Zero with a new redesign for some reason, is still a blast to play. I'm not sure why, but I just expected this to be like the X games with Zero instead. Even though it was a bit more linear, I did like how the stages connected to each other in the overworld. They may lack a bit in variety, but they are short enough to not be an issue. I assume the missions were very short to make up for the very weird continue system. I get that it's meant for you to get good with the stages (I got real good at Neo Arcadia Core) to 1 shot them, but I felt like they could have explained the ranks a bit clearer. Other than the intro, there was a lot less time spent on dialogue after a mission. I did love how you could explore the base each time you finished a mission and there was a new reploid to talk to, with some of them giving you new weapons. The story in this one somehow hit harder than the other X games. The ending was very good, but maybe just because it reminds me of other fav games with this trope.

Cyberelves and grinding on weapons/crystals seems like such huge steps backwards. Weapons grinding is at least self-explanatory, but why does it exist other than as padding? Just a tip after a few replays, use your newest ability on the saber to level up very fast(can max it out in like under 10 min). Cyberelves, on the other hand, are just annoying. Your rank in the mission goes down if you have any equipped which is simple enough and it seems like you are free to use them outside of missions. You also seem to get a lot of them just randomly. I got some for killing enemies, while I would redo the mission and not get it the next time. There's probably something behind collecting them all, but fuck that. Then to level up the big cyberelves, you need to grind so many crystals, which again just seems like huge padding. God I hope the next few games actually fix these issues and give you a good reason to use any leveled up ones.

Have to mention it the music here is insane. Had a lot fun going for an S rank run and hard mode.