You know, when I originally decided to tackle the topic of Keiji Inafune and Inti Creates’ MegaMan-“inspired” projects after their respective departures from Capcom, I was worried that perhaps I was covering the topic too quickly. After all, it’s been less than a decade since Mighty No. 9’s Kickstarter was first announced to the world… and it took nearly 3 years for it to release to the public. Fortunately, those fears were put to rest when I saw a tweet that changed my mind on the topic. I can’t tell if the fact that there are people who don’t remember MN9 at all motivated me to continue or just filled me with existential dread regarding the passage of time. Either way, let’s wrap up this year’s retrospective.

Mighty No. 9 – Part 3: The Game

For once, I’m actually at a bit of a loss for how to start things off. After all, while I covered Mighty No. 9’s initial announcement and troubled development in relatively broad strokes, I also essentially went into greater detail than I ever have before in one of these retrospectives. I guess the best way to start discussing the game itself would be to pass along one bit of trivia that seems to only get covered by the game’s more bilious detractors, the ones that hated the game early on, if not from the very beginning. Did you know that in the game’s original Kickstarter pitch, there were several pieces of concept art that implied that Beck’s absorption ability would’ve allowed him to transform into forms based on regular enemies too? I’d like to think that if that had been implemented, it would’ve been sort of like an expansion on the Zero Knuckle mechanic from MegaMan Zero 4. Unfortunately, Comcept seemed to drop discussion of the potential mechanic really early into the game’s development, opting for more traditional boss-themed transformations and more generic power-ups.

That may seem like a non sequitur to start things off with, and honestly, it is. I just honestly wanted to discuss it… and couldn’t find anywhere to slot that factoid into last time. Oh, and did you know that Spike Chunsoft actually served as the game’s publisher in Japan? Turns out they’ve actually handled several Japanese releases for Western games. Just another fun fact to get things started.

So, considering how I essentially discussed everything I’d start one of these individual game sections with last time – history and information regarding the game’s development, statements from the game’s staff, even the release schedule – I guess I’ll put more effort than usual into reflecting on my initial impressions for this game. Put simply, it felt like one of those errands or tasks that you really don’t want to do, but still feel obligated to do. Not quite on par with planning your parent’s funeral, but probably worse than being forced to eat your vegetables as a child. I guess the best simile I can think of is accidentally buying the wrong kind of toilet paper in bulk and essentially forcing yourself to use every single roll before buying more, instead of trying to return it or just giving it away. That’s what playing Mighty No. 9 felt like back in mid-2016. And yet, despite all that hatred I felt towards the game, over feeling scammed, over being forced to wait an extra year or so, over essentially having my nostalgia exploited, I had to admit… I’d played worse. Not only had I played worse MegaMan games, I’d played worse MegaMan games that were officially sanctioned by Capcom themselves. I’ve even played worse mainline MegaMan 2D platformers than MN9. If the bar the game needed to clear was “being better than the worst the MegaMan franchise had to offer”, the game would’ve passed with gusto. Unfortunately, the expectations regarding Mighty No. 9 were much, much higher.

With that being said, let’s move onto discussing the game’s backstory. The landscape of the United States of America has changed significantly, as robots have become ubiquitous throughout the land. This is in no small part due to the invention of “Xel” – pronounced “cell” – a material as malleable as the human cell it was named for and the creation of one Dr. Benedict Blackwell, CTO of major robotics firm Cherry Dynamics (called “CherryDyn”, for short). Unfortunately, Dr. Blackwell would eventually be disgraced and arrested for a terrorist plot, after shutting down every robot in the country for reasons unknown. Nevertheless, society would progress to technological advancement thought impossible even a generation before.

It is “the present year”. No, seriously, that’s the line the game opens up with. Despite the fact that the game clearly takes place at some point in the future, with references to “current events” (well, as of the mid-2010s, at least) as if they’re ancient history – at one point, a character even namedrops Neil DeGrasse Tyson the way most people would refer to Albert Einstein. I guess using a timeframe like “20XX” would’ve been a little on the nose, but something like “the latter half of the XXth century” would’ve been more coherent than just referring to the game as taking place in this clearly futuristic “current year”. Sorry, just needed to get that criticism out of the way.

Regardless, the world has been at peace for many years, with violence confined to the “Battle Colosseum”, a giant arena where robots compete for the amusement of humans… and to earn massive government subsidies for the firms that created them in the first place. Among the top competitors in these combat sports are SANDA Technologies’ Mighty Numbers, a group of robots created by the roboticist William White with powerful offensive strength and personalities and emotions on par with those of humanity. Unfortunately, the newest member of the team, Beck (the eponymous “Mighty No. 9”) is timid and was not built for combat the same way his brothers and sisters were. As such, he is considered the team’s weak link, despite his ability to absorb other robots’ Xels and transform to copy their abilities.

However, one day, all of the robots across America begin to go berserk. As if corrupted by some mysterious force, even the Mighty Numbers go haywire and begin running amok throughout the country. All except for Beck, who appears to be completely unaffected. On his way to the Colosseum, he notices the widespread carnage and destruction, as well as his creator Dr. White standing on a nearby highway. William is relieved to see that somehow his latest creation is functioning normally and instructs him to help secure the nearby SANDA Technologies laboratory. On the way, the duo hears an announcement from Gregory Graham, CEO of CherryDyn, denying all responsibility for the attack, while claiming that Dr. Blackwell must be responsible for this, just like the last major attack on US soil. As Beck begins neutralizing the malfunctioning robots on his way to the laboratory, White is surprised to see that Beck’s unique Xel assimilation abilities are working perfectly. However, inside the lab, Beck comes face to face (err, eyes?), with the Round Digger, a massive demolition robot produced by CherryDyn. Beck is left with no choice but to fight the massive robot and surprisingly, after using his assimilation abilities, he simply purifies it rather than destroying it outright like the smaller robots he encountered before.

Upon entering the lab, Dr. White and Beck meet up with Dr. Soichiro Sanda, another researcher at SANDA Technologies and White’s long-time friend, in the process of reactivating one of his own creations, a robot modelled after a young girl named Call. Apparently, due to being shut down for a firmware update, she was unaffected by the mechanical malady affecting every other robot in America. Together, they implore Soichiro’s twin brother, Seijiro, for help. However, the Japanese government is unwilling to send aid until the source of these malfunctions can be discovered, a sentiment Dr. White understands. As such, he decides to send Beck out to investigate this epidemic of berserk robots, due to his immunity to the outbreak and his ability to absorb the corrupted Xels of the afflicted. Meanwhile, the two doctors and Call will research Beck’s findings and try to determine the source of these errors.

Unfortunately, to make matters worse, the eight other Mighty Numbers have spread across the country, wreaking havoc at levels no other robot could possibly achieve. Pyrogen (No. 1), a grappling robot with the ability to enhance his strength by covering his body with flames, has taken over an oil refinery in Louisiana. The childish prankster Cryosphere (No. 2), boasting an impish control over water and ice, has frozen over a Water Works building in Minnesota into her own personal ice rink. A massive power plant somewhere in the Midwest is being drained as a quick snack for Dynatron (No. 3), a gynoid capable of generating lightning rods en masse and controlling electricity. The massive demolition robot Seismic (No. 4) was last seen entering an abandoned mine in Wyoming. The living artillery that is Battalion (No. 5) has commandeered a decommissioned military base in Nevada. A radio tower in Georgia has been overtaken by the fast-talking flyboy Aviator (No. 6), allowing him to hijack the airwaves to showcase his charismatic blend of carnage to a captive audience. The scarlet swordsbot Brandish (No. 7) has also been seen cutting through cars on a highway in New Mexico, though he seems like he might be trying to fight off this infection himself. And finally, the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. has been overtaken by the stealthy sniper that is Countershade (No. 8), who is making a bid for robot independence by taking the fight to the highest authority in the land.

Despite convincing a shaky Beck that he’s more than capable of saving the day, Dr. White isn’t convinced that everything is as it seems. Has Dr. Blackwell managed to set revenge in motion from within a maximum-security prison or is there someone – or something – else behind these rampaging robots?

Let’s cut to the chase: Beck’s moveset will seem familiar to anyone familiar with the Classic MegaMan and MegaMan X series, though it’s more of an odd hodgepodge of the two as opposed to adhering strictly to one or the other. He has a traditional plasma cannon, which lacks the ability to charge shots, effectively only able to fire off small shots for almost the entire distance of the screen. He also boasts a traditional dash akin to those found in the post-Classic MegaMan platformers, as well as an air-dash (one he can perform infinitely, in fact) and a “crouch-dash” which allows him to slide through narrow passageways. Beck does have a few unique tricks of his own through. He can grab onto ledges by jumping into them, allowing him to scale up certain walls. By holding down the action shift button – generally mapped to the Right Trigger – his traditional shots and jumps change up slightly. His traditional straight-forward shot is replaced with a down-forward diagonal volley of three shots coupled with a retreating hop, while his jump turns into a backwards leap… something I honestly never really found a use for. The game also keeps track of Beck’s score per level, even granting bonuses for completing certain actions in each stage and boss battle and this is tallied up at the end of each stage, with additional bonuses for specific actions like the time it took to complete the stage, highest combo count and even the rate of Xels absorbed to determine Beck’s rank on each level, ranging from a lowly D all the way to the mighty S.

Of course, the most prominent change from traditional MegaMan fare comes in the form of the AcXel Boosts. After dealing enough damage to an enemy, they will be stunned and begin to glow with a pixelated aura, meaning that they’re vulnerable to Beck’s dash attack. Dashing into them when they’re not flashing, however, just gives our young hero contact damage. By dashing into vulnerable enemies, he can absorb them, granting him a variety of power-ups. However, the potency of these power-ups can be affected by how quickly the player can dash into them – ranging from the full 100% to a mere 10%. Chaining together multiple 100% absorptions results in combos, which increase the player’s score as it continues to get higher and higher, though allowing enough time to pass between absorptions or getting anything below 100% will break the combo. The color of the aura itself will also determine the type of upgrade Beck receives: red will result in a temporary boost to his attacks, even allowing his standard shot to fire through walls; yellow will result in an increase to his defense, allowing him to take less damage from attacks and green will result in a faster run speed.

Blue, on the other hand, won’t appear to have any direct effect on Beck, but rather will begin filling his “AcXel Recovery” meter – the game’s equivalent of a Sub-Tank. Once completely filled, Beck can regain a full health bar by activating it from the pause menu. However, if he loses a life before using it, the progress is reverted back to nothing, a baffling decision from my perspective. Likewise, only one AcXel Recovery slot can be filled with these absorptions. The other can only be filled by a power-up that can be dropped by the Patch units that appear at checkpoints, though the goodies they hand out are generally determined at random… and as far as I can tell, only appear on Normal difficulty.

Finally, after dealing enough damage to bosses, they will glow with a purple aura. This is Beck’s cue to dash into them, in order to make whatever damage he’s inflicted on their massive health bars thus far permanent. Failing that will allow them to begin slowly regenerating their health and anything less than a 100% absorption will still result in them regaining at least a little health. Of course, considering the fact that his primary attack works best at far range and the dash requires some significant proximity, it does lead to some mixed messaging when it comes to the combat.

Speaking of bosses, it wouldn’t be a MegaMan game without special weapons and Mighty No. 9 definitely lives up to that tradition as well. After defeating a boss, Beck gains access to a transformation associated with them, known as a “ReXelection”. These completely modify his body, causing him to resemble his fallen foes much more than the Soul Unisons from the later Battle Network games, the Noise Changes from Star Force 3 and especially the Special Weapons from MM11. Unfortunately, switching between weapons is a bit more complicated, for reasons I don’t understand. Instead of being able to cycle through the weapons with the shoulder buttons or mapping each transformation to a position on the right analog stick, players are forced to open up a menu by pressing the Left Bumper – which doesn’t pause the game by the way – and cycle through potential transformations by pressing the Left Bumper and Trigger to navigate up and down, respectively. From there, the player can press the Y button to activate and deactivate the chosen form. Players are also allowed to map three specific transformations to the B button and clicking the left and right analog sticks from the pause menu. Each ReXelection has its own stock of weapon energy and highlights just how much energy each attack will use before firing it. Weapon energy can be refilled by absorbing enemies and boss health while the ReXelection is equipped, but also slowly replenishes on its own while active.

Wow, it’s been so long, but I finally get another chance to rank some Special Weapons. I don’t think I’ve done one of these since the MegaMan X retrospective! First up is Brand’s Sword Slash, which replaces Beck’s traditional buster cannon with a melee sword attack. While my biases may make it seem obvious as to why I picked this, there are other mitigating factors that make this the cream of the crop. In addition to its standard attack basically using no energy, Beck also gains access to two different charge attacks – a spinning attack and a jump attack – but that’s not even the best part. Mashing the standard slash attack allows Beck to reflect some projectile attacks, but also makes him invincible to the ones he can’t. It’s a massive game changer in certain parts of the game, especially the final boss’s first form. Next up, there’s the Gyro Boomerang, courtesy of Avi. This weapon’s basic function allows Beck to throw a propeller like a boomerang and charging it up changes how far the attack travels and how it reacts to coming into contact with an enemy. However, the real important thing is that if Beck jumps while charging the attack, he gets a slight boost to his jump height, and it significantly slows his descent while active. Coming in third place is Cryo’s Frozen Liquid. This attack lobs a ball of ice, which can freeze most enemies. In addition to damaging them multiple times will they’re affected, it also slows down the rate that absorptions deteriorate, allowing Beck easier 100% absorptions. Then there’s Remote Cannon, Beck’s prize for defeating Bat. This allows Beck to fire off a massive missile that can embed itself into walls. Pressing the attack button a second time causes it to detonate, resulting in a massive explosion. It’s also the only way to destroy certain obstacles, sort of like the Crash Bomb or Hard Knuckle of yore. Coming in at fifth place is Dyna’s Electric Seed, which tosses out several lightning rods that can tag enemies or surfaces. Once the tags are active, Beck can charge them with electricity, causing damage to any enemy that’s been tagged or any unlucky enough to be in the current’s path. Coming in sixth is the Strong Charge, care of Mic. Beck’s legs transform into tank treads, increasing his “walk” speed, allowing him to pass over certain obstacles without taking damage and ramming straight into enemies. I’d have ranked it higher, but most of the game’s level design kills any incentive to use it and it’s not even the best way to take out the Mighty No. that’s weak to it. Seventh place goes to Shade’s Reflect Shoot. It’s a bullet that can ricochet off of walls and track onto the nearest target. In cases where there are multiple enemies onscreen, it’ll ricochet between them several times. Finally, coming in dead last is (ironically enough) No. 1’s weapon: Pyro’s Fire Explosion. When used, Beck lets off a fiery explosion that surrounds him. The attack itself can also be charged up to three higher levels, each resulting in a larger and more damaging combustion than the last. However, holding the full charge in too long will result in Beck being stunned temporarily after using it. These explosions can also free up Beck if he gets frozen. Honestly, I just think it’s really annoying to use most of the time, especially considering how short-range the basic attack is, the time it takes to charge up and how much energy it uses.

Backers also received an exclusive weapon, the MegaXel, that unlocks after completing the intro stage for the first time. It gives Beck a garish multi-colored appearance and allows him to generate up to three Mega-Xels, that fire off lasers straight ahead at a consistent rate while they’re onscreen. It’s also the most useless weapon in the entire game by a wide margin, which I guess is kind of the best-case scenario, compared to making something actually good exclusive to people who paid into the game. It’s not really worth mentioning, but I figured I’d throw it in for completion’s sake.

One other major nitpick I have with MN9’s standard gameplay that I feel I need to bring up. As far as I’m concerned, one of the best aspects of any new MegaMan game is figuring out the boss order through experimentation. Mighty No. 9 decides to give players that disagree with me in that regard the option to find out outright which bosses are weak to which weapons. From the stage select menu, there are two options by default: “Start!”, which obviously takes you directly to the stage, and “Explain”, which gives a brief overview of what to expect in the stage. Defeating the boss that gives Beck the ReXelection that they’re weak to unlocks a third option on the menu. This “Advice” involves a message from the redeemed Mighty Number in question mentions that they’re already on the scene, ready to give a Beck a hand. It would be a safe assumption to think that this is my issue, but the thing is… it isn’t. It’s optional and unless you just so happen to stumble upon the correct order from the start, chances are the appearance of the Advice option won’t automatically clue any first-time players into the boss weakness order. The problem stems from another mechanic that’s directly related to these hints. Once the correct boss has been defeated, they will literally show up at some key point in the stage and take out certain hazards, to make Beck’s trek much easier – sort of like how certain stages in the original MegaMan X would be altered after specific bosses were defeated. Optional hints are one thing, but blatant spoilers (that can’t be disabled, by the way) are quite another. The thing is, I actually otherwise love this idea. The idea of Beck’s siblings appearing on the scene to help out their little brother scratches a primal itch that’s been living in the depths of my brain ever since people teased the idea that the Light Numbers from the original MegaMan (and by extension, MegaMan 9) were possibly recovered and deprogrammed and served as helpers to their heroic older brother. If they just hadn’t made it so that the cameos corresponded to weakness order, it would’ve been something I’d be praising… as opposed to something I’m scolding the game’s designers over.

Perhaps the most annoying aspect of the game overall is the complete disconnect between Beck’s gameplay style and the game’s level design. Despite being comprised of mechanics from the first two iterations of MegaMan, Beck clearly feels more akin to the player characters in the X series and its successors, at least in terms of mobility. Stage layouts, on the other hand, clearly take far more inspiration from the Classic series. Now, while it’s obvious why Classic MegaMan is simply incompatible with the levels found in the X series (et al), Mighty No. 9 unintentionally makes the argument that the opposite is also true. While Beck’s infinite capacity to air-dash makes certain platforming sections downright redundant, the tragic irony is that his lack of a “traditional” wall grab means that missing some jumps result in humiliating deaths, where the player has no choice but to impotently mash the dash button in a futile effort to save Beck’s skin from yonder bottomless pit or instant death spikes. Speaking of which, while spikes that result in instant death are a staple across all MegaMan platformers, MN9 made the absolutely baffling decision to go old-school: they kill instantly even through hit invincibility. That’s right, for whatever reason, Comcept decided to revisit a mistake that Capcom solved back in 1988 with the development of MegaMan 2. That’s the year I was born, for those of you playing at home. Not even remakes of MM1, like the ones found in The Wily Wars or Powered Up thought that “concept” was worth revisiting. Couple that with some wonky physics at times – I swear, there were times where I literally slipped off of slanted platforms while standing still – various other instant death traps that are introduced with little-to-no warning, many of the game’s bosses having instant death attacks (despite having health bars that absolutely dwarf poor Beck’s) and segments that literally just feel like they’re trying to waste the player’s time… and it’s clear that there’s a lot to hate about this game from a mechanical standpoint.

The game’s difficulty settings even feel wrong. There are four in total, but it honestly feels like they only managed to do any playtesting on the “Normal” setting, which just so happens to be the easiest setting. As far as I can tell, every other mode just automatically gives Beck all of his weapons from the very start, almost like it’s attempting to be some kind of a “New Game+” mode, which I guess makes sense since the other three modes are a “reward” for beating the game. However, there are just certain other things that seem to be missing. The option to increase (or decrease) the number of default extra lives only applies to the Normal difficulty setting. As I mentioned earlier, the game doesn’t seem to send out Patch units to dispense power-ups at various checkpoints on any difficulty higher than Normal – though, considering “Maniac” Mode kills Beck in a single hit, maybe that’s much more of an issue for Hard and Hyper difficulty. Honestly, with all the cheap deaths, Normal is hard enough as it is.    

Of course, there’s more to the game besides Beck in terms of playable characters. After defeating the other eight Mighty Numbers in combat, a second path forward is unlocked in addition to Beck’s next challenge. As foretold by the massive list of stretch goals, this is a “bonus” level, allowing players to take on the roll role of the assistant droid, Call, as she helps her creator Dr. Sanda infiltrate the maximum-security prison where Dr. Blackwell is being held. As to be expected, Call plays differently from Beck, lacking many of his trademark moves, but boasting unique abilities all her own. She boasts her own gun (shaped like some sort of a futuristic crossbow), which fires shots similar to Beck’s standard fare, but slightly larger. She can also duck and crawl, allowing her to pass through small passageways and avoid certain attacks. She can also generate a shield that can deflect energy-based projectiles, though this drains her weapon meter – which can only be replenished by coming across Patch units littered throughout the level. Call can also hover by holding the jump button and while she can dash and air-dash like Beck, it cannot absorb stunned enemies, damaging Call in the process. Her stage is also designed differently than Beck’s levels. She’s mainly focusing on avoiding enemy detection and procuring Security Cards to venture deeper into the prison. Eventually, she caps off this prison mission with her own unique boss fight with the prison’s gigantic mechanical guard dog, imaginatively named “K9”. Put simply, Call’s level has more on an emphasis on stealth, with a more puzzle-oriented boss fight than those undertaken by Beck.

Of course, there is one other playable character… so long as you either paid into the crowdfunder, purchased a physical copy or just outright bought the DLC. Regardless, it starts off by offering Beck an additional stage, titled “Vermillion Destroyer”, which takes place in an abandoned CherryDyn laboratory that seems to be the origin of an attempt at hacking the SANDA Technologies laboratory where Dr. White and the others are stationed. When Beck goes to investigate, he comes face-to-face with a mysterious robot who is surprised to see a “fellow predator” before disabling his comm link. After giving chase and fighting off two sneak attacks, he finally corners the cloaked robot, pounding away at a dilapidated computer and demanding answers from a fading image of …Dr. White? Beck is confused by this sight but unwilling to let the clearly unstable robot anywhere near his creator, causing her to go absolutely berserk and attack him, claiming she’ll rip the professor’s location from Beck’s very Xels if need be. The battle is fierce, but when Beck emerges victorious and attempts to purify the crumbling gynoid, she is shocked to find that Beck doesn’t need to absorb other robots in order to survive. She complains about the affliction that’s slowly killing her. Once she departs the lab, Call and Dr. White are able to make contact with Beck once again and ask him what happened. Beck describes the figure that attacked him, which intrigues William but Call mentions that no such robot exists in their database. Still, Dr. White wants to go over the details of what happened when Beck returns to base.

Completing the stage unlocks the boss – Raychel – as a playable character. She’s able to play through all of Beck’s levels with a storyline all her own. Depicted through still images, it elaborates on her backstory: she was a creation of William White’s before he began development on the Mighty Numbers, with the ability to absorb Xels like Beck. Unfortunately, she was a failed prototype, requiring to constantly feed on Xels in order to survive, like some kind of cannibalistic robotic vampire. To that end, she decides to track down the first eight Mighty Numbers to feed on them in the hopes of finding some information about her creator, who she keeps referring to as “Bill” for some reason. After recognizing them as potential brothers and sisters, she eventually expresses disgust at the idea of what she has to do in order to survive. In the end, she manages to devour even the Battle Colosseum before she runs out of energy and collapses. She’s eventually found by Beck and Dr. White, with the latter urging the former to try purifying her. It seems to work, with Ray commenting on a gentle warmness entering her body… but alas, it does not last long, leading her to escape, once again as a shambling, derelict figure, baying out for more Xels to feed her endless hunger…

If the color scheme, overall design and the fact that her symbol literally consists of the number zero weren’t enough to clue you in, it’s pretty obvious that Ray was designed to be the “Zero” to Beck’s “MegaMan”. I mean, the DLC pitch trailer she made her debut in made that pretty clear. As such, Ray plays differently from the other two characters, opting for a familiar three-slash melee combo as her main means of attack. However, her dash has also been weaponized, allowing her to immediately cut through most enemies while speeding through the levels. Likewise, her slashes can absorb enemies instantly, which means that her standard attacks and now-weaponized dash are equally deadly. However, her improved abilities do come at a dramatic cost: her health slowly drains, leaving red recoverable health that can also be lost instantly in addition to whatever damage she takes normally. In order to stave off this decay, she must absorb Xels… and keeping her health up is the only benefit she receives, regardless of color, even the purple boss auras that normally have no effect help to maintain her health. Personally, I thought this was an interesting way to incorporate her storyline into her gameplay, but it does result in Ray having a steep learning curve.

Still, since I actually went in-depth with her gameplay this time around – the first time around, I merely played the intro stage with her and proceeded to give up afterwards – I ended up coming to the conclusion that she’s actually way more fun to use than Beck. It even seems to reach the extent where even though her playstyle exacerbates some of the issues with the game itself, it almost seems to bend some of the dichotomy between the speedy actions of the character mechanics with the more restrictive level design to the point of breaking. The fact that time is constantly ticking down for poor Ray means that all the dangers present in each level, the ones that force Beck to take it slow, essentially need to be navigated through as quickly as possible. Beck has the capacity to gingerly progress through each level at a snail’s pace, but not Ray. The fact that her attack and dash are both capable of dealing damage and absorption means there’s no need to switch between firing weak pellets at enemies to weaken them enough to absorb with a pitiful dash “attack”, all while being sure not to get too overzealous with the dash button, lest poor Beck collide with any nearby fully conscious enemies and be harmed himself. Ray breaks the game …and it ends up better because of that.

Ray even has her own unique set of Special Weapons, referred to as “Variations” in-game. Of course, as opposed to modifying her entire body, they simply transform her clawed arm into new forms loosely based on the Mighty Numbers from which each new weapon was absorbed. My top pick would have to be Bat’s Gatling Shot, which effectively gives Ray a rapid-fire shot, that can even tear through the same obstacles as Beck’s Remote Cannon. Next comes Ray’s take on the Electric Seed, once again obtained from Dyna. Ray only fires off a single lightning rod this time, but it deals an amazing amount of damage if it latches onto an enemy… or just sends a constant barrage of crawling electric orbs if it locks onto a wall, the floor or the ceiling. Coming in third is Mic’s Drill Anchor. This attack fires off a drill-tipped line, which deals massive damage, so long as any part of the attack is touching an enemy. It can also grapple onto ledges, allowing Ray to zip over to them. Then there’s Liquid Nitrogen, obtained after defeating Cryo. It lobs a maximum of three ice balls at enemies, which bounce upon hitting the floor or a wall, and deal freezing damage to anything it touches. Unfortunately, more attacks can’t be fired until all three are active, which makes placing them for maximum damage important. Pyro’s weapon gets a significant upgrade over Beck’s version with his Ignite Gear. It’s similar to Ray’s standard attack but tacks on a moderately-sized fiery explosion to each of her slashes. Sixth place goes to the Bloody Squall Ray obtains from Brand. It’s similar to Beck’s Sword Slash, which isn’t really that impressive when you consider that Ray’s already got a melee attack. At least it still does incredible damage on anyone weak to it. Also, charging it off lets off a cinematic attack that slices and dices enemies for a decent chunk of damage. Phantom Mode, which is obtained by defeating Shade, barely counts as a weapon. Rather, holding down the attack button renders Ray intangible at the cost of weapon energy. Absorbing enemies from a dash while it’s active does grant her some extra weapon energy though. And coming dead last is Avi’s Hunter’s Aim. Enabling it surrounds Ray with a big blue reticle, which generates crosshairs around any enemies that are in-range. This allows her dash to home in on any of these targets, while turning the energy effects surrounding her green, rather than their traditional red. However, this can absolutely backfire on the player if they’re not paying attention to whatever Ray’s currently focused on. At least it’s still good for taking out anything weak to No. 6’s element.

Graphically speaking, the game isn’t particularly impressive, but I think the quality of the game’s art direction was undersold as well. The sad truth is that the game’s massive release scope ended up hurting everything: they aimed for graphics that would be capable of running on the Nintendo 3DS, a decision that only became a tragic irony when that version never ended up surfacing. Despite all that, I actually like some of the game’s designs. Sure, Beck himself was a bit of a letdown, but the Mighty Numbers’ designs themselves are something I enjoyed a fair amount. They weren’t limited to the conventions that most MegaMan boss line-ups often limit themselves by, leading to a cast of varied shapes and sizes. The enemy designs were also interesting, opting for simpler geometric shapes, befitting robots built from an almost magical material. And even if Dr. White and Dr. Sanda’s designs were a bit of a letdown, I absolutely loved the looks of Dr. Blackwell and especially Gregory Graham. There are also various moments where it looks like the in-game lighting used in certain environments feels a bit too “realistic” for some of the game’s more abstract settings, but this really doesn’t come up as often as one might expect.

However, what I can’t abide by is MN9’s failure to abide by the most important rule necessary to render 2.5D games: readability. It’s not uncommon for the game’s backgrounds to essentially spill into the foreground, not only distracting the player, but also making it impossible to tell where platforms begin and end. I feel like I don’t need to explain why that’s a terrible flaw for a game that relies as much on precision platforming as Mighty No. 9 does. Hell, even the 2D gameplay segments in MegaMan X7 managed to handle that issue better than Mighty No. 9 did. To make matters even worse, there are also cases where the hurtboxes of various attacks and obstacles don’t line up well with their associated visuals. Pyrogen’s explosion attacks are a key example of this issue, where damage can be inflicted even when it appears that Beck is outside his blast radius. There is also a section where various oil silos are toppled in his level and it seems that they instantly kill Beck even before the point in the animation where they should be landing on him. But the worst example of this stems from Dynatron’s stage, where the player is forced to crouch-dash beneath two glowing turbines with pixel-perfect accuracy to avoid an instant kill. It’s literally impossible to tell where the death zone begins and ends, to figure out the exact point you have to reach where death can be completely avoided. It’s already a bad enough segment from a gameplay perspective alone but toss in confusing visuals and it becomes at least ten times worse.

Personally, I think the game’s music and sound design is the best part of the game. While most of the soundtrack was composed by Manami Matsumae (composer for the original MegaMan) and Inti Creates’ own Ippo Yamada, contributions were also made by MM2 sound programmer Takashi Tateishi, Masahiro Aoki (who previously composed for Capcom’s Monster Hunter and Sengoku BASARA series, as well as… _{Rockman XOver}) and our old friend Katsunori Yoshino. Better still, the game’s music comes in two flavors: a modern synth-based soundtrack and one that embodies a more “8-bit” sound, transcribed by Tatsuhiko “Tappy” Kasuga and Bunpei “bun” Nagahama. Personally, I prefer the former. But that doesn’t mean that the retro version of each sound perfectly emulates that classic NES sound in a way that most arrangements in this style fall short. It’s just that having more complex instrumentation leads to a much fuller sound with regards to the melodies themselves. Having said that, I’m not really a fan of the game’s main leitmotif, but everything else ranges from good to excellent. As with last time, I’ll pick out half a dozen tracks to spotlight: the main boss theme “Allies Obstruct”; “Beyond the Watery Vortex”, which plays in Cryosphere’s stage; Seismic’s stage theme “Rush Into the Mine”; “The Machine Draws Near”, which plays in the second-to-last stage; “Crimson Stronghold”, which plays in Battalion’s level and the final boss theme, “Trinity”. In addition to composing some of the game’s music, Ippo Yamada took the lead as sound producer and also worked alongside Katsunori Yoshino and Kotaro Yamada on the sound effects themselves.

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I also liked the game’s voice acting. If you think that sounds weird, take into account that I also loved the in-game English voice work in MegaMan 8. Now granted, I only listened to the English side of things, but I’m impressed with some of the talent Comcept was able to bring together to work on the English side of things. The names may not sound familiar to many of you, but I absolutely guarantee that if you’ve watched anything animated in the last 15 years, chances are you’ve heard Steve Blum, Fred Tatasciore or Yuri Lowenthal’s work before. I think the only voice that really stands out as off-putting to me would be Jason Spisak’s work as Dr. White… and that’s only if they weren’t trying to convey a cold and stand-offish personality. I’ve heard people complain about Cryo being “annoying” and Call being completely “deadpan”… but I mean, that’s what the characters were. Cryosphere was noted as a prankster and Call’s lack of emotion actually gets brought up in the game, as a foil to the Mighty Numbers’ more humanized personalities. Honestly, what bugs me about the voice acting is that there are times when it gets distracting – like that bit during the Pyrogen boss fight where Dr. White starts talking over Pyro’s audio cues, right when he starts using his instant kill attack. Regardless, I saw more to like about the English voice work than there was to hate and even to those who disagree, it’s still impressive that they managed to score three languages’ worth of voice acting work, including Japanese and French voiceovers to boot.

Having said that, the in-game cutscenes are pretty laughable. The in-game models don’t really seem primed for the pantomime the developers attempted to perform with them. Usually, they all just keep the same expressions on their faces, no matter what their current mood is. It’s basically the equivalent of watching a first (or maybe second, if I’m being generous) attempt at stop-motion animation using stock action figures… except using 3D models, which are capable of far more precise movement. For the game’s ending – and Ray’s entire campaign – the game opts to tell its story through 2D “CG” still frames, which honestly look a lot better by comparison, at least in terms of both staging and dynamic poses. It kind of makes me wish the game’s entire story had been told like that… but I can understand why Comcept opted for an inferior approach: various games that opted to use “slideshow” presentations to depict their story were lambasted by mainstream audiences and journalists alike, who decried the practice as lazy. If you don’t believe me, look up any online discussion regarding the endings in either version of Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

As Beck works to rescue his siblings from the affliction that drove them all berserk, Dr. White slowly pieces together the source of the infection, only to realize that it was his own doing. More specifically, the corrupted code stemmed from one of his earliest creations, CDN1201: “Trinity”, which he developed back when he was working at Cherry Dynamics. She was designed with the power to assimilate other robots to use their abilities, but the project was scrapped years ago… by none other than Dr. Blackwell, when he was still the company’s CTO. To make matters worse, just as all eight of the Mighty Numbers have recovered, an entire CherryDyn factory ended up being affected by the outbreak, manufacturing berserk robots en masse. Though SANDA Technologies and CherryDyn are rival companies, Beck and the others are willing to lend a hand and help stop this oncoming disaster… but not before Dr. White asks why Mr. Graham is so sure that Dr. Blackwell is behind this attack – and Graham deflects the question, insulting both scientists in the process.

With more questions than answers, the group decides to split up: Dr. White will accompany his Mighty Numbers as they handle the situation at the CherryDyn facility, while Dr. Sanda and Call head to the maximum-security prison where Blackwell’s being held, to question him about his involvement (if any) in this outbreak of malfunctioning robots. Dr. Sanda is downright terrified by the idea but downplays that fear by noting his surprise that William didn’t want to see his former boss himself, to which the young scientist calmly states that he’d be quite content never seeing Blackwell again for as long as he lives. As Beck and his family take out the CherryDyn factory’s core, Call infiltrates the prison, sneaking past the robotic guards. As she and Dr. Sanda continue on, she comments that Beck acts with far more hesitation with regards to combat, something she and most other robots lack. A transmission from Avi only brings up further questions – all of Dr. White’s creations have their own uniquely strange eccentric behaviors present in their design and none of them seem to make them any better at their functions. As the CherryDyn situation finally gets under control, Dr. White leaves his creations behind, stating that he needs to meet with someone himself.

Meanwhile, Dr. Sanda and Call finally meet with Dr. Blackwell personally, who is surprisingly fully aware of what’s going on outside. He even curses Graham for activating Trinity… again. Sanda is shocked to hear that Mr. Graham is behind everything, but Blackwell explains that he tried to use her to “disrupt the weapons industry” before and was likely attempting the same thing this time too. He even curses that all stopping Graham’s last attempt at activating Trinty got him was the life sentence he’s currently serving. In other words, the so-called “cyber terrorism” attack that ruined CherryDyn’s former CTO’s reputation was quite the opposite. Blackwell then explains that not only can Trinity reprogram robots, she can absorb them as well, allowing her to expand herself infinitely and that if she has been activated, they’re already doomed.

Elsewhere, Dr. White meets with Mr. Graham in-person, correctly deducing that he was the one who activated Trinity, scolding him for once again trying to blame Dr. Blackwell for his actions, all in the pursuit of money. Graham weakly deflects, claiming that he was never warned about this specific functionality of Trinity and blames everyone he possibly can, including her creators… and his too, for good measure. Dr. White admits that Trinity was a failure, but he used what he learned from the mistakes he made with her creation to help complete Beck, and that he is their only hope for survival. With that proclamation, Graham quickly recognizes Dr. White’s true identity: he’s Bill Blackwell, the ex-CTO’s son. As he leaves Graham’s office, William denounces that name, proclaiming he hasn’t been “Bill Blackwell” for a long time.

After completing their respective investigations, the doctors and their creations see that the Battle Colosseum is steadily disintegrating, being absorbed into Trinity. Will explains his plan to send Beck into the belly of the beast. But while Dr. Sanda is absolutely shocked by what appears to be a suicide mission, Beck, now confident from saving the other Mighty Numbers, agrees to it without hesitation. Dr. White implores Beck to not simply destroy Trinity, but rather teach her how to control her powers. But as he comes face-to-face with Trinity, he finds only a massive orb of Xels, surrounding her core. But as Beck keeps absorbing her, she mingles with his programming as well, learning from him and gaining self-awareness. Awareness over what she is and what she’s done… and the disgust and anguish that comes with it. Trinity transforms into an even larger, more imposing form and attacks Beck, the source of her enlightenment, but the young hero emerges victorious, purifying her core and forcing her to yield. She transforms into her original, somewhat humanoid form… but this causes what remains of the Colosseum to begin collapsing, as it’s no longer under her control. Fortunately, Dr. White sends the other Mighty Numbers to recover their siblings before the colosseum falls down.

From there, we move onto a quick montage. The Mighty Numbers and Trinity all reconcile as one big happy family. Trinity is rebuilt into an even more humanoid form… that looks kind of familiar. And Beck has finally gained the confidence to excel in the rebuilt Battle Colosseum. However, there’s one final scene after the (nearly four hour-long) credits. Despite never wanting to see him ever again, Bill Blackwell William White can’t help but visit his father in prison, to gloat about successfully rehabilitating Trinity with Beck’s heart and how this advancement will revolutionize the science of robotics. Benedict isn’t hearing it though, claiming that cleaning up his own mess doesn’t make White a visionary. Besides, he got lucky. He also warns that giving robots the ability to evolve by their own free will won’t guarantee that they’ll act ethically. He remains unconvinced of this breakthrough and punctuates his skepticism by calling him “Bill”. This leads to an uncharacteristically angry outburst from the otherwise stoic William White, who storms out of Benedict’s cell, claiming that he’ll prove he was right… to his father and everyone else who ever doubted him. As we fade to black, Benedict muses on whether or not this “Mighty No. 9” was a blessing or a curse…

Usually, I review the game after I’m done discussing the gameplay, but in Mighty No. 9’s case, I decided to change things up and save my critique for the end. My reasons are a bit odd, but even five years later, my relationship with this game is an unusual one. From a mechanical standpoint, this game is mediocre at best… and I mean, mediocre. I’ve literally played worse MegaMan games before. Hell, I’ve played worse mainline MegaMan games that were officially sanctioned by Capcom themselves, some of which were literally snuck past Inafune during his stewardship of the series. On the other hand, I’ve also played “tribute” games that lacked the license and Inafune himself that turned out far better. In the end, the gameplay seemed to be strung together with good intentions and little else and the visuals are disappointing at best and indecipherable at worst. Having said that, I actually did love the soundtrack, the world-building and even the game’s plot… somehow. Like, if they fix up the gameplay and opt for a different, more legible visual style, I’d still be all for a Mighty No. 9-2.

Unfortunately, given the game’s terrible reputation, I don’t think that’ll ever happen. I couldn’t even find physical sales figures for the game’s Japanese release. Chances are, the vast majority of people who own the game, only do so due to the good press MN9 amassed when it was still being crowdfunded and just decided not to get a refund when things went soft. You know, like your humble author. Yet, despite all that, Keiji Inafune did stay true to one thing: he completely owned the failure and disaster that was Mighty No. 9. Of course, I think a big part of the reason why Inafune was the only one ruined by the project’s fallout is because one of his main collaborators were well on their way to redeeming themselves with another project all their own…

Azure Striker Gunvolt 2

Considering the relative success of the original Azure Striker Gunvolt, it seemed inevitable that Inti Creates would greenlight a sequel. After all, it was their first major release that wasn’t published by Capcom since 2002 and despite owing a lot of inspiration to their work on the MegaMan series, it was still its own original IP that leaned more into their own unique takes on the franchise than its preexisting conventions. It was also the first game they ever self-published and given just how well that turned out, it only seemed right to grow their brand with a direct sequel.

Unlike the original game, there’s actually an abundance of trivia regarding the second game in the series, with factoids surrounding the game’s development and even secrets hidden within the final release. The game was first teased on February 28^th, 2015 at their Inti Creates Fan Festa event. Aside simply announcing ASGV2, they also showcased a single piece of concept art, depicting a mysterious masked figure. Early on in the game’s development, it was decided that there would only be a single playable character: Copen, Gunvolt’s rival from the previous game. The concept art revealed alongside the game’s announcement was originally intended to be Gunvolt himself, who had taken over the Sumeragi Group and would serve as the sequel’s major antagonist. According to series director Yoshihisa Tsuda, Gunvolt would’ve only been unlocked as a playable character after clearing the game normally… and that his boss fight would’ve involved using 1000 Glaives to transform. Apparently, scenario writer Toshiaki Tai believes that Gunvolt could not continue as a heroic figure after the events of the first game and assumed he’d only be able to resurface as a villain. According to an interview found in the Armed Blue: Gunvolt Official Complete Works artbook, when Tsuda informed him that Gunvolt would be serving as a major protagonist in the sequel, Tai was hesitant on how to continue the story, but ultimately decided to build a relationship with a new female character to “ground him”.

Likewise, Copen’s original playstyle was significantly different from the more “MegaMan-like” depiction featured in the final game. Apparently, several fans of the original game wanted a more conventional playstyle, but the development staff openly attempted to balance the traditional MegaMan gameplay with enough unique gimmicks to establish itself as something unique. Likewise, his Bullitt Dash maneuver was a reaction to feedback regarding how complicated the process of tagging enemies with darts and firing electricity at them with a separate attack to deal damage was. In response, the staff originally believed that “it’s scary to hit a foe using the dash so it actually makes it harder”. Likewise, Copen’s shield from the first game was dropped, due to how complex it made the gameplay.

After deciding that Gunvolt would appear in the game as a playable character from the start, Inti Creates toyed with the idea of having three playable characters: the returning Gunvolt, Copen and Xiao Wu, a aspiring QUILL agent from their Chinese branch. Eventually, Xiao was dropped as a playable character and ended up as a supporting cast member in Gunvolt’s scenario. The game’s story was also significantly different: Japan’s national defenses would’ve fallen after Nova’s death and the country would be attacked by seven other nations, operating under the name “General Headquarters” (GHQ). Their invasion would begin with a massive missile strike, which Gunvolt would have to stop. While the idea was scrapped, the concept did inspire the game’s final villains, who were all named after various types of missiles and known collectively as the “Grimwald Seven” (G7) in the Japanese version, as an homage to this scrapped concept. While the main bosses in the first game were each based on one of the Seven Deadly Sins, Gunvolt 2’s bosses were based on classic European fairy tales and represented the pieces of a chessboard.

The game wouldn’t reemerge publicly until the Nintendo Direct on March 3^rd, 2016, accompanied by a full trailer released on Inti Creates’ own YouTube channel. The game was originally set for a “Summer 2016” release, exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS. This would result in a Japanese release on August 25^th that year, followed by a September 29^th release everywhere else in the world. While the game would be known as “Azure Striker Gunvolt 2” internationally, the game’s Japanese title was “Armed Blue: Gunvolt 2 // SOU”, with that last word usually being rendered as “爪”, a Kanji character meaning “claw” or “nail”. This would be accompanied by the “Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack”, a physical compilation of the first two games. While the Japanese release was handled by Inti Creates themselves and released simultaneously with the eShop release of ASGV2, the North American release came out on October 4^th, 2016, and was handled by Yacht Club Games, best known for the indie darling Shovel Knight. In fact, this partnership was actually hinted at earlier than one might expect: Shovel Knight himself appeared as a secret boss encounter in the original release of Gunvolt 2, which could be unlocked via the Shovel Knight Amiibo.

The following year, a Switch release of the Striker Pack would be announced at the fifth Bitsummit convention. This version would actually tweak both games slightly, incorporating all of the DLC from the second game into the base package, upgrading the 30 FPS framerate to a full 60, replacing all of the event graphics and in-game text with higher resolution versions, adding HD Rumble support and even backporting various features from Gunvolt 2 into the first game. This version of the game was first released digitally on August 31^st, 2017, with a same-day physical release in Japan handled by Inti Creates themselves and Western physical releases handled by Nighthawk Interactive on November 21^st in North America and December 1^st in Europe. On January 31^st, 2020, a PlayStation 4 version of the Striker Pack was announced to be released that year, though it would be omitting the Shovel Knight content, due to a lack of Amiibo support. This version would eventually release worldwide digitally on April 23^rd, with Inti Creates doing another simultaneous physical release in their region. Nighthawk Interactive produced another physical version for the West as well but was unable to meet their original April 28 release date. Due to complications surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, they were forced to push back the Western physical release to June 30^th that same year. And finally, after years of waiting, Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 finally came to PC via Steam that year on June 22^nd, using the PS4 Striker Pack release as the basis for the port. The Steam version of ASGV1 also received some updates back on May 11^th, 2018, to bring it more in-line with the Switch release found in the Striker Pack.

One final piece of trivia regarding the PC release is that it’s the only other version (aside from the original 3DS release) to include a unique attack for one of the game’s later bosses. To counter said attack, the player must essentially sing karaoke to an instrumental of Gunvolt’s Anthem to counter it. As such, the attack only appears when a microphone is detected. Otherwise, they just replace it with the corresponding attack that is typically used on Copen in that context, like the Switch and PS4 releases did. I’m honestly just surprised that Inti Creates took the time to reimplement it into the PC version, particularly since they still removed the Shovel Knight crossover content.

An undisclosed amount of time has passed since the events of the first game. After The Muse merged with him, Gunvolt boasts incredible power, unlike that of any other Adept in existence. Yet despite all of that, the events that took place on Firmament – where both the girl he’d come to care for died in his arms and he was forced to end the life of the mentor he viewed like a father – still haunt him. Since then, he’s managed to make new friends: a kind-hearted girl named Quinn [Ouka] Sakurazaki, an heiress to a massive financial conglomerate that Gunvolt rescued from a murderous Adept; and Xiao Wu, a former QUILL agent who has been serving as Gunvolt’s intermediary with the organization. Despite not having any Septimal abilities of her own, Quinn seems to be the only other person aside from GV that can see or hear Joule, while Xiao Wu decides to use his connections with QUILL to gather information for GV, after fleeing from his home country when some unknown evil forces that wiped out his unit.  Forces that may be making their way to Japan, leading Gunvolt to investigate…

Meanwhile, Copen managed to survive his seemingly fatal encounter with Asimov, though it would cost him his shield and the revolver he kept as a keepsake from his father. However, he ended up using what he learned from his encounters with Adepts to create more advanced equipment, as well as a combat support droid known as “Lola” [RoRo], who is capable of copying and reproducing Septimal abilities even more reliably than Copen’s old weaponry. But while Copen seems to be fixated on ending the scourge of the Adepts, he also serves as the caretaker to Mytyl [Michiru], his bedridden twin sister, who has been frail for her entire life and even lost her voice after a failed surgery, forcing her to communicate by text. The family’s maid Nori [Nowa] also provides support to the young siblings, helping with household duties and serving as Copen’s operator when he’s out on missions. However, one night, some mysterious assailants break into the Kamizono household and abduct Mytyl. With dedicated ferocity, the young Adept Slayer gives chase…

Gunvolt’s investigation leads him to the “Seraph”, a Sumeragi airship, where he witnesses one of their prototype mechs being hijacked by an unknown culprit and sent hurtling down out of the sky, aimed directly at a Sumeragi building. However, as he makes his way to the ship’s control room with Joule’s help, the airship begins to “digitize” and right before he reaches the mech’s remote control, a Proto Legion JB – an incomplete prototype of a next-generation Sumeragi mech – appears seemingly out of nowhere and attacks. Yet, even after dispatching it, the Seraph’s controls seem to be locked, leaving him completely helpless to stop the oncoming attack, while wondering if it’s possible there’s an Adept behind this trap…

Elsewhere, in the city, Copen continues to pursue the mysterious assailants that kidnapped his sister, tracking them to a Sumeragi building of all places. Suddenly, he’s attacked by various Mechanicus robots – ones that are, surprisingly unaffiliated with the Sumeragi Group – before coming face-to-face with… Zonda? The Adept he single-handedly “defeated” some time ago stands before him, seemingly no worse for wear. As it turns out, their death was merely an illusion and Zonda flirtatiously challenges Copen to keep pace with them. However, as he gives chase, a Fazent mech destroys the roof of a building Copen is standing on, sending him plummeting inside. Fortunately, his new Flashshield ability leaves him completely unharmed. Eventually, Copen attacks the Fazent head-on and uses his new artillery to take it down with no problem. Unfortunately, the Seraph, where Mytyl is being held, is still coming down towards the building…

As Gunvolt tries to find a means of stopping the Seraph from crashing, he happens upon a strange robot, holding a young girl in his arm. But as he approaches them, his link with Joule strangely begins to weaken. Nevertheless, he charges in and defeats the culprit with a single attack. Upon further inspection of the unconscious girl, GV notices that she looks similar to Joule, well, Joule’s body before she died and took on Lumen’s form. Meanwhile, Copen notices Gunvolt trying to stop the falling airship with his Septimal powers… and fires at him. And as Joule’s powers begin to wane, Copen’s attack obliterates the airship, preventing further calamity. Gunvolt thanks Copen for his help, only for the self-proclaimed Adept Slayer to demand that GV returns his sister, pointing his new revolver at the Azure Striker without hesitation.

Suddenly, both youths are frozen to the ground, unable to move. A mysterious figure stands before them, who Copen accuses of being a Sumeragi Adept, an accusation that offends the man standing before them. Zonda returns, introducing this new Adept as Tenjian, the leader of The Seven [Grimwald Seven], their own personal squadron of protectors. Upon appearing on the scene, Zonda quickly captures Joule in his Septimal Mirror before Tenjian shatters her right before GV’s eyes, quickly collecting the shards and imploring Zonda to ditch their “ridiculous disguise”. With the Sumeragi Group falling out of relevance and no longer worth exploiting, Zonda complies. He shifts from a full-grown androgynous adult man… into a young girl, even younger than Gunvolt and Copen! She proclaims herself as the “Oracle” of Eden, a new nation where Adepts can live in peace, free from the oppression of humanity. Copen compares this goal to QUILL, but Zonda corrects him: QUILL’s goals were far too small-scale compared to what Eden has planned. With that, Zonda bides her quarry farewell, leaving them to Tenjian.

As Gunvolt is also an Adept, Tenjian offers him the chance to work alongside The Seven to build Eden, but GV is still incensed over what they did to Joule and rejects their plea. With that, Tenjian decides instead to test the Glaive he was given on Gunvolt, boasting how powerful he feels using it… before Gunvolt still manages to defeat him, causing the Glaive to crumble. With that, Lola manages to tackle Tenjian, recovering a single shard of the mirror, before the icy Adept makes his getaway, still holding the eight remaining shards. But while all hope seems lost, Gunvolt hears a familiar voice calling out to him – Joule, now much smaller and weaker than before. Despite taking most of her power, the Muse’s consciousness still remains with Gunvolt.

Meanwhile, back at Copen’s home base, Lola is still trying to decipher the shard they recovered, while Copen checks on his sister. Suddenly, Lola’s abilities to copy Septimal skills begins to resonate with the shard, transforming her from a mere pod into something far more human, embodying the powers of the Muse herself. What’s even more mysterious is that Lola’s transformation also somehow manages to improve Mytyl’s condition.

With Gunvolt seeking to restore Joule to her full glory and Copen fixated on healing his sister by any means necessary, they both decide to take on The Seven, each of whom is holding one of Joule’s shards. Gunvolt sets his sights on Gibril, the downright sadistic “Full Metal Jacket” [Iron-Blood Carved Dress], who uses her “Metallon” [Metallica] Septima to control metal; Milas [Nimrod], “The Aquadynamic Merman” [Elegant Merman] who has command over water itself with his Septima “Ichor” [Liquid] and fights to protect the ocean from human pollution; and “The Serial Experiment” [Boundary Lines’ Cyber King] Teseo, an internet troll who uses his “Hack the Planet” [World Hack] to transform real-world objects into computer data (and vice versa). Copen, on the other hand, focuses on Ghauri, “The Prism Master” […Crystal Shoes Dance Faction]  who uses his Septima “Prism Cataclysm” […Prism] to generate crystalline structures which he incorporates into his street dancing routine; the much-beloved astrologist Desna [Nike], who uses her Septima “Splitting Ends” [Tangle Hair] as “The Starstruck Beauty” [Tower’s Beautifully Haired Angel] and “The Pygmalion Furnace” [String-spinning Operator] Asroc, using his “Marionette” [Puppetwire] Septima to control his gigantic puppet-like creations like war machines to exact revenge on humanity for murdering his family.

Both of them are also trying to track down Tenjian, “The Frozen Blade” [Absolute Icy Blade], who used his “Permafrost” [Super Freezing] Septima to trap them earlier. The swordsman is Zonda’s most loyal servant, as he is not only her adoptive older brother, but the strongest of her Seven. But what will the creation of a nation for Adepts mean for the rest of humanity? And are Zonda’s aspirations as benevolent as she says, or is it all just another one of her illusions?

With two playable characters and Keiji Inafune retaining his roles as Executive Producer and Action Supervisor, there’s an obvious comparison to be made to the post-SNES MegaMan X games. However, Gunvolt 2 doesn’t opt for the separate campaigns of X4 or the ability to switch characters on the fly like the second half of the MMX series. Instead, ASGV2 opts for something that reminds me of the Game Boy Color spinoff Xtreme 2, opting for two separate mini campaigns, both present on a single save file. Gunvolt and Copen split the intro stage, with Gunvolt taking the first half and the major boss fight and the second half of the stage goes to Copen. From there, Copen and GV have four stages to choose from: three unique stages exclusive to either character, while they both share the Frozen City stage with Tenjian as the stage boss, while the other playable character serves as the level’s mid-boss. From there, they face off with the other character’s boss fights – first in an intermission stage that consists entirely of a battle with one of the remaining Seven, while the other two serve as bosses in the first two fortress levels. From there, their paths converge, facing down identical trials… well, aside from the boss rush, which pits GV and Copen against the bosses they fought in unique stages. I kind of wish that Inti Creates had gone for a bit more variation between the two characters’ sides of the campaign. But considering how they decided to build stages that played to each of their strengths in the first place, I hope Capcom was taking notes on how Inti handled a split between multiple characters if they ever decide to make another MMX game.

For the most part, Gunvolt’s gameplay is unchanged from the first game. He does have some new Septimal Skills, some of which don’t even require any SP to use (and consequently, don’t lock in Kudos). The most major change to his gameplay is the fact that his Bolts only determine the type of shot, the number of tags he can place is determined by the new “Clip” equipment, allowing for greater customizability than the first game – in GV1, the number of tags was automatically determined by the equipped Bolt. More tags means that more enemies can be tagged at once, leading to higher score bonuses, but also results in less damage when activating Flashfield. The opposite is also true: some clips decrease the total number of tags Gunvolt can use at once but increase the attack power of his Flashfield.

More prominent changes were made to the game’s underlying mechanics. The Kudos System has been overhauled significantly. Players are now able to select between three “difficulty” options at the start of each stage. “Fearless” works just like it did in the first game, where getting hit immediately reduces the player’s Kudos to zero, but significantly increases the rate at which the score multiplies. “Gutless”, on the other hand, makes it so that Kudos can never be lost, but compensates for that by significantly nerfing the score multiplier. “Cautious”, the game’s new default option, is a happy medium between the two: players can take three hits before losing their Kudos and still have a moderate score multiplier in place. The game’s “story mode” – that is, the in-stage conversations between the player character, their support, their operator and even the stage boss – can also be turned on and off from the options menu, a new feature that was likely inspired by the original truncated English release on the 3DS. My favorite change, however, comes in how GV2 handles its Challenges. Instead of activating a maximum of 3 challenges at any given time, all challenges are constantly active until they’re completed, which just makes clearing them so much easier. I really wish that was one of the changes they backported to the first game in the Striker Pack.

With that out of the way, let’s address the most extensive change to the gameplay – the second playable character, Copen. Copen’s playstyle is unique, but it does conform to some of the rules established by Gunvolt himself. Copen’s main attack relies upon tagging to improve its damage output; he has a shield with the same defensive properties as GV’s Flashfield, allowing him to negate physical attacks; and thanks to Lola copying the “Muse” Septima, all the abilities Joule grants Gunvolt are available to Copen as well, including the Kudos mechanic and the possibility to revive after dying with Anthem. The major difference there being strictly cosmetic: Lola does her own covers on the stage themes Joule sings, and sings a unique song when she activates Anthem (“IGNITER”), while Joule just sings a new version of the song she sang in the first game. Also, instead of individual pieces of equipment, Copen can apply “programs” to his White Tiger armor, which grant it unique abilities. These programs have to be developed the same way as Gunvolt’s equipment, costing a set number of Vig and various materials, which can still be obtained by completing a stage or clearing challenges. Leveling up Copen occasionally increases the armor’s maximum space for programs, but memory upgrades can also be found as item pick-ups in various levels. Copen also has a couple of Special Skills, akin to Gunvolt’s Septimal Skills. His “Shred Storm” [Strike Saw] performs multiple slashes that cover the entire screen but isn’t quite as damaging as most of GV’s offensive skills. Meanwhile, while the game is paused, Copen gains the ability to heal himself, which grants him full health. Using both of these skills initiates a much longer cooldown compared to Gunvolt’s Special Skills, but that’s the only cost associated with them. Waiting for Lola’s meter to replenish takes way less effort than recovering skill points with Gunvolt.

Aside from that, however, Copen’s gameplay is significantly different from that of the Azure Striker. The Adept Slayer’s primary means of attack is by firing Photon Lasers from his energy revolver, the “Border II”. While the lasers themselves are about as wide as Gunvolt’s standard bolts, they do significantly more damage. But just like GV, there’s a way to increase his attack power… which is somewhat interesting. The first time I played the game, I considered Copen to be a sort of “Anti-Beck”: while Beck would use a dash attack to finish off weakened enemies, Copen can instead use his “Bullitt Dash” [Blitz Dash] to tag enemies, locking onto them and increasing the damage he inflicts with each attack. The Bullitt Dash can also be used as an air-dash, allowing Copen to move in eight directions. However, each dash uses a “Bullitt” and Copen can only hold a maximum of three at a time – the meter indicating how many Bullitts Copen has available is in the same part of the screen as Gunvolt’s SP meter. Fortunately, a successful tag immediately replenishes the Bullitt used to perform it and while standing on solid ground, the player can reload a full stock of Bullitts by double-tapping down on the D-Pad, just like replenishing Gunvolt’s EP.

The EX Weapons, his other major mechanic, should be a familiar concept to long-time fans of the Classic MegaMan and MegaMan X series. Upon defeating one of the main Adept bosses, Lola will assimilate their data and produce a new weapon based on their powers. As far as I’m concerned, this is probably what Inti Creates was referring to when they said they were adding a character with a “MegaMan-inspired” playstyle. Fortunately, there is precedent that justifies this ability: both of Copen’s boss fights from the original game involved him using attacks based on the bosses Gunvolt had defeated previously… as well as Zonda. Copen starts the game with one EX Weapon at his disposal, the electricity-based “Stellar Spark” [Spark Stellar] – apparently obtained recovered from Asimov’s remains after the events of ASGV1. Each of the Seven has their own EX weapon, giving Copen a grand total of eight Weapons. EX Weapons can be fired freely, but also lock-on to tagged targets for more direct attacks. All the weapons rely on a single energy gauge located below Copen’s health gauge and it operates on a stamina principle: not using the weapon will allow the meter to refill but exhausting it means waiting for a full recharge to use them again. However, having a full weapon meter is also what allows Copen to use his Flashshield to negate physical attacks. To drive the MegaMan connections just that much further, bosses and even regular enemies are weak to specific weapons.

And you know what new weapons means? New rankings! My absolute favorite from Copen’s arsenal is the Ferrous Fangs [Iron Fang], which come courtesy of Gibril – who also happens to be my favorite member of the Seven. This weapon doesn’t seem particularly impressive, as it just fires off small red shots… but those shots just so happen to drain health from Copen’s enemies, replenishing his own. Next comes Teseo’s Broad Circuit […Wide Circuit], which fires off a volley of several green lasers in a pattern resembling circuitry. Coming in third is the Twintail Bunker […Tail Bunker], courtesy of the clairvoyant Desna. It releases a set of gigantic drills resembling Desna’s hair… and locking onto enemies also fires off a few small drill missiles that home in on the target. Asroc’s Vantage Raid [Vantage Rain] is my choice for fourth-best weapon. It fires off circles of energy that slice their targets. Honestly, it mainly gets the nod because of how many attacks you can get out of a single bar of meter. Coming in at number five is the Hailstorm Blade [Avalanche Sword], courtesy of Zonda’s icy onii-chan himself, Tenjian. The attack itself consists of close-ranged slashes of icy energy and locking onto enemies gives them a little additional range. Then there’s Milas’s Hydro Zapper, which fires off jets of water. In most cases, it seems kind of useless… but it does have the property to short out electricity, which turns out to be very helpful. In seventh place, there’s Copen’s default EX Weapon: the aforementioned Stellar Spark. It fires off beams of lightning straight ahead, but when locked onto an enemy, it surrounds them with a field electricity. Still, it’s no Flashfield, that’s for sure. And coming in dead last is Ghauri’s Prism Break, which just fires off crystal-shaped projectile… and has what may be the least accurate lock-on attack in the entire game. Prism Break can be charged to fire off larger crystals which can break through certain obstacles, but a single fully charged shot completely wipes out Copen’s weapon meter unless it’s been extended. In the end, it just doesn’t seem worthwhile.

Unlocking Gunvolt and Copen’s true endings also gives players access to “Special Missions”, allowing GV and Copen to play the other character’s exclusive levels, albeit with certain design alterations made to account for their different skill sets. The game also incorporates two “Runner Modes”, consisting of a score and time attack, which is unlocked after seeing one true ending. Better still, there was even DLC for the 3DS version that incorporated remixed stages, with boss fights against the Adept bosses from the original ASGV – giving the player the ability to fight them as Copen. There were also special lockets and programs that allow GV and Copen to replace their high Kudos songs with vocal tracks from the first game as well. Fortunately, these extras were incorporated into the base release of the Switch, PS4 and PC versions as unlockable bonuses.

Personally, I prefer the second Azure Striker Gunvolt over the original, but it’s definitely an acquired taste. I’ve heard some instances of criticism regarding the sequel decreasing the difficulty compared to the first game, though personally, I’d say the more prominent issue is that it’s a bit less balanced, with a massive spike at the end of the game compared to the rest of the game. Besides, if players didn’t like the original Gunvolt’s mechanics, they likely won’t like this game either. Likewise, if they did like the first ASGV but hate Copen’s gameplay, they probably won’t like ASGV2 as much as the previous game. Personally, I typically enjoy switching between the two characters and especially love how Inti Creates designed levels with both of their unique abilities in mind. And admittedly, I’m probably also biased because this game also finally gave us a “proper” boss fight with Zonda, the “lost” boss from the first game – sorry, Mighty Gunvolt, you had a good run.

Graphically speaking, very little has changed between this and the original Azure Striker Gunvolt. After all, they were both eShop titles released on the 3DS well past the point where the system’s capabilities were known. Of course, much like the previous game, this means that the later releases on stronger hardware are somewhat hampered by whatever limitations were present in the original game. Having said that, the CG artwork that shows up in the story segments does appear to be rendered in a higher resolution in the PC version, at least compared to the ones present in the first ASGV’s port. Inti Creates also deserves some kudos for implementing the HUD associated with Copen in a way that manages to come across as unique, while still using all the same areas as Gunvolt’s pre-established user interface from the previous game, which also carried over to ASGV2. While it may not seem that important, it does help when switching back-and-forth between the two characters, which was my general method of play through the game.

Just like with the first game and their spiritual ancestors, Gunvolt 2’s soundtrack is a joy to listen to. This time around, composition duties were shared between Ippo Yamada, Ryo Kawakami, Kotaro Yamada and Aoi Takeda. Takumi Sato apparently worked alongside the others as a sound designer, while Ippo retained his role from the previous game as the director and producer of the sound team and Kawakami pulled double duty as a sound engineer. The official soundtrack also credits Mina Hatazoe and Jake Kaufman, but their contributions to ASGV2 came by way of new arrangements of songs they originally composed for other works. One of the more interesting aspects of this game’s music is that Gunvolt and Copen have unique songs: their various victory jingles, intermission segments and even Tenjian’s stage has different music depending on which character is playing through it. While Gunvolt’s unique tracks fall in line with the series’ established sound, the songs exclusive to Copen’s have a harsher, techno sound to them, fitting for the brooding young scientist and his reliance on technology.

Likewise, while many of the special tracks that play when the player achieves at least 1000 Kudos are the same songs, playing as GV means that Joule (once again portrayed by Megu Sakuragawa) sings them in her traditional J-Pop inspired style, while Lola (played by Yurika Endo) sings them for Copen, with a harsher, almost vocoder-like sound to her voice – a stylistic choice likely inspired to her robotic nature – which fits in well with the more techno-infused takes on the same melodies. I think my descriptions illustrate my preference between the two performers, but honestly, they both sound nice and it’s still interesting to hear two different renditions of the same song.

Having said that, as with most of III’s soundtracks, it’s difficult for me to select a mere six tracks worthy of mention in this article. I guess in the interest of fairness, I’ll demote my favorite track “Crazy Mirrors’ Mad Melody” – the track that plays during the boss fight with the false Zonda – to an honorable mention, simply because of how much the track relies on their stage theme from the original ASGV. With that being said, my picks for GV2’s original compositions are “The Steel & Blood Masquerade”, which plays in Gibril’s Mysterious Manor stage; the music from the first Garden stage, “Utopia (Foreigner)”; “The Glowing Prism, the Collapsing Rhythm”, which plays on Ghauri’s Prism Highway level; the theme from Teseo’s Data Facility area, “The Mocking Cyber-labyrinth”; “Giant God Cleverness”, the boss theme for a couple boss fights with giant mechs and the character select theme, “Symptoms of a Harsh Battle (Prelude)”.

As for my favorite vocal tracks, I’ll be picking two from each songstress. In Joule’s case, I’m a fan of her takes on “Multi-Universe”, the special theme for Milas and Asroc’s stages and “A Flash of Azure”, which plays in the Frozen City. Meanwhile, Lola’s best tracks are probably “Vast Circle”, which plays in Gibril and Desna’s levels and “Iolite”, the song from Ghauri and Teseo. It’s actually kind of difficult to choose vocal tracks this time around, considering how many additional songs were added to Gunvolt 2 after the fact, whether through DLC or special songs added to each new Striker Pack release. However, overall, the best vocal track in the game for both singers is easily the game’s main theme, “Indigo Destiny”, which even serves as the true final boss theme with a special duet arrangement sung in tandem by Joule and Lola.

The game’s presentation hasn’t really changed much from the first game. Optional conversations play out during most of the levels and many of the game’s pivotal scenes play out either through static artwork or sprite-based pantomime. The optional conversations from the previous game also return, with Japanese voice acting intact (well, except Mytyl, for obvious reasons), and given the larger cast of supporting characters, they’re a little more fun to watch this time around.  One interesting difference compared to the first game is that because certain special skills have different names in the Japanese and English versions of the game, they actually got the voice actors to do alternate takes depending on the name used in each version. Sure, you’ll still hear characters refer to Copen as “Acura” or Zonda as “Pantera” in-game, but it’s still a nice touch all things considered.

The Steam version boasts improved visuals when compared to the PC port of the original Azure Striker Gunvolt, a change that was likely the consequence of being based on the console versions of ASGV2 present in the Striker Pack as opposed to being directly built from the original 3DS version. Still, across all the game’s re-releases, some art assets still suffer from pixelation artifacts due to the small resolution of the original release. I do still wish that when they updated the gameplay mechanics of the Steam version of Gunvolt 1 to bring it more in line with the Striker Pack, that they’d improved the other graphical assets to match what was available in the Switch and PS4 versions. But at least ASGV2 benefits from the improvements made to the console ports.

After taking down Tenjian and three of Zonda’s other protectors, our heroes are alerted to the fact that two of the remaining Seven have kidnapped Mytyl once again. But while one of the Adepts sacrifices their life to cover the other’s escape with the young girl in tow, they do manage to surmise the location of their base of operations: a facility known as The Garden [Belladen], located in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. From there, the Azure Striker and the Adept Slayer lay waste to Eden’s vast army of loyal soldiers, fight off Zonda’s two remaining protectors and even do battle with an experimental mech stolen from the Sumeragi Group, the Plasma Legion. But once they reach the inner sanctum of The Garden, they encounter a strange mirror. After entering it, they find the late Tenjian lying in wait, eager for revenge after his death. As it turns out, Zonda’s powers are so vast that she can make copies of her fallen comrades, with all their memories intact. And after taking down the frigid fencer, they’re met with three more mirrors, each containing a specter of the Adepts while recovering Joule’s shards. After dispatching them once again, our hero finally meets with Zonda, who transforms into the guise she used to infiltrate Sumeragi’s forces and attacks – meaning Inti finally gave me the boss fight they cheated me out of in first game!

But just when it seems that the young warriors have finally fought taken down Eden’s leader, her ruse shatters like a windowpane. As it turns out, that fight was just another one of her many illusions and the real Zonda is waiting for them in her innermost sanctum, with an unconscious Mytyl laying unconscious before her. But just as our hero prepares to confront the precocious priestess for the last time, their sidekick has every last Mirror Shard they’ve collected torn from their grasp – Lola’s Muse transformation is disabled, while Joule literally fades from existence. Pulling the pieces into the unconscious Mytyl, then combining with her allows Zonda to transcend her already powerful Septima, transforming it into “Reverie Mirror” [Reverie Boundary (Wonderland)], capable of manifesting her illusions into reality. Hovering about the awestruck young warrior as a twisted fey personification of the Diva Project itself, the Oracle of Eden decides to test her new power by destroying the pitiful wretch standing before her. She even boasts to Gunvolt that unlike Nova’s attempts to fuse with the Muse, this one is permanent, and his words can no longer reach Joule. Despite this, even with the Muse’s song working against them, our hero’s remaining Septimal abilities (be they natural or copied) manage to overcome Zonda’s wrath, who cries out to Tenjian with her last breath, like the scared hopeless child she is. But this victory comes at a grave cost: it appears that Mytyl has fallen dead during the conflict. As Copen cradles his sister’s corpse, Gunvolt is left in a stupor. The young scientist’s sorrow is quickly replaced with rage, pointing his gun at the Azure Striker, blaming all Adepts for his sister’s death, especially Gunvolt. As GV points his own pistol back at the Adept Slayer, we fade to black…

…that is, unless the player saw these events play out from both perspectives. Then, they’ll be treated to a duel to the death between Gunvolt and Copen – all while playing as their selected character. But just when it seems that a victor has been determined, something strange happens. Mytyl begins speaking …with Joule’s voice. She rises from the ground, bathed in an ethereal light before spawning two wings of light: one blue like Lumen’s, the other red and orange like Lola’s. She wrests control of Lola from Copen and spawns her and Lumen’s Muse forms around her before belting out her own Anthem, reviving the fallen combatant and imbuing them with the power of her song. But even this isn’t enough to put an end to the fight and just as one hero is about to hit a killing blow on the other, Mytyl stands between them. After all, Copen is her brother… but GV is also very important to her …right? As she struggles to reconcile two lifetimes’ worth of memories, she falls to the ground unconscious. Copen flees the Garden to take his sister to a hospital, while Gunvolt uses the distraction to make an escape of his own.

Several weeks have passed since Eden has fallen. One day, Quinn and Gunvolt are walking around the city, having a jovial conversation… when Quinn suddenly goes silent, as something has caught her attention. Gunvolt looks over to see a familiar girl staring at him. She apologizes for her rudeness, stating that she is currently suffering from amnesia and thinks the young man looks …familiar. GV asks the girl her name, to which she responds “Mytyl Kamizono”. Gunvolt says that they don’t know one another, apologizing before walking off with a heavy heart. Meanwhile, Copen has decided to abandon his home, his sister and even his family name, in pursuit of his goal to eliminate everyone capable of using Septima. When Nori confronts him for abandoning Mytyl, the Adept Slayer responds by saying that she no longer has a brother, he’s just a demon bent on revenge. With Lola as his sole remaining companion, he rededicates himself to exterminating every last Adept for humanity’s sake – but the thought of killing his sister still gives him pause. As for Mytyl herself, she’s recovered physically, even beginning to grow into the young woman she is. But since she has lost her memory, some things are still a bit fuzzy. She does remember dreams about an angel saving her life, but they’ve haven’t been happening lately. Still, she wishes that one day, she can find that angel and thank him, hoping that he can be as happy as she is now…

Thus concludes the story of Azure Striker Gunvolt 2… that is, unless you cleared 80% of the in-game challenges, which unlocks an extra secret bonus epilogue. In a secluded alley, two familiar figures meet: the dutiful maid Nori and Gunvolt’s sole remaining contact at QUILL, Xiao Wu. In the young boy’s hand is a necklace with a familiar looking pendant, one that resembles one of Sumeragi’s Glaives, albeit much smaller. As it turns out, Nori was able to extract Mytyl’s septimosome and place it into the necklace, handing it off to the young Adept “for safe keeping”. A similar procedure was once performed on the young girl by her father, the late Dr. Kamizono, because her young body just couldn’t handle its power. This resulted in the girl left physically stunted and mute… while the septimosome was implanted into a “living glaive”: Joule’s original human form. While Nori only did this to allow her young charge the opportunity to live a normal life, she is still apprehensive about Xiao Wu taking the pendant. Xiao Wu assures her that the Muse is too powerful to be allowed to fall into the hands of Eden… or Gunvolt, but he does have his own plans for it, but it’s nothing worth worrying about…

Given the mostly digital nature of the series, tracking down concrete sales information on GV2 is difficult. As such, we only really have two figures to go on. As of May 1^st, 2017, Inti Creates revealed that ASGV2 managed to rack up 38,000 downloads. However, as of March 17^th, 2021, Localization Director and Producer Matt Papa told VGChartz that the “mainline” Gunvolt series had sold roughly 1 million units, though he was unable to provide any more information. Given the fact that Famitsu only tracks physical sales, we can only make inferences regarding the Striker Pack – and it’s hard to tell how Inti Creates would count those sales. Regardless, in Japan, the Striker Pack sold best on its initial 3DS release, with a meager 8,096 sales recorded for both the first week and the lifetime sales, which is also the best performing physical release for the company on record. There’s no information regarding the PS4 version, but the Switch version managed an even more dismal 3,196 sales, likewise in both its first week and lifetime sales. To put that into perspective, Famitsu’s data states that the Japanese sales for the Zero/ZX Legacy Collection were 14,205 and 7,235 copies overall on Switch and PS4 respectively. Whether that means that Gunvolt is more popular internationally or if Japanese audiences have begun to adapt to digital releases can only be speculated upon with what little information we have. Either way, as far as Inti Creates was concerned, the series was still popular enough to warrant further releases. Besides, the last game debuted in a pair, so it only seemed fitting that Gunvolt 2 would have a sister title all its own…

Mighty Gunvolt Burst

Honestly, I never would’ve expected Mighty Gunvolt to receive as a sequel. It was essentially an advertisement for Inti Creates’ then-latest release and two of their upcoming projects. Even from the very beginning, the game was offered as a free bonus game with early purchases of the original Azure Striker Gunvolt’s individual releases on the 3DS eShop and Steam. That made MGV feel like more of an afterthought, something strictly meant to sweeten the pot for anyone on the fence about buying the “main game”, Azure Striker Gunvolt. The fact that it’s still available for purchase individually on both the Nintendo 3DS eShop and Steam is still somewhat baffling to me, regardless of how much I liked the game.

Turns out, I wasn’t the only one who appreciated it. According to what little information we have regarding Burst’s development, the original Mighty Gunvolt’s dev team apparently enjoyed working on it, so they pitched a sequel. And since Inti Creates somehow managed to negotiate the rights to use the characters and setting from Mighty No. 9 for free, they greenlit that sequel. In many respects, however, most fans tend to view it as an unofficial remake of MN9, given just how much it borrows from that game in terms of setting and structure. Mighty Gunvolt Burst was first announced at Bitsummit 2017, alongside the Switch version of the Azure Striker Gunvolt Striker Pack. The game would eventually launch worldwide on the Nintendo Switch on June 15^th that year, while a 3DS version would follow on the 29^th.

On July 27^th, the game would receive its first DLC character: Gal☆Gun’s Ekoro, who was in the original Mighty Gunvolt but didn’t make the sequel’s launch. Inti Creates even made her a free download for the first two weeks she was available. The game would also end up hitting the PlayStation 4 the following year, under the title “Gal☆Gunvolt Burst”, much like the Japan-exclusive port of the first game. This name change was likely made to pay homage to the PlayStation releases of the original Mighty Gunvolt, as well as to advertist the then-upcoming Gal☆Gun 2. This new version even released on March 15^th, 2018, in North America and Japan – the same day Gal☆Gun 2 itself released on PS4 and Switch – while a European release followed suit on April 6^th. Finally, the game (once again referred to as “Mighty Gunvolt Burst”) would eventually hit PC via Steam the following year, on July 31^st, 2019. Both of the non-Nintendo releases of the game included Ekoro as a part of their base package. Lastly, the Switch and PS4 versions would eventually see physical releases in North America through Limited Run Games on August 28, 2020. The versions also included all of the game’s DLC, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

After Beck rescued his fellow Mighty Numbers and saving the United States from the rampaging Trinity, Dr. White decides to upgrade Mighty No. 9’s arm cannon and sends him into a virtual world, meant to train him based on his past experiences. However, after completing the first “stage”, he is confronted by a mysterious masked man who introduces himself as Gunvolt, the Azure Striker. He declares himself the Game Master of this simulation, having used his Septimal powers to enact a complete takeover of this digital world. He challenges Beck to fight his way through the bosses and reach him at the world’s end. With no other options and having lost his ability to purify corrupted robots while trapped in the simulation, Beck decides to play along and hopefully make his way back to the real world…

Meanwhile, after defeating the Sumeragi Group, Gunvolt has adapted his new powers, having absorbed the power of the Muse into his body. But one day, while out on a mission, Gunvolt witnesses a strange glimmer. Suddenly, the world around him was engulfed in a dazzling light and he was left in unfamiliar territory. Worse still, he can no longer use his Septimal powers at will. After making his way through the strange city, a giant robot that assaults him. But even without all of his powers, he manages to take it down. Suddenly, an android resembling a young boy appears before the Azure Striker. Introducing himself as Beck, he informs GV that he’s going to have to participate in “Super Mighty Battle Showdown”, a tournament that will pit him against his eight robotic siblings before he can face off with the grand champion, Beck himself! With both his and Joule’s powers drained, Gunvolt has no choice but to fend off these mechanical menaces if he has any chance of escaping…

But wait, didn’t Gunvolt threaten Beck with his Septimal powers? And now Beck’s challenging Gunvolt to destroy his fellow Mighty Numbers? Weirder still, the GV and Beck that challenged the others look… different from how they usually do. Are there deeper machinations lying beneath the surface? And can the Azure Striker Gunvolt and Mighty No. 9 escape this virtual nightmare?

At its core, Mighty Gunvolt Burst feels like a total expansion of the concepts present in the previous game. You’re still jumping and shooting through levels that seem like they’d be right at home (yet clearly legally distinct) in games starring a certain azure automaton that will remain nameless, aiming for high scores and collecting icons with various pictures of food on them. It’s just that now the stages are significantly longer than the ones from the original MGV, the boss battles are much more complex and instead of serving strictly as score multipliers, players can choose to hold onto them until the end of the stage for bonus points or use them from the pause menu to replenish health. MGVB also ditches the concept of “extra lives”, opting instead to count the number of deaths the play has in each playthrough of any given level as “retries”, with the only tangible punishments being a score penalty, the loss of any food items collected since the last checkpoint – but don’t worry, they just return to their previous locations, allowing them to be easily recollected – and the all-too-fleeting shame of dying in the first place.

Of course, score attack is still the main aim of the game and Burst’s eponymous mechanic is its main method of racking up points. Much like the first Mighty Gunvolt, the player’s main means of attacking enemies comes through long-range projectiles. However, if they get up close and personal to finish off a standard enemy or a boss, it results in a “Burst”. Doing multiple Bursts in succession increases the combo counter and by extension, the score multiplier. And the only ways to drop a Burst Combo is by failing to burst an enemy or dying. Of course, getting up close and personal with certain enemies can be dangerous, so there’s a risk/reward factor involved there. Should one play it safe and end up with a pitifully low score or gamble their health on destroying enemies with short range attacks? Either way, this feels like a good way to recontextualize Mighty No. 9’s emphasis on close-quarters combat. While MN9’s absorb dash did have a wider range than the player character’s Burst radius, the latter’s efficacy is also much more controlled, resulting in less “misfires”. After all, Beck’s base weaponry couldn’t fire through multiple enemies at a time, so clusters of enemies could be dangerous when playing MN9 as intended. There’s also a creatively-named power-up (literally called “Power Up” in-game) that gives the player a Burst every time they defeat an enemy, regardless of how far away they are, for the limited time it’s active. On a side note, there’s also a temporary invincibility power-up that appears at specific points in the game, though usually it appears in scripted segments to allow the player to escape damage that would be unavoidable otherwise.

The other major mechanic present in Mighty Gunvolt Burst would be the ability to build custom weapons. While every save file starts the player character with an unchangeable standard weapon – which includes a bog-standard plasma cannon, and in some cases, a tiny sample of the character’s unique abilities – they are also granted an additional 23 slots, perfect for creating brand-new weapons by tweaking various attributes. For example, bullets can be enlarged, their shot trajectories can be altered, the maximum number of bullets allowed on-screen simultaneously can be changed and even the elemental affinity of the attacks themselves. That’s right, MGVB brings boss weaknesses back to the forefront in a way the original Mighty Gunvolt couldn’t. In addition, various other traits can be assigned to these custom weapons. For example, each character has a specific “aerial action”, which usually either an air-dash, a double jump or a hover of some kind, depending on the character in question. Characters can also unlock the ability to charge shots, which allows the player to connect their current weapon with a second one, which serves as the charged version of the attack; the ability to aim their shots diagonally at various angles and rapid fire. Players can also increase the weapon’s attack power, defense, the length of their invincibility period after taking damage, decrease knockback and even skirt the instant kill property of spike traps, electing to take a predetermined amount of damage instead. Even more interesting is that players can also choose to weaken their characters with various downgrades, like forcing them to stand still while firing, implementing a sort of “cooldown” between each individual shot and even reversing many of those improvements I just mentioned. Of course, while the capabilities of these custom shots are only limited to whatever the player has unlocked thus far, the weapons that they’re allowed to use is a different story. Each character has a set number of “Cost Points” assigned to them and each attribute costs a certain number of CP to equip, though in the case of those detrimental features, they actually subtract from the amount of Cost Points used by the player on that build instead. Characters begin each playthrough with a mere 1000, but it can be increased… by way of various pick-ups…

This brings us to the game’s collectibles. In addition to the aforementioned food icons, the hearts that immediately replenish health also return from the first game. This time, they come in small, medium and large, though only the first two appear as item drops when defeating enemies. The large hearts seem to only appear at specific locations in each level and seem to just about replenish the character to full health in most circumstances. Likewise, there are teal diamonds that represent Cost Point upgrades, coming in four different varieties. Enemies drop tiny diamonds that add two points to the player character’s pool of CP or slightly larger ones that grant ten. There are also various one-time pick-ups hidden throughout each stage that add 50 CP to the player’s point pool and one of the possible rewards for completing a stage is a CP upgrade for a whopping 300 Cost Points. There are also various hidden icons scattered through most stages that contain various other customization options for the player’s weaponry: blue icons with an energy blast on them contain various mods focusing on weapon behavior, while the pink ones with circuit-like symbols on them unlock other character ability alterations, like Aerial Actions and damage reduction. Likewise, one of these unlocks is another possible reward for clearing most stages. Finally, there are the Pixel Stickers: little pixel-art icons that depict various images, including various characters from the Mighty No. 9, Azure Striker Gunvolt and Gal☆Gun series, as well as elements from Mighty Gunvolt Burst itself and other non-related pictures. Many of these appear as random item drops obtained by defeating enemies, while others are among the various collectibles hidden consistently throughout each stage. Pixel Stickers are also given out as rewards for clearing specific in-game challenges – which double as the achievements for the PS4 and PC versions of the game. Pixel Stickers even appear as stage clear rewards in most levels. Stickers can be assigned to each custom weapon and even used as profile icons. Fortunately, the game keeps track of these major pick-ups, with a checklist present for each level on the stage select. Many of these items are hidden behind breakable walls. These hidden pick-ups are easier to find in the Switch and PS4 versions, thanks to their exclusive “dowsing” feature, which causes the player’s controller to emit low-level rumbles whenever unseen collectibles are nearby. Likewise, every time a player completes a stage, they can select another one of the rewards exclusively obtained for clearing a level. That means selecting a pick-up on the player’s first run doesn’t prevent them from collecting the others later.

With that gameplay overview out of the way, let’s break down each character’s unique abilities. For simplicity’s sake, I’ll be breaking down the full cast of nine into three distinct categories: the characters that were made available “for free” with the base game and the two different packs of DLC as they were sold on the PS4 and PC versions. First off, there’s Beck, the main character from Mighty No. 9. Out of the base roster, Beck has the most flexibility in terms of weapon customization, including various “skins” that alter Beck’s color palette and the look of his shots to correspond with one of the weapons he had in MN9, though these changes are purely cosmetic. So, for example, one could set a shot to look like a fire attack, but still manage to have it do damage like an electric attack. Beck can also perform a traditional air dash up to 3 times, though this doesn’t have the absorption abilities it had in MN9 or even the attack properties it had when it served as Beck’s “charge shot” in the original MGV. Of course, outside of his thorough suite of weapon customizations, Beck doesn’t really have many special abilities, which means he’s often recommended for inexperienced players due to his straightforward gameplay compared to the rest of the cast. Next, there’s Gunvolt. While Gunvolt loses that weird “charge attack” he had back in the original Mighty Gunvolt, he gains the ability to access four of his Septimal Skills present in ASGV2: he starts with the Astrasphere, but can also unlock Luxcalibur, Voltaic Chains and Crashbolt. These operate just like they do in the mainline Gunvolt games, including the Skill Point costs and subsequent recharge periods. To compensate for this, he has the least flexibility with regards to weapon customization out of the game’s entire cast. He also has the ability to double-jump “air hop” up to three times and when he runs low on health, he’ll occasionally summon Joule to perform an Anthem, which asides from the flashy aura and Joule taking on a more visible form, just refills a small amount of his health. Of course, what really makes Beck and Gunvolt special is that they’re the only two characters in the game with a fully-featured story mode, including in-game cutscenes and unique credits music. Finally, there’s Ekoro. While Ekoro was available as a limited time free update on the Nintendo versions of MGVB, the PS4 and PC versions included her in the base game permanently, so I’m counting her as a “main” character. Ekoro loses her ability to capture enemies and use them as attack drones, but she does retain her ability to Hover, with the added options to either retain her verticality or descend slowly and to fix her direction and strafe in the air as opposed to turning to face whatever direction she’s traveling in. Her new ability is the “Goddess’s Blessing”, a super mode that increases her attack strength and renders her invincible while it’s active. In order to activate it, she must fill up an energy meter by attacking enemies or using food to heal. It can be activated once the meter hits 50%, but higher percentages mean it lasts longer. To compensate for this new power, she has the least health of any character in the game by a significant margin.

Next, let’s delve into the “Rivals” character pack. First, there’s Mighty No. 9’s Ray, who plays similarly to her MN9 counterpart, albeit with a few tweaks. Her basic attack is a short-ranged “claw shot”, but she has the choice between two skills: Chaos Claw, which gives her a very familiar three-slash combo and the Collapse Ray, a massive beam attack that takes out normal enemies in a single blast… at the cost of most of her health. She also has an air-dash that can deal damage if it collides with enemies. But a minor tweak has essentially transformed Ray from a glass cannon into the most broken character in the entire game. Her “Xel Decay” attribute is equipped by default – removing it costs a whopping 400 CP – but it works slightly differently than it does in MN9. While MN9 separated her damage into red “recoverable” damage and traditional “non-recoverable” damage, MGVB makes no such distinction. Therefore, she can literally refill her entire health bar by whaling on enemies and even bosses. Couple that with the fact that Bursts grant her even more health and she’s the only character in the game with a proper melee attack… and she’s absolutely unstoppable in the right hands. The fact that large health power-ups appear more often when using her is just the cherry on top.

Then there’s Copen from Azure Striker Gunvolt. Aside from the lack of a tag mechanic, he plays similarly to his ASGV2 incarnation. He has the choice between three different bullets: Beowulf is available by default and has average customization options, the Greed Snatcher bullets are larger and way more customizable, while the Photon Laser hits instantly, but lacks most customization options. Likewise, Lola serves as a support pod, offering cover fire in the form of EX weapons. Both Copen’s standard shot and Lola’s EX Weapons can be given elemental properties and she has her own set of upgrades, including charged variants of each weapon (all with their own unique behaviors), homing shots and the ability to aim diagonally. She can even reorient where her support pods are located: allowing them to attack from behind Copen, in front of him, or while surrounding him, which results in a shield attack. Lola’s so customizable, she might as well count as a character in her own right. Copen’s air dash works similarly to the one from Gunvolt 2, allowing players to tilt up or down, though since tagging isn’t an option in this game, running into enemies means the Adept Slayer takes damage. Finally, he also has Gunvolt’s Anthem ability, though in his case, Lola transforms into her Muse form.

Rounding out the Rivals is Kurona, the demon girl from the Gal☆Gun series. In many respects, she plays similarly to Ekoro, albeit with a full health bar. She uses the same hover and has a similar power-up known as “Demonic Power”. However, instead of making her invincible, Kurona’s super mode allows to bypass most enemy shields, allowing her to deal a lot of damage really quickly. She can also gain access to the “Spear Drop”, which allows her to bounce on enemies with her trident by holding down on the D-Pad while in mid-air. I’m not sure why, but for some reason, using it makes her seem like a rich old duck or some kind of …honorable warrior renown for using gardening equipment as a weapon. And since the Rivals were the sixth, seventh and eighth characters to be added to MGVB in general, Inti Creates also slightly tweaked their level layouts, just to make things a little more interesting.

Finally, there is the “Heroines” pack. Call represents Mighty No. 9 and plays similarly to her iteration in that game. She retains her Barrier, though once its energy is used up, she has to wait a brief period for it to recharge as opposed to tracking down a Patch to replenish it. She can choose between a single air dash or a hover that descends slowly – both abilities she had in MN9 proper. She can also find various Patch drones littered throughout each stage, which lunge into enemies when the player presses the fire button. There are three different types, each with different behaviors: red Patches charge forward quickly, blue ones home in on the nearest enemy and yellow drones lunge like the red ones, but if they make contact with an enemy, they deal some additional hits before retreating. Each Patch remains with Call for the duration of the stage and return to her side after either hitting an enemy or travelling a set distance. Like the food icons, she even retains them after dying, so long as she’s reached a checkpoint after collecting them. Call also has the ability to change her costume, with three different designs resembling some of the more popular choices out of the rejected designs that were originally pitched for her during the design process. Since these new outfits are purely cosmetic, they don’t even cost any CP to use.

Joule from Azure Striker Gunvolt also appears in her ghostly design from ASGV2. She has multiple shot types available, all named after her vocal tracks from the second Gunvolt game. “A Flash of Azure” is her standard shot; “Multi-Universe” has a wave pattern to it; “Vast Circle” generates a shield attack; “Iolite” sends out three bouncing bombs that explode after a brief period; “Indigo Destiny” fires off two homing shots in a spread formation; “Reincarnation” is a boomerang attack and “Stratosphere” fires off five star-shaped energy attacks that crawl along walls, ceilings and floors when they make impact. She can also unlock “Parallel World” after completing the final stage, which is a fully customizable shot. Joule also has the option to air hop one, two, three or an infinite number of times. Now while most of these attacks and the ability to double-jump infinitely sound impressive, using any of them requires a significant amount of Cost Points. Fortunately, Joule has a super mode similar to Ekoro and Kurona, themed around her “Anthem”. But all this super mode does is temporarily allow her to bypass her Cost Point limitations, allowing her to temporarily use any overpowered weapon the player can think of.

Finally, the ninth and final character added to Mighty Gunvolt Burst was Tenzou Motesugi, the player character from the original Gal☆Gun, though he’s more of a composite character in this game. While he’s flanked by Patako from the first game, he’s also wearing a set of Gal☆Gun 2’s Pheromone Goggles, which serve as his main weapon. Tenzou has the ability to duck, which allows him to dodge enemy fire and hit enemies that are normally too low to attack. He can unlock the ability to slide, though it doesn’t quite work the way one would expect. His aerial action involves Ekoro picking him up and carrying him around. It’s similar to her Hover, though players can alter the vertical height of this action by holding up or down on the D-Pad. Tenzou also has a super mode of his own, known as “Doki Doki Mode”, which allows players to aim at any enemy directly by using the right analog stick to control a reticle, regardless of any obstacles protecting them. I think this might be part of the reason why Tenzou was excluded from the 3DS version of the game, though the fact that the update that added him increased the number of save slots from 8 to 40 probably didn’t help. While Call and Joule use the standard stage layouts that Beck, Gunvolt and Ekoro used, Tenzou benefits from Inti’s lessons when adding the later characters and boasts slightly different level layouts and enemy placements.

As far as I’m concerned, Mighty Gunvolt Burst probably falls somewhere within the higher echelon of retro-inspired titles that have come out in the past decade. Having said that, there are a few problems that hold it back from perfection. The sheer amount of content available is a little overwhelming. In fact, the first time I played it, I only managed to beat the game with Beck and Gunvolt before dropping the game, only returning to it for the sake of this retrospective. Considering the fact that five of the nine playable characters have completely identical stage layouts, seeing everything MGBV can be more daunting than the first game. After all, playing through 13 stages nine times requires a much larger time investment than playing through nine levels three times. And while I absolutely love the weapon customization system and thought it was the main source of replay value for the game, it’s clearly not for anyone. For everyone that loved the freedom it allowed (like myself), there are likely just as many people out there who would find it tedious – just ask my editor, a man who completely wrote off Shovel Knight: Plague of Shadows, a game with weapon customization mechanics that aren’t even half as complex as the ones found in Burst – or just plain overwhelming. But considering modern video games will literally cause most people to sink hours customizing a character, even spending 10 minutes building an awesome weapon doesn’t feel like that much of a time investment to me. Either way, I’d highly recommend this game to anyone who loves retro-style platformers and always wanted to try their hand at building the perfect load-out for a MegaMan game.

At first glance, you could be forgiven for assuming that MGVB recycled some graphics from the original Mighty Gunvolt, but everything in the sequel is actually completely redrawn. In fact, while the original mini-game went for a more “authentic” NES 8-bit look with regards to color limitations, sprite complexity and even the screen aspect ratio, Burst opts for more of a “retraux” look. This is particularly evident with the sheer color depth of the character sprites, which opt for specific colors for the back of Gunvolt’s ponytail and Beck’s eyes, which would’ve been mapped to other existing colors if the game had limited itself to the color limitations present on the good ol’ NES. However, this is far more evident in some of the game’s flourishes: the explosion effects that appear when various enemies are defeated take on a much more modern look at times, opting for a visual flair that even 16-bit systems would’ve had difficulty reproducing. Likewise, there are also certain areas that opt for low lighting, either resulting in a darkened room with a small field of view represented by a bloom effect or areas where the characters and foreground are rendered in shadow, while a faint background remains fully visible. Tenzou showcases this stylistic choice best of all: the pink glow on his visor emits a constant trail of light whenever he’s in motion. The various in-game cutscenes also contain some stellar pixel art, which manages to evoke the look that some of the more advanced games from the third home console generation produced, while also clearly lacking the hardware limitations that even the cleverest developers of the 8-bit era were unable to circumvent. As a bit of an aside, if Capcom had commissioned Inti Creates to do another Classic-style MegaMan game, I would have loved it if they had done something along these lines, blending old and new visuals seamlessly.

Burst’s music, on the other hand, does a significant amount of recycling. The bulk of the game’s soundtrack is directly sampled from the alternate “8-bit” style soundtrack present in Mighty No. 9, though admittedly these chiptunes feel better suited to MGVB’s aesthetic. However, there are some additional tracks that are essentially chiptune renditions of songs from other games, with Gunvolt 2 and various Gal☆Gun entries making prominent musical cameos for obvious reasons. There are a few completely original tracks though, particularly the game’s main theme “Lost Cosmos”, which appears on the title screen and as the generic credits music that is used for everyone besides Beck and Gunvolt, who get songs taken from MN9 and Gunvolt 2, respectively. Regardless, the game’s official soundtrack credits Ryo Kawakami, hally, Aoi Takeda and TAPPY with the creation of the music present in the game. The sound effects, on the other hand, fall more in line with the faux-retro styling of the rest of the game’s aesthetic, with some effects sounding like they were captured directly from an NES and others having a more modern sound to them – which are typically associated with more advanced visual effects. In other words, the foley design clearly matches the game’s art style, which is a nice touch.

After defeating the eight Mighty Numbers, Beck and Gunvolt find a tear in digital space. While clearly a trap, they have no choice but to enter, finding themselves in a purely digital (and yet, somehow familiar) world. After fighting through the most dangerous gauntlet yet, our two heroes finally come face-to-face, blaming the other for their current predicament. The two do battle, but they’re evenly matched. Suddenly, a familiar face pops into the scene: Teseo, an Adept from Gunvolt’s world gloats over how easily he was able to pit the pair against each other. He even showcases the “Data Dopplegangers” he used to trick them into fighting. He mockingly thanks the duo for providing him with footage for tons of new videos to post online, before impishly teleporting away. With the truth revealed, Beck and GV decide to join forces to escape this digital world together.

The two heroes fight through Teseo’s devious stages, fighting cataclysmic battles with his Briar Guardian, a digital recreation of the Plasma Legion, rematches with the digital copies of the Mighty Numbers and even their own doppelgangers. In the end, Teseo decides to livestream what is bound to be the grand finale, crafting a giant robot in his own image for a climactic final fight, all while receiving digital kudos from a familiar (yet legally distinct) comments section that scrolls across the screen. But through the power of teamwork, our heroes are able to take down the Cyber King’s dastardly device. But Teseo’s a bit of a sore loser and has one final trick up his sleeve: his last act before losing control of the simulation is to reset everything back to factory settings, which will leave GV and Beck trapped in virtual limbo forever. As the ground falls out from under them, they fall into a digital chasm, but are rescued from the unfeeling void by Joule and Call, who help them escape back to their respective worlds.

Given the fact that the game’s only physical release came via Limited Run, information regarding the game’s performance is scant, though it does appear that both the PS4 and Switch versions were completely sold out. According to a PR email sent out in late December 2017, it was mentioned that the game had hit an “80,000 download milestone” – and at the time, it was only available on the Switch and 3DS. Aside from that, no public information regarding MGVB’s performance have surfaced. Regardless, it reviewed significantly better than Mighty No. 9 itself. While it seems unlikely that Mighty No. 9 will ever get another chance, this was something of a redemption for the IP. Personally, I’d love to see a third Mighty Gunvolt game, but I guess that’s up to Inti Creates and whoever owns MN9. While the original game was solid, Burst elevated the formula into something experimental yet familiar, becoming more than a mere advergame spin-off.

And speaking of spin-offs…

Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX

The existence of Luminous Avenger iX almost feels poetic, when looking back on Inti Creates’ history. The fledgling developer originally got their big break and made their worldwide debut with MegaMan Zero: a spinoff from MegaMan X that starred supporting cast member Zero, who had already become so popular within the mainline X series itself, he had already been implemented as a fully playable character in X4 and retained that position in every MMX game since. Meanwhile, Inti Creates would eventually try to establish themselves as a wholly independent studio with Azure Striker Gunvolt, a game that drew from the experience they gained working on various MegaMan titles. That game would introduce a rival character to the main hero, who would himself become a playable character in the sequel… and eventually go on to star in his own spin-off game. It brings to mind a famous saying:

“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”

That isn’t to say that Inti Creates didn’t want to make a direct sequel to Azure Striker Gunvolt 2. In fact, series director Yoshihisa Tsuda stated that he was “having a difficult time with” designing Gunvolt 3. While many speculated that this was due to the second game’s impact on the series’ storyline (as well as the cliffhangers present in its ending), Inti Creates CEO Takuya Aizu went on to state in a 2019 interview with Gamespark, that while the story did have a few issues, most of Tsuda’s hang-ups revolved around gameplay. He wanted to reinvent the series’ formula, as opposed to releasing a “level pack” sequel. In the interim, series writer Toshiaki Tai filled in as director for this spinoff, intending to “please fans” until development on a new mainline title could begin properly.

As such, Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX – or “White Steel of X: THE OUT OF GUNVOLT” as it is known in Japan – was first announced at BitSummit 2018, alongside Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon and the Gunvolt Complete Works Artbook. The game was originally announced for the Nintendo Switch and was said to be 10% complete when it was first revealed to the public. The game would make another appearance at the following year’s BitSummit, which included a more detailed trailer, a playable demo, a planned release date – September 26^th, 2019 – and most impressive of all, the announcement that the game would also be launching on additional platforms: specifically the PS4 and PC (via Steam). Inti Creates also revealed that the voice actors for the main characters would be recast, claiming that LAiX would signify the start of “a new series”. Inti Creates would also confirmed that there would be a physical release in Japan and admitted that they were hoping to release physical copies in other territories as well. These plans would come to fruition in North America, thanks to a partnership with Limited Run Games. Finally, on September 4^th, less than a month before the game was set to launch, Inti Creates announced that the game would also be coming to the Xbox One, making it the first Gunvolt game released on a Microsoft console.

For the most part, Inti Creates was able to release the game on time. However, the game did launch a couple days early in South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Also, despite setting out to release the Xbox One version at the same time as the other versions, Inti Creates were forced to push its release back to December 19^th, due to a game-breaking bug. Limited Run’s physical release would eventually come out for the PS4 and Switch in October 2019 – with both standard and collector’s editions – and would eventually hit store shelves exclusively at Best Buy in February 2020 as a part of a partnership between LRG and the electronics retailer.

One of the most confusing things about Luminous Avenger iX was just how it related to the mainline Gunvolt series. As Inti Creates only specifically referred to the game as a “spin-off” during its development and the game itself contained familiar characters in a new setting, fans were left to speculate on where this “Gunvolt Chronicles” game fits into the existing canon. Some surmised that the game was meant to be a direct sequel to Gunvolt 2, opting to call it a “spin-off” due to a lack of Gunvolt. Others presumed it had to be an alternate universe due to Copen’s more heroic portrayal in promotional materials. In reality, it turns out that LAiX is a split timeline game. The original Azure Striker Gunvolt had two endings …and ASGV2 clearly followed the events of the “true” ending. Gunvolt Chronicles, on the other hand, takes place after the bad ending: the one that left GV and Joule dead at the hands of Asimov.

With the Sumeragi Group’s leadership in tatters, it was quickly reformed into the Institute for the Promotion of Human Evolution “Sumeragi”, a much more openly benevolent conglomerate established with the goal of promoting a peaceful coexistence between Adepts and normal humans. But much like the Sumeragi of old, these were nothing more than empty words: this new organization, overseen by a highly advanced AI known as Demerzel, shifted its ire towards humanity. Rechristening those without the potential to wield Septimal abilities as “Minos”, the Sumeragi Institute would eventually begin exterminating these “lesser beings” as the population of Adepts grew to outnumber them. Sumeragi’s strength would grow so far as to become an unchallenged global government, meaning that the helpless Minos had nowhere to hide and little way of fighting back. The few that survive are forced into hiding underground. However, legend tells of one mysterious warrior who was able to fight back against the Institute. A mysterious man, clad in white armor. The Luminous Avenger, iX.

…or if you’re Japanese, “X of White Steel” or “White-Steeled X”. Translating the Japanese name into English is complicated.

Accompanied by the popular Virtual Idol Lola, whose online performances manage to instill hope in the remaining Minos despite their bleak circumstances, iX is the name given to one Copen Kamizono, a brilliant young scientist who tried to stop the Adepts from taking over the world but only managed to survive their wrath. Despite being a Mino, Copen’s technological prowess has given him the ability to artificially mimic Septimal abilities – giving him the ability to cast lightning akin to the Azure Striker Septima and allowing Lola to use the power of The Muse – making him a persistent thorn in Sumeragi’s genocidal ambitions. Copen has been searching for the enigmatic “Butterfly Effect”, a “peace-keeping” device being used by the Sumeragi Institute to monitor and control the Adept population. His search leads him to a dilapidated city, one of the few areas not completely controlled by Sumeragi. Fighting through Sumeragi’s forces, he eventually comes face-to-face with Blade, one of Sumeragi’s most powerful warriors, channeling a familiar electric Septima through a katana. Despite Copen’s best efforts, Blade’s strength overwhelms him with little issue. But just when it seems like iX’s days are numbered, an errant smoke bomb rolls onto the battlefield and explodes, while a mysterious figure directs Copen and Lola to follow her, allowing the duo to make their escape.

Our heroes find themselves led to an underground bunker, where their unseen benefactor introduces herself as Kohaku, the caretaker of a small band of Minos children. The children are familiar with the rumors surrounding Luminous Avenger iX and his “Muse of Hope”, Lola. While the brash young Kyota is captivated by iX’s arsenal (while criticizing his physique), the bookish Jin chastises the younger boy for his rudeness before introducing himself. The volatile but shy Maria isn’t remotely impressed by these new interlopers and storms off outside, forcing the two boys give chase to make sure she stays safe. While discussing the stories surrounding his prowess, Copen notices that there are no adults around. Kohaku explains that there used to be more survivors hiding alongside them, but Sumeragi forces killed off most of them, forcing the few survivors of the attack to find a new hiding place. Kohaku tries her best to keep the group’s spirits high, but deep down, they’re all aware of just how much danger they’re in. She asks iX to stay with them, and while the stoic hero seems reluctant, he does take them up on their offer, considering they have a base of operations completely unknown to Sumeragi. He even offers to run missions to get them the supplies they need, all while continuing his own quest to gather intel on the Butterfly Effect.

Throughout his excursions into Sumeragi-controlled areas, Copen encounters their Falcons [Winged Warriors]: powerful Adepts entrusted with Falcon Quills [Winged Warriors’ Feather Pens], devices that transform them and increase their Septimal abilities severalfold. “The Craftsman’s Dream” Rebellio is a prisoner conscripted by Sumeragi after reluctantly taking part in a terrorist attack against the organization, promising support for his family and a lighter sentence in exchange for his cooperation. He uses his “Energy Wool” [Knitting Yarn] Septima to craft brutal weapons like guillotines and maces that clash with his easy-going and calm personality. “The Sudarshana Gravity Well” Stella [Inters] is the president of a powerful manufacturing company. She only serves as a Falcon to protect her assistant Dystnine [Dynine], an android who is under the threat of being confiscated and disassembled by Sumeragi for research, as he is a rare mechanical being capable of manifesting a Septima. Her affinity towards the “Gravity” Septima allows her to swing dense, bladed discs around as if they were nothing and restrict her enemies’ movements to make them easy prey for her attacks. Crimm, “The Explosive Artiste” [Fantastic Detonator], uses his “Detonation” Septima to cause beautiful explosions without any concern for the victims that suffer for his art.

“Falcon★Idol” [Winged Warrior Type★Idol] Isola can switch between the persona of a no-nonsense Falcon Elite to bubbly popstar in the blink of an eye. Fancying herself as an online rival to Lola, she utilizes her “Companion” [Alter Ego] Septima to create energy-based decoys of herself and fire off angelic bolts of energy known as EXSIA. Bakto, “The Leonian Tempest” […Lion King Swift Rotation] is the de-facto boss of a crime family, fighting at Sumeragi’s behest to protect his subordinates. Using his “Spiral” Septima, he’s capable of forming powerful cyclones made of pure energy. Dystnine himself is also eventually employed as a Falcon, as grief surrounding the death of his mistress caused his relatively simple Septima to evolve into a devastating new power. Operating as the “Altair of Vengeance”, he uses his “Vectored Cloth” [Deflection Dishcloth] Septima to control the direction and inertia of anything it touches.

Copen must also remain on the lookout for the enigmatic Blade, who seems to grow more and more unhinged with each encounter. But can Copen and Lola protect the young band of Minos, all while seeking out information on the Butterfly Effect? And just what other mysteries lie in wait at the Sumeragi Institute’s depths?

In terms of gameplay, Copen hasn’t really changed much from Azure Striker Gunvolt 2. His controls do feel a bit more refined compared to the previous game though. Likewise, he also gains the ability to use Gunvolt’s “Prevasion” technique, at the cost of two Bullitts. He also retains his “Flashshield”, which only activates if he has a full weapon meter at his disposal. Another interesting change is that the size of Copen’s health bar actually grows longer as he levels up. The previous Gunvolt games merely reduced how much damage would be taken off of a health bar that remained consistent in size. One particularly nice quality of life upgrade revolves around how Copen’s Subroutines – LAiX’s equivalent to his Programs from Gunvolt 2 – are handled. While ASGV2 required specific materials to build them, LAiX simply requires a set amount of in-game currency to unlock them. Sure, this means that Subroutines are far more expensive, but grinding for money is way easier than groping around for items that feel randomized. In response, iX also drops the Challenges from the mainline ASGV games, which mostly offered crafting materials as rewards in the first place. While they could’ve offered money instead, they likely wouldn’t have added anything to this game. Luminous Avenger iX also decides to drop the memory restrictions on how many Subroutines can be equipped at any given time. They can be toggled from the Customize menu between missions and even from the pause menu during regular gameplay. Finally, Copen’s Shred Storm (his special Skill from GV2) has been replaced with the much more cinematic Twin Shredder [X-Ross Disaster]. He also loses his dedicated Healing ability. However, since checkpoints now automatically return Copen to full health and one of his Subroutines gives him full health after using Twin Shredder, it doesn’t feel like much of a loss to me.

Luminous Avenger iX also adds a new collectible called “Bonus Emblems”. Four glowing icons are hidden throughout most of the game’s levels and each one rewards the player with 500 Kudos for obtaining them. Collecting all four grants the player an additional 1000 Kudos on top of that. While earning at least 1000 Kudos in the previous games just manifested the player character’s Muse alongside them and replaced the in-game music with a special vocal song, LAiX makes achieving a high Kudos score even more rewarding. Now it also activates “Overdrive”, a super mode that gives Copen many of the same enhanced abilities he receives whenever Anthem is activated. To signify this state, Copen becomes enveloped in a glowing aura – complete with a glowing red “X” emanating from his armor – while Lola manifests her Virtual Idol form. There are even exclusive Subroutines that boost Overdrive’s powers even further. Of course, it can be fleeting: losing Kudos (whether they get banked at a checkpoint or just lost from taking too much damage) reverts Copen back to normal.

It also feels like Copen’s arsenal of EX Weapons are significantly more fleshed out in Luminous Avenger iX compared to the ones from ASGV2, likely because Inti Creates was able to focus entirely on his gameplay this time around. Each EX Weapon has its own individual energy meter this time, meaning that if one weapon runs out of energy, Copen can just switch to another one with no issue. The trade-off is that now, the weapon with depleted energy must be equipped in order to replenish its “ammo”. Another quality-of-life improvement in LAiX allows players to map up to four different EX weapons to the cardinal directions of the right analog stick, enabling them to switch between weapons faster than cycling through them via the analog triggers or accessing a new one from the pause menu ever could. Another interesting change from the previous game is that rather than having specific weapons be more effective against various enemies, LAiX makes it so that enemies are all resistant to specific attacks. I honestly prefer this over having dedicated weaknesses, because it encourages players to experiment with Copen’s full array of attacks rather than just sticking to a single weapon “because it works”.

And of course, having a new set of weapons means I get to make another list ranking them. My go-to EX weapon is easily Rebellio’s Anchor Nexus. The attack button serves as a toggle, allowing iX to automatically target the nearest enemy. Once locked on, it weaponizes his dash, effectively allowing him to deal damage by ramming into them. It even surrounds the part of his body making impact with a drill comprised of red energy wool. Stella’s Orbital Edge is the clear runner-up. It surrounds Copen with two gigantic metal discs that circle him once per use. Locking onto enemies has the blades manifest on top of them, dealing multiple hits throughout the entire rotation. Coming in third place is the Rising Cyclone [Draft Spiral], which comes courtesy of Bakto. It manifests a tornado of blue energy around Copen, slightly raising him into the air in the process, much like MM8’s Tornado Hold. Tagging an enemy activates the cyclone around them instead. Crimm’s Photon Detonator [Luminary Mine] falls in the middle. It fires off a volley of small shots that cause gigantic explosions on impact – lock-ons just make their aim more accurate. At number five comes Copen’s reliable weapon from his previous appearance: the Stellar Spark he wields by default in both games. It’s not so different from the GV2 iteration, but it does seem to have a smaller field of impact on tagged enemies. In sixth place, there’s Dystnine’s Shroud Spear [Cloth Lancer]. In most cases, if an enemy gets hit with it, it wraps them in a cloak, paralyzing them until they can break free. Hilariously, even one of the bosses that is weak to the attack falls victim to that effect. Finally, there’s Isola’s Muse’s Kiss [Kiss of Diva]. It fires off a pink energy ball shaped like Lola’s Combat Pod by default. However, it can also be charged by holding down the attack button, firing off a larger shot shaped like Lola’s Idol form capable of passing through enemies and barriers. Unfortunately, its wonky standard trajectory and relatively high energy cost doesn’t make it that appealing to me.

There is technically an eighth EX Weapon as well: the Darkness Trigger, which is obtained after defeating Blade in the intermission stage. Darkness Trigger can only be activated from the pause menu or mapped to one of the right analog stick shortcuts. It’s not so much a weapon, as it is another “super mode”. When activated, Lola goes absolutely berserk, firing off whatever EX Weapon the player has equipped with reckless abandon. Her bloodlust goes so deep, that if no enemies are currently being targeted, she starts whittling down Copen’s health instead, going so far as to reduce him to a sliver of HP. And the only way to deactivate Darkness Trigger is by using Copen’s special skill or reaching a transition point in the stage, like defeating the boss, destroying a Hexapyle or witnessing a cutscene. On the plus side, it grants Lola infinite EX weapon energy while active and makes every weapon more powerful in the process.

Compared to the mainline Gunvolt games, I’d say that Luminous Avenger iX probably falls smack in the middle. I don’t like it quite as much as the second game, but it manages to edge out the original for me. Being able to refresh myself on the first two Azure Striker Gunvolt games (among others) before playing through LAiX for the first time felt like a Herculean feat when I was engrossed in my research, but I don’t regret it at all. It gave me a much more balanced perspective on all three games, instead of being forced to compare iX to my rose-tinted memories of its “predecessors”. The game feels more experimental than GV2 – dropping Gunvolt’s playstyle was going to feel weird no matter what Inti Creates did – but it’s not as jarring of a transition as the original game had when compared to the Zero and ZX games. This ends up being a mixed blessing for Luminous Avenger as far as I’m concerned. Being able to focus on a single playstyle again allowed Inti Creates to refine some of the more prominent issues Copen had in his playable debut. However, without Gunvolt’s tried and true playstyle to fall back on may have prevented the developers from going all-in on making LAiX a more unique experience.

I think my biggest issue with the game might be its length. Admittedly, many of Inti Creates’ games since they stopped focusing on developing games for Capcom have relied on alternate endings that more cynical players might disregard as “padding”. After all, they usually force players to replay segments to unlock the game’s true conclusion. Unfortunately, opting for a more spartan approach with LAiX definitely hurt it in my eyes. But given iX’s darker tone and plot points that are heavier than anything in the main timeline (more on that later), I completely understand why they would omit the usual “bad ending”. The game does soften the blow with various unlockables: “special missions” that remix levels and offer harder versions of existing boss fights, as well as a boss rush mode. But since this game was billed as the first Gunvolt game designed specifically for consoles, the fact that Luminous Avenger iX’s main campaign feels shorter than the previous games developed with the 3DS in mind is a bitter pill for me to swallow. Aside from that, I had an absolute blast playing the game for the first time for this retrospective. Even the “Inti fatigue” I’ve been unintentionally building up all year couldn’t dampen my mood while playing it. Believe me, even without taking the other games in this Retrospective into consideration, I’ve played a lot of games from the company this year.

Graphically speaking, this game isn’t so different from the mainline Gunvolt games. It still uses pixel-based sprites and 2D imagery to bring its setting to life. The only real difference is that everything just seems so much more detailed compared to Inti Creates’ previous games in this style. Of course, that was to be expected: even the Nintendo Switch, the weakest of Luminous Avenger iX’s target platforms has a significantly higher resolution than the 3DS did. It stands to reason that the in-game character sprites would be designed with greater detail in mind, and the CG artwork would be significantly cleaner, omitting the stubborn pixelation that plagued even the most recent versions of the Striker Pack. But what impresses me the most is just how well Inti Creates managed to adapt to the stronger hardware. They even implemented different sprites for characters with asymmetrical designs, depending on which way the character is facing. Back in the days when pixel art was still common, asymmetrical sprites were considered impressive on a technical level. These days, it’s more of a testament to just how much care and attention Inti puts into their spritework. I also have to praise them for just how much sleeker the UI looks when compared to the first two Gunvolt games. They put the game’s higher resolution to good use. The subtitles take up significantly less room on-screen but remain just legible as they were on the 3DS. Honestly, even though the menus and the various meters look more spartan than the ones from previous games, that simplicity manages to create a style all its own. I particularly like the health and energy meters, which opt for an almost vector-based look. It’s easy to compare the clean lines in LAiX’s UI favorably to their more detailed equivalents in the 3DS-original games… which didn’t age nearly as well. I also like how much more dynamic sequences that play whenever Copen or one of the Adepts use their Skills – the incantations are far more legible, and the character portraits have some extra visual flair to them.

The game’s music was composed by a mixture of familiar faces and musicians new to the Gunvolt franchise. Sound Producer Ippo Yamada and Sound Engineer Ryo Kawakami also served as the game’s Sound Directors in addition to composing music, while Takumi Sato, Ryo Yoshinaga and Hiroyuki Sato were credited as composers in the game’s soundtrack. Aoi Takeda was credited in-game, which listed the members of the sound and music teams together, but she wasn’t listed as a composer in the soundtrack, which makes me wonder if they rearranged one of her compositions from a previous game. While LAiX continues the more mechanical tone established by Copen’s tracks in GV2, it opts for more of an electronica-inspired sound over the previous game’s harsh techno. Of course, Luminous Avenger iX branches out into other musical genres as well – one boss theme has some clear dubstep influence of all things. I hesitate to call it the best soundtrack of the entire Gunvolt line as of this writing, but the fact that I’m struggling not to says it all.

As such, choosing six tracks to highlight from Luminous Avenger iX is probably the hardest decision I’ll have to make for this year’s set of retrospectives. In the end, my choices are “Wishing for a Megalopolis”, Stella’s stage theme; the music that plays during boss fight with the Butterfly Effect, “Painful Determination”; “Runway to the Skies”, the song that plays in Isola’s level (which ended up being rearranged into a vocal song sung by the character’s VA in one of LAiX’s drama CDs); the boss theme for the Falcons, “Septima Burst”; “Positive Girl”, which plays during one of the game’s pivotal story segments and the song from Rebellio’s stage, “The Past Peace is Distant”. I wish I could list even more, but at this rate, it’d probably just take less time to outline the songs in this game I didn’t absolutely love.

As I mentioned earlier, both Kosuke Masuo and Yurika Endo – the voice actors for Copen and Lola in the mainline Gunvolt series – have retired from the profession. As such, both characters were recast: Yuma Uchida took on the title character’s role, while Mayu Mineda took over both voice acting and singing duties for Lola. In fact, Mineda would go so far as to perform Lola’s songs for a variety of music videos and concerts, similar to what Megu Sakuragawa did with Lumen for the mainline games. Personally, I prefer Mineda’s work over Endo’s, but the fact that her voice is significantly less modulated and her music had a more traditional J-Pop sound to it may have swayed my opinion. Either way, both of the replacement voices fit well with the characters’ new portrayals. I just have to wonder if they would also take over these roles in the mainline series should Copen and Lola return or if Inti Creates has other plans in mind. As for my two favorite vocal tracks in the game, I’ll go with the most boring choices imaginable: the game’s main theme “Luminous Promise” [known as “Platinum Protocol” in Japan] and “Searchlight”, which plays over the end credits.

After foraging through abandoned buildings for food and energy packs to help the Minos camp and obtaining encrypted data regarding the whereabouts of the Butterfly Effect from Building 13, one of Sumeragi’s main facilities – and taking out three Falcons – Copen returns to base to find that Kohaku has fallen ill. Stricken with a disease that has already wiped out a fair amount of the Mino population, Kohaku can do nothing but deliriously call out to her sister, presumed deceased after she covered the children’s escape from their previous home. The stoic Copen is moved by the young girl’s plight and infiltrates a medical center to obtain the medicine that would save her life. Unfortunately, Blade is already lying in wait in the supply room, itching for a rematch. But this time, Copen has the upper hand… until Blade goes absolutely berserk, losing all sense of reason. However, when Lola reminds Copen that they need to save Kohaku, Blade begins mindlessly repeating the young girl’s name in an insane fervor, giving them the necessary distraction to escape, with the medication in tow.

With Kohaku fully recovered and Lola acquiring a strange new transformation after their last confrontation with the mysterious masked Adept, Copen is able to focus on his search for the Butterfly Effect, obtaining information to help decrypt the Sumeragi files he obtained earlier and tracking down the passwords necessary to enter their top-secret facilities – all while taking down three more Falcons. However, just as Lola discovers the location of the Butterfly Effect, several robotic tanks fall from the sky. Built to resemble a twisted parody of Lola’s Combat Pod form, they even have her ability to emulate Septimal powers. Suddenly, Demerzel announces a grand final solution to the Minos problem: he intends on sending an endless battalion of these armored vehicles all over the world to exterminate the few Minos that remain in hiding. While Copen and Lola manage to take out the tanks in their area, it’s clear that taking them down one-by-one will still lead to countless deaths. With no other option, they decide to focus on tracking down Demerzel itself, to cut off the attack at its source… and it just so happens that both the sadistic AI and the Butterfly Effect are currently in the same facility: a secret bunker hidden beneath Building 13. Unfortunately, iX’s more direct attacks on Sumeragi have led to security on all their facilities being increased significantly. But considering just how dire the situation is, Kohaku and the other Minos offer to cover Copen’s siege on the building with what little weaponry they have. The Luminous Avenger accepts their help… on the condition that the children will retreat if things get too dangerous. But before they head off towards their final siege on Sumeragi, Kohaku gives Copen a pendant that she thinks will protect him, a keepsake from her sister.

With the other Minos distracting the Sumeragi forces, Copen and Lola are able to fight their way into the bunker, only to be stopped by a still-berserk Blade. The battle is fierce, but both combatants are able to strike decisive blows: shattering Blade’s mask and sending Kohaku’s pendant clattering to the ground, revealing a picture of Kohaku and her sister. As it turns out, Blade is Kohaku’s missing sister. Instead of dying to cover the Minos’ escape, she was abducted and experimented on by the Institute. Eventually, she was transformed into an Adept and rainwashed into one of Sumeragi’s most elite soldiers. Having recovered her sanity and reeling from the sheer number of Mino deaths on her hands, Blade is aghast… until Copen calmly tells her that the only thing she can do now is use her powers to protect the ones she loves, asking her to help the children survive the onslaught outside. Blade solemnly agrees as Copen travels deeper into the facility, fending off hard-light recreations of three of the Falcons, before finally reaching the Butterfly Effect. Once Copen’s twin sister Mytyl, all that remains of her is an enlarged brain, the result of numerous experiments meant to extend her life indefinitely. She’s hooked into machinery that feeds off her, using her abilities to power the Falcon’s Quills and subtly manipulate the Adept population into despising Minos. Unable to speak, all she can do is call out for her brother to end her suffering by manipulating the lights on the machines keeping her alive. Lola is absolutely horrified by the truth behind the Butterfly Effect, while Copen remains stone-faced in his devotion to grant Mytyl’s last wish. Though the machinery sustaining her tries its best to shield her, iX manages to break through. With the last of her strength, Mytyl thanks her brother for freeing her from her painful existence, while Copen swears revenge on the one behind all of the suffering caused by the Institute.

Fending off copies of the remaining Falcons, Copen finally comes face-to-face with… Asimov? The Adept that nearly killed him so long ago stands before him, revealing himself to be the true mastermind behind the Sumeragi Institute, masquerading as the AI Demerzel by using his Septimal powers. He gloats to Copen about how he used Sumeragi’s resources to create successors to Gunvolt and Joule by implanting their septimosomes into Blade and Mytyl respectively and that he is on the verge of creating a world of Adepts. The two warriors have a long-awaited rematch, with Copen emerging victorious… only for Asimov to fade away like the Adept copies iX fought earlier. Suddenly, an unseen attack strikes Copen’s eye… revealing a robotic camera? Now Demerzel is the one who’s surprised, but Copen casually shrugs off being revealed as a cyborg. After all, it had been roughly a century since they had last met – adding that Asimov’s mind must be deteriorating if he can’t recognize that. Demerzel scoffs at Copen clinging to his humanity, revealing that his Septimal powers have allowed him to evolve into a being of pure electricity. With that, the two resume their fight, with Copen seemingly getting the upper hand by damaging the structure Asimov needs to maintain his form. Unfortunately, Demerzel is still able to strike Copen with a massive lightning bolt, inflicting what is surely a fatal blow. Lola tries to revive him with her Anthem, but the young cyborg doesn’t respond. The Azure Striker scoffs at this useless gesture, before striking her down as well. He then goes into statis, waiting for the capsules containing his essence to be repaired, as they suffered serious damage in the fight with the Luminous Avenger. With the last of her strength, all Lola can do is sing her song and hope that someone can hear it…

…and Kohaku does! She charges headlong into the secret bunker, but just as she reaches the innermost area, four copies of Asimov surround her. When all seems lost, Blade comes to her rescue. While Kohaku is absolutely shocked by the truth of what happened to her sister, she presses on to find the downed Copen, immobile but still alive. After promising to fix him, she sees the last of Demerzel’s capsules beginning to repair itself. Filled with anger over all the suffering the “AI” had caused, she picks up Copen’s gun and fires it, effectively killing the leader of the Sumeragi Institute once and for all – well, unless, of course, you count the extra dialogue in the Boss Rush as canon. As the first Gunvolt Chronicles game draws to a close, we close on an image of Kohaku and Blade carrying the prone Copen and Lola out of Building 13, being greeted by the other Minos.

As with just about every other game I covered in this year’s retrospective, finding concrete sales figures for Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX was difficult, given Inti’s general focus on digital sales. As far as concrete figures go, I was only able to find sales figures for the Switch physical release in Famitsu’s archives, which mentioned that a mere 3,943 copies had been sold. Having said that, Limited Run Games does appear to have sold out of the physical copies they printed for both the PS4 and Switch versions of LAiX. The fact that Inti Creates has already greenlit a sequel also implies that the game performed well. I guess I just think it’s a little ridiculous that the Gunvolt series now has more spin-off games than mainline releases. But maybe that makes it a truly worthy successor to the MegaMan line… even if we clearly haven’t seen the last of the Blue Bomber.

To wrap up this year’s retrospectives, I’d like to recount exactly what three of the most prominent producers of these projects have been up to since they were released. Let’s start with Comcept, which I believe has the most straightforward progression of the three. Since their next project ReCore – a collaboration with Armature Studio, a developer made up of ex-Retro Studios employees – was also met with a lukewarm reception, it seemed that Comcept would never be able to move past the PR disaster that was Mighty No. 9. Many expected the company to close shortly thereafter. However, on June 15^th, 2017, it was announced that the company had been acquired by Level-5, the company behind such series as Professor Layton and Yo-Kai Watch. It was a move that baffled just about everyone familiar with both companies. Personally, I think Level-5 decided to buy them out because both companies share a focus on leveraging video game franchises into multimedia ventures as quickly as possible. The buyout did mean Comcept was forced to shut down their Tokyo office, but they managed to retain the one they had in Osaka. Since then, they’ve only managed to release one game: a mobile title known as Dragon & Colonies, which first released in June 2019, but was shut down by the following February. Of course, Level-5 itself has seen better days, though their latest project, Megaton Musashi, has apparently garnered enough success to justify post-launch updates.

Inti Creates, on the other hand, has never been more successful. The original Azure Striker Gunvolt’s relative success transformed Inti into a superstar among independent developers from Japan. Since then, they’ve managed to produce both self-published releases and licensed games for famous companies, like the entire Blaster Master Zero trilogy for Sunsoft. They’ve even managed to work on other high-profile titles. At one point, they served as development staff on Koji Igarashi’s Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, before decided to focus entirely on a promised “retraux” spin-off game funded as one of the project’s stretch goals. Titled Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon, it proved so successful that they recently released a sequel to it. Inti has built up partnerships all over the world, increasing their presence outside their native region – they even provided support for the most recent games in fellow mega-indie developer WayForward’s Shantae series. Best of all, they’re even beginning to prop up smaller developers in Japan, providing massive exposure for GemDrop’s upcoming title, COGEN: Sword of Rewind. As for the company itself, they’ve got two upcoming titles announced for next year. A sequel to Luminous Avenger iX is set to come out on all major platforms next month. In fact, both LAiX2 and the aforementioned COGEN have special crossover content with the corresponding game to celebrate the partnership between the two companies. And the long-awaited third installment in the mainline Gunvolt series is set to debut sometime next Spring. It’s currently slated as a Switch exclusive, but I’m hoping Inti considers releasing the game on additional platforms soon after, if not at launch.

As for the so-called “scam man” Keiji Inafune himself, he’s been laying low since Mighty No. 9’s release. He was named Chief Communications Officer of Level-5 Comcept and even served as a producer on Dragon & Colonies. Aside from that, the only other thing we know is that he’s managed to keep a close relationship with Inti Creates. After all, he’ll be reprising his role as Executive Producer and Action Supervisor on the upcoming Azure Striker Gunvolt 3. Personally, I’m hoping that Inafune can somehow redeem himself, particularly since he took responsibility for all of MN9’s issues. We’ll just have to wait and see what he does after ASGV3.

And that concludes this year’s retrospective. While this wasn’t technically a look back at the MegaMan franchise, both Mighty No. 9 and the independent works of Inti Creates are still important parts of the series’ history. They represent the dark age that the IP suffered and the depths the fanbase was willing to resort to, after feeling slighted in the aftermath of cancellations, both notorious and unknown. And even though the self-proclaimed “successor” to the Blue Bomber ended up fizzling out into a spectacular disappointment, the fact that Inti Creates managed to create a series that many fans of the Zero and ZX have grown to love, proves that something good can come out of even the worst circumstances. I’m not sure if I’ll end up doing the “final” MegaMan retrospective next year or not – it really depends on whether or not certain rumors come to fruition – but regardless of when it happens, I might even consider throwing Inti’s upcoming projects in there for completion’s sake. We’ll just have to wait and see.