Part 8: Child Actors Suck.

This may be the last update for a while, as I'm moving to a new house tomorrow. Due to the way MissEchelon and I make these updates, though, odds are pretty good that I'll have most of the trouble out of the way by the time this goes up.

Due to the way we manage updates I am too late to say it but.... good luck moving!



I'm not thrilled by the pace this LP has been going, so I'm going to do my best to plow through this next section fairly quick.

But- but taking over a year to finish a children's game! It's the MissEchelon way!



This NPC here remarks a reality about show biz: Not pretty on the camera? No contract, even if you've got talent.

Good thing Navi appearance can be modded



The usual trio is waiting outside the Square, MegaMan and Lan being late as usual in getting anything done. However, there seems to be a minor oversight on Roll's dialogue here.



She says basically the same thing twice, so my best guess is that there were two drafts of this dialogue box and that the original was left behind rather than chopped out by accident.

My guess is it's intended, and entirely canon. Mega and Lan sometimes require additional assistance.



In addition to the viruses I showed last update, SciLab also features these guys.

Quaker: They jump high into the air out of reach and then slam back down in a random panel lined up with MegaMan, creating a shockwave identical to a Mettaur's. The key difference is that upon impact with the field, the "quake" effect is applied to MegaMan if he isn't using an Invis or something, and you're not able to move him for a second or two. This can leave you ripe for getting beaned with the shockwave or a Fishy.



MissEchelon's analysis: Cool pirate viruses with a canonball and peg-legs. Look at how tubby they are! 100% cool dudes.



Directly in your path to to the upper area of the other SciLab area is the GrabBack A chip. This and GrabRevenge, its stronger variant later on, function by punishing enemy AreaGrab users. Time freezes, they take 40 (or 60) damage per stolen panel, and you get the panels back. These chips are almost useless in the game proper, though a one or two bosses, I can think of one especially, do steal your panels. But the main culprit I'm thinking of is a postgame boss, and you'll have way better options by then. These chips mostly exist for the sake of competitive NetBattling between players, but again, there's way better stuff you can use. And yes, there was once a competitive scene for this game.

The only guys I can think of who are jerks about using AreaGrabs are Swordys, and there are much better chips that you can use against them. #1 being more AreaGrabs, because you really don't want them anywhere near you.



The other side of SciLab introduces another new virus. I forget if they were in MMBN2 or not, I don't think so, but to be safe, have an intro.

Boomer: These clip-shaped viruses hold boomerangs in their mouths. They move up and down their column and release the boomerang to circle the perimeter of the field whenever they reach the top or bottom panel. They move very slowly and have significant delays, but you can still only hurt them with non-breaking attacks when they've thrown the boomerang. You can't be hit by them if you stand in the inner 2 panels of your field, but that naturally leaves you a sitting duck for other viruses.



MissEchelon's analysis: Staple removers



Right next to the Navi we're supposed to find is a set of several gates. Considering how lenient CyberSecurity usually is in MMBN, it must be something pretty major back there. Needless to say, we won't be finding out what's past here for a damn long time.

I'm sure it's nothing important.



Bad guy Navis finally get their own sprites, they're called HeelNavis. I assume this was HellNavi originally, but the localization changed it to HeelNavi, which honestly fits them more. They tend to just be thugs rather than anything resembling a threat.

HeelNavi is also fun to say. In MMBN4 they were mistranslated as HealNavis, which is just hilarious.



That title belongs to someone very different, but sure, let's roll with you!

Psh, it's the UnderNet. I'm sure half the guys there claim the same thing, just to look cool.



Even the most powerful virus ever, the LifeVirus, was pretty goshdarn sad.

Hey now, watch out. This guy's Mettaur is in the top 10%.
_{wow how did it take me that long to make a Pokémon joke}



Now, how this scene is supposed to play out is that MegaMan is gullible. However, the blink animation dictates that MegaMan is trying to put on a really halfassed attempt at playing along.

Blink animation is truly the co-commentator that I aspire to be.



Lan doesn't even go that far, and just reminds MegaMan that he's a DNN employee.



In what's a genuinely funny scene, the DNN HeelNavi gets exasperated with the duo and berates them for wrecking the tension.





Of course, since it's live TV, the viewers have already seen the flub. Way to spoil everything, guys.

They tried.



Yeah, needless to say we'll be doing this one over, though it's a very short walk.

And so, even when Lan's being smart, everybody gets to see him being an idiot.



The DNN Navi dicks off to the other area, but if you retrace your steps you'll practically run right into him.



Yes, yes you did, but it's funny, so I give it a pass.

"We"? Way to take the heat off Lan, Mega. He's a much better twin brother than mine, that's for sure.



Right past an NPC who laments not being able to find the "bad Navi", the DNN Navi resides in a corner.

Aww. He's bright pink, so he's not super hard to miss. In related news, pink is the best colour for tough navis.



This time, MegaMan and Lan will play up to the camera and not screw up!

Ham that scene, boys!



Why does this remind me of Bethesda dialogue?

I was thinking of something else, actually



[sub]haha yesss I already had an image prepared from last time



It must be easy to discreetly whisper to others on camera when you don't have a mouth for the viewers to see moving.



Imagine how this looks for the viewers. All this hype (which was ruined minutes earlier) over the so-called Virus King, and then along comes MegaMan who oneshots his whole squad with a GutsMan chip.

GutsMan really is the perfect beginner chip. You do not want to be taking down Rattys health instead of one-shotting 'em.



This whole scene, while corny, is honestly pretty hilarious to me. Every attempt to set up a climactic fight is ruined by the protagonists, while the DNN employee frantically struggles to salvage the footage.

Aww, just when they were getting started it was all over.



Lan even remarks that his acting sucked. MegaMan attempts to respond, but the PET goes glitchy again.

Don't be mean, Lan. His acting was way better than yours.



You're not told where to go in ACDC area for the third mission, but you'll be saving yourself some grief if you jack out rather than take the bait. The Navi here gives you an ACDC Pass for the CyberMetro, so you might be tempted to just walk over there and take the train back to ACDC. Jack out instead, trust me.



Jack in at Yai's computer instead. It'll make sense soon, I promise!



We all know the reason for going to Yai's house, though. Yai and Lan are Best Friends Forever.



SKIPPING THIS TOO.

Wooo! Survival battles!!



Spikey viruses from MMBN2 return in the last battle there, but otherwise there's absolutely nothing of note.

I was going to draw a picture of a Spikey (because they have awesome designs) but then I found this while googling for references so please enjoy this art instead:


click for source



The primary background layer proceeds to wobble back and forth. MegaMan gets cut off from Lan, and the PET basically geos to hell in a handbasket.

At least it didn't happen during either of the survival battles. That would've gotten messy.



It's implied that the transmission program is what actually connects the operator's PET to the Navi when the Navi is jacked-in.




What a dick. That speaks for itself, really.





Anyway, the wiggling calms down and MegaMan remarks that he'll have to manually backtrack back to where he jacked in. Being cut off from Lan, you can't just escape via the R button instantly as usual. This is why I told you to jack in at Yai's house, it's literally right around the corner from where MegaMan's standing.

Pretty sneaky, Epee Em!



No Lan means no chips too. This isn't an issue, being the starting area of the game, but there's a reason I never use the buster in MMBN3 and MMBN2, so I opt to escape instead. Plus it's way less tedious.

Only losers and primary school kids use the buster. Which is to say, I used it all the time last time I played this game.



As we all knew was going to happen, MegaMan winds up stored in the SubPet for now, which can't even jack into anything.



Essentially, no internet for the protagonists. The horror, the horror! Mr. Kurtz, the horror!

That is actually unreasonably terrifying. Just think, what would you guys be doing without internet right now?! The horror...



He's sitting at the table already, for crying out loud! Haruka, however, reminds him that he needs to get up early tomorrow.

She's just used to having to yell at him to get off the computer and come to the table. Old habits, man.



Unlike me, he's not moving, so what could it be?



Oh blink animation, you truly capture the sadness of no internet



MegaMan and Lan are going to the zoo! They'll see not-internet things and be reminded of not-internet creatures!

Wait... there's things outside of the internet? Oh. My. God.



MegaMan gets excited, prompting Lan to tease him a bit.



To younger siblings everywhere: do not attempt to taunt your elder sibling. We remember shit from when you were too young to remember anything.

Does that really count when you're twins? Hm. Maybe only if one of you died and was turned into a computer program.

Younger twins of dead computer programs be warned!



The doorbell rings, interrupting MegaMan teasing Lan in return.



LUUUUCYYY I'M HOOOME. Apparently Yuuichiro's schedule is so dense that the times he can come home at a sane hour are exceptional and unscheduled.

It's true, you all saw the other MegaMan Battle Network games (or if you didn't, seriously go look them up. No seriously, go do it, I'll wait).



Everyone else is surprised about it too.



Speaking as a moderator for an MMO I won't name, server maints always mean "time to slack off and dick around elsewhere for everyone but the IT guys, wooo!" Although I guess this means that Yuuichiro actually has someone else do the server upkeep where he works, and thank god for that. He's basically the Ph. D. in Everything for the setting.

God I love server outages when I'm not in the infrastructure teams. It's a license to do nothing. And make fun of the infrastructure teams.



Snarking is hereditary, it seems, as Yuuichiro jokingly requests to be allowed inside his house.

He's being serious, he's not home often enough to be 100% aware of the house rules



Fade out and back in, and Yuuichiro asks about why Lan dropped in at SciLab earlier that day, Lan explaining.



The program itself was scrambled to hell and back by FlashMan's Shining Browser Crasher malware attack, but the hardware is fine. This thankfully means that the PET can be restored by Lan's dad emailing replacement data from SciLab once it's completed.



And Lan and Mega will never admit to breaking and entering. Or, like, warn anyone about FlashMan and his operator's shenanigans. Good idea!



Lan isn't happy he has to wait, but hey, Yuuichiro blinged out the PET so much that basically nobody else could ever program for it properly.

100+ classes, misspellings in most major class names and methods, and a single comment that says "\todo: fix this"

wait i just described the last project I worked on



That's all for that day. By my estimate, it'll be two more updates before the next dungeon, if I want to be reasonable with update size, but they're pretty enjoyable in that they're just the characters and setting being played out lightheartedly.