Changing the direction of an otherwise successful formula is a bold move in gaming. Being able to recover when it’s not well received is even more impressive. It takes a special game and an even greater series to repair that kind of damage done by a single bad entry. Rising from the ashes of failure, Mega Man Battle Network 5 takes previously introduced features and recognizes their greater potential while also giving us a compelling story. Improvements are made to DoubleSoul and Dark Chips. You’re also reintroduced to a large cast of supporting characters. With the inclusion of the new Liberation Missions, Battle Network 5 offers much for players to engage with.

The game wastes no time introducing you to the conflict. Led by Dr. Regal, the Dark Chip Syndicate Nebula is back with a hostile takeover of the net. They capture Lan’s father and lock down all of the net spaces which sets the stage for Liberation Missions. The biggest feature of Battle Network 5 is the tactics-styled missions where you must fight your way through enemy forces to confront the boss of that zone. Lan is given control over several Navis throughout these missions and each of them has unique abilities that help you clear out large spaces or allow you to maneuver around obstacles set in front of you. Some of these abilities are more useful than others but they all make sense for each mission. Afterwards, MegaMan’s soul resonates with the new teammate Navi and that’s how we return to the DoubleSoul feature that was first introduced in Battle Network 4.

DoubleSoul functions broadly the same as it did before. The major difference this time is that the feature is much more accessible and the game actively encourages you to partake in it. By offering up a Battle Chip, MegaMan takes on the visual and battle properties of other Navis. This remains a better realization of MegaMan’s classic copy ability and is more fun to engage with. You also gain access to all six souls in a single play-through of the game. This encourages you to build your folder to support multiple souls while also maintaining chip synergy. The addition of Chaos Unison makes for a unique experience as it’s limited to a single turn instead of the usual three turns. It also allows you to use the Dark Chip offered multiple times as it replaces the charge attack. However, if you don’t time the attack right then Megaman’s Dark Soul comes out and attacks you. This was a great way to incentivize the use of Dark Chips while maintaining their narrative lore.

Dark Chips were previously introduced in Battle Network 4 but were quickly dismissed as the consequences of using them were far greater than the reward they granted. With the inclusion of Chaos Unison, along with having greater access to them, Dark Chips have been given a much greater value in their use. Some of these chips would do a high amount of damage while others would heal you or freeze the enemies. They remain completely optional in their use and the consequences previously introduced remain present. Permanently losing health when using these chips is a good balancing aspect as it encourages you to not take the easy way out every time. Certainly, you wouldn’t want to use these chips on random battles at the very least. The narrative impact of their use seems less prevalent than before but the story more than makes up for it.

The story is one of the more compelling ones in the series thus far. Fighting off the hostile takeover of the net feels urgent and fitting. If the net weren’t so ugly, in both design and accessibility, I’d even say it deserves to be fought for. The narrative structure and pacing of the story are done in such a way that you don’t feel as bogged down by previous sins like vague indications of where to go. The game does a good job of pointing you in the right direction and leaves it up to you to find your way to the next one. This is most apparent during the segment where you’re following a breadcrumb trail of clues left by Lan’s grandpa. While faced with several roadblocks throughout the narrative, Lan must enlist the help of new teammates to clear these various obstacles. While Lan’s classmate friends remain largely in the background as they did in Battle Network 4, the characterization of the liberation teammates steps up into those supporting roles. While each character has their own reason for helping out, you’re able to gather an eclectic cast of characters ranging from a snobby rich woman to a rough military operative. They each have a strong connection to their Navis and contribute to the narrative with those personalities. You usually meet each teammate at the beginning or the end of a segment involving a dungeon.

Dungeons in this game would have been a highlight were you not made to repeat them multiple times with no variation. Each dungeon features a fun or interesting mechanic such as punching boulders or sending Mr. Progs dressed as ninjas to disarm traps. The sin of it all is being sent back and having to slog your way through the entire dungeon with nothing different about it. It gives a feeling of stagnation where something needs to happen in between the bigger story beats. The game has only four dungeons including the dungeon in the finale so the scope of the spaces available isn’t broad by any means. This feels magnified by the fact that the spaces present simply have little to explore anyway. Half of the environments feel similar to tunnels that you go through so many times that you grow bored of them rather quickly.

Part of the dungeons are the puzzles you have on the way to the comp spaces. These are usually ways that you interact with the spaces like raising drills or opening up pathways. Usually, these instances are fun and make the areas feel more tangible and I believe this applies here too. There was one actively bad mini-game but thankfully you’re not made to repeat it once you’ve suffered it to completion. The concept of the Samurai mini-game was decent enough, if not a little dumb, but the execution was awful. The rhythm of hitting the statues was fine but when they changed tempo you were often not given the proper spacing to hit the statues and you would have to start over again. Fortunately, this is the only time the game imposes on you in such a way and it happens later in the game so you’re more inclined to see it through to the end.

The final dungeon was the best one in the game and possibly the best in the series so far. Having to work with your teammates to open the various passageways in the dark chip factory was well realized. You get to experience each of your teammates one last time before confronting the final boss. When you finally reach the point of no return, a short hallway separates you from Nebula Grey. This battle continues the trend of being significantly harder than any other enemy or boss you’ve fought before. It also continues the trend of having at least a small amount of ridiculousness. Nebula Grey’s attacks are, generally speaking, mostly fair. The fight would have been more interesting if there were more narrative influence but the challenge felt fair for the game’s conclusion.


Mega Man Battle Network 5 offers much for the player to engage with. The improvements easily overshadow the more disappointing aspects of the game. Making DoubleSoul more accessible alone was a massive improvement that was necessary for the growth of the game. Also improving access and incentives to use Dark Chips makes leaps where some series might only hop. While acknowledging the game’s flaws, it’s easily a top-tier game for the series and an overall pleasure to play. With much to offer and only more room to grow I’m left hungry for more. Looking forward to seeing what comes next.