its the fourth one. mega man zero, four. its not the zero 3 two that i wanted, although it’s the fourth zero game that we needed. i’m rereviewing this because this is the only zero game i haven’t expressed my current thoughts on regarding replays. also i went on vacation and brought my ds plus zero collection and ended up replaying all the games for the millionth time lol so this is fresh in my mind.

this game occupies a weird space in my head. like, yeah i really enjoy it but i’m not sure how to stack it up against the others due to its more lackluster motives. its the perfect emotional tie up for the series however gameplay-wise it’s a bit confused. the classic eight stage level select seems to be there just for the sake of being different than the previous titles. ironically on replays i end up doing a similar order of stages because most of the bosses just aren’t that fun to fight against without certain ex skills that i want from other bosses. heat genblem (da turtle) was the only boss i fully enjoyed due to his fun patterns along with weil phase 1. the other bosses did things that you had to deal with, while these two had patterns that you could accurately form more of a strategy based on.

i think inti realized they had made a masterpiece with zero 3 and didn’t know where to go from there, so they tried to incorporate new things to differentiate it from zero 3. in retrospect, i’m not disappointed that this game is less like zero 3 in design simply because i think another zero 3 would be boring. if every zero game was like zero 3 they would all be great games yeah but there wouldn’t be much to identify specifics between them. each game has that special quirk or technical intention that makes it a recognizable entry in the series (minus the story/graphics). i feel like zero 4 is kind of the sonic cd of these games. does weird shit for the sake of doing weird shit. weather system is cool but the challenges added to stages feel artificial and more so challenging your endurance rather than skill. i prefer the old method of getting ex skills because it’s reliant more on actual skill than some bullshit obstacle tacked on to stages. the cyber elf system was downgraded to be…simpler? not sure what they were going for. regardless it serves its purpose and works effectively. my only gripe is that effects don’t stack which most would assume to be the standard.

all in all, i seriously do love this game even with my frequent frustration with it lol. these complaints aren’t ‘minor’ per say, they just display z4’s quality in comparison to z3 which set the bar really fuckin high. i love playing this as much as z1 and z2 due to its fundamental and mechanical roots. shit feels good to control. collective and accurate usage of ex skills is as fun as ever despite removal of the shield boomerang. also the music fucking bangs EVEN on gba. i will defend the gba ost until i die i really like listening to it. the cd versions are obviously godlike and i prefer them though.

“I don’t ever recall calling myself a hero, I am Mega Man Zero 4.” - Zero mega man, 2005

Mega Man Zero 4 is a strange game. It makes a number of design decisions that I disagree with, but the things it carries over from the previous games are handled really well.

Zero 4's biggest problem is that the very different way it handles cyber elves and chips leads to a fairly grindy experience if you want to be at your best. The chip system especially is guilty of this, crafting doesn't really work well for me in a case where you need really specific parts to actually get equipment. This is disappointing, since one of the biggest things I loved about Zero 3 is how it eliminates the need for grinding.

I really like how the level design and bosses were handled, some of the best are almost as fun as the best of Zero 3's, but I think it's far less consistent as there's some real stinkers among both of them.

Story-wise, this is probably my favorite entry in the whole series. I really like how the game is generally themed around nature and the environment. The core of the story is about protecting the rebirth of nature into the world and letting it thrive, and the gimmick of its difficulty selection is based around the weather. It's an interesting motif that ties into the X-onward games' themes about the relationship between reploids and humanity. The entire finale with Ragnarok is the best conclusion I could think of for this series, it's a fantastic sendoff to the whole journey.

I suppose I'll conclude this by talking about my general thoughts on the whole series. These games are incredibly fun, Zero 3 especially, and are really well done stories, but most of them have some things holding them back from reaching their full potential. I'm still incredibly glad I played this series, and I'll gladly revisit them sometime.

So here's the hot take of the summer: This is actually my favorite game in the series. I love almost every piece of streamlining that was done from Zero 3, as while that game is fantastic in its own right it was also a little bit too easy to snap in half (That and I was never too big on the Recoil Rod in general).

Zero 4 takes the best aspects of the whole series: The simplicity of Zero 1, the varied brutality of Zero 2, and the customizability and polish of Zero 3, and rolls them together in a conclusive, jawdroppingly gorgeous package. While the crafting system is a dud and practically requires a guide, the rest of the game is ace in design and the Z-Knuckle is an absolute blast to toy around with.

"I never cared about justice, and I don't recall calling myself a hero. I have always fought only for the people I believe in. I won't hesitate.. if an enemy appears in front of me, I'll terminate it!"

Listen, compared to Megaman Zero 2 and 3, I definitely think this game is a step down from those. I totally understand the fact that Inti probably realized they could only improve so much on Zero 3, and instead of opting to make another game just like it, wanted to take risks and shake things up. It's what leads to things such as the weather system, the new Cyber-Elf system, and the parts system. However, I feel the weather system makes it too easy to get EX Skills, as the requirement is now simply beating the boss when the weather is in their favor, not too hard a task; it also means ranks are obsolete again. The part system also has a lot of parts you outright don't know the recipes for lest you look them up; and you can't just throw shit in there and see if you can make something cool out of them, because you'll end up making junk that scraps your parts. Lastly, I think Zero 4's biggest problem is in its level design; a bit better than the first game still, but I feel on a first-time playthrough it's definitely nowhere near as engaging as Zero 2 or 3. Perhaps I'll appreciate it more on an inevitable replay, but as it stands I do wish it could have been better.

So yeah, Zero 4's a game I got some problems with, unfortunately. And in a lesser series, I'd feel disappointed and not much else.

But y'know what? This isn't a lesser series. It's Megaman Zero, motherfucker, and while Zero 4 may disappoint a little, it makes up for it by being such an awesome conclusion to the series at the same time. Zero's physics still hard carry the level design at its lowest, there's still some really cool levels in there such as Artificial Sun and the endgame stages, the music somehow manages to go harder with every passing title and Zero 4 absolutely does not let up in that department, and this may genuinely be the best boss lineup I've seen not just in this series, but of all the Megaman games I've played so far. And Zero 4's story is arguably its biggest strength in my opinion, because it wraps up Zero's story in such an awesome way that you'd never believe Zero 3 was supposed to be the last game. That finale to this game may genuinely cement Zero as one of my favorite characters across gaming period.

Zero 4 fumbles, yeah. And while playing through the game, I did feel disappointed, sure. But damn, after finishing this game, I just can't help but fall (down) in love with it for what it does right.

Even before I started seriously getting into Megaman, I've always had my eye on this series thanks to friends of mine who preached it; and it paid off immensely, cementing this series as a whole as one of the best gaming experiences I've had in a long-ass while, even in spite of the absolute pain and frustration my skill issue (and sometimes the games' issues) has caused me. And I'd like to thank Josh_The_Fourth and leo0 for being the major players that got me into it; you two are awesome.

Rock on, Zero.

A middling end to a middling franchise. While Zero 3 made a show of being one of the best 2D platforming Mega Man titles, Zero 4 slid back into the mediocrity of the first two titles. When Zero 1 failed to deliver on anything outside of music and aesthetics, and Zero 2 was just, a slightly better and improved version of that–Zero 3 was a complete departure into higher quality gameplay, level design, and a much improved customization system, of which Zero 4 sadly completely abandoned in favor of (of all things), a crafting system for its upgrades. I don’t even have the language to explain how bad of a call that was. It feels like Inti must’ve felt forced to make Zero 4 have some big mechanical difference from Zero 3, but it just ends up kicking the legs out from under what should have been a knock-out finale.

It’s a shame too, since Zero 4 features unequivocally the best plot out of any of these games–in-part helped by the English localization not sucking complete ass this time–with the compelling narrative between Neige and Craft, star crossed human/reploid lovers. Honestly, I’d rather play a game with Neige as the main character since she isn’t the charismatic space vacuum that Zero is.

On a final note, Zero sucks. He’s a bad character and always has been. Everything cool about him has been slowly drained away since X1 for the sole purpose of making him even cooler-er than he was in X1, and it’s been pathetic the whole time. I’m glad he’s dead. Rip bozo and all that.

Wild ride man.

I was all over the place thinking about what score to give this game, ranging from an 8, 9, or 10. As you can see from my rating, I thoroughly enjoyed it despite all the flaws.

Admittedly, stages and bosses varied in terms of how much I enjoyed them. It was only once I got into the crafting system and how they reworked Cyber Elves that I really started getting into the flow of this one. An odd choice that puzzled me though was changing the requirements for EX skills from getting an A/S rank to the type of weather you play the stage in.

There are so many odd mechanics that make it into this one, as well as some questionable design choices, but for the most part, they absolutely stuck the landing for me. Incredible game and just overall an incredible series of games.

É melhor que o Zero 3? Não! É um bom encerramento para a série Megaman Zero? Com toda a certeza.

Eu gostei de cada momento desse jogo, assim como gostei do terceiro. A história desse pra mim é a melhor da série, tem os melhores bosses, o level design das fases é muito bom e sem contar que elas são muito bonitas e ainda com o sistema de mudar o clima, você tem motivos para revisitar as fases para encontrar caminhos que antes estavam bloqueados.

Mas esse jogo também possui alguma problemas. Primeiro, algo que está presente em todos os jogos da saga Zero, a trilha sonora é mediana e não tem nenhuma música marcante. O jogo também é de longe o mais difícil de toda a franquia e isso se dá grande parte pelo fator que o único jeito de explorar as fraquezas dos bosses é usando as Ex Skills e bom, eu já disse na review do Zero 2 o quão é difícil conseguir essas habilidades de um chefe. E eu também senti falta dos colecionáveis iguais do Zero 3, que davam um motivo a mais para explorar as fases e não estão nesse jogo, sei lá por qual motivo.

Mas ainda assim, Megaman Zero 4 é um jogão e um encerramento digno pra franquia e pra esse personagem incrível.

Mega Man Zero 4 se convirtió en mi juego favorito de la saga y uno de mis preferidos en general. Me resulta difícil expresar con palabras lo mucho que amé este videojuego, tanto mensajes como mecánicas, lo adoré de principio a fin.

Desde esa introducción donde se nos presenta en pocos diálogos la situación crítica de nuestros héroes y los humanos debido al regreso de Weil, hasta esa sección inicial en el área zero, tan llena de vida, con esperanto reproduciéndose de fondo como símbolo de la última esperanza de la humanidad, ya nos indica lo especial que va a ser el viaje que tenemos ante nosotros.

Empezando con las novedades en el gameplay, Zero Knuckle se convirtió en mi arma favorita de todas las incluidas en cada entrega. Mientras Recoil Rod y Chain Rod eran novedades divertidas de las que terminaba cansándome, Zero Knuckle me invitó a experimentar en todo momento, descubriendo constantemente nuevos trucos, armas, interacciones y combos. Es muy divertida de usar.

Otro gran acierto es el sistema de climas, que además de ser una forma diegética de cambiar la dificultad, sirve para desbloquear las habilidades especiales (en mi opinión, mil veces mejor que depender de las notas al final del nivel). Llámenme loco, pero Mega Man Zero 4 es también el juego de la saga con el mejor diseño de nivel y propuestas en cuanto a este. Lejos de ser siempre un pasillo a la derecha hasta el jefe, ofrece diferentes desafíos basados en el área y el clima, lo cual es muy refrescante.

Nunca fui demasiado fan de los elfos durante la saga y solía ignorarlos. Pero en este juego, me encantaron. Solo tenemos uno. Ahora es posible asignar múltiples atributos simultáneamente sin exceder el límite. Es simple, práctico y simbólico (quiero decir, nuestro elfo compañero LITERALMENTE SE LLAMA "CREER", saben lo cool que es eso?!)

Pasando a los jefes, amé el énfasis que se hace en estos al inicio, presentándolos como el grupo a vencer. Dándoles personalidad en pocos diálogos, lejos de ser solo los conos a derrotar como en juegos anteriores. En especial para Craft, que sirve como tercer punto de vista en el conflicto, a Dr. Weil y Zero, siendo sin duda el jefe secundario más desarrollado de esta saga de videojuegos y una agradable sorpresa.

Hablando del elefante en la habitación, Mega Man Zero 4 tiene un enorme énfasis en su apartado narrativo, y aquí es donde brilla. El final de este juego se convirtió rápidamente en uno de mis favoritos de la ficción. Ese clímax es precioso y la conclusión a 20 años de historia: ¿Por qué seguimos luchando? ¿Para qué luchamos? ¿Vale la pena seguir adelante en un mundo que no aprende? ¿Es posible un futuro mejor? Todas estas preguntas nos las hacemos durante la aventura. En Mega Man Zero 3, probamos que éramos Zero, ahora es hora de demostrar por qué somos el Reploide legendario.

X y Zero vieron su sueño cumplido.

El villano fue derrotado. La naturaleza está regresando a la tierra, y la paz entre los Reploids y los humanos finalmente se logra, pero el héroe no pudo presenciar ese final. ¿Quién hubiera dicho que el Reploide que tuvo la peor de las vidas, que vio a sus seres queridos morir en sus narices, lleno de dolor y creado para destruir, sería quien al final le daría esperanza a Ciel y a la humanidad?

Todo en una de las mejores batallas finales en la historia de los videojuegos, llena de diálogos poderosos y una de las realizaciones más conmovedoras que tuve el agrado de ver. Estoy agradecido de haberle dado una oportunidad a esta saga.

Vaya viaje. Caballeros, sin duda nos encontramos ante ficción máxima.

My opinion on the Zero games have been somewhat contrarian. Zero 1 was my second favorite game in the Zero series, 2 was a (somewhat small) step back for me, and 3 is the only one in which I hold the majority opinion, in that it's the best Mega Man game. From what I can gather, I'm in the minority when I say that Zero 4 is the absolute worst of the Zero games. There's just so much wrong with Zero 4. Just, good god. This game is the definition of “If it isn't broken, don't fix it”, and its new and reworked mechanics leaves me frustrated, longing for the mechanics from Zero 3. First off, probably the least offensive change here. The Cyber Elves from Zero 3 are now just one Cyber Elf, and you level it up, which allows you to choose different cyber elves (although you get one at a time). As someone who barely used the cyber elves in all of the Zero games, due to ranking requirements (which I'll get to later with this game), this personally didn't phase me too much. It wasn't a big hassle to get used to, and I actually found it a little easier to follow than the Satellite Elves from Zero 3. Not to say that I necessarily prefer Zero 4’s system, but this is one of the few somewhat positive changes I found to Zero 4. Almost everything from here on out is downhill. Zero 4 introduces the crafting system, and is how you get your body parts in this game. By defeating enemies, you get a random part from them, which is used in the crafting. However, there's almost no indication on how to craft anything of use. 99% of the time, you'll just get a junk part, so I said “Fuck it” and went to the StrategyWiki. Just do this, it'll make your life so much easier. What Zero 4 also changed is how you get access to the elements, and on paper it's not a terrible idea. Zero 4 gives you 8 bosses to select at the start, so it wouldn't make sense to just have 3 randomly placed elements out of the 8 bosses. But at the same time, the way you use the elements is so impractical. The elements are now infused with the EX skills, which isn’t a great idea because the EX skills were to simply add to your overall moveset and combat capabilities, and relying on them for weaknesses is just a really, really terrible idea. Mega Man Zero 2 and 3 NEVER forced you to go for the EX skills if you didn’t want to, or couldn’t. You still had the charged Buster and Saber shots if you needed to use an element. Zero 4 however, essentially requires you to get it if you want to be taking down these bosses, lest it takes decades just to kill a single fucking boss. And somehow, someway, it gets even worse. First off, how you get the skills is dumb to begin with. One of the silliest gameplay mechanics I've seen in gaming is the FUCKING WEATHER SYSTEM. I AM NOT SHITTING YOU, the fucking Weather of a stage impacts if you can even go through the weakness chain to begin with. Each stage has 2 weather settings, one in which the weather is favorable, the other is better for the enemy. You have to play on the unfavorable stage to get the skill, but that’s not all. The weather changes the stage itself too. It's not just cosmetic. And 99% of the time, the level is just designed to piss you off. Doing an all EX Skills is a fucking nightmare and a half for this game. You’re practically forced into it either way, so I ended up suffering and doing every mission with unfavorable weather. It sucked, needless to say. It’s just so perplexing on why they chose weather of all things. I could imagine some people going in blind and finding an inconsistent difficulty curve thanks to the randomized weather. The weather system also means that your rank is essentially useless now, and lowers the skill ceiling from literally every other Zero game. A replacement wouldn’t been nice, but oh well. That also brings me to the stage design, which is absolutely garbage. I don’t know if the original level designers were affiliated with Zero 4 at all, but this is more irritating than fucking Mega Man 1. Compounded with the level design issues of the weather system, is the lact of a solid third weapon. For context, Zero 1 had the Triple Rod, which was a great addition to the combat. Zero 2 had the Chain Rod, a decently useful platforming that was a little bit finicky to use. Zero 3 had the Recoil Rod, which took the best parts of the Triple Rod and Chain Rod, being a great addition to combat and exploration. Zero 4 attempts to continue this tradition with the Zero Knuckle, rest in peace Shield Boomerang, which fails at both the things that the Recoil Rod exceeds at. It’s almost entirely optional, too. I only used it a grand total of two times in my entire playthrough; once to get an actually well hidden subtank, and once in the final set of levels. And it sucks in combat, as it allows you to steal the weapons of other enemies, but it’s pathetic. It does pitiful damage, and overall you’re just better off sticking with the Ol’ Reliable, the Z Saber and Buster combo. Back on the topic of level design, Zero 4’s levels are filled with gimmicks that don’t even enhance the quality of the stage, once again just to piss you off. The sun overheating you, dealing almost half your health bar? Sure! Insta-kill crushing blocks that are near pixel perfect to dodge over and over again? Why not? Long strands of vines which block your path that constantly respawn? Goddamn, they’re pulling out all the stops with this game! The level design in Zero 4 is a major downgrade from any Zero game preceding it, and it’s actually infuriating how hard this game drops the ball when it shouldn’t. Zero 3 was nearly PERFECT in gameplay, with few falters in game balance and challenge. Zero 4 just feels like scrapped mechanics from Zero 3, and I really want to love this game. I’ve loved (or at least respect) all of the games in the Zero series, but Zero 4 just doesn’t do anything right to be worth a playthrough. Zero 4 is a disappointing conclusion to the Red Bomber’s legacy, with poorly thought out mechanics holding it back constantly, and poor level design to boot. I would’ve personally suggested skipping it, if it weren’t for the fact that it’s the conclusion to Zero’s saga, so idk. Do whatever you want. I got all of the Steam achievements, and I will never touch Zero 4 for the foreseeable future. Have a good night.

There comes a time and place when playing a series that you begin to get fatigued at. This game completely fails at doing what it's predecessors did, and in the end it turns into just kind of a frustrating mess. Now, after reading @zeusdeegoose's review, I couldn't agree more. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Let's start off with mechanics. Zero 2 had probably my favorite mechanics with how much fun Chain Rod was, Zero 3's Recoil Rod wasn't as good and felt more like a chore but there were some elements in some levels I at least thought were neat... What does Zero 4 have? Well, it removes the classic Shield Boomerang and Rod weapon, replacing those with... the Zero Knuckle? Well, on paper, I like the idea. I've always been a fan of experimenting with new enemy weapons and seeing what they can do, kind of like how Kirby encourages the player to try enemy abilities when possible. However, the Zero Knuckle just kind of sucks to use in general. Most of the abilities you steal tend to just be inferior versions of the Buster, and those that aren't tend to have some kind of drawback. The splitting missile, for example, has a horrendous amount of downtime that prevents you from using your other weapons, and it also runs out of ammo after just 4 shots. Oh, and also, you HAVE to open up the menu, confirm that you're dumping a weapon with ZERO AMMO LEFT, and then you can play the game again. Seriously, how on earth are the NES games better than a GBA game on that front? This sounds minor, but when you're doing this multiple times over the course of a level, it gets grating. We lost the Rod and Shield Boomerang for this? I made fun of Shield Boomerang for being borderline useless, but after the massive glow-up it got in Zero 3, losing it just feels like a loss on all fronts when all we get in return is a bad weapon system that you're literally better off not using.
Level Design feels more gimmicky than ever, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, some gimmicks aren't very fun at all, and I will get to a particular one later that made me drop the game. Not only are a majority of the levels gimmicky, but they also change with... the WEATHER? Who the hell asked for a weather mechanic in this game? That's like adding a mid-air dash to a Yakuza game, it's just not a game that needs it nor does it really fit the game. In fact, I think it DETRACTS from the game, as levels that are snowy make them even less memorable. The weather mechanic just feels like a needless addition to a game that didn't need it. Would be nice if that was the end of it, no? Just being a needless and dumb addition? Well buckle your damn seatbelt, because guess what I learned from zeusdeegoose's review? THE EX SKILLS ARE TIED TO THE DAMN WEATHER. I'm dead fucking serious. The game NEVER explains this to you and I thought it was ranking-based again, so you have to play the stages on conditions that make it more of a slog in order to get the EX Skill, and as it turns out, these EX Skills are the ONLY WAY TO DO ELEMENTAL DAMAGE???? WHEN ALL YOU NEEDED TO DO LAST TIME WAS JUST CHARGE YOUR Z-SABER OR BUSTER WITH THE RIGHT BODY CHIP???? These changes are just BAFFLING, but I'm not done yet.
This game also introduces CRAFTING. Craft what? Well the game never really tells you, but it's how you unlock THE DAMN BODY PARTS. Who in the hell asked for this? It wouldn't be so bad if it AT LEAST told you "hey you need these pieces to craft this", but you're left with NOTHING. I tried crafting once, got junk out of it, and figured it was only maybe for collectibles because I didn't expect this series to make such an unnecessary drastic change from what people LIKED ABOUT THE PREVIOUS GAMES. It's like the people who worked on this game didn't know anything about the previous ones, and I wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be the case!
Most of my complaints about Zero 3 persist in this game, perhaps to an even greater extent. The bosses continue to not SHUT UP ever, and their patterns are even more asinine to try and learn because of how tight or unpredictable they are. I kind of just stopped having fun playing this game because Mega Man as a SERIES is known for having memorable boss fights, and this is absolutely NOT it.

So, let's move past all that and move on to story, at least the little that I experienced.

Minor spoilers ahead, you've been warned.

So this game puts more emphasis on the humans, an aspect of the story that has sort of been underrepresented in the series. I think the portrayal of the humans was fine enough; they were frustrating to deal with, but you kind of get it. It's been war after war that they've been caught in the middle of, and they want none of it. Still, they are unable to do much by themselves and require your help after you persuade them, which was neat, I guess.
There's also the Craft and Neige thing, which is mostly about "dying for what you believe in than live kneeling", a sentiment that I am pretty familiar with since it was popularized by one of my very own countrymen: Mexican Revolutionary Emiliano Zapata. In essence, they're both in love with each other, but are at odds due to their personal beliefs. Craft wants Neige to live kneeling, while Neige would rather die for her beliefs. It's an interesting dynamic, and that's probably one of this game's only strong points.

And now for the reason I dropped this game.
Colorblindness Rating: D-
Zero 3 had it bad with the holographic doors, but at the very LEAST those were optional. In Mino Magnus' stage, there is a certain gimmick with two different polarities... represented with blue and purple, picking two shades that are impossible for me to discern. Oh, but you need to know which is which because otherwise you don't know what color bomb is going to come at you and which one isn't so I had to load savestate after savestate; there comes a point where I just get fucking fed up and stop caring, damageboosting through the entire stage because I couldn't be assed to try and play a stage that doesn't give a damn about me.
Oh, and guess what? Mino Magnus brings back the color mechanic during his boss fight; and at that point, I decided "fuck it". This game does not respect my time and I shouldn't respect it either, which is why I'm dropping it.

I won't get to see how it ends, but I don't particularly care to anyway. Zero 3 ended pretty conclusively, and all I need to do is headcanon that Zero stopped Weil at the same time as Omega and nothing changes in my head.

A regression from Zero 3 in every area except story. Cyber elves have been streamlined to oblivion, yet they’re as grindy again as they were in Zero 1, elemental chips just aren’t a thing anymore, the way the weather system and EX skills work is honestly kind of baffling, the Z knuckle, stealing enemy weapons ends up being just an impractical gimmick, the levels are worse, the bosses and especially the mini-bosses are worse. Although it has is a pretty baller final boss, one that kind of surprised me with it’s emotional weight.

has a kind of underwhelming intro compared to the other 3 games (especially 2 which has probably my favorite intro in any media) but it makes up for it in every other aspect i think, especially its finale. probably the mega man game that clicks with me the most, i feel like everything about it just works in a way i absolutely love with some of the most fun ive had playing an action platformer. i'm not a huge fan of the crafting system and the zero knuckle could've been implemented much better but otherwise this is the perfect mega man game to me and i haven't been able to get it out of my head since i've beaten it.

Mega Man Zero 4 is worse than Zero 3, despite the fact that they were improving with each release. However, despite what it may seem, I consider that as a positive aspect of this game, I'm glad as Inti Creates instead of going the easy way and choose only repeat the same formula of MMZ3, better choose to maintain the philosophy of the Zero series, which is to experiment with a variety of concepts and mechanics, of course, not always have a good execution (as the forms of Zero 2 or the level up system), but at least it was something that distinguished them from a common Mega Man game.

Picking up from the conclusion of Zero's arc seen in MMZ3, we see that now Zero and Ciel are dedicated to helping people by traveling in a caravan. The story begins when we help a group of humans who are fleeing from Neo Arcadia and Weil in search of a fresh start in a place called Area Zero, a place that is particularly peculiar as it oozes with something lost in a totally artificial world: nature. From there, the story unfolds in a very interesting way where we are introduced to two new characters and being honest, it ends up being a very good story, perhaps at the same level or better than MMZ3, in that aspect it does not disappoint. The only bad thing is that now Mega Man X6 is totally canon.

Anyway, speaking of gameplay, Mega Man Zero 4 is very experimental in terms of new mechanics implemented. It literally ditches everything learned in MMZ3 in pursuit of distinguishing itself from it and bringing us a fresher experience, and this is both for better and for worse.

For starters, I really liked how there was a sort of bestiary in MMZ3 and the way the Cyber-Elves worked. Here a lot of things change, but I'll start talking about the new stuff. Mega Man Zero 4 introduces the Zero Knuckle, which is a new weapon that we can use to take the weapon away from any regular enemy, which is pretty cool, but it's very underutilized and left as a very secondary mechanic, when this had the potential to be a main mechanic. The other new thing is an armor piece crafting system, which is also a mechanic with huge potential but is poorly executed as it requires a lot of trial and error or failing that, a guide as most of the recipes are not given to you to know. It's a shame to be honest, as these two new mechanics were meant to be a lot more than just two secondary things and that's it. But well, speaking of changes, the Cyber-Elf system now works differently by only having one during the entire game, but it has the advantage of being able to offer three different effects depending on their level. What I don't like is that it feels a bit restrictive compared to the Cyber-Elf system seen in MMZ3, however, it is far superior to the one seen in MMZ1/MMZ2. And finally, a change that I consider for the better, is that now the EX-Skills are obtained if you decide to pass the level with unfavorable weather, instead of requiring you to always get A/S rank.

Inti Creates really wasn't going to settle for just making the above changes, they wanted to go further by giving a new approach to levels. The levels now usually have some sort of gimmick, which isn't something that bothers me and actually turns out to be something that gives the game variety, anyway each level has two forms by being able to switch between two weather states, which I liked when revisiting the levels, this is one aspect that makes them more interesting. The boss designs are the ones I like the most in the Zero saga. Also, in my opinion, I think the boss battles are more interesting this time around, since now it's not just about selecting the elemental chip and attacking the enemy with a charged attack and leaving him inactive for the entire battle, but now there are no elemental chips and it's more about learning how to fight the boss.

Speaking of the music and graphics, these have a slight evolution, as the use of colors is very good, and this complements very well with the fact that now many scenarios are based on natural environments. On the music side, I don't know if it's my imagination, but the instruments sound a little different, and in general, I really like the tone of them. I also think that the music now accompanies better the scenes of the story, for example, songs like Ciel d'aube transmit a lot...
But here's my top 5 of Mega Man Zero 4 songs:
1. Esperanto (My favorite song of the Zero series, once and for all I say).
2. Straight Ahead
3. Deep Blue
4. Caravan -Hope for Freedom
5. Max Heat

Finally, I just want to mention how I really like how in this game Zero is perceived as a more, you could say, "mature" character. Seeing Zero like this after what happened in MMZ3 is something that I think is great, and seeing how this story ends makes him simply become one of my favorite characters, even though in terms of design I like X more and he will always be my favorite, even so, I think Zero is quite better overall.

Conclusion
Mega Man Zero 4 is a strange game, it's a game with a lot of potential that it never takes advantage of properly, but despite its imperfections it has a very special place in my heart, either because it's the conclusion of the whole Mega Man story, because of its gameplay that remains great as always, or because of other things more.

Yes, I have a lot of mixed feelings with this game, maybe if they had had more time to develop this game we would have in front of us a masterpiece, but Capcom being Capcom only thought about getting easy money from the franchise. All in all, I think it's a worthy last installment for the Zero saga and a worthy conclusion to the Mega Man story as a whole.

Mega Man zero 4 é um dos meus jogos favoritos e adoro sempre rejogar ele, mas ele tem seus defeitos como o sistema de crafting e o farming infinito pelas partes certas.
Eu decidi fazer um desafio dessa vez que eu joguei, usando somente o Z.Knuckle e foi um porre de se passar de alguns chefes por conta dele ter um alcance pequeno, tirando as minhas frustrações com alguns chefes(TE ODEIO TOURO DO KRL) minha experiência com esse desafio foi divertida, teve seus altos e baixos mas no final tudo valeu apena.



Agora é ir fazer isso no Hard...
Ore ni tsuite koreru kana? - Fenri Lunaedge