Sigma may not have the patience for turn-based battles, but X sure does!
Giga City is under threat by a Maverick named Epsilon and his Rebellion Army. X’s unit has been dispatched on a reconnaissance mission to assess this new threat. However, this isn’t going to be such a simple mission this time around. The Rebellion Army is stronger than the Maverick Hunters are used to, or at the very least they’re a lot more prepared for JRPGs than our typically-platforming heroes. Either way, X is gonna need more friends and a lot more EXp if he’s going to take down Epsilon.
And so, the Mega Man X series ends not with a canon platformer, but with the RPG spinoff. Released around the same time as X8, Command Mission was the ever-rare Mega Man RPG that wasn’t just its own series. It didn’t exactly have the confidence of Inafune, but time has shown that such a thing isn’t an accurate tell of quality. In any case, while this is an RPG, the developers did want to keep the X series feel, and in the end it made quite the distinct game.
Epsilon’s Rebellion has proven to be more than formidable than the Maverick Hunters can handle. Of course, Shadow’s betrayal didn’t help either. Now X awakens in New Hope, a settlement in Giga City where Reploids standing against the Rebellion have holed up. Of course, they’re not doing super well, but they haven’t had X helping them out yet.
After a truly tragic meeting, X has had to move on. Spider and Wild Jango are still both threats, but saving Chief R is of the utmost importance. After all, keeping the Resistance up and running is just about the only way we’ll have a shot against Epsilon.
The Resistance has managed to keep itself in the game thanks to the efforts of X and Spider, but that’s about it. But the good news is that they can go on the offensive, and it seems like the best option for their newfound momentum is to take down a PoW camp. Any soldier rescued is important, of course, but rescuing the navigator, Nana, is imperative to future operations. Of course, if X and Spider meet any heroes in their rescue mission, their help would be valuable as well.
X and crew have rescued Nana, but something’s gotta be done about the warden. Silver Horn still reigns over the prison, and taking him out should be a significant blow to the Rebellion. But what of our newest ally, Steel Massimo? He may be a hero, but he seems to have his own agenda. His own agenda of… investigating his own execution?
Well, we’ve got our operator for this adventure. And amongst the other usual changes, Nana also gives us access to a few new mechanics. And you know what that means: there’s enough for us to do here to fill a whole episode!
The Resistance has been racking up victories thanks to X, so their next goal is to get a scientist on their scientist. Dr. Gaudile is a noted pacifist who hasn’t aided either the resistance or the Rebellion, but his genius is just too good to ignore. X and crew head off to his lab to discuss partnership, but there’s a bit of a snag: he’s made quite the brilliant invention, and we’re not the only ones who want to pay him a visit.
Marino has been defeated by overwhelming force, and now Dr. Psyche is taking his leave with Cinnamon in tow. Regardless of whether Gaudile is joining the Resistance, X and crew won’t allow such a thing to happen. They take off after the mad doctor, but if they want to beat him, a new friend would probably help them seize victory.
With Gaudile recruited, the Resistance can rest easy for just a little while. And while we wait for our next objective, it’s time for another long intermission. Alongside the usual catch up stuff, we’ve also got the new Force Metal Generator system to check out, courtesy of our new friend Cinnamon… on account of her being the generator, and all.
The Resistance has finally made contact with Colonel Redips, and he has good news to share: Zero may be alive and well enough to fight the Rebellion. Or at least, that’s what we’re assuming. The signal’s not good enough for the finer details to come through, but the Colonel managed to convey a location before cutting out completely. So X and the crew head out to the Ulfat Factory to see if Zero is alive and well.
With his new old ally in the party, X moves on from the security halls to the conveyor room. But while the front of the factory was littered with somewhat passive Mechaniloids, the guards here are a little more observant. And aggressive.
X and crew arrive just in time to save the day, but the reunion with Zero will have to wait. Mach Jentra is still a threat, and he still has full control over the factory. And if the Resistance wants a victory here, they’ll have to take out both.
Bad news: Zero’s still pretty testy about the whole “Shadow betrayal” thing and now he refuses to play nice. It looks like we’ll have to go on without him, but thankfully a brief meeting with Redips has left us with a blurry jpeg of an enemy stronghold. And once Nana has finished zooming and enhancing it, X will have his next destination.
Remember Shadow? From the start of the game? Well he’s back, in boss form! It might seem a little sudden, and like it’s not even the end of the chapter yet. And, well, it isn’t. But Shadow’s getting antsy to see the Maverick Hunters put down, so he’s going to challenge us in this random room. And who are we to say no to a grudge match?
Shadow wasn’t a big deal after all, and now the Maverick Hunters have reached the end of the mines. But what does the Rebellion army have in store for them? Especially since it seems the only sign of Supra-Force Metal was the chunk Shadow was carrying around.
It’s intermission time! Now that Spider’s gone, it seems the team has decided to drown its sorrows in combat! For amongst the usual list of things to do, today we’ll be taking on… the Eternal Forest.
It’s about time we take care of the terrible reception we’ve been getting. If we want to hold an actual conversation with Colonel Redips, we’ll need to disable the blocker located in Vanallia Desert. All we gotta do is make our way to the Rebellion base… in the middle of a sandstorm. Easy, right?
And so, the world’s worst assassination attempt goes to Ferham! X and his crew survived the quicksand and even wound up in the Rebellion base they could not have otherwise accessed. Ah well, can’t win 'em all. But since they’re in, the Maverick Hunters are going to storm this place until the blocker can be shut down.
