Perform a Virus Check Every 10-30 Steps – Let’s Play Mega Man Battle Network

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.

Episodes

Part 1: Virus Busting 101

Part 2: Treasure Stove

Part 3: Convert by Number

Part 4: A Stone’s Throw Delay

Part 5: Afterschool Special Visit

Part 6: Cut the Waterworks

Part 7: Stay Defrosty

Part 8: Antique Crossing

Part 9: Speed Coloring

Part 10: An Evening With Good Chums

Part 11: A Draining Experience

Part 12: World 3-4

Part 13: Aura Aura Aura

Part 14: Crash the Server

Part 15: It’s the End of the Game as We Know It

Part 16: Reblog This Homepage

Part 17: Death Virus, LifeVirus

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Welcome to the cyber future! Everything is online, and I’m sure nothing bad will come from- oh there’s already a terrorist organization plotting to take over the world via the net? Ah. Well okay then.

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If it’s pronounced “World 3”, does that mean WWW stands for World World World?

I’ve never played Battle Network, or any Mega Man game, but I did watch a decent chunk of the anime - Mega Man: NT Warrior or whatever it was called - when I was a tiny youth. I’ve never revisited it, though. From what I remember it was pretty neat.

‘Escape’ being a card you have to draw is I guess a common dumb decision in card-based JRPGs (or chip-based in this case). Baten Kaitos did the same thing, and they didn’t fix it for the sequel (in fact, they even managed to make it worse).

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Looks like snack time will have to wait in the Hikari household, because the Hikari household’s oven is currently on fire. And as the only person in the house with a Navi, it’s up to Lan to stop his house from going up in flames. Maybe that’s a bit of a heavy responsibility to put on an 11 year old, but he’s an anime kid with a bandana so his chances in this are actually really good.

NT Warrior gets wild in different ways from the game series, but I also remember it being pretty good.

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Lan has foiled one of the WWW’s plots, but they’re not a group to give up so easily. It may seem like an ordinary school day for Lan, but you never know when dangerous netcriminals could attack… or even who those criminals are in the first place.

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School’s done, but WWW hasn’t let up on accidentally messing up Lan’s day. What was going to be a trip to see his dad has become another chore as Lan must now fix the newly (un)opened Metroline’s cleanup program. But the literal block isn’t he only roadblock for Lan’s train ride; with sections of the internet blocked off, it looks like Lan will have to settle things with a certain bully sooner rather than later.

tl;dr: It’s a busy day for the virus-busting duo.

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Lan’s day continues, but it looks like the WWW is done for now. The only obstacle left is your typical absent father situation, but that can’t be shot by your internet avatar so it’s more difficult to overcome. On the bright side, Lan can at least fight the lunch lady in order to put off his inevitable emotional issues for just another day. Sometimes you need that in life.

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Trouble has arrived at ACDC Town, as everyone in town wakes up to find a distinct lack of water anywhere. But with class cancelled for the students’ safety, Lan decides to instead head straight into danger and solve the problem himself. He and Mega Man go the the waterworks, but just what can a pair like them do to help?

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Are you ready for… backtracking? That’s right, one trip to the waterworks wasn’t enough! Lan must solve the mystery of the now-toxic water, and perhaps even find that kidnapped child he’s heard so much about. When Lan has a busy day, it’s very busy.

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Lan’s boring day is interrupted by an invitation from his friend Mayl, who wants to shop for a present for Yai’s birthday. So, instead of hanging out in front of a computer, Lan can cross some streets. Many streets. It’s DenTown, it’s 80% road. But at the very least, we do meet the best NPC in the game.

And nothing bad will happen while we’re here.

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Something bad happens in DenTown!

After witnessing several deaths, Lan must hurry and stop the malfunctioning traffic lights before more cars auto-drive themselves into a twisted pile. But unfortunately, certain choices in public transportation made by one Mayl Sakurai have made this emergency far more personal.

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It’s a new day, and Lan is hungry. Thankfully, there’s a solution that’s not just dinner. It’s dinner, but fancy. Lan’s dad has invited his family to an evening in the SciLab’s underground restaurant, which means Lan might eat and see his dad at the same time! A rare occasion to be certain.\

We also fight Shark Man in this episode, and Shark Man is the worst.

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Here it is, the worst dungeon. Lan must slog through this terrible power plant to save everyone in the facility, himself included. On the bright side, of all the things we have to deal with, actually dealing with oxygen deprivation isn’t one of them.

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Though tasked with trying to cheer up his arch-rival, Eugene Chaud, Lan has instead been drawn into the search for WWW’s domain. With the organization’s plans nearing completion, it’s imperative someone finds where they’re hiding online. And luckily, Lan’s more of a people person than Chaud is, and might just have the connections needed to uncover WWW’s secret server.

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Well, the world’s in danger, but I don’t want to leave post-game content lying around when it’s right there! So today, Mega Man will be traveling across the most dangerous sections of the Undernet. But if you wanna hang out with the best criminals, you need to master the battle system first. I mean really, do you want these Crime-Navis to suspect you’re bad at Dark Souls? You’ll never get that PowerUp if your net dealer keeps telling you to git gud!

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Half of the Undernet has been explored, but the other half remains, and this is the section with all the important, WWW-related stuff. The viruses around here may be weaker, but WWW hasn’t neglected to post a guard wherever their domain is hiding.

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Despite everyone’s best efforts, WWW has moved to the final step of their plan. With Dr. Wily’s virus complete, it’s only a matter of time before he unleashes it on the world. But there remains one hope left: if Lan can find the WWW’s hidden base, he can put a stop to them. There’s only one thing he needs first: his Dad’s permission to destroy a terrorist organization.

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Lan has infiltrated WWW’s HQ by means of using an old train pass, but his true challenge has yet to come. Now, Lan must overcome… a level rush? All of Wily’s minions seem to be on lunch break so the only things we’ll be revisiting are the dungeons of the game. With less intense gimmicks.

… So Wily was pretty confident he only needed to be hidden, huh?

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Lan and Mega Man have made it to the end. But Wily and his final cohort are determined to keep them from stopping the LifeVirus. If they have any tricks up their sleeves, will the Hikaris be able to overcome them?

This is it, the part you’ve been waiting for: actual plot.

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The world is saved, but there’s a little more to see in the world. Between weirdos who hang out in corners to challenge people with quizzes and his still-incomplete chip folder, Lan has his work cut out for him. And just who could be left to meet on the web, after all Lan and Mega Man have been through?

@moderators , this can be put in completed LPs now.

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