a chip that deals damage will cause a Counter Hit. Even ones that don't stun (like AirSpread) will count.


: Ah, but you don't only stun the enemy when you Counter. You also get 1 Bonus Card.
: Bonus Card?
: You know how normally, you can only use the cards you chose on the Custom Screen? Well, if you Counter, you can get a Bonus Card. Bonus Cards are random, but this way, you don't have to wait for the Custom Gauge to fill up before trashing the enemy.

This will be more useful during longer fights like boss fights instead of little viruses like that. It's also integral to an optional mechanic I'll show off once.

Counters are the gateway to high level play. More counters = more damage. Learning them is key if you want to maximize your output.







I already showed that off last time, so this time I'll just erase them with the two cards.




Take two AirSpreads, set up the Mettennas like this, and then presto, triple delete. I'm not Giver (thankfully) but I'm not bad at this game.







Aww, let him stick around, Geo. He makes things happen.




Okay but seriously, don't take the combat away from me! You monster!

It's the only thing that doesn't make me SNOOZE. Even if this combat is a SNOOZE version of BN.





I've mentioned it before, but it is pretty lovely that Mega does this.


: ...I can take the hint. See you, kid...
: W-Wait!! OK, you can stay in my Transer for a bit, just please tell me about my dad...
: Glad we agree, partner!!

Mega's just dangling information about Geo's dad over his head to make him jump through hoops. Geo has no other leads, so he has no choice but to do whatever Mega wants.

Much more interesting character dynamic, though.




But how did you move the train.

What the gently caress? Did they just control it in the Comp Space?




At least Geo is a little suspicious, which is better than Lan ever did.



Geo also has his image switch back to Geo. It'll always reflect whether he's Pulsed In or not.





Hope works an unnamed part-time job during the game. I get the feeling that this is a recent development, or at the very least it hadn't been a crucial one for the finances until Kelvin died.

A part-time job that keeps a house like that paid off? :psyduck:

Battle Network economics!



: ...but... maybe you should try going to school again. I think you need to make some friends...
: ...........
: Well, I'm off to work...

She wants Geo to get better, but isn't willing to actually push him out of his comfort zone. It's an ugly situation (What mother would want to make their son unhappy?) but one that could be handled better. Hope is still suffering from Kelvin's loss and this is another facet of it.




After Hope leaves for work, Geo sits up.




Almost all of Geo's toys are astronomy related. Including what looks like a really nice telescope. Neat.


: So you're saying you don't go to school... cause you don't want to make any friends? I had heard that humans value their friends and BrotherBands a lot, or is that just hearsay?

It's a selfish, confusing reason, but Geo's just a 5th grader. Not everything he does has to make sense.

Much more refreshing character interactions than just "Do your homework Lan. Stop being a lazy fucker."

"hey gently caress u lemme sleep"

"aaah a virus!"






Mega actually lets the ellipses play out here. The game likes to do that, to show a character delaying their response.






I do think Mega's being a bit unfair to Geo here, but again, alien.


: I wanna see what other kinds of people are here!
: Aww, come on. Why would I want to do that? Besides, I don't like talking to other people...
: Quit dragging your feet and get out there!

This is a bit of a sudden shift, but Mega doesn't really care what Geo does or doesn't want.



Case in point.


: Move it!
: OK, OK! I'm going outside now, see! Geez, what a bossy alien...



Either way, that's most of the introduction stuff out of the way. We're not quite in the clear just yet, but we got most of the tutorial stuff out of the way.

GeneralYeti fucked around with this message at 02:44 on Apr 30, 2019

Geostomp
Oct 22, 2008

Unite: MASH!!
~They've got the bad guys on the run!~
I never understood exactly what a BrotherBand was in-story beyond exchanging contact info.

TheFattestPat
Dec 28, 2012

Santa Cat Says: Good deeds are the things to always do, just make sure someone is watching you
Sweet. I love the first Starforce game, also because of the charming writing. Too bad the sequels couldn't keep it up.

Zack is clearly here to pay homage to Yai, who was also a useless prop.

Telum
Apr 17, 2013

I am protector of the innocent! I am the light in the darkness! I am truth! Ally to good! Nightmare to you!

It's me, I'm the hypothetical blind viewer. I really don't know why I never picked these up back in the day.

Thanks for doing this!

Blaze Dragon
Aug 28, 2013
LOWTAX'S SPINE FUND

Geostomp posted:

I never understood exactly what a BrotherBand was in-story beyond exchanging contact info.

Basically, you connect with someone and then you're Facebook Friends in a future where that is actually heavily important. It's dumb but at the same time I can completely see why someone would see this as futuristic when the game came out, back when we didn't have quite the same idea about information security that we do now.

There's more to it but it'd be spoilery as poo poo so I'll shut up. Regardless, it's kind of interesting while at the same time being genuinely dumb, which is just how the BN/SF series in general is.

TheFattestPat posted:

Sweet. I love the first Starforce game, also because of the charming writing. Too bad the sequels couldn't keep it up.

I wouldn't say so. SF2 was bad but SF2 was bad in general. SF3, I feel, had just as strong writing as SF1 (maybe slightly less but still much better than BN) but also improved heavily on gameplay, making it my favourite of the franchise. Too bad that it was that good because the series was dead.

Anyways, I'm definitely following this. I'm another person that really likes what SF does with writing, characters from the get-go look like jerks but they're more complex than the one-note cartoons we had in BN, and there's actual character growth here. The gameplay's...hit and miss, but overall I do like SF1, if not as much as the better BN games or SF3.

Also I got Pegasus when I played it so it's nice to see that version being LPed.

Blueberry Pancakes
Aug 18, 2012

Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!
I don't mean to complain, but the first two posts look a little screenshot heavy. I can try and help write up some of the script, if that'd make things easier for you, just to help prevent there being so many pictures in an update.

Also, there was an old LP by Astro Nut that went up to about the middle of this game that has a good portion of the script written up.

Geostomp posted:

I never understood exactly what a BrotherBand was in-story beyond exchanging contact info.

It's basically Facebook friends, only MegaMan benefits from it. Later games, primarily Star Force 2, give a sort of currency value to the Link Power that you get from having Brother Bands.

TheFattestPat posted:

Zack is clearly here to pay homage to Yai, who was also a useless prop.

Yai was at least rich and used her wealth to help get things for Lan at times. Zack is, uh... :shrug:

Personally, I see Luna as more of the Yai expy.

Blueberry Pancakes fucked around with this message at 16:06 on Apr 28, 2019

GeneralYeti
Jul 22, 2012

Look at this smug broken asshole.

Hobgoblin2099 posted:

I don't mean to complain, but the first two posts look a little screenshot heavy. I can try and help write up some of the script, if that'd make things easier for you, just to help prevent there being so many pictures in an update.

Also, there was an old LP by Astro Nut that went up to about the middle of this game that has a good portion of the script written up.

Giver and I are still trying to figure out how much of the script to transcribe. It's going to be a bit hit-or-miss while we work on it, so hang on a little while.

That being said, eventually I'll go back and transcribe a bunch more of this stuff.

Blueberry Pancakes
Aug 18, 2012

Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!
No problem. Just thought I'd mention it. :)

AweStriker
Oct 6, 2014

I was going to try to figure out whether Rogue or Zack is the bigger loser but I realized there's no point.

anilEhilated
Feb 17, 2014

But I say fuck the rain.

Grimey Drawer
Oh, Starforce. Even more long-winded than BN, combat is total crap and they somehow managed top the already pretty drat high bar BN set for characters being annoying.
On the plus side, hey, it's still more Battle Network and there's still nothing quite like it out there.

Hoping you manage to stick with it to the end; I've tried all three games at various points in time and always got bored and put them down halfway through so I'd like to see how it ends.

anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 17:09 on Apr 28, 2019

Blueberry Pancakes
Aug 18, 2012

Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!
Alright, I finished the updates, so now I can actually comment on them. So here's a bunch of :words: because I like rambling on about things.

The shift from Battle Network to Star Force is a bit rough, I think. Already we're being told that Navis aren't quite as important anymore, and I suppose that's to justify the existence of the various EM Beings we're going to be seeing down the line. That said, it does make this introductory part feel a bit lonely in a way. And I'm not sure I like Navis becoming apps. On one hand, technology marches on. On the other hand, it feels a bit dehumanizing to reduce them to essentially tools after how human-like they were in the last entry. Ah well.

I remember disliking Luna, Bud, and Zack immediately from the outset for exactly the reason Yeti suggested. I know people in the Battle Network LPs didn't like Mayl, Dex, and Yai, but I found them largely harmless if often incompetent so MegaMan can go save them or something. At the very least, they feel like Lan's friends, so I don't mind them too much. Luna's group is very abrasive and, while the game is at least aware of it, it doesn't make them very likable. Bud gets better, at least, and Luna wavers between likable, tolerable, and absurdly annoying. Zack... exists?

I also disliked Omega-Xis at the outset because I thought he looked weird. I later began to appreciate him a lot more, but I still think Star Force MegaMan looks really silly compared to the visual redesign he gets in 3 where Omega-Xis is a bracelet instead of a head-hand as we saw in OSS. And yeah, not a fan of the transformation cutscene every time you wave in. Another thing that was fixed in 3.

Also, I remember the Wave Road being orange. Is that a glitch?

Junpei
Oct 4, 2015

Although next time, you would be wise to heed the ancient Japanese proverb... phone first!
Aww, yis, ground floor!

Star Force 1 is rough around the edges. I do think 3 is a better game, but it, unfortunately, has to occasionally address things that happened in SF2 (aka the bad one), so at times, Star Force 1's plot is stronger than 3's.

AweStriker
Oct 6, 2014

Hobgoblin2099 posted:

Also, I remember the Wave Road being orange. Is that a glitch?

I remember it being orange in 2, at least... interesting.

(2 is the only one I've played more than a little bit of. It was... decent, I guess, but I'm glad I started with it if the other two are both better.)

ParTwo
Mar 5, 2013

I'm making it rain-Bo!
It's a nighttime thing. Orange roads happen in daytime.

I'm a bit of a Starforce apologist, having played and beaten all three entries. I'm not enough of one to defend SF2, but I enjoyed how the combat changed, and after you get past all the exposition, 1 and 3 get very compelling. Very much looking forward to this.

Magnus Ragnar
Feb 24, 2013

It's times like this I prefer to just burn everything. Works out better than you'd think!

Well, until you burn down the coffee shop anyways. I still haven't heard the end of that...
Ah, Starforce. I enjoy this series(well, SF2 aside but that one's basically the BN4 of Starforce) a lot. I'm pretty sure I only ever beat this game once and got up to like, the final post-game secret boss before I got either roadblocked or distracted, it was long enough ago that I don't remember.

That said, SF1 is definitely a rough start for the series. It has to explain a lot of the differences that've cropped up in the setting since the end of the BN games so that slows it down at the start, but it does hit a good sort of stride once the major plot scenarios start to kick in... even if there are a few speedbumps.

When I first played this, I didn't especially mind the SF Idiot Squad beyond Luna coming across as a more obnoxious version of Yai from BN... at least at first. The later games and the LPs of the series really put her... quirks into better perspective. I do appreciate that the game doesn't try to force a 'these guys are clearly Geo's pals you should like them' angle right out the gate with them; He treats them how you'd expect a kid to treat 3 random bozos walking up and making demands. Luna I'd argue gets better over the course of the first game, but then SF2 happens and all of her development just implodes into nothing and SF3 is carrying on from that and just... Man. Please sTOP. Omega-Xis however is a goddamn blessing and I love him... even if he's starting out on the jerk side of things here in SF1.

BlackPersona
Oct 21, 2012


I remember not wanting to pick up the game despite being immensely interested in it because I thought all the upgrades were tied in with the Online Features (Like increasing your HP and buster upgrades and the like), and I didn't want to deal with it.

Of course, as soon as I heard that wasn't the case I was on this game immediately. I personally felt like it was much more action-y in comparison to BN's more strategic approaches, mostly because of how cool the Mega Attack was to me. Overall a great impression, I'd say.

TheFattestPat
Dec 28, 2012

Santa Cat Says: Good deeds are the things to always do, just make sure someone is watching you
I like how they took SF 1 as an opportunity to try something different story wise.

Looking at Battle Network it was much more traditional in this sense. Lan was your typical shonen protagonist. Upbeat, carefree, eager to take the call to adventure and dense at times. Now we have Geo, who's depressed and living like a hermit. His supporting cast also deviates from what you would usually expect. Luna invokes the cute, popular girl who is paying attention to and crushing on our character. But that's not the case here, Luna clearly thinks Geo is a loser and is only talking to him for her own self interests. Omega represents the mythical power that informs our character that he is the chosen one who will save the world. But Omega is instead a jerk who's pushing Geo around, getting up in his personal business, and withholding information about his Dad. Geo is not dense, he's very aware of the crappy situation he's currently in. It's kind of like a deconstruction of what they did with Battle Networks story.

Right off the bat we're already in a much different place, and given how video games are typically used as an escape, I can see why some people would not be thrilled with this set up.

Blueberry Pancakes
Aug 18, 2012

Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!
I don't know if I'd say Luna thinks Geo is a loser. At this point, she finds him a bit frustrating because he's interfering with her idea of perfection. If anything, she probably sees him as a delinquent that she needs to correct.

rannum
Nov 3, 2012

Like Yeti, I generally like the writing (& it's not just vague memories, I still liked AstroNut's LP too) even if it can get wordy. Even Luna's doesn't get on my nerves like some people.

flarp22 posted:

It's a nighttime thing. Orange roads happen in daytime.

I'm a bit of a Starforce apologist, having played and beaten all three entries. I'm not enough of one to defend SF2, but I enjoyed how the combat changed, and after you get past all the exposition, 1 and 3 get very compelling. Very much looking forward to this.

And yeah I agree with this. SF1 in particular really grabbed me, it's the only one of the BN/SF series I 100%ed because I loved it that much. The gameplay is simple but i like the pacing of it, and the 3D models are all fairly charming.







gently caress zack though

Solumin
Jan 11, 2013
I haven't played SF1, actually, though I played the hell out of SF3 and tolerated SF2. Everyone's already said everything I was going to, but I'd like to reinforce just how much I dislike Prez. She grows something approaching a personality in the later games, but it's not enough to make me care about her. Bud is just the typical over-eating stupid character, and Zack can go die in a fire.

But besides those three, the writing in this series really is legitimately good. There's one character in particular I'm really looking forward to meeting.
Honestly if it wasn't for the combat system, I'd probably ignore this LP and play the game myself first.

Regalingualius
Jan 7, 2012

We gazed into the eyes of madness... And all we found was horny.




I’m just imagining Geo somehow pushing the train back onto the tracks all by himself.

TheFattestPat
Dec 28, 2012

Santa Cat Says: Good deeds are the things to always do, just make sure someone is watching you
The idiot squad starts off annoying on purpose. One of the goals of the story is to see why they have their flaws, and what they can do to overcome them. It will be interesting to see what everyone's opinions of them are once we reach the end of the game. Except Zack, for some reason he gets ignored.

One of the things I don't like about 2 and 3 is that they threw out most of the development from this game.

Starforce4
Oct 24, 2018
Ah yes, MegaMan Starforce, one of my earliest memories of playing the handheld Megaman games. Having started with BN 6 and loving it, I was curious to see what Starforce would be. And I love it. Yeah, the combat's a little simpler and the beginning can be rough, but I love the story and most of the characters too much to care (except Zack). Happy to see this finally getting a full LP.

Funky Valentine
Feb 26, 2014

Dojyaa~an

I heard the Bulk and Skull theme as soon as Luna and company showed up.

Raitzeno
Nov 24, 2007

What? It seemed like
a good idea at the time.

I'm excited about this. For all of its rocky start, this series has much better character writing than BN. (Except Rogue. gently caress Rogue.) I personally liked the combat a lot less - I feel being locked to the bottom limits your tactical options. At first I dumped this game entirely fairly early on, because I just could NOT keep up with that lovely camera. @_@ Then I gave it another shot, a fair bit later, and discovered you can turn that poo poo off. It was way better after that.

Seraphic Neoman
Jul 19, 2011


Hi everyone this is a good game and it will pick up like 2-3 dungeons in.

eternaldough
Jan 16, 2017

SSNeoman posted:

Hi everyone this is a good game and it will pick up like 2-3 dungeons in.

It picked up way earlier for me!

Blaze Dragon
Aug 28, 2013
LOWTAX'S SPINE FUND

Raitzeno posted:

I'm excited about this. For all of its rocky start, this series has much better character writing than BN. (Except Rogue. gently caress Rogue.)

I'd say that even that guy gets a good character arc, it's just that it starts really badly because he had the misfortune of first appearing in SF2. SF3 makes him far more enjoyable and the end of his plot there really worked for me.

The only character I'd say that never gets better is...the same guy everyone else has already pointed out. gently caress Zack.

yodar
Apr 5, 2016
I have never played any Starforce game, but I loved the LP of MMSF2 on the Archives and hopefully this one will also be entertaining. So far it's off to a good start :)

Blueberry Pancakes
Aug 18, 2012

Jack in!! MegaMan, Execute!
I was kinda curious if Yeti and Giver were going to skip over SF2 since there's already a completed LP of it. But I think there were two BN3 LPs, so there's no reason they can't do their own LP of it.

Also, man, everyone really hates Zack. :allears:

Blueberry Pancakes fucked around with this message at 16:56 on Apr 29, 2019

BisbyWorl
Jan 12, 2019

Knowledge is pain plus observation.


Hobgoblin2099 posted:

I was kinda curious if Yeti and Giver were going to skip over SF2 since there's already a completed LP of it. But I think there were two BN3 LPs, so there's no reason they can't do their own LP of it.

Considering their history of using jacked up boss codes, I want to see just how horseshit a boss would have to be to challenge Tribe King.

Bruceski
Aug 21, 2007

The tools of a hero mean nothing without a solid core.

Geostomp posted:

I never understood exactly what a BrotherBand was in-story beyond exchanging contact info.

MySpace, while thematic, was already taken.

Geostomp
Oct 22, 2008

Unite: MASH!!
~They've got the bad guys on the run!~

Raitzeno posted:

I'm excited about this. For all of its rocky start, this series has much better character writing than BN. (Except Rogue. gently caress Rogue.) I personally liked the combat a lot less - I feel being locked to the bottom limits your tactical options. At first I dumped this game entirely fairly early on, because I just could NOT keep up with that lovely camera. @_@ Then I gave it another shot, a fair bit later, and discovered you can turn that poo poo off. It was way better after that.

The characters didn't really pick up to me until the final game, but I will admit that, for the most part, they were still better than anything in Battle Network outside of maybe the third game. I still hate Luna and feel absolutely nothing for Zach.


Bruceski posted:

MySpace, while thematic, was already taken.

I guess that works. This series really gets obsessive about the Power of FRIENDSHIP.

Cyouni
Sep 30, 2014

without love it cannot be seen

BisbyWorl posted:

Considering their history of using jacked up boss codes, I want to see just how horseshit a boss would have to be to challenge Tribe King.

When it originally came out, I played both SF2 and SF3 quite a bit against a friend of mine. Tribe King was...a thing.

I was also Pegasus for SF1, so nice to see that again. I don't actually remember anything Zach really affected in the entire series, which is kind of impressive.

Geostomp
Oct 22, 2008

Unite: MASH!!
~They've got the bad guys on the run!~

Cyouni posted:

When it originally came out, I played both SF2 and SF3 quite a bit against a friend of mine. Tribe King was...a thing.

I was also Pegasus for SF1, so nice to see that again. I don't actually remember anything Zach really affected in the entire series, which is kind of impressive.

He caused a really unnecessary annoying subplot in one part of the second game. Beyond that, you could remove him completely and not even notice.

Discendo Vox
Mar 21, 2013

We don't need to have that dialogue because it's obvious, trivial, and has already been had a thousand times.

quote:

W-Wait!! OK, you can stay in my Transer for a bit, just please telkl me about my dad...

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GeneralYeti
Jul 22, 2012

Look at this smug broken asshole.

That's what I get for not proofreading. Fixed, thanks for the catch.

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