The obvious MO from this game is "Mega Man X7 but good", and I think it accomplishes that base goal. The gameplay fundamentals feel pretty damn good; the jump dash is on point, the upgrades help layer on more movement options, and there are level chunks for a collectible or bonus rooms that do feel like a good playfield for these skills. My only gripe with the platforming is that can feel a tad easy in the actual levels, but having some kind of speed challenge to incentivize more engagement with the good movement would go a long way in adding difficulty.
Combat is decent, as I do like the mechanic of having charge shots use a meter that can only be refilled by melee, which adds a level of decision making, although simple, that makes encounters more than just always having a charge shot for everything. Besides some minor bits of weird collision when doing melee combat, my biggest stickler for the combat is the special weapons feeling pretty bad; as they eat the same meter as the charge shot, none of them are all that useful, which is a real shame for how much the special weapons can add to both combat and new options for movement in the best of the Megaman games. My suggestion for the future would be to either rework the special weapons entirely or just don't have them, and instead go the Zero direction of including new natural combat options.
As this is a lower-budget indie project, I think the presentation for the most part is alright. The environments could have felt more distinct from each other but do the job well enough by having stuff happening in the background, including level that's either already been through or is coming up, which is something I always like to see. The switch version has some pretty unfortunate technical issues from my experience, but I owe that more to the platform itself and they seem like issues that are already being addressed in a future patch. While the in-game UI works pretty well, the menu UI, especially the stage select, looks rather sloppy with the weird stretching of the boss portraits and no real transitional animations for any of the selections. I have no real complaints about the music, however, as it's really good stuff all around, and carries that hard rock/techno vibe that I love to hear with Mega Man.
The story is nothing too remarkable, as it does feel like certain plot beats are simple swap out for events of the classic and X series, which is a shame because with this being its own standalone project its own identity plotwise could be made. Characters and their interactions are cute, as DelTA and her creator have some funny moments that do make it feel like they have a mother/daughter chemistry going on as DelTA becomes more human in her protocols, and that's helped by their solid voice work. The bosses have alright voice acting as well, but Ann-Droid and her creator sharing nearly the same inflection of voice was something I didn't like. The art of these characters work well, but a lot could have gone for dialogue presentation if during conversations characters changed up their art and/or expressions.
Despite having a fair bit of issues, I write this long of review because what I saw here has a ton of potential for the future, as with both presentation and mechanical refinements, along with finding more of its own distinct identity, this could be something great. There's already a strong gameplay framework here that I had some nice fun with, and whatever Kareem and the other devs have cooking, I wish them nothing but luck and my support.
Combat is decent, as I do like the mechanic of having charge shots use a meter that can only be refilled by melee, which adds a level of decision making, although simple, that makes encounters more than just always having a charge shot for everything. Besides some minor bits of weird collision when doing melee combat, my biggest stickler for the combat is the special weapons feeling pretty bad; as they eat the same meter as the charge shot, none of them are all that useful, which is a real shame for how much the special weapons can add to both combat and new options for movement in the best of the Megaman games. My suggestion for the future would be to either rework the special weapons entirely or just don't have them, and instead go the Zero direction of including new natural combat options.
As this is a lower-budget indie project, I think the presentation for the most part is alright. The environments could have felt more distinct from each other but do the job well enough by having stuff happening in the background, including level that's either already been through or is coming up, which is something I always like to see. The switch version has some pretty unfortunate technical issues from my experience, but I owe that more to the platform itself and they seem like issues that are already being addressed in a future patch. While the in-game UI works pretty well, the menu UI, especially the stage select, looks rather sloppy with the weird stretching of the boss portraits and no real transitional animations for any of the selections. I have no real complaints about the music, however, as it's really good stuff all around, and carries that hard rock/techno vibe that I love to hear with Mega Man.
The story is nothing too remarkable, as it does feel like certain plot beats are simple swap out for events of the classic and X series, which is a shame because with this being its own standalone project its own identity plotwise could be made. Characters and their interactions are cute, as DelTA and her creator have some funny moments that do make it feel like they have a mother/daughter chemistry going on as DelTA becomes more human in her protocols, and that's helped by their solid voice work. The bosses have alright voice acting as well, but Ann-Droid and her creator sharing nearly the same inflection of voice was something I didn't like. The art of these characters work well, but a lot could have gone for dialogue presentation if during conversations characters changed up their art and/or expressions.
Despite having a fair bit of issues, I write this long of review because what I saw here has a ton of potential for the future, as with both presentation and mechanical refinements, along with finding more of its own distinct identity, this could be something great. There's already a strong gameplay framework here that I had some nice fun with, and whatever Kareem and the other devs have cooking, I wish them nothing but luck and my support.