More or less a "perfect" game, at least as far as concerns the
Mega Man Battle Network [ロックマンエグゼ] series and its battle system. Combat is perfected here, in what is unfortunately the final installment of the sub-franchise.
As an American, I first played this in its "gutted" English release; due to the GBA's smallish file sizes, Capcom USA decided to cut up the postgame in order to fit the English script. If I recall correctly, the official strategy guide (remember those?) was based partly on the JP release, and, owning the book, I saw second-hand the cool shit I could have had, had Capcom been more economic with cartridge space (which I guess would mean tinier overworld sprites?).
Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection [ロックマンエグゼ アドバンスドコレクション] "restores" the cut
Boktai [ボクらの太陽] crossover content, by which I mean the game is a port of the Japanese original, with new translation for the previously-unreleased-in-the-West material, complete with series-staple translation fuck-ups (the Konami vampire, called only "The Count," is misnamed "Zap," due to some weird conflation with Count Zap from
Mega Man Battle Network [バトルネットワーク ロックマンエグゼ], who, in fairness, is referenced through his wife's new ownership of ElecMan.EXE...). The brief little sidequest is kind of a nothing-burger, the fight against The Count isn't
that cool compared to fights preserved in the US release, and I don't like how the Django Chips work here compared to the previous couple games, but it's nice to have everything. I'm sure the CrosOver Program Advance is probably cool, too, but the one time I used it I didn't have enough space behind my foe so Django didn't even appear....
Because I'd most recently replayed
BN1 on cart a year or so back, and because I'd last played
6 in 2006 or 2007 and was prone to "alphabet soup" Folders as a kid, I was pretty fuckin' surprised at how easy it was to build a mostly-monocode Folder, having a mostly-S-code Folder with a handful of *-code Chips roughly around the time of DiveMan's dungeon, less than five hours into the game, and only muddying my Folder's purity with F-code when I gained access to HeatCross. I admit, I used the Download Card that provided an early AttackMAX NaviCust Program, so that had a notable effect on my gameplay: the Cross System's calculation for Power Attacks is
waaaaay more generous than DoubleSoul or StyleChange, so I found myself more or less relying on Charge Shots than my actual Chips, and my Folder remained mostly unchanged from around JudgeMan to endgame. With ChargeMAX as well, it's easy to kinda-sorta "stunlock" bosses with Power Attacks; an AttackMAX'd EraseBeam makes most Navi foes flinch, and you can nearly get another full charge before the enemy recovers and prepares his counterattack (the only "downside" is it's a little slower than using MachGun2 S + Attack+30 * + EraseCross's innate Cursor+30 bonus...!).
If I have anything to say against this game, or specifically the version included in the
Legacy Collection, it's that there is no simulation of the Beast Link Gate toy to allow Link Navis to level up. Accordingly, I don't think you get dick for beating Bass with them, nor would I ever dare to try. The Cross System means Link Navis share their power with MegaMan, but... the Link Navis themselves remain weak as fuck in comparison. HeatCross's Power Attack does far more damage than HeatMan's own. I don't think HeatMan even has the Heat+50 boost for BattleChips. I appreciate Mr. Match for sharing his Navi's power with me, but... he made his own Navi obsolete. Or Yuichiro Hikari is just the greatest genius of all time, and/or an asshole, for making his son('s Navi) so fucking strong.
I guess I also kind of don't like how Mick's Navi is a reskinned NormalNavi, nor that Tab's Navi is hardly referenced other than seeing his green NormalNavi sprite once or twice. And, overall, the move to Cyber City feels too "light" in what is meant to be the final game. Then again, Mayl, Yai, and Dex have hardly been relevant the past couple games anyway....