GENERAL STARFORCE SERIES ENQUIRIES

[Abominator]

This topic exists in the hope that newcomers to MMM will not clog the forum with one-question topics, and topics that have already been raised several times.

Basically, it exists to solve simple pleas, so if you're looking for help in a StarForce Series game, or you have a simple question about this series, ask it here.

[Orange Devil]

I thought that Star Force was in the Battle Network universe.

[Abominator]

Yeah, and I thought that it looked like fun.

We were both wrong.

It's in the future of BN, like ZX is to Zero.

[NovaMan XP]

Star force is garbage!

The game plays itself.

[Abominator]

Just as well, because I ain't playin' it!

HAR!

[ASR]

The game is indeed terrible. It's the first videogame I've actually returned to the store within a month. Ever.

[Yubi Shines]

Well! I knew absolutely nothing about this series, and now, I can happily continue my ignorance with good conscience.

[ChaosVortex]

Actually, I found Star Force to be good...




... battle-wise. I had a blast in multi-player. The storyline was garbage wrapped in all kinds of feces.

[ASR]

So was the battling in the game. I dunno about multiplayer, but it's supposed to be a strongly 1-player game anyway.

[ChaosVortex]

I would've only regret my buy if I didn't have someone to play multiplayer with.

Which is why I'm getting Starforce 2, unless they back down on giving it Wi-Fi battling.

[ASR]

I'm avoiding it.

[ChaosVortex]

The battle system is like the only thing really that's changed the slightest. Everything else is literally a carbon copy of Battle Network.

"WAVE BATTLE! RIDE ON~!!"

[Xero]

*Avoids Starforce like the plauge*

[Vinchenz Rock]

I actually liked this game. >_>

But I didn't get far. XD

[ASR]

Because it sucks.

[Vinchenz Rock]

No. I do that with all games.

One of these days, I'll beat it... and the hundreds of others...

[ASR]

Well it still sucks.

[Vinchenz Rock]

ONLY IN YOUR OPINION! ;_;

*Runs away crying*

[ASR]

Yeah, well your opinion is wrong.

[Vinchenz Rock]

I knew you were going to say that.

[ASR]

Have I truly become so predictable?

[Vinchenz Rock]

Yes, you have.

That and the fact that EVERYONE says that on this forum when someone else has an opinion.

[ASR]

No, only me.

[Vinchenz Rock]

I knew you were going to say that.

[Dr.]

Rock. Come on. Admit it. You didn't finish it cause your cat eats ##### and found it.

EDIT: Also, a special ad hoc-only battle mode is revealed as the Sky High Colosseum, where one-turn tournaments with special rules are held. So far, normal 1-on-1 matches can only be achieved by Wi-Fi play. Source: Wikipedia

[Vinchenz Rock]

I don't have a cat.

[Dr.]

Dog, bird, snake, sister, mom, dad, you, I don't care.

[ChaosVortex]

I could understand if someone likes the game, but may God smite you if you think the story is any good.

[Vinchenz Rock]

The story is... meh... very MMBN like and not very original.

[NovaMan XP]

It's the same kiddy stuff we've had lately with the cliched "LOL FRIENDSHIP IS POWER!" ending.

[ASR]

No, it's was just total crap.

At least MMBN had some dark and edgy tones to it at some points. I'm looking at you, BN3. Good boy.

[MOX]

Anyone know how the new battle system is played?

[SB]

I play a Copy Pasta Card from another forum I posted this on!

The battle system is VERY well made, this time around. Lessee... I think I'll break it into parts to make it easier to follow.

- Battle Card System -

This time around, you get 6 Cards/Chips to take into battle at any given time, and no way to increase that number from what I can tell. It's a 2 x 3 deal, as you've likely seen by the screenshots, and it's pretty simple stuff this time around. There are NO CODES, so no more Alphabet Soup Folders and whatnot, which definitely helps keep battles flowing. To limit this, new rules have been put in place. Same folder building rules apply, ala 5 Mega and 1 Giga and all that, but in battle, you've got two rules to follow.

1. You can pick only a single column of Cards (Top and Bottom Cards)
2. You can pick as many of the same Card

So basically, you may have 3 Mini-Bombs in your selection, but only two of them might be in the same column, and the third might be in a completely different, or they're even scattered about, but that's not a problem. You can just select them with your stylus, and head into battle. You also could have two completely different cards on top of one another in their respective area, and you could just pick those two, and if there's another card elsewhere in your current selection/hand, you can toss that on too, to make it even more devastating on your foes.

- Favorite System -

They've completely redone this aspect of the game, which is for the better. You can select up to 6 Favorites in your Folder, which in turn is what your Brothers get to use as a result of your Band, and it also makes the cards Silver in color in battle. Silver Cards act as * Code in this game, as you can select as many of them as you wish without disrupting the natural flow of things. Basically, you can mix these in anywhere with the rules outlined above, and I haven't run across any limits outside of the number of cards you can favorite, so I usually do this with my Mega Class Cards and things that may not always land, like a Boxing Card dealio I got going in my lineup right now. You can likely see how this could be a HUGE step above the past games, where you may only get one or two usable chips while waiting for a good selection to appear. Bad part on this is that unlike past games, your favorites do NOT automatically appear at the start of battles, but that's somewhat a good thing, with how broken and powerful you'd be as a result. Though, one or more can still appear in the initial batch at the start of battles, so don't misread that part.

- Counter Chain -

This time around, if your Counter an enemy, not only do you stun them, and I believe get 2x damage on the next attack, but you also instantly get an attack card sent to the bottom of the active cards you have out in order to keep it going. So say you use a Sword, and still have a Cannon left over after that, and you stun the enemy with the Sword, you'll instantly be sent a random attack card from your Folder instantly to use right after that Cannon, which helps to really keep battle flowing. Or say you don't have that Cannon there, but still get the stun, you'll still get some attack card sent instantly to use when you wish, so basically in theory, you could time it right and endlessly keep chaining your foes without having to worry about picking new cards, if you wanted to do that.

- Turns -

Timer speed has basically doubled in speed, so turns can end faster to keep the flow going smooth. Nothing new, otherwise.

- War Rock Busters -

This is basically like Legends, in the fact that you can get over 20-30 various busters for War Rock that alter various stats, like the EXE Buster with it's 1 Attack, 5 Rapid, and 1 Charge. You can find them hidden in various places, and occasional purchase them in stores. If you have the Japanese version, like myself, you can get the Boktai items and Busters to get some good power out of War Rock, otherwise, you're left to seek out your own during the game.

- Rockman -

Rockman this time is much different, compared to his EXE ancestor. For starters, which will make people preach "GIMPED!" initially, you only get the very back row to move about, this time around. Three Blocks, that's it. The enemies get 3x5 area on the grid, and they DEFINITELY need it, since this Rockman is a powerhouse in battle, up there with X basically in terms of the jump in power and abilities. For starters, your buster auto-charges itself this time around, and has it's own auto-rapid fire, so no more holding down buttons or mashing the blazes out of your precious handheld to garner results in between Cards or Turns. You ALSO get a Shield you can deploy at will, ala the old Guard from past games, which can stop basically all non-physical attacks, and lasts a modest bit of time for when an enemy is using something similar to a small burst of rapid fire and the likes. Though, the shield WILL go down during attacks if not timed properly, so plan accordingly there. Another GREAT feature, since by now you're wondering how Sword Cards would translate into all this, I'm sure, is that War Rock has a Lock-On feature for almost all the Cards. Basically, you press Down to activate lock on, and War Rock will then lock on to an enemy in range, if there is any, and then if you use a card before they move out of the area, you'll hear War Rock let out a roar, and you'll teleport in front of the foe, and use the card, be it sword or bomb or even just a simple cannon attack.

Now on to my two most disappointed aspects of the Battle Mode...

- Star Force -

Yes, it's a real name in the Japanese version, and it references to the specific powers that each title grants, so now the US name is less stupid to me. Anywho, though, Since I have Dragon, I have the Dragon Star Force from the Dragon AM after a boss fight with it, and sadly, you don't actually GET your special power until later on into the game,nearly 3/5th the way into it. I'll first outline the Elements of them all, as well as side benefits of each form.

Leo - Added power to Cards, Fire Element
Pegasus - Added Strategy to Cards, Ice Element *I think you can freeze foes or something with his Charge Shot*
Dragon - Apparently added Defense, Wood Element. *I haven't tested the defense bit too much, though*

That's all fine and dandy, since it looks like a nice throwback to Styles, and you can even gain the other version's Star Forces by having them in your Brother Band, but... Capcom, as usual, had to screw up something good, and make it horrid. Instead of starting out in your new forms, which would have made a lot of sense, due to them suddenly jacking up the difficulty with harder enemy placements even in the starter areas as you progress along, they instead made your Star Force into a Card that has a random chance of making it into your selection. They once again go from what worked and EVERYONE liked, straight back into the Soul Unison bit that NOBODY cared for. The only real difference this time around is that it seems that once you use your Star Force, that it lasts the rest of the battle, as opposed to wearing in a few turns like past games have done. That's sort of a perk, I guess...

The only saving graces for Star Force is the sheer power they bring to plate, since they can completely dwarf all past forms completely. Take Dragon's Buster, for example. It's charge shot is a 2x3 BLAST of leaves that go all the way down the grid and hits all enemies, basically, and does a good chunk of damage to them as well. Also, if you get a Counter on any enemies while in Star Force Mode, you automatically gain that Star Force's Giga Chip to use on the foes as part of the new Counter Chain, and those things HURT, HARD. I think Dragon's did somewhere around... 200 or so earlier? Maybe it was even 500? But basically, these can do insane damage when used properly, which is a real plus.

- Brother Band -

The big selling point of this game, as far as Capcom is concerned. During the course of the regular game, you get 3 NPC's that force their way onto your Band during the storyline events, and you can have 3 real players on yours. Each version alters various things, like HP gains to varying degrees based upon their in-game levels, as well as each specific version you Band adds a new stat to War Rock's Buster. Stuff like Attack, Rapid, and all that. Also, BB tosses in a random card per person on your list, that has a random chance of appearing in your selection like any normal card, and is also Silver. Using this card will cause it to roulette between that person's 6 Favorite Cards, and randomly select one that you can use, and it will act as that card in that battle. Pretty unreliable due to the random nature of the card even appearing, on top of the random card you'll get to use with no chance of stopping that roulette.

That's it for the battle system. Doesn't seem to be any Program Advances, but I rather enjoy doing my own dirty work, as opposed to flooding my Folder full of various cards that may not be worth using on their own.

[ASR]

Anyone know how the new battle system is played?

Sadly.

Both an answer and a comment.

[Vinchenz Rock]

ROFL, ASR. You sure hate your Starforce, don't you?

[ASR]

I've never, EVER, hated a MegaMan game before. I tolerated MMBN because the third one was awesome, and I'm one of the only fans here of the Zero series.

You better believe I mean business, and it probably means this game really DOES suck.

[Captain Sanoguchi]

Is Starforce's battle system any different from Battle Network's battle system?
Except for the obvious angle change.

[Xero]

Pretty much.

[NovaMan XP]

You get only 3 panels to move on. And your enemies are more predictable than they were in BN6.

[ASR]

It's LESS fun. Basically, you have only THREE panels to move around on now, and they're all on one horizontal row. It's from the front-on view, and it's much less innovative.

[NovaMan XP]

It's really stupid actually, I would've preferred more freedom. But no, they make you only able to move left and right, and you get a shield that reflected pretty much everything that was thrown at you.

[ASR]

I completely forgot about the shield. I must've used it once.

[SB]

Shield that blocked attacks, pressing down made War Rock lock on for your Chip Attack, changes the the chip system selection, faster turns, enhanced charge attacks, rapid fire attacks by just holding down the button this time instead of jamming it, and a few other tweaks, and a few other things already mentioned earlier on.

[Vinchenz Rock]

...I still liked it a little...

I don't plan on buying the sequel unless it's WiFi features are a lot better, though.

[SB]

Sequel has online netplay like how Pokemon has online trainer battles, and it's apparantly pretty stable and enjoyable for a change.

[ASR]

It has online?

If the first one had that, I would've had a slightly bigger interest in the series' growth. Too bad they lost me.

[Dr.]

I've never, EVER, hated a MegaMan game before. I tolerated MMBN because the third one was awesome, and I'm one of the only fans here of the Zero series.

You better believe I mean business, and it probably means this game really DOES suck.

I have to #####ing agree. Although I did like the MMBN series, this game was overall redundant and full of ##### up to Mikero's scarf. I've played nearly all MMBN games and this, supposedly new series, is by far the biggest crap and one of the only Megaman games I would push to get it removed from shelves.

It's a remake of MMBN, and a bad one at that. You can press the down button and lock on to someone, which makes sure this game has little, if any AI at all. I love the Zero series, and I have all games so far, or even if it's finished.

[SB]

...I'm starting to wonder if there's any actual intelligence left in this topic, given my copy of Ryuusei no Rockman: Dragon and the play mechanics seem to vastly differ from how everyone else is just repeating things that other people have stated prior in this topic, and miswording them to sound as if they know what they're talking of.

[Vinchenz Rock]

*Ahem*

...

I still like the game.

*Runs*

[KPL]

Star..Force?

Sounds Lylat Wars-y to me.