playing mmsf2 was worth it to get to this point. the first game has gotta be one of my favorite DS games of all time, and this one blows it out of the water. all the gameplay improvements from the second game carry over, with some new ones that kick ass even more (pulsing in anywhere you want and walking on the ground is sooo refreshing). the story is great, with genuinely hype moments and an actually interesting story from start to end. it's such a great bow tying finish to the series, and i love how all of the gameplay improvements are intrinsically linked with technological improvements within the world that also drive the story. it's probably the funniest mmsf game, and definitely the most emotional. it absolutely still has that kinda cheesy writing from time to time, but damn, i'd be lying if i said i didn't cry 90% of the time the theme song for this series plays.

while i enjoy the first game a lot, it gets kinda tiring after a while. after a certain point, i was only playing the second game to finish it. mmsf3 is different. i had a longer playthrough on this than both of the prior games individually. i never got bored in a play session; i always stopped because i had to go do something else. there's an insane amount of actually good boss fights, especially the final boss fight, which was probably peak mmsf gameplay for me. there's even some segments in this game that AREN'T wave battling that are fun! minigame type shit like for all mmsf dungeons but hell, i was into it. also, they fixed the absurdly high random encounter rate in the second game (thank fuck).

can't believe it took me this long to finally get around it. i was assuming i'd like it, but about as much as i love mmsf1 (4 stars for me). but no, this is peak. i still have tears on my face from that ending. i love megaman star force,,,

Coming off of Star Force 2 I would have never expected this to be the apex of not only Star Force but also the Battle Network series. Battles finally feel on par with if not above Battle Network with the return of some key mechanics (Area Steal and Style Changes) plus the introduction of the Noise system and Illegal Data making every battle worth finishing for new rewards to play with. The story is back to the tone you'd expect from Star Force and has a lovely ending that anyone would want from seeing this trilogy through. It all comes together so well that I actually felt compelled to complete its postgame unlike SF1 or 2's. Battle Network 3 is still a personal favorite, but I can't deny the polish this game has above it and the rest.