Mega Man 11

[NovaMan XP]

I just beat it, my thoughts, spoilers ahead:

[Spoiler]Overall the game is fun, but some stages and some sections are pretty tedious or cheap, which is unfortunate...

The lack of both Proto Man and Bass is weird. Neither one shows up at all.

Yellow Devil again, because why not...

Most levels are pretty doable without the gears, but Acid Man's Stage has some pretty cheap spike traps laid about in later sections... Wily Stage 1 is also pretty annoying in general.
[/spoiler]

Basically, non-spoiler version: It was fun, but some of the stages aren't designed very well balance wise.

[ChaosVortex]

The Super Hero run I did:

[spoiler]
https://youtu.be/xzZAQ9SaNgA
[/spoiler]

Fatso also informed me that none of my runs hold as a world record because people with advanced copies have sub hour records. So the only thing that my run holds value is it's probably the fastest blind run out there, which I'll take at least. Unlike MM9 and MM10, the playing field wasn't even when it comes to record holding.

My Block Man Time Attack was beaten on the Steam release as well. 3 minutes and 4 seconds. But still, I was number one in several spots while I still could.

[Xero]

Finished Impact Man & Bounce Man stages.

Acid Barrier is a godsend.  Especially on Impact Man's stage.

I also noticed that items are permanently gone once you acquire them.  Did that happen in 7 and 8?  I know it didn't happen in the NES games or 9/10.

Bounce man stage is FUN!  FUN!!!  Had little trouble with the bouncy balls.  Reminds me of Spring Man's level in MM7.

Posted on:  3 October 2018, 09:37:27

Fuse Man, Tundra, and Torch Man done.

Tundra Man's stage was fun and the wind mechanic actually works very well with the stage. 

For anyone having difficulty with Torch Man's stage check the spoiler
[spoiler]You can use tundra storm to temporarily halt the wall of flame for a good 5 seconds giving you ample time to distance yourself from it[/spoiler]

[Mikero]

I read the spoilers here 'cause I didn't really expect them to be plot based, which they aren't really, but I'll tag this just in case.

[spoiler]To be honest I'm not surprised about Bass and Proto Man not showing up. It honestly seems like any new installments we get to the classic franchise will shy away from moving the actual story further. Obviously, Mega Man is more about the gameplay but part of why we're STILL here talking about MM has to be attributed to the charm of that design and world building.

Unfortunately, the last time we really had any evolution to the story beyond "bad robots! go kill!" was probably Power Fighters with it's Zero stuff. MM9 and MM10 do nothing to increase the lore beyond what we had in MM8, and for me that's kind of a shame.

I don't need an MM game to be plot HEAVY, but it kind of sucks that every new Mega Man game doesn't have much other than the gameplay. It's not 1985, we can have both the solid gameplay and a nicer story than "uhh... Roboenza?" [/spoiler]

[Xero]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d94YMRbnQmA

Why couldn't we have had 8-bit remixes instead of instrumentals?

[NovaMan XP]

I actually really like the piano themes much more than the originals, but unfortunately only the 8 Main Stages are changed... the rest is still the techno stuff.

[Vinchenz Rock]

I've only beat 3 stages thus far but so far so good. Playing on Casual because I don't have time to replay stages but it is certainly a lot easier than NES games this way.

I skipped the demo so wasn't sure what to expect controls-wise but it's very solid. Feels very close weight-wise to the NES games. The knock-back feels a bit more harsh however.

Rush Coil being on at all times is very good, though I miss being able to use the buster and weapon at the same time like in 8.

Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to beat it tonight or get close.

[Teelio]

Knocked down 5/8 Robot Masters... Tundra, Torch & Blast Man remain.

I side with Nova on Acid Man's excessive spike traps. A few well-placed ones are fine, but man... Seemed like they were everywhere in the underwater portions.

Some stages feel more drawn-out than others (Block Man's for example), but the sub-bosses add an extra fun challenge to the stages. None I've come across are too difficult.

I am guilty of having to resort to the Speed Gear in a few situations....

[Xero]

I have yet to use the Gears.  But ##### me I die alot.  Torch Man's stage is hell but with Tundra Storm it's doable.

[TheRedPriest]

I spent a #####ing hour on Torch Man's stage.  Finally beat it.  I might save it for after Tundra Man's stage.  The only two major issues I've had so far with the first 8 levels are with Torch Man's horse ##### insta death fire wall sections (3 of these #####ers), and the spike fest of Acid Man's stage.  I only died in one section (that first one where you go down blindly into the spikes) and THAT section was just MMZ tier garbage stage design, but the other spike sections were just overdone and not necessarily badly designed.

Some of Bounce Man's stage bordered on aggravating rather than fun in lining up your bouncing.  Some of Fuse Man's stage was a BIT overdone on dodging everything from every angle in parts.  Other than that I think it wasn't too bad.

I'm not digging the music so far, but I need to listen to it more to make a call.  I don't hate it, but it's not really standing out to me.  I think the inevitable 8bit remixes might fix that.

[Xero]

I think it's the instrument really.  8-bit would probably fix most.  I really like Tundra Man, Acid Man, Fuse Man, and surprisingly Bounce Man's theme.  But the synth is too much.

[SB]

Between the composition and some of the "hidden power ups" being tied to repeat deaths, this game is reminding me more of the Gameboy entries. We have the piano variants of the songs that sound really good, yet the imported synth versions sound pretty meh ala MMII GB, and those power ups are straight out of MMIV & V GB.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that some of these stage hazards were made with a cheap editor program that may have survived from that Mega Maker-type game a few years ago, since stuff like Torchman's stage has some very simplistic but overly blocky designs. That, or they were forced to use MMPU to design some stage elements early and just expanded the screen size later on.

Beyond all that, I'm surprised they snuck a new Cossack number into the mix, which is a neat easter egg in the boss entries for those keeping up with them.

[ChaosVortex]

Routing is already being worked on. According to fastatcc, we'll be doing Tundra first and then weakness order. Possibly work around to Acid and then Impact, given how necessary Impact's weapon is in the run.

Given this, I won't be jamming to Tundra's theme as often, since I'm going to probably get sick of hearing it from resetting in the run. Best not to ruin it early on.

[Xero]

The weapons in this game are fantastic.  Best weapons in the series probably.  Metal Blade and Jewel Satellite have some major competition.   

[Speed Racer]

Since Capcom has now made a bundle for Xbox available that includes MM Legacy 1 and 2, MMX Legacy 1 and 2, and MM 11 for $60...I'm now waiting for the next Capcom sale before I drop money on all of that.

[TheRedPriest]

The weapons in this game are fantastic.  Best weapons in the series probably.  Metal Blade and Jewel Satellite have some major competition.   

NOTHING in 11 beats Metal Blade or Jewel Satellite.  Torch Man's weapon in particular is hard to be usefull because of the fixed angle it has.  Jewel Satellite is MUCH better than Acid Barrier.

[NovaMan XP]

Yeah, I do like Block Dropper, Tundra Storm and sometimes Scramble Thunder, but the rest of them are kinds meh or hard to use correctly.

No shield weapon will ever beat how broken Jewel Satellite was.

[LCrazy11]

i haven't got the game yet but i feel like impact mans weapon from the demo (forgot what it was called) really helped in platforming, like an air dash that hurts enemys

[ChaosVortex]

Hey, you know how stupid and bland Block Man's theme is?

Cosmic Gem made it better.

[Xero]

The weapons in this game are fantastic.  Best weapons in the series probably.  Metal Blade and Jewel Satellite have some major competition.   

NOTHING in 11 beats Metal Blade or Jewel Satellite.  Torch Man's weapon in particular is hard to be usefull because of the fixed angle it has.  Jewel Satellite is MUCH better than Acid Barrier.

Torch Man's weapons can destroy enemies even shielded.  Not only that but Acid Barrier power gear destroys enemies on contact and still lets you fire acid globs. 

They are good, but may not beat Metal Blade or Jewel Satellite.

[ChaosVortex]

I'd agree more with Rez. Yes, these weapons are better than Mega Man 10 as a whole sure. They have a lot of utility. But nothing beats the arsenal and balance Mega Man 9 had and the legendary status that Thunder Beam and Metal Blade have.

Also, I'm thinking about doing a stream where we just talk about Mega Man 11. Who would be interested in joining in on something like that and talk about it? I figured that would be best for me to formulate an opinion on the game.

[Xero]

I'd agree more with Rez. Yes, these weapons are better than Mega Man 10 as a whole sure. They have a lot of utility. But nothing beats the arsenal and balance Mega Man 9 had and the legendary status that Thunder Beam and Metal Blade have.

Also, I'm thinking about doing a stream where we just talk about Mega Man 11. Who would be interested in joining in on something like that and talk about it? I figured that would be best for me to formulate an opinion on the game.

I love games where I ENJOY using the weapons.  MM9 and MM11 got it right.  We need more games in the future like this.  Especially in the X series.  

Posted on:  4 October 2018, 12:34:27

Also

*Roulette Power Ups*
*Becomes E-Tank when I grab it*

[Mikero]

My issue is a well composed musical score should sound good regardless of the particular instrument. I've heard great songs where all the actual intruments were swapped (for example instrumental to digital and vice-versa) and they remained great songs. I think "fixing" it b making it 8-bit is just a poor workaround, it just should be done right in the first place. It's unfortunate that it's even a conversation.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that some of these stage hazards were made with a cheap editor program that may have survived from that Mega Maker-type game a few years ago, since stuff like Torchman's stage has some very simplistic but overly blocky designs. That, or they were forced to use MMPU to design some stage elements early and just expanded the screen size later on.

Now that you mention it I can see that. Certain parts felt a bit hastily put together and less designed in the demo even.

[TheRedPriest]

The weapons in this game are fantastic.  Best weapons in the series probably.  Metal Blade and Jewel Satellite have some major competition.   

NOTHING in 11 beats Metal Blade or Jewel Satellite.  Torch Man's weapon in particular is hard to be usefull because of the fixed angle it has.  Jewel Satellite is MUCH better than Acid Barrier.

Torch Man's weapons can destroy enemies even shielded.  Not only that but Acid Barrier power gear destroys enemies on contact and still lets you fire acid globs. 

They are good, but may not beat Metal Blade or Jewel Satellite.

Breaking shielded enemies is pointless if you can't line up the awful angle of the shot.  There were MANY places where an enemy was below and infront of me that I wanted to take out, but I couldn't get to the right spot to hit the fixed angle Torch Man's weapon had, a few of them LITERALLY impossible to get to that spot (1 block wide stands between pits).

Acid Barrier is subpar WITHOUT the power gear, and if you have to use a gear to make it as good as a base weapon from another game, it's not that good.

Also, Blast Man's weapon is so god damn slow compared to the amazing Flash Bomb.  It's so slow (moving, not even talking about the timer to blow) it's not really practical to use in fast fights or moving enemies.  Having to use ANOTHER 2 button combo to detonate them early doesn't help either.

[ChaosVortex]

My issue is a well composed musical score should sound good regardless of the particular instrument. I've heard great songs where all the actual intruments were swapped (for example instrumental to digital and vice-versa) and they remained great songs. I think "fixing" it b making it 8-bit is just a poor workaround, it just should be done right in the first place. It's unfortunate that it's even a conversation.

Cosmic Gem gave the song more spirit and skipped the unnecessary part of the composition that literally added nothing to it. Then he gave the song more of a spirit. Then skipped the ending sequence. It improved the song as a whole, 8-bit or not.

[Xero]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reDXlPOcEC0

I want 8-bit remixes so badly Tundra Man & Wily stages sound so good.

[NovaMan XP]

Honestly I was a tad bit disappointed that there was only one Wily Stage theme, but I guess the song itself isn't bad so it's fine.

Kinda wish the piano tracks bonus remixed all the tracks, that'd be nice...

[TheRedPriest]

There were really only 2 Wily stages too, as 3 was just a hall and teleporter room and 4 was a quick cart ride and Wily Fight.  The Wily Stages were REALLY lean on this, which is a disappointment.  That said, at least the stage theme WAS pretty solid, so that helps.  That begs the question though, if there was only one Wily stage theme, why not piano remix it so EVERY stage of the game had a remix with the bonus themes?  You do the 8 Robot Masters but not the 1 Wily stage?  Seems odd.

[Xero]

Currently on Wily stage 2.  I love the roulette power ups.  E-Tanks for days.

[NovaMan XP]

I wonder if the type of enemy decides what the roulette consists of, sometimes I see E Tanks but sometimes it's just regular life capsules or energy capsules. Or maybe it's entirely random.

[TheRedPriest]

I haven't come across any roulette power ups yet.

[Xero]

Normal mode has them.  Are you doing Superhero mode?

[TheRedPriest]

No, I started a casual run first.

[Vinchenz Rock]

Beat the game last night. I only played it on Casual so it was pretty easy; honestly kind of wished I could play on Normal difficulty damage-wise with infinite lives; the biggest reason I only played on Casual was because I didn't want to replay levels.

Anyway, found it really fun! I think it's exactly an average Mega Man game (on-par with 4, 5, and 10) and level-design wise, it was really varied. They were really long stages compared to the older games but just long enough to not overstay its welcome. The mini-bosses were fun and the gimmicks were very much done in the style that this series has perfected.

Acid Man & Bounce Man stages were probably the weakest stages, with Tundra Man being my favourite.

Wily stage spoilers:
[spoiler]Wily stages were a bit of a disappointment but considering how long the stages got it's probably for the best. Yellow Devil was hard but learning his pattern really made it satisfying when I beat him.[/spoiler]

A lot of the weapons this time around are some of my favourites in the series! They all had a lot of utility to them, and thanks to the weapon switching being easier than ever I found that I used them way more than I did with the past games. Block Man's and Impact Man's being so useful that I was almost always using them, heh.

I kept forgetting to use the Speed gear a lot of times so I mostly just brute-forced my way through a lot of some sections. The amount of damage you get in Casual mode made it really easy to do so anyway (shrug). Power gear similarly I just basically used on bosses when I remembered. They were nice utility but nothing rememberable.

Oh, and the music was easily the weakest part of this game. I think the compositions are fine but the style & instruments make it really samey and forgettable.

Anyway that's my scattered thoughts on this game, time to go back into hiding.

[NovaMan XP]

Honestly I played Casual for the same reason. Customizable difficulty in a game like this would be great. Would've preferred to play Normal but with infinite lives, but eh.

[Xero]

My Mega Man rankings are as followed.  Keep in mind that all of the games are good. 

4 > 11 > 9 > 10 > 5 > 6 > 3 > 7 > 2 > 8 > 1

I'm having alot of fun with 11 and it's definitely in my top 3.

[NovaMan XP]

Mine would be something like:

7 > 2 > 1 > 3 > 4 > 10 > 9 > 11 > 6 > 8 > 5

[Vinchenz Rock]

IMO:
7 > 9 > 2 = 3 > 10 > 11 = 4 = 5 = 8 > 6 > MM&B > 1

Something like that. MMIV (GB) and V would probably be between 9 to 10 while III > I > II would be around MM&B for me.

Mega Man 7 is my absolute favourite, and it astounds me that it was made in such a short amount of time. But 11 ain't half bad!

[TheRedPriest]

The biggest weakness in 11 is the lack of endgame.  There are essentially on 2 Wily stages, so the game never had much to offer once you had all your weapons, and it didn't give you a lot to work for to upgrade and have game left to use it all in.  At the VERY least the Wily stages should have had 4 stages with the boss rush at the end of 4 and then a short 5th stage with Wily.  Or 4 full levels with 4 bosses and stage 5 the boss gauntlet + Wily.  The fortress stages were SEVERELY lacking in variety too.  The single stage theme doesn't' help.  I would have enjoyed a fuller fortress portion.

[Xero]

Finished the game.

[spoiler]Game has new game+ or a free play mode like Maverick Hunter X and Power Up had where you can fight the bosses over and over again to your hearts content.  In addition there are 2 power ups you can get in the shop.  One gives you unlimited weapon energy so you can use the weapons over and over, and one that lets you use the gears without them heating up.  Both cost 3000 bolts each.[/spoiler]

[LCrazy11]

well blot grinding time it is! unlimited speed gear will be very useful

[ChaosVortex]

[spoiler]
Yes, I already got those items. I'm grinding bolts at Wily 2 while sleeping by lodging the rapid fire button in my dresser, while unlimited Power Gear is active with Block Drop.[/spoiler]

BTW, this is my first ever recorded RTA speedrun.

[Xero]

well blot grinding time it is! unlimited speed gear will be very useful

Wily stage 2 is the best to grind.  The conveyer belt and the Lyrics.

[TheRedPriest]

With the bolt part, you can get like 10,000 bolts in 5 minutes in Wily Stage 2.

[Xero]

Doing Superhero Mode now.

It is actually a lot of fun.  Makes you appreciate the double gear more. 

[TheRedPriest]

Power gear is largely irrelevant in the game.  Speed Gear is what most of the game was built around using.  There are very few places a Power Gear Master Weapon is needed.

[SB]

It would help if Power Gear did for the buster what it does for the weapons, and that's being stupidly OP. By the time one charges up fully in Power Gear, the bar is filled out almost and allows a single double shot, when regular shots should have been charged variants with how silly the special weapons can become. Due to this oversight, assigning rapid fire to a button while using speed gear will demolish non-bosses faster than almost any Power Gear variant beyond the ice storm.

The only thing more useless than Power Gear on its own is the Double Gear, since I've yet to see anyone online use that, as the series has groomed people to just down an E-Tank and power through bosses, or just accept death and try again with more energy.

[Xero]

All the better reason for the Gear system to be optional rather than mandatory.  I never had to use gears during Normal mode.

[NovaMan XP]

I've used Double Gear once but only when the boss was basically dead, using it too early is literally a death sentence since you end up being useless afterward.

And yeah, I never use Power Gear either. Like you said, it burns way too quick to make it worthwhile.

[Teelio]

Finished the game today. First half of Wily Castle was entertaining (Yellow Devil has an extra attack sequence!) and as stated by another, the latter half was feeling empty. Quick jumps into the second 8-boss rodeo and the Wily fights.


MM9 is still my favorite, then 2, 10, 11.... et cedra, et cedra.


Off-topic, the newest Matrix member (Instant Online Loans) is the best username ever conceived.