Just released a video about this game too if you'd like to support my YouTube efforts!
Mega Man Legends 2 is a fascinating game. The moves it makes going from the first make sense, going bigger, more cinematic for the time, pushing the animation and graphical power of the PS1 pretty far quite honestly and impressively!
However the problem for me lies in how quite unsatisfying the entire experience is. Like yeah, it plays better, but the pure gameplay wasn't why I came to Legends in the first place. It was for the sense of place, the thought put into Kattleox as a location, the ways it gets you attached to it so specifically, the way it makes you feel apart of its world.
I could care less about the world of 2. Each location doesn't get much to it, the side quests that are there aren't really always the most engaging, the NPC's aren't as interesting or memorable as a lot of even the smaller minor NPC's from the first game. It feels like a game that scales up but doesn't expand the depth of its world to reflect that change of scale accordingly.
The story also takes quite a hit in this as well because of similar issues. What starts with quite honestly one of my favorite game openings ever with how it sets both the stage and its tone in such a razor sharp and crystal clear manor falls into quite a lot of meandering, empty plot threads and wasted time by the time all is said and done.
The few scenes that do pay anything off feel like an oasis in the neverending desert of constant setup that seems to only exist for another game to pay off which......
I'm bummed I feel so harsh on this game. Legends has become such a special kind of experience to me, so seeing that this is how 2 turned out is quite honestly a massive bummer. Like maybe 3 would've retroactively justified it in ways depending on how that went, but something about the world and this setting and all the cool mystery setup in Legends just feels like completely wasted potential.
It's not like the worst thing ever, but while I can accept The Misadventures of Tron Bonne being fine, this one honestly hurts more because of both what it could have been and where it could have continued to go given the chance.
They couldn't even get him off the moon in spirit man.
Mega Man Legends 2 is a fascinating game. The moves it makes going from the first make sense, going bigger, more cinematic for the time, pushing the animation and graphical power of the PS1 pretty far quite honestly and impressively!
However the problem for me lies in how quite unsatisfying the entire experience is. Like yeah, it plays better, but the pure gameplay wasn't why I came to Legends in the first place. It was for the sense of place, the thought put into Kattleox as a location, the ways it gets you attached to it so specifically, the way it makes you feel apart of its world.
I could care less about the world of 2. Each location doesn't get much to it, the side quests that are there aren't really always the most engaging, the NPC's aren't as interesting or memorable as a lot of even the smaller minor NPC's from the first game. It feels like a game that scales up but doesn't expand the depth of its world to reflect that change of scale accordingly.
The story also takes quite a hit in this as well because of similar issues. What starts with quite honestly one of my favorite game openings ever with how it sets both the stage and its tone in such a razor sharp and crystal clear manor falls into quite a lot of meandering, empty plot threads and wasted time by the time all is said and done.
The few scenes that do pay anything off feel like an oasis in the neverending desert of constant setup that seems to only exist for another game to pay off which......
I'm bummed I feel so harsh on this game. Legends has become such a special kind of experience to me, so seeing that this is how 2 turned out is quite honestly a massive bummer. Like maybe 3 would've retroactively justified it in ways depending on how that went, but something about the world and this setting and all the cool mystery setup in Legends just feels like completely wasted potential.
It's not like the worst thing ever, but while I can accept The Misadventures of Tron Bonne being fine, this one honestly hurts more because of both what it could have been and where it could have continued to go given the chance.
They couldn't even get him off the moon in spirit man.