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.

The final game in the series, Zero 4 continues to innovate on its formula and attempts to try new things with all of its systems. While the new Chip system is a bit frustrating, the appeal of mixing robot parts to make things is still alluring to me. Z4's Cyber Elf system is probably my favorite in the whole series, and the new Zero Knuckle could make for a defining feature for a game if it wasnt overshadowed by the incredibly fun Z-Saber and Buster. This was my favorite game in the Zero series and highly recommend.

My favorite Mega Man Zero game. The toned-down difficulty really does wonders, the levels are more distinct and enjoyable to go through instead of being annoying exercises in frustration, most boss fights don't devolve into Don Frye vs Yoshihiro Takayama and have fun patterns to weave through with the cherry on top being the pseudo blue mage mechanic, Zero Knuckle, that's very fun to experiment with. I'm not the biggest Mega Man fan to say the least as I've always found the large majority of those games to be annoying and plain unfun to play, but, save for some frustrating portions in typical Mega Man fashion, Mega Man Zero 4 is a game I enjoy playing and replaying.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Okay, so. I’ll get out of the way that it simplifies things a bit much, and that does lessen how I feel on it versus 2 and 3. And the OST is notably a tad off, some tracks are just not good. Others still totally hit. I did an EX skill run this time, and something clicked that previously had not. The weather system dares to ask, what if X6’s nightmare system actually functioned, and had a reward to it, whilst providing a fun way of using the weapon chain in a game you don’t really need it in. Similarly, I think this can make up for the loss of the recoil rod and a lot of 3 and 2’s customizability, as it’s far easier to get a Zero loaded up on Z skills that you can chain together. Didn’t really think much of the system until this run, and it really improved how I feel on the game. It turned from something I thought was pretty great to something I fucking loved. Again, I don’t love the simplified Elf system or how it handled parts, and the knuckle, while cool, is situational, but yeah. I like the game a lot. Finale is still utterly perfect and the story is once again, really good. It’s the only time Mega Man really contributed to a narrative-based series, (as ZX was canned before tying up its loose ends), and it’s great for it. I just can’t make myself do anything but love this game in spite of its faults; my experience was so purely good.

Ehhh, not bad at all, i just didn't find it as fun as the others.
8 stages from the start is great, but most of them are annoying and not very fun to play through. The bosses are fine though and the ending is great.

I didn't like the rest of the story that much honestly.

The elf system is a lot better now and i can finally get some Ex skills. It's weird to me that they gatekeeped them behind ranks all this time when the main appeal Zero has is his moveset yet most players won't be able to get them and will get stuck playing Elemental-Chip-Charge-Attack-Man. The chip system sucks, i didn't even bother with farming for that stuff, i looked up a guide and most of them aren't even worth it.