All you gotta do is plan for quick-but-frantic battles and shoot. Easy!
It’s the year 20xx, and the internet is an integral part of every person’s life. A vast majority of appliances are connected, providing plenty of convenience to everyday life. Not only that, but many people have access to PETs, (or Personal Terminals,) which allow them to interact with the net even closer. PETs can come equipped with NetNavis: special programs with personalities that act as a medium between their operators and the rest of the internet. Of course, it’s not always easy to travel through the world wide web, as netcrime and viruses are all too common in what would otherwise be a peaceful society. A savvy operator is always prepared for a battle against these viruses even on a good day.
However, it’s not a good day. Recently, an organization referring to itself as WWW (pronounced “World Three”) has announced their intention to take over the net. Since then, netcrime has gone up and society is more dangerous than ever. But with WWW being so bold and aggressive, is there anyone who can stop them?
Mega Man Battle Network is the first in a series that released (for the most part) entirely on the Game Boy Advance. As far as RPGs go, Battle Network is pretty unique. While there are random battles, the battle system of the game doesn’t otherwise feel archaic. In battle you play as MegaMan.EXE, who can move freely within a specific set of tiles and attack with either Battle Chips or the Mega Buster. Battle Chips are the crux of the game; I won’t go in depth with the system here, but simply put Battle Chips determine how you actually fight in any given fight. In individual battles, the chips you get are ordered randomly, so a successful fight comes down to smart preparations with your chip folder, as well as quick strategizing once you’re in battle. While it’s a bit complex, any given fight, including boss fights, can be taken down with ease if you know what you’re doing. That said, even without mastery, it’s a fun system to play with, so you don’t have to be able to do this in order to have a good time.
This isn’t going to be a 100% run, because there’s a whole lot of tiny things here and there that I might miss. However, I will be getting everything I deem important, so anything you might want to see in the main or postgame will be covered. Also, I think I show off a grand total of one of the game’s Program Advances, and I do not have the patience or attention span to make an a montage of them. Feel free to share any provided they’re not spoiler-y to whatever’s been uploaded.
And speaking of spoilers: don’t. There’s not much to spoil in this game, because it’s a very Saturday-morning anime-style story, but there is some wild stuff towards the end. As such, please keep discussion of the game to what’s actually been shown in this series. In addition, you can discuss various gameplay aspects of later games, but definitely don’t bring up their plotlines either. Again, stuff gets wild.
Characters
Lan Hikari and MegaMan.EXE
Lan is a fifth-grade boy with a knack for procrastination. 9 times out of 10, he’s probably lazing about and avoiding responsibility as much as he can. In fact, he probably wouldn’t get out of bed on time without his Navi MegaMan.EXE by his side, (in fact, most of the time he still sleeps in anyway.) Mega Man is the responsible one of the pair, and usually manages to keep pretty calm. But despite Lan’s rather poor study habits, he and Mega Man excel at netbattling. Lan’s operating and Mega Man’s busting skills make the two just about unbeatable in any fight, so it’s clear where Lan’s priorities lie.
Yuchiro and Haruka Hikari
Lan’s parents have a pretty solid dynamic: Mom is a housekeeper and is always home, while Dad’s job means he’s always at the office. Together, Lan has one physical parent and one who exists mostly in apologetic e-mails. That’s gotta be some kind of power couple, right?
Mayl Sakurai and Roll.EXE
Mayl is Lan’s next door neighbor, and for reasons that are incredibly obvious to everybody but Lan, she insists on walking to school with him every day he’s not late. Perhaps it’s just kinship between two kids who have absent parents… in that both of Mayl’s parents are always oversees. Mayl and her Netnavi Roll.EXE aren’t what one would call “effective fighters” or “battle ready,” but they have a bond pretty close to that of Lan and Mega Man’s.
Dex Oyama and GutsMan.EXE
Dex is the local bully and the closest thing Lan has to a rival, sheerly due to frequency of challenges. But maybe there’s a nice kid under that gruff exterior? If that nice kid can be found after another twelve victories over him, maybe Lan will see him one day. GutsMan.EXE is Dex’s Navi, and surprising no one he goes all in on brute force. It’s hard to tell if the operator or Navi is the smart one of the two.
Yai Ayanokoji and Glide.EXE
Yai is the local rich girl, though she does have some legitimate knowledge under her belt. After all, she managed to skip a grade, landing herself in Lan’s class. Glide.EXE, Yai’s Navi, is a respectful fellow who acts more like a personal servant than just about any other Navi. He’s got access to a ton of rare and expensive battle chips, but like Roll he’s not one to typically fight.