Part 1: Classrooms, Unskippable tutorials and ~BFFs~

Alright! Let's start!




That seems... ominous... Or does it?




: Forgi...me

: Hmph... ...delays ...be punished!

: Sir! ...

: Just...get things started, will you?

: We will...rule the world, just like the WWW!

Oh. That's never a good sign. The WWW (pronounced 'The World Three') are Bad Guys. They're essentially some sort of internet version of a criminal syndicate, with Dr Wily as their leader. Instead of guns they have viruses, and instead of being scary and threatening, they got their asses beat by an incredibly daft 11-year old.


: Fool...! Not like the http://www... Don't...our "...!" Begin...Projec...!

Yeah I'd probably be distancing myself from the WWW too. It didn't help their image that Hanna Barbera character have more realistic world-domination schemes than theirs.

: Person 1: Sir! ...

Mm, I'm sure this whole exchange is nothing to worry about. Bring on the action!





OH BOY





And so, here are our protagonists. Lan Hikari and MegaMan.exe. ".exe" as in "Yes he is a program" because robots are so passe, cyberspace is what's hip now. Remember earlier I mentioned Dr Wily's Bad Guys Team getting a beatdown from an 11-year old? That would be Lan, with the help of Mega, and that would also be the plot to MMBN1. There was also an amazing ~Capcom Science~
plot point where they are twins.

Yes, in this MegaMan incarnation, Mega was born Hub Hikari, but died of anime heart disease shortly after he was born. His dad Yuichiro is a crazy amazing scientist so he programmed his DNA into a PET, or "PErsonal Terminal", which is what people in the MMBN future use as little handheld computers, with NetNavis like MegaMan.exe who go around and do all the computer things for them
.
I'd say SCIENCE! but MegaMan X had similarly amazing DNA logic so there's precedence.




Why is it important that they are twins? Because everybody knows that twins are psychic! They are practically the same person, after all, right? Anyway, because they are so genetically similar (ignoring the part about one of them being a computer program) ~Capcom Science~ dictates that... you know what this gets so ridiculous I don't trust myself to explain it fully


Right. As a twin, I can confirm that this is totally plausible. Umm... Honestly I have no idea why the 'psychic twins' trope is so popular. There was a girl in my high school who was reaaaally heavily into anime who came up to me one day and seriously asked if I had a psychic connection to my twin. I just... ok then.

Anyway.




: Not likely! It's the last day of school! Vacation time!

: And report card time, too!

: No problem there!

: Hmm...You sure?

Oh snap. Yeah, MegaMan is kind of the 'sensible' one, and Lan is kind of the 'huge moron' one.



So, we're finally given control of Lan. The way these games play is that in the physical world you control Lan, and in the cyberworld it's MegaMan. All the random encounters are in the cyberworld, and rather than punch out a scrawny 11-year old, the villains you fight tend to opt for a netbattle to solve your differences.

You know, like Pokémon.



Pictured: The climactic battle of MMBN1




So MegaMan wants us to talk to our classmates and make plans for the upcoming vacation! So let's talk to the group of really competent and pleasant characters that make up Lan's friends. This here is Mayl. She and Lan are ~in love~ but he doesn't know it yet. And Dex...



Doesn't want to talk about his vacation plans with us. Which leaves one last friend!




: ...to hear about my collection, right? Well, I'm collecting Electopian fans! They're like little pieces of fan shaped art, you see? A special privilege of the upper class, I suppose.






Yai is very rich, which makes her a very good friend. Also, there is no way this converstaion will be relevant later.




There are a few more NPCs to talk to around the class that don't have unique mugshots. They are almost all as interesting as this guy, who wants to tell us about PETs. We say no, obviously. However...




This guy is OK. He's kind of helpful, I'd forgotten that in MMBN Lan can mash the 'A' button to search areas and some places have chips.




Thanks, guy!




Oh. Whoops. It's OK though, guy says we can keep it anyway. Yaaay.




After we talk to Dex though, it's time for class, so let's move on.




: Whoo-hooo!

: Do you all know what you're going to do?

: I'm going to my grampa's place for my vacation!

: Something little for me... A round-the-world cruise, maybe!

: Well, it sounds like you all have wonderful plans! But! Don't forget about your homework!

: Yes, Ms. Mari.

: Now, the moment you have been waiting for! Report cards!

: Noooo!

: Arrrgh!

: Lan? Dex? Is something wrong?

Ah. So that's why Lan and Dex are friends. They're both roughly equal in intelligence.

Well that and Dex's navi is really easy to beat and gives out a super handy battlechip.




I plead the fifth.

With class over, we can go harass Dex about whatever it was he was going to talk about before class.








Oh god dammit. Looks like this MMBN LP is off to a great start, that blink animation is apparently just as kind to me as it was to Epee Em.




Hell yeah! Mega tells us 'Squares' are the cities of the internet, they don't have random encounters but they do have netdealers, so if we ever get enough money we can buy stuff on the internet. Just like real life. And city netbattler might sound cooler once we find out what it is, so let's go do that thing.




...what?



oh. I didn't know that actually, thanks Yai!






I can only hope that beating the WWW counted for extra credit. But yeah, further proof that all Lan does is netbattle. I am OK with this.




Anyway! School's out! To freedom!! Here we are in Lan's town, just outside the school. This place is called ACDCTown, which is indeed a fine name for a town. Though the jury's out on just how one is supposed to pronounce it. Personally I'd go for accadaccatown. Yeah, in MegaMan Battle Network, near everything is named around the computers theme in some vague way.




uhhhhhh



Nooo Higsby
In the last game, that store belonged to Higsby, ex-WWW member and total goon. Most importantly, he sold a large variety of completely game-breaking items. We'll be back here... assuming he is.




So for now, the only thing worth checking out in ACDCTown is this kid. Because seriously, look at the size of his forehead.




Here's Lan's house, it's notably white and bright blue, and in the middle of town. It's also notable for having a total creeper out the front. He's just standing there, staring at the house... maybe we should check this out



: You had a problem with a gas appliance there or something? Huh? Isn't that Miss Yai's house? We'll get right on it!

Capcom! It's kind of ambiguous how this conversation follows. Sometimes Lan plays silent protagonist who everybody hears saying something anyway, and sometimes he gets dialogue. Because that's not the sort of thing you'd want to be consistant about. Talking to Yai earlier elicits her telling you her hot-water heater is on the fritz, so maybe Lan was telling this guy that. IDK. Whatever works. It's not exactly a complicated storyline.




Onwards into Lan's house! Either Lan is incredibly short, or his mum knows well enough to keep her awesome vases way the hell out of his way.




Oh man, sudden urge for cheesecake...



: Fine, Mom!

: That's nice... Now what was I going to ask you... hmm...


Whooops we'd probably better make ourselves scarce. Upstairs, to Lan's bedroom!



Oh no she found us



: Got what, Mom?

: Don't you "what" me! Your REPORT CARD-that's what!

: Darn. I was hoping you'd forgotten... OK, OK.

: Well now, let's see, W-What!?...Lan!!

: Uh-oh!

: Don't you "uh-oh" me, young man!

: Lan, maybe you should apologize...?



Yep! That sounds sufficiently contrite.



And then we went on the Net to do our homework. But first!



Lan had this and still failed. I'm not sure how he managed that, so credit where credit's due.









And that's how we got to the cyberworld. They change the 'jack-in' animation between most games, and it's usually pretty neat. Lan launching himself into the air for a flashy pose is also pretty neat, I'm sure.



Mega plays responsible, so I guess that means



IT'S



TUTORIAL



TIME

Yeah, that navi flickers in and out, I was lucky to catch it in screenshots. Also it is a navi, those green things floating around are programs. Yes, it has been referred to as a homework program several times. It's not particularly important, but mmm yeah MMBN is kind of bad about keeping things straight.



Every MMBN game starts out with the same tutorial. Well... slight differences, since there are some minor gameplay changes across the series. But it's always an unskippable tutorial battle with direct instructions for you to follow that is the height of tedium.



Exciting times every times.



Spoiler alert Lan somehow forgets the basics every game

So, to make a long textdump shorter:


Each turn starts with you picking a set of chips, there's a bunch of different types with different effects. Each one has a letter code from A-Z, and you can mix and match them by type or code, up to five per turn. Then you run around the stage hitting A to use chips or B to use a weak buster attack until your gauge fills up and you can pull more chips, or this happens



There's more to it than that, but it's dull to read. It's the sort of thing you need to see in action, so you'll see it when we get to the boss fights.



This is not a picture of me failing the tutorial fight... OK it is me failing. I am kind of bad at MegaMan Battle Network, but this one I swear was on purpose...



...because it turns out that you're allowed to fail the tutorial, though they just make you redo it until you get it right.



That's right we did.
: Done...finally! ...Hey! New mail!

: Who's it from?

: It's from Dex! He wants me at the Square right away!

Oh yeah, that's probably about that whole city netbattler thing.



So... we should get right on that. Next time!