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.
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.