Dissidia: Got Zidane to level 78 by beating up the Falcon Colosseum Cousre, cause I needed some mid level stuff from Elixirs and such, and figured "Why not?" with him.
Then cracked down and did some of the passwords, primarily cause I wanted Ultima Weapon, which I got, so Terra, Firion, and Cloud now have at least ONE level 99/100 Weapon to use. Randomly playing around with it in Quick Battle against a Shantotto won me a component drop for a Stardust Rod, so I figured I might as well fight until I get enough of those.
Sure enough, on the last fight before I was going to stop playing, she drops *2*, from 2 different equip components. So yeah, now I have a Stardust Rod too!
Also was lucky enough to see her drop a Royal Crown, so I have a level 99 Headgear or something.
MMSF3: Game is beaten. SPOILERS AND SUCH BELOW!!!
Best game in the series, pretty easily. The game did bring back the bullshit Black Hole enemies that can only be killed with Slash based attacks, which annoyed me, though thankfully I did have a few so I was never perma-screwed, but they're still annoying.
Final Dungeon was neat at first, but then brought up the "FIND THESE ITEMS!" thing which kind of ruined it. Final Boss was the easiest in teh series, but that's not saying much; Pandora was a good fight, and Le Mu was pretty damn evil.
Overall? It works as a good ending to the series, even if the epilogue was shoved in, only so they can say "yes, we MIGHT make a Sequel, cause its freaking Mega Man, so there's always a chance there's demand!" If there isn't, I would actually be glad; seriously, the way MMSF3 ended was in a way that anything after would feel forced.
Why do I say that?
For starters, Geo Stellar. In an individual game, he gets a decent amount of development, but much like Yuri over the course of both SH1 and SHC combined, they do pretty much everything you CAN do with him over the course of the series. He starts off totally emo, in like every sense, if for understandable reasons...
MMSF1 starts him off being totally emo, and by MMSF3, he's pretty much all "Gotta live my life to the fullest! Gotta fight to protect everything I love! Never give up! Always have hope!" and such. You really get the sense that he's finally genuinely happy, and doesn't have a worry in the world. He's pretty much gotten rid of the depressed failure he was in MMSF1 entirely, and lacks any sort of self esteem issues he had in MMSF2 (after one failure that wasn't really his fault, he pretty much loses all his drive in MMSF2, I think that counts as having Low Self Esteem)
IN the end, Geo, despite being a MEGA MAN MAIN CHARACTER, is actually pretty well written and one of my favorite mains throughout the entire series. The Mega factor certainly doesn't hurt. I'll get to Mega later!
Other characters...
Well, Sonia getting more screen time was nice. It was good seeing her being friends with more than just Geo; I mean, yes, we knew she was friendly with Prez and Co., but you only got the sense that she was genuinely friends with Geo. Here, it portrays that Sonia's kind of an honorary member of Luna's crew, and fits in very well. She's clearly the best "Roll" of the series!
Oh yeah, Lyra served as a good other half to Sonia, mostly cause she's good at getting on Mega's nerves, and at times, you can't tell if she actually cares about SOnia, or she's just doing it cause being a hero is more fun than being a villain, something she decided was the case back in MMSF1 (that, and she secretly has a crush on Mega.)
Luna, Bud and Zack are about the same as always. Luna's your token "Bitch with a Heart of Gold", who Geo wouldn't dare stand up to cause, you know, you can NEVER win an argument with this character class, Bud's your token "Fat kid who loves to eat with a heart of gold!", though seeing him do stuff besides just being "one of the other two" with Zack was certainly a nice change of pace. It also served for fun gags when characters make fun of him for attempting to be serious for once. Zack...well, not much you CAN do with him, so what did you expect <_<? He's still just a smart ass kid who thinks he knows everything. In any event, Zack is clearly better than Yai, Bud is the best Gutsman equivalent and Luna...actually, I have no clue who Luna's suppose to be...
Mr. Borreal is...uh...well, he didn't have much to begin with, lets leave it at that <.<
Hope Stellar is your token "Overly worried mother whose completely oblivious to the fact that her son is a super hero!" Feels like a parody of it at times, in fact.
Omega-xis...he was pretty awesome from the get go, and is still awesome at the end! He doesn't really develop much, but he was amusing enough at core personality that he doesn't really need to. The way he and Geo just bounce off each other made for amusing dialog pretty much the entire series. Actually, its Mega who made me realize back in MMSF1 that this series finally has a degree of actual writing, unlike the rest of the Megaman series, so "MEGA MAN PLOT!!!" doesn't quite apply, especially since the games are clearly self aware at times (I'm sorry, but when your Vile equivalent is the PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, there's no way the game intends to be taken 100% seriously)
...speaking of Phantom of the Opera, Dark Phantom randomly reappearing and being his usual hamtastic self, just to get owned by Geo effortlessly...yeah, awesome. This is why I call him the "Vile" of the series. He thinks he's the main's rival, but gets consistently owned and just keeps coming back for more, only to get his ass kicked again. Unlike Vile, the game doesn't pretend he's competent!
Solo is a douche, and I don't like him...and I'm pretty sure that's the point. At least with Solo, you can tell you're not suppose to like the guy, more just be happy he's on your side since it means you won't have to fight him, which I guess makes him the best "Bass" of the series, but fuck if that isn't a back handed compliment.
As for new characters...
Ace...he's only in one game, but he's awesome. When I labelled him he "Zero" of the MMSF series, I didn't realize how right I was. He pretty much fulfills EVERY SINGLE CRITERIA needed to be considered Zero. Interesting thing is, when you first meet him, you really get the sense that he's going to be the suspicious guy who eventually becomes the villain...but no, he was genuinely good from the get go, and really was just interesting in Geo cause hey, he's strong and the famous hero! And the fact that he basically thinks on the same exact wave length as Mega made the two of them buddy buddy...for all that Mega despises Acid. Really, Ace is a good foil to Geo, far better than MMSF2 Solo was <_<
Acid was good foil to Mega too, for that matter. On one hand, Mega's all "Bah, lets just kick some ass!" Acid, meanwhile, is all "Mission accomplished!" type, but not afraid to crack a joke. When I first met Acid, I was really expecting just a boring "rar, I'm a battle Wizard, and I'm an ultra bad ass!" but they did a good job of more just painting him as Mega's Polar Opposite, and helped bring out Mega's personality at moments where it would have been subverted otherwise.
Jack and Queen Tia...its nice that they avoided a cliche with them at first. Ok, the "kids raised by the villain" thing was cliched, and they DID betray him...but you expect it to be a betrayal in the sense of "Now they're on your side, or at least written out of the story so you won't have to deal with them!" but...instead, they betray King, and become...the actual villain and genuine threat! But then the game pulls a "they apologize for their actions anyway!" though suppose that's a trend in the series; Cephid or whatever in MMSF1 did it, and I think Vega did it as well. I suppose it was kind of necessary, though, cause otherwise the whole beach scene, and the two of them showing signs of actual positive emotions would have been forced and utterly pointless, so whatever. Their motives...eh, typical case of "This shit destroyed our home, now we seek IRRATIONAL REVENGE!" I will grant that they did realize their mistakes in a logical manner of "...wow, we really are massive hypocrits, aren't we? God damn we fail at life, guess we should start making amends"
King...is generic evil villain. They didn't even TRY to make him unique. He's about as cliche as you can get. He does, however, have an awesome chair!
Heartless...well, I suppose the fact that for once, the Traitorous Loyal Henchman being that way for BENEVOLENT reasons was nice. Typically, this character is like that cause they're just waiting for a moment to get supreme power or what not themselves. Here, Heartless was more like "...I can't let this guy get away with it, so I'll pretend to help him, but at the right time, give him the finger and fuck his plans over." Beyond that? She's pretty forgettable.
Joker fails. "Rar, I'm ultra powered henchman who keeps kicking things asses! I exist only to fight! Blah blah blah mind rape Ace blah blah blah you fail Geo blah blah blah oh shit I'm dead, now to die in a way that will force one of you to do a Heroic Sacrifice." Fuck, you know what?
Joker is basically the Sigma of the series. Rival to the "Zero" equivalent, doesn't know how to stay dead, ultra powered evil guy made specifically for fighting...really, the only thing he's missing is being the game's main villain, as he's just a tool, but he fits the other Sigma factors well enough, and if there is an MMSF4, it wouldn't shock me if they force him back in.
Now onto non-character stuff!
Its dungeon designs weren't as good as MMSF1 (DUCK HUNT WITH MISSILES MINI GAME), but the little mini games they had throughout were fun; only dungeon I didn't like was the final though thankfully, the FINal Dungeon was as long as any other dungeon, just with a token Mega Man Boss Rush in the mix (which was expected and actually the GOOD part of the dungeon.)
The boss designs as over the top as MMSF2 (then again, bosses based on things like the Loch Ness Monster is a lot more fun than Card Themed Bosses...though, I will give a nod for MMSF3 bringing back Dark Phantom), but that's minor. But the boss fights themselves, mind, are fun; when I say Design, I mean specifically from how they look, act, etc. The fights themselves are about as good as you'll get; even the ones with gimmicks, the gimmicks are more "Keep this factor in mind" rather than "YOU JUST LEARN TO DEAL WITH IT 100% of the TIME lul" like in MMBNs.
The writing is as good as the first two games, which as I said, is something the series stands out in compared to the other Mega Man games. No, its not TOP NOTCH WRITING (though i still think Geo is incredibly well done when you look at the series as a whole), the OST is...lacking, and the boss theme was especially disappointing after MMSF2 had a really good one, IMHO. Setting...felt like they were trying to make it more MMBN like, with the Wizards aspect, and things running more off programs than before, but hey, at least the threat were kept to genuine problems, not just "THE INTERNET IS ON FIRE!" Actually, the fact that the game had genuine threats brought a real sense of urgency, which is part of the reason MMSF plots aren't as laughable as MMBNs.
The little tweaks they did really help the experience; Wave Roads are now far less complicated and easier to navigate, and the ability to Pulse In anywhere at will made things far more fluid. None of this "you must find a specific spot!" nonsense anymore, and being able to run around the normal area as Mega Man, instead of being "Mega Man has Wave Roads, Geo has normal roads." One thing I was NOT fond of was how putting on Geo's Visor made you unable to see people, and you could only see Hertzs and what not.
I'd talk about Noise system, but I think that's enough for now <_<
IN the end? 8/10 game probably. Its clearly the bset in the series, and just was a lot of fun once it got going. Despite being really good, I'd kind of prefer they didn't make a sequel, cause they did everything they could with Geo, and unless they found a way to make the gameplay really stand out...yeah.
I mean, what are they going to do with Geo next? Show that he's slowly growing up to be like Dante, and thus lead a way into Megaman Starforce meets Devil May Cry, complete with Mega mocking every boss you run into?
...wait, that actually sounds like an awesome idea.
