Anyone get MMBN3?

[Cloral]

I'm planning to pick up a copy for the trip I'm going on this next week. So have any of you gotten it yet? If so, what are your impressions? Is it worth while? Is there much difference between blue and white?

[Yoshiman]

I've played the Japanese ROM of Rockman EXE 3 Black. The graphics are improved, but the Internet is very confusing. But so far, the game is pretty cool.

EDIT: Also, the difference between Blue and White are the chips and bosses. Some chips are only found in White, and some in Blue. There are also bosses that appera only in certain versions, like Punk.EXE.

[Thunderbird]

Picked it up today. Liking it so far :). The battle interface seems to be exactly as it was in Battle Network 2.

Currently copies of the game are bundled with a DVD containing the first episode of MegaMan NT Warrior, a cartoon series based on Battle Network.

(EDIT)And I have the Blue version.

(EDIT2)There is a serious flaw (which might also be in the earlier games, can't remember) that allows you to use the Start button to skip story scenes. While this may be useful for skipping them if you end up replaying them, it can also cause you to miss critical information :(.

[King]

I got the game today...the Blue version. Kicks ass so far...I'm not very far into it, but everything's improved so far.

[Cloral]

Well, I got the blue version. It was good for killing time during the 8 hour drive each way. I'm at the point where I have to do jobs for whats-his-name the operator of KingMan.

[Brasel]

I want to play the first two before I play this one. I've been thinking about picking one of them up in the past...how does the fighting work?

[King]

Originally posted by Sir Anthony
I want to play the first two before I play this one. I've been thinking about picking one of them up in the past...how does the fighting work?

Battles are in real time. What you do is you select up to five Chips at the start of each round, and use them to do battle. The Chips that are given to you are selected at random from your Folder, so you have to pay attention to what you put in there. There are a few things to consider, like the Chips' code (A-Z or *), its element (Fire, Water, etc.), and how the Chip actually works (range, does it break panels, etc.).

During the actual fight, you move Megaman around these panels. Megaman controls the red panels while the enemy controls the blue panels. You can attack with the Mega Buster by pressing B, but it's usually used to soften up enemies or to finish them off when their HP is in the single digits. The battles get a lot more interesting when there are hazards like cracked panels or obstacles such as rocks, bombs, ice blocks, etc. The battles are really fun, and sometimes they're super-tough. Personally, I like the boss battles.

[Cloral]

Yeah. When I first saw the game, I thought it was going to be really stupid. But then I played it. And it's remarkably addicting. It's kinda like a cross between Megaman and Pokemon - but really only because of the element of collecting the chips. Each version of the game has lots of chips (I think the first one has 175, and the second one 250), and most of them you earn from the enemies - which are called viruses. The thing is, at the end of each battle you are given a 'busting level' which is based on how well you deleted the viruses. And if you want the good chips, you'll need to get a 9, 10, or maybe even an S for your busting level. In order to do this, you generally have to delete the viruses within a second or so, and you can't get hit in doing so. Oftentimes this is very difficult to do until you get some strong PAs. PAs are Program Advances, and you activate them by using certain chips in order. For instance, you can use a Cannon A, Cannon B, and Cannon C to form a Z-Cannon, which lets you use as many Cannons as you want for 5 seconds - and you're invisible (and when you're invisible you can't take damage). Although Z-Cannon is actually one of the weaker PAs, since it still only does as much damage as the Cannon itself.
Along with the viruses are the various navis you encounter. Most of the navis are the various bosses from the megaman series. For instance, in MMBN3, the first navi you have to fight is Flashman. Once you've beaten the enemy ones (there are also friendly navis you can choose to netbattle against for possible profit), they reappear in various locations in the internet. If you can find these 'ghost navis' and beat them again (and they're harder this time), you can get that navi's navi chip which lets you summon it in battle, when it will do its signature move. For instance, the Flashman chip makes Flashman do a flash that hurts all the enemies and stuns them.

So all in all, it's a decently challenging game with lots of opportunity for different strategies. If nothing else, it'll keep you going for 20+ hours of play.