I remember watching friends play this game as a kid and watching Let's Plays of it years ago, but never got around to playing it myself. I was a Nintendo baby growing up and despite my family owning a PS1 and PS2, I never got around to playing a lot of Sony classics like this other than the occasional Blockbuster rental. Playing it now, I can say that I probably would have loved it back then due to how much I enjoyed it as an adult. Might be my favorite PS1 game I've played so far.
For a 3D adventure game that came out before OoT set the standard for the genre, it's pretty amazing how well this game aged. Most of the combat situations can be won by strafing and holding down the shoot button, but it all works surprisingly well. Dungeons are a lot of running down hallways, but it never really bored me. Exploring these underground ruins and finding random crap that you can turn into cool weapons surprisingly makes up for any issues with the relatively simple level design.
What also helps is the atmosphere. The game is generally pretty cutesy and lighthearted, which makes the much more creepy and unsettling underground areas stand out significantly. I could easily see kids getting genuinely freaked out by the enemy designs and creepy sound effects when exploring.
The story is fun and very much reminiscent of 90s anime, down to the surprisingly good English dub. The Bonne family is basically Team Rocket only actually somewhat threatening at times. The wacky tone of the writing gradually getting a bit darker toward the end is something I've always liked with media like this. Reminds me of the stuff Capcom would later do with the Battle Network series.
Also this game may have one of the best artstyles of any 3D 90s game. They really pulled off the anime aethestic extremely well. Still waiting for indie games to stop going for pixelslop and start making games that look more like this. I can only assume it's just genuinely difficult to pull off.
This is by far my favorite Mega Man game I've played. It's no OoT or Mario 64, but it's still one of the better 3D 90s games I've played. I can see why Legends 3's cancellation was so devastating to people. Maybe since Capcom is kind of in their redemption arc, and hack fraud Inafune is gone, they'll reconsider and finally bring it back. DMC5 came out, Dragon's Dogma 2 is releasing soon, and Resident Evil isn't garbage anymore, so it's not impossible, right?
For a 3D adventure game that came out before OoT set the standard for the genre, it's pretty amazing how well this game aged. Most of the combat situations can be won by strafing and holding down the shoot button, but it all works surprisingly well. Dungeons are a lot of running down hallways, but it never really bored me. Exploring these underground ruins and finding random crap that you can turn into cool weapons surprisingly makes up for any issues with the relatively simple level design.
What also helps is the atmosphere. The game is generally pretty cutesy and lighthearted, which makes the much more creepy and unsettling underground areas stand out significantly. I could easily see kids getting genuinely freaked out by the enemy designs and creepy sound effects when exploring.
The story is fun and very much reminiscent of 90s anime, down to the surprisingly good English dub. The Bonne family is basically Team Rocket only actually somewhat threatening at times. The wacky tone of the writing gradually getting a bit darker toward the end is something I've always liked with media like this. Reminds me of the stuff Capcom would later do with the Battle Network series.
Also this game may have one of the best artstyles of any 3D 90s game. They really pulled off the anime aethestic extremely well. Still waiting for indie games to stop going for pixelslop and start making games that look more like this. I can only assume it's just genuinely difficult to pull off.
This is by far my favorite Mega Man game I've played. It's no OoT or Mario 64, but it's still one of the better 3D 90s games I've played. I can see why Legends 3's cancellation was so devastating to people. Maybe since Capcom is kind of in their redemption arc, and hack fraud Inafune is gone, they'll reconsider and finally bring it back. DMC5 came out, Dragon's Dogma 2 is releasing soon, and Resident Evil isn't garbage anymore, so it's not impossible, right?