I did it...

[lbd_nytetrayn]

I beat Battle Network 4, thanks to thenekomancer.

Spoilers ahead.

Heatman/Nekomancer was a big help, giving me some Navi Customizer tips to help increase my odds, and my life meter. Unfortunately, by increasing my HP from 460 to 960, it also made beating Dark MegaMan that much harder to beat... especially since I don't tend to pack a light-arsenal folder. I think he can reuse chips, too... I'm sure I don't have that many Vulcan Chips in there...

Z-Saber, LifeSword, GunDelSolEX... I wound up taking enough damage that even the Dark Chips were showing up... but in the end, it wound up being my Buster that delivered the final blow.

Not that Dark MegaMan was my greatest challenge, although he certainly varied... one time, I wiped him out in two attacks...

Fortunately, going into battle with him, your life is instantly filled. And his matches. I was sort of hoping to use my depleted life energy to my advantage, but no dice.

At least finishing the battle saw my HP refill for my real challenge... Duo.

Once again, the luck of the draw was not on my side... but I managed. Unfortunately, Duo doesn't recoil from damage... but fortunately, you CAN stun him with Thunder Soul. Thanks to that, I think I managed to get a LifeSword or some other heavy-damage attack on him.

It was like out of a manga or anime or some other dramatic, scripted story. But it wasn't scripted...

My Soul Unisons were used up, or I was taking too much damage to use them, I can't remember which, and I was getting hammered while my Recovery Chips were doing more to simply keep me going than to actually recover, and Duo meanwhile was still well over a grand in HP.

Then, it finally showed up.

Red Sun.

Every time I'd gone into battle, against LaserMan, against viruses, against Dark MegaMan, and against Duo himself, this chip had never revealed itself to me in battle, despite being in my folder...

Talk about a sign. Since I never got to use the chip, I never knew what to expect.

Still, the game's practically named after it, so I used it.

And lucky for me, I used it right.

3 direct hits on Duo's weak spot, followed by a fourth unexpected hit, unless I miscounted in the heat of the moment. Duo's HP were brought down considerably.

Unfortunately, his desire to kick my ass wasn't. He still managed to get some hits off, and I managed to bring him down more.

Then, like a scene out of Yu-Gi-Oh, as I'm almost down and out, I'm able to draw my signature chip: Super Vulcan.

So I slot-in the chip, and Duo's still bringing it. I manage to anticipate his movement and get to the upper-right corner of my side of the field, and at this point, I know I'm not going to make it. But if I'm going down, I can at least give him one humongous repair bill.

We trade blows as I activate Super Vulcan...

And in the end, Duo's HP are 0.

Mine? 1.

THIS is what gaming is all about.

And I got to see the end. As I'm told now, Red Sun, with a cooler cast, has the slightly cooler ending over Blue Moon. I never expected to have Mr. Match cheering for me! :D

And so Regal is Dr. Wily's son. Trippy. As Red said, "who the hell would screw Wily in the first place?" Then again, Regal's hardly a young man himself, so I imagine this was before Wily was about canes and liver spots.

Who would have made the connection, anyway? Nation X? A different last name? Interesting twist.

Overall, I don't think BN4 is anywhere quite as bad as people have made it out to be. The story wasn't bad, just told in a different way. Two stories that converge at the end, with a mix of interchangable scenarios that pave the way. It's actually rather clever, and I'm eager to see the other scenarios.

The fetch quests weren't as bad in this one compared to other BN games, IMO. And for the most part, random encounters weren't too bad, at least in foreign lands. I swear, they're fucking relentless by the end of the game in your native Electopia. I hate how they choose at random whether to let you run or not, though. Fortunately, I'm able to run more often than not.

So I'll begin my second playthrough soon, once I've managed to determine I've gotten all the blue and purple crystals. Then I'll go for the third...

...then maybe I can look into getting Blue Moon, and sending all my chips to that. >:D

But man, what a relief to be done with that...

LBD "Nytetrayn"

Comments

[igosplashman.livejournal.com]

Yay, congrats to your dramatic, non-scripted victory! ^^

I myself didn't think EXE4 was all too bad either. I just didn't really like random tournament-scenarios, was a bit disappointed by the new graphics and music and felt ripped off that I needed to play thru the whole game 3 times for getting all the souls. These days I can hardly force myself anymore on finishing any game more than once, especially RPGs (yet alone 3 times!).

[lbd-nytetrayn.livejournal.com]

Yay, congrats to your dramatic, non-scripted victory! ^^

Thanks :)

I myself didn't think EXE4 was all too bad either. I just didn't really like random tournament-scenarios,

Like I said, it was interesting. Definitely makes me want to replay again.

was a bit disappointed by the new graphics

Took some getting used to, but I'm glad the kids aren't as big as the adults anymore. And I like the newer avatars for speaking characters, and how they're colored correctly now in some cases(like MegaMan's).

and music

I liked the Meteor theme. Reminded me of Wily's castle from MM2.

and felt ripped off that I needed to play thru the whole game 3 times for getting all the souls.

I can see how that might bother some.

These days I can hardly force myself anymore on finishing any game more than once, especially RPGs (yet alone 3 times!).

Aye, I sort of know what you mean. Then again, I play fewer games for longer, so I dunno. Sounds like you'd be inclined to agree with Mr. Miyamoto, that games now are too long...

LBD "Nytetrayn"

[makou.livejournal.com]

I've long felt that having to play through a game multiple times to receive all of the items, powers, etc. is nothing but an artificial way of extending the game and adding "replay value."

Having a harder difficulty unlock after one play through is fine. Even locking a hidden dungeon until the game is over is okay. But don't cheat me out of an item just because you want to make the game seem longer than it really is.

[lbd-nytetrayn.livejournal.com]

I've long felt that having to play through a game multiple times to receive all of the items, powers, etc. is nothing but an artificial way of extending the game and adding "replay value."

While this is true, I like that it ultimately affords you more story to the game as well.

LBD "Nytetrayn"

[makou.livejournal.com]

But does it, really? Is it anything that they couldn't put in the game to begin with? Most of the time, the answer is "no."

[lbd-nytetrayn.livejournal.com]

They could, theoretically, but it'd be at the sacrifice of another scenario the way they have it.

LBD "Nytetrayn"

[frash.livejournal.com]

I have to admit the Blue Moon Souls weren't too useful against Duo...

[timestones.livejournal.com]

I found BN4 to be pretty good the first playthrough. My beef with the game is tht in order to get most of the cool stuff (like all the Soul Unisons and some of the stronger, non Giga class chips) required multiple playthroughs of the game. That WOULD have been fine except each Tournament scenario has you retracing your steps and exploring the same areas of the net over and over again. I just lost interest halfway through my second play through.