I really enjoy that a narrative is added, however slight. The length in this one is just right, solving the tedious retreading of robot masters from 3 by adding Cossack's castle. The weapons overall feel more useful than 3 but still don't live up to the fun or memorability of 2's. Bright Man's power is totally useless outside of draining it on Pharaoh Man. The UI finally got it down though, as switching weapons is smooth and quick (you can finally do it while jumping!).
Then there's the charge shot. This really hurts the pacing of classic MM. You can tell enemy HP is designed around it, and it makes most of the other weapons pointless to switch to. I'm not sure if it's due to charge shot, but the level design also really lacks the sense of urgency the series had before (i.e. Gemini Man's level). Levels are slow and honestly, frustrating to plow through with endless spikes and pits.
The series has always punished players for jumping before looking, but the enemy placement in 4 has virtually every enemy aiming to drop you straight into a pit. There are also some ridiculous enemy design's/counters (Whopper on Ring Man's level) that ended up making me feel frustrated in an unfair "this is a bullshit simulator" kind of way for the first time in the series.
My other main qualm is with the design choice of the final level. After the boss gauntlet, Wily's 2nd form is an absolute slog to power through without drills. For the first time in the series, it HEAVILY punishes you for not playing conservatively with your weapon's against the robot masters in the gauntlet. Wily's 3rd form has a similar issue where you have to farm Imorm's to refill Pharaoh-shot to full if you used it in the Ringman fight. Difficulty is fine, but these decisions are baffling since they weren't in place before and would easily be remedied with a couple large Weapon Energies.
I ripped into it, but I did still enjoy this one. Toad Man and the acid rain is awesome. The length here is PERFECT due to having 2 castles and new characters. The OST is still enjoyable but imo the worst in the series up to this point, except for Skull Man's theme which slaps.
Then there's the charge shot. This really hurts the pacing of classic MM. You can tell enemy HP is designed around it, and it makes most of the other weapons pointless to switch to. I'm not sure if it's due to charge shot, but the level design also really lacks the sense of urgency the series had before (i.e. Gemini Man's level). Levels are slow and honestly, frustrating to plow through with endless spikes and pits.
The series has always punished players for jumping before looking, but the enemy placement in 4 has virtually every enemy aiming to drop you straight into a pit. There are also some ridiculous enemy design's/counters (Whopper on Ring Man's level) that ended up making me feel frustrated in an unfair "this is a bullshit simulator" kind of way for the first time in the series.
My other main qualm is with the design choice of the final level. After the boss gauntlet, Wily's 2nd form is an absolute slog to power through without drills. For the first time in the series, it HEAVILY punishes you for not playing conservatively with your weapon's against the robot masters in the gauntlet. Wily's 3rd form has a similar issue where you have to farm Imorm's to refill Pharaoh-shot to full if you used it in the Ringman fight. Difficulty is fine, but these decisions are baffling since they weren't in place before and would easily be remedied with a couple large Weapon Energies.
I ripped into it, but I did still enjoy this one. Toad Man and the acid rain is awesome. The length here is PERFECT due to having 2 castles and new characters. The OST is still enjoyable but imo the worst in the series up to this point, except for Skull Man's theme which slaps.