"Mega Man 11" Discussion (Spoilers)

[Tommy Lawson]

After 8 years, and a time when it was uncertain if there ever would be any more Mega Man games, Mega Man 11 has finally arrived on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. So far, I have been impressed by what I have played. While it borrows a lot from the 2.5D Mega Man Powered Up game from the PSP for its graphics, its controls and gameplay so far feel more like a natural extension of Mega Man 9 and 10. Shopping for E-tanks and other power ups has become standard in the main classic games since Mega Man 7. The boss battles are intense on the normal difficulty setting, and the stages themselves are also a strong challenge. Tundra Man's stage has been memorable, although Capcom has been promoting Block Man and his stage the most. The return of the charge shot and slide is welcome, and makes the game feel less like they are trying to take the series backwards to Mega Man 2.

 

[Mandouga]

Personally, I'm not sure how to call this. On the one hand certain parts like they were only done just to please "the fans" (i.e., as Capcom sees them) and get them to (hopefully) stop asking endless questions about this or that part of the game. For instance, I didn't like how the difficulty levels were described. Apparently, "Newcomer" is for those who have never played a Mega Man game in their lives. "Casual" is for those who haven't played in while. "Normal" is for "the fans", and "Superhero" is for the "hardcore" players. I like the Mega Man games. A lot. However, that doesn't necessarily mean I'm a "fan" (not like they're implying, anyway). I'll be honest, I don't consider myself to be "casual" or "hardcore". I just like to play video games, period. To me, those descriptions feel like they were only just to tell various groups of people what Capcom thinks they want to hear, and that just doesn't feel right to me.

On the other hand, the game itself could be either or, really (i.e., either that's really it, or it was made the way it was just to please the fans). There were a couple or so parts that felt like you had to use the Speed Gear, though I say Impact Man's weapon (I forget the exact name) can work just as well. The cutscene that appears after complete four stages really just told everyone what they already know. I guess it was supposed to be Dr. Light telling Rock / Mega Man about his and Dr. Wily's falling out at the university for the first time. That's another thing, actually. While it had only been implied before that Dr. Light and Dr. Wily went to school together, I felt that the flashback was just made up on the spot. I mean Dr. Light's "robots with independent thought" research chosen over Dr. Wily's "robots as heroes" research? That was clearly a recycled version of Mega Man Battle Network's backstory where Dr. Tadashi Hikari (Netto / Lan's grandfather)'s online network research was chose over Dr. Wily's robot research. Either way, was that really it (the Mega Man 11 flashback), or were they just telling the fans what Capcom thought they wanted to hear. In other words, I'm not entirely certain that it's canon despite appearing in an actual Mega Man game.

Other than all this, the game itself was actually straightforward for the most part. I won't say how it ends, but I will say that there are no plot twists or catches or anything like that.

Which brings me to my next point. For the past several years it was known that Capcom was officially sick of the Mega Man series (after something that may or may not have happened at a panel they had at the San Diego Comic-Con from around 2011, or so, if no earlier). For this reason, I sometimes wonder if they only made this game just to get the fans to stop asking them about more Mega Man games, or even to get them to stop asking about the 30th anniversary (which was last year, by the way). However, after playing it, I will give them the benefit of the doubt, if anything. However, while I can't speak for every game player out there, Capcom now has to earn my trust. You see, I was convinced that there was going to be some kind of catch: for example, a tie-in to the new TV show Mega Man: Fully Charged, or even an ending where the whole thing is revealed to be a video game played by either by Aki Light or some other character. Heck, I even wondered if there would be some ending where the entire Mega Man multiverse is somehow reset (which would go back to the secret ending of Mega Man ZX Advent; I won't say any more than that). However, there actually isn't...unless playing on Superhero mode does something I don't know about...

In any case, if Capcom truly still wants to actually make Mega Man games, then they need to show it to everyone; not prove it, but show it. Again though, now Capcom has to earn my trust. If they do make another game, I might get it, but we'll just have to see what happens...

EDIT: I just found out that the item shop has some items that only unlock after you complete the game, as well as a couple of items that unlock if you mess up too many times (i.e., one for getting hit too many times, and one for getting too many game overs). In my opinion, I feel this mocks the game players for wanting to either unlock all the items, or who just want to complete the game. That's not necessarily what concerns me, but I still don't like it.

 

[ToonJay723]

Beat all the Robot Masters. Now I just need to do the Wiley Castle levels.