Part 3: Ghoooooooosts

Brother Band Updates


Ryu got Rachel. I got Prez. FML.
No amount of Ninja can fix Prez.

Lynkericious has replaced SSNeoman as my second Ninja brother. Both his Message and his Secret broke the given character limits, so I had to shorten them, and what he wanted as his Favorites wasn't particularly clear so I picked vaguely Ninja-like cards.



Also, SSNeoman has changed into a Zerker.

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Last update ended with a nutjob revealing his evil plan as subtly as a brick smashing through a window.

It's only going to get worse from here for the villains.

some fancy piece of art. I think it's just a waste of space.

Geo is not a fan of modern art. Also, those binoculars have an ES I can't access yet.



The game will let you pulse in if you want, but access to the IFL Tower's wave world is denied.



Same goes for the physical IFL Tower. Luna sighs that they might as well just go to the movie theater early.



Before the group can go in, Bud screams. Turns out he dropped his movie ticket somewhere.



After panicking about not getting to eat popcorn, he decides he'll just wait outside. It's his apology for both the ticket and waking up late.



I think Bud is supposed to be apologetic here, but he honestly comes across like he's trying to guilt trip the party.



Luna agrees that all Bud ever does is cause problems, but she refuses to just let him stay outside.



No we're not.

I don't care how good the movie is. If you're not there, it's not worth seeing.

*Sob* *Wah* Prez! *Sniff* Thank you.

Prez is right. We came to see it together.

We just won't see it right from the very beginning.

There's always like ten minutes of previews anyways.



This little cutscene was SF2 squeezing in Bud's character development from SF1. There he was worried he was just a hindrance to his friends, and those negative feelings led to him getting possessed by an alien. It's only after MegaMan beats the crap out of him that he learns that his friends truly do care about him. Cliche as hell, but much better than what he's going to get in this game: absolutely nothing.



One of SF2's big problems in my opinion is that there's no encompassing theme to it.



SF1 could succinctly be summarized as "it's safe to trust other people".



Each succeeding scenario built on each other, so the player could trace Geo's development from a recluse to a hero. Furthermore, other characters develop alongside him and every antagonist was essentially one of Geo's fears or misgivings magnified.



SF2 has none of that. There's no central message (closest I can come up with is "learn to put up with your friends' bullshit", and I doubt that was intentional), if anything characters regress back to where they were in SF1 just so they can learn the same lesson again (like just now), and all of the villains are generic as hell.



Anyways, this guy wants Geo to go spy on that girl from earlier. He wants to find out what she likes, and his theory is that she'll be more willing to talk to a little boy.

To help with this, he provides some pickup lines for Geo to use.



Something tells me there's a reason he's been so unsuccessful. Geo's hyperventilating the entire time too, making things even sillier.



In the end he gets stonewalled.

Now what?

I think I got an idea.

You know some good lines that'll work on this lady?

No! You need to find out some info on this girl. If you wave change, you can do that easily!



Being an EM body, MegaMan can easily access any EM device. This includes Star Carriers. Geo tries to argue with Mega over the ethics of invading someone's privacy like this, but Mega doesn't care and quickly sniffs out some diary data.

Date XXXX: I Think my tastes are a bit... peculiar. It turns out that I have a thing for anyone with a high Link Power!



Before he leaves, Mega also notices a secondary feature of Personal Views. Whenever a person is feeling troubled, the blue card over their head that can be seen with the Visualizer/while wave changed turns red. Confronting anyone about their troubles is how you access sidequests in this game.



Kaz takes the news fairly well and hands over his Sky Board.



Cue a tutorial. To activate any Matter Wave, I need to go to my inventory and select it.



So I don't think I mentioned something about Matter Waves.



They're all sentient. This board's name is Ollie, and as you'd expect it's your stereotypical surfer dude.



It takes some encouragement,



but eventually Geo learns how to use the sky board.



This is the first instance of Geo having to do something stupid to help his friends. There's a lot more to come.



These bozos were standing here the entire time, not even bothering to cheer Geo on.



The Shopping Plaza is three floors high, with the theater at the top. That doesn't mean I should skip straight to floor 3 though.



Floor 1's clerk gives me this for having more than 50 LP,



and Floor 2 has this fellow. Aaron Boreal was an associate of Geo's dad, and he did his best to try and be Geo's father figure after the accident. He didn't do that well, but points for effort.



Aaron helped create the Star Carrier, and since the second floor of the mall exclusively sells those he's hanging around here to survey customer reactions.



Like the Hertz from earlier, he'll answer random questions about the setting. Nothing noteworthy though.

Aaron's main role is in the next scenario, where he'll give me yet another difficulty busting tool.



Any customer with a Link Power over 1000 can view the film from our special royal seating area.

Having over 1000 LP won't change this scene.

Over 1000!? None of us have a Link Power that high. Prez has the highest, and she's only at 80.

I would so love to sit in a special royal seat! But today we'll just have to settle for regular seats.





The boy laughs and asks if she really believes those rumors. It's one of those ghost movies.



Zack answers that they're just Matter Waves.



Same goes for the background. Geo is suitably impressed.

Music: Atmosphere of Unrest



The movie starts to pick up,



then ends almost immediately.



The crew's impressed with the film, and the boys actually start arguing over who would make a better ghost duster.



Cue a 15 minute break.



Geo's supposed to grab some refreshments, but there's stuff to explore.



Like these things. Remember how I said there were two DLC Brothers? 1st MegaMan is the second, and you can re-BB with either by coming to these two Wave Stations.


I'm the original 8-bit MegaMan!
I get my energy from the sun!

1stMegaMan's alright. His Favorites are mostly terrain-changing cards, which are useful in almost any folder.



While I'm talking about these two, I should mention that they sent some e-mail when I first unlocked them. First MegaMan's surprised he shares a name with someone, then explains he's currently in a battle to save the Earth. So could Geo please help out and send some power through the BB? Meanwhile, LM Shin just compliments Geo for being Brothers with someone as legendary as him.



Inside was 550 Z.



EM beings can't use the elevator, so good thing there's a system of teleporters to get me around.



There's a merchant on the third floor, and he's got some interesting wares. Most merchants will sell at least three HP Memories, so if you want to max out MegaMan's base HP you'll need to save up.



Yessss!

Or just use a Wave Command. This input is from a card labeled "Pocket money from Mom".



And this one is called "Luna's School Fees".

I can get a total of 51,000 Z from Wave Commands, at a point where I can maybe get 300 Z from a random encounter.



So the fact I had to blow 10k to buy all of the HP Memories from the cheapest merchant in the game says it all. I am going to be hoarding money like crazy.



The saleswoman tries to get Geo to buy a Matter Wave replica of the ghost duster's vacuum.

That'll be 10000 Zennys.

That's pricey!!

I just spent that much, what are you talking about.



After getting his drink, Geo heads back to his seat.



But not before recognizing this joker. Hyde declares that he'll make the greatest horror movie of all time, laughs maniacally, then struts in.

Geo's reaction?

He was at IFL Tower before.



Getting back to the movie, the lights suddenly shut off during the climax.



And when they come back on, the movie's gone.

??: Ladies aaaand Gentleman! Heh, heh, heh...

Music: Ghost Rhapsody



Hyde (or rather Dark Phantom) proudly announces the airing of a new, one-time only show. The crowd's not sure what's going on, and a couple people wonder if this is part of the show.

Hey, yo, kid! That guy ain't one of the movie's effects. That's a full-on EM being.

Really?



Dark Phantom starts things off by summoning some viruses.

You in the audience! Prepare to be... Frightened!! He-he!



Somehow those five ghosts multiplied, because there are about 14 surrounding the entire audience.



The screams of these foolish humans fill the theater!

(There are only nine audience members.)

It is exactly as you had envisioned it. Heh-heh-heh! Ha-ha!



Take a wild guess who he picks.







That's right, the generic NPC girl in the audience!



No of course not.

The film's climax will take place at the top of IFL Tower! Be sure to stay till the end, for there shall be a surprise ending!

Zack and Bud are freaking out,

What is going on?

and I like to think Geo just woke up from a nap.

Who was that masked man?

I dunno, but his power was off the hook!

Yeah, he's got to be at least twice as strong as a Mettaur.



Mega's pleased to see Geo acting so bold. Geo admits he's scared, but he can't just let Luna down.

And that's not all. I know that if something were to happen to me, Prez would be the first one there trying to rescue me.



I'm not sure why everyone was so scared, the ghost are intangible.



The elevator's down, so the first order of business is to turn on auxiliary power.



Got to go to the first floor to do that.



The second obstacle are these ghosts. They're radiating enough EM waves to send Geo to the hospital, so he'll have to find some way around them. Is the answer to destroy them from afar?



Of course not.



This one's name is Vac Mac.





Outside are more ghosts. And I didn't mention it earlier, but the top screen's changed to fit the mood.



More electo-ghosts are blocking the main entrance to the IFL Tower. Since Vac Mac's full from the last batch, Geo will have to take the Wave Road up.



An injured Hertz near the entrance warns MegaMan that a ghost is coming!



You'd think this would be a fight, but no, the ghost just runs away.

THE GHOSTS ARE LIKE HUMANS... THEY IGNORE OUR EXISTENCE... EVEN IF THEY KNOW, THEY DON'T DO ANYTHING.

BUT IF YOU RUN INTO ONE, THEY'LL KNOW YOU EXIST, AND YOU'LL WIND UP JUST LIKE ME...



This is supposed to be a stealth dungeon,



but if I get caught I just get thrown into an easy random encounter.

I think now's a good a time to go over the enemies of the area.



The main ones are these Boodachs.



These things have a unique move animation: they'll phase away like so, then after a second appear on another panel. During that second they're invincible.



Their attack is a simple hat throw. They'll drop BooHat cards, which will send a hat flying around the borders of the battlefield.



Also around are Mettaurs. They attack with a simple shockwave, and likewise drop GroudWave. This releases a shockwave that can turn once to home in on enemies. Surprisingly useful!





HotRoaders will endlessly charge their down their column. They drop FireRing cards, which simulate their attack with a ring of fire.



Finally, BaseMortars will open fire on MegaMan if he lines up with them. They shoot three bullets, and none of them will make MegaMan flicker so the damage can add up. They drop MadVulcan cards, which make MegaMan fire a number of bullets rapidly. Benefits greatly from damage boosts, since each hit will increase in power.




Near the end of the first area is a broken road. Geo ponders what to do,



but he's interrupted by more pressing matters.



Hold up! You can see me?

It seems we wound up in the Visible Zone somehow. Humans seeing EM waves only happens once in a blue moon.

*snip*

There's no warning when you enter the Visible Zone. You just do. You almost never encounter it though...

Naturally, MegaMan will be running into the Visible Zone quite a bit over the course of this adventure. The Hertz' explanation from the beginning of the game is plausible enough, but I think there's a much better reason why that I'm befuddled the game didn't use.



The NPCs ask who MegaMan is, but before he can answer the lift they're on goes up.



This conveniently forms a bridge.



The only notable part of the whole dungeon is this giant string of ghosts. When I first played this game, this is where I found out that touching a ghost just throws you into a battle instead of returning you to the beginning.



Near the top of the tower are some more NPCs to save.



And at the very top, right before the boss, is this skull panel. In other games it would be a warning to save and heal up, but in this game it's just a sign that you're finally done.



??: Well, well... Heh, heh, heh...



It does not follow the script I've written.

Hyde dramatically turns to face MegaMan.







Hyde's surprised to see another person capable of Wave Changing, confirming Mega's suspicions that he's Dark Phantom.



Did you think you were the only one?

Geo's met at least ten other people who can also transform by now, so this line falls flat.



Phantom! Come forth!



Mega identifies the new figure as another EM being, but something's weird about its frequency. Hyde introduces his partner as Phantom, and shouts that if Geo wants to stop the ghosts he'll have to go through him first.



Music: Prelude to Battle



yes

he said he could



I never thought there others who could Wave Change!

Did the last few minutes of conversation not happen or something?

On a less idiotic note, Geo also wonders why there was an EM body in Hyde's Star Carrier. Dark Phantom sneers that he's not using a mere Star Carrier.



The ramifications of this line, and everything that will be associated with it, are hilarious in context of the entire MegaMan universe.

Geo asks why Dark Phantom's doing what he doing, even though he really should already know.



The star takes the heroine and together they rule the country!

Now Geo's had enough of Dark Phantom's posturing and gets ready to pound his face in. Dark Phantom smugly shoots back that he's far too powerful for someone like MegaMan to stop.


Watch a Legend Card at work!

He dies in under a second. Legend cards store Best Combos, which are essentially a string of 6 to 10 Standard/Mega cards. I'm not supposed to be able to make any right now, but whenever you BB with someone you'll get a copy of their Best Combo.

Best Combos are idiotically overpowered, to the point that if you get a good enough combo you'll be able to insta-kill almost every boss in the game like this.

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Music: Wave Battle



Okay I guess I should at least let him attack.

(20 damage)

Dark Phantom can warp in front of me to smack me with his cane,

(30 damage)

or hit me with an arm from his stomach. This move is Breaking attribute, so it'll go right through MegaMan's shield.

Dark Phantom is the first boss, so he's a joke. His main purpose is to teach you that the shield won't block everything, but considering how blatantly telegraphed all of his attacks are it's likely you'll never even think to guard. Theoretically I should only have around 180 HP by this point, so 20/30 damage isn't too shabby, but at 1340 I can laugh off everything he does and just shoot him to death.



This will be true for almost the entire game by the way.



Using my Legend card on this doofus would be a waste, so I let the final boss do the job instead.

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Not bad for a cameo. Time to close the curtains on tonight's performance.

Huh? What?

"Do not stray from the script," said the producer.



That's one way to describe getting atomized.

There will be more opportunities to spread fear to the masses.

And with that parting shot, Dark Phantom runs away. Geo and Mega wonder who he was for a bit,



and then Mega notices a crowd forming.



It is suddenly day again.

Hey! Look at that! There's something on the building!

You're right! Is that a... person?



Back up above, Geo's panicking at the attention. Mega jokes he should wave back, but Geo just wants to rescue Luna and get out.



He does. Luna responds that she was worried for a bit, but everything's fine now.



Huh?

Let me rephrase that! MegaMan was awesome. Got that!?

This goes on for a bit, but eventually Luna admits that Geo did a good job too.

I guess to show my thanks I should...

??

You know... It's the next step in our friendship. Usually the boy asks the girl though.

Um... Wait, what?

Aargh!! You are so thick!



I'm as confused as Geo. How is this "the next step" when you already had a BB?



And then the scenario ends. What about Bud and Zack? Who knows, who cares.

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Concept art of the Ghost Crisis poster and props.


Hyde's concept art. He's about as cartoonishly evil as the stereotypical Nazi, so the design on the right is fitting.


More concept art. Having built-in shoes sounds like a really terrible idea.