By now, it’s very common knowledge that Battle Network 2 is universally superior to its predecessor in just about every regard. Technically speaking, we’re dealing with all the same qualifications here, but it’s clear Capcom and co. learned a lot from the rough patches of the first game and sought to improve the experience tenfold. The biggest improvements come from the refined UI of the Battle System and the navigability of the net. The often cryptic directions the game gives you can still be an issue, but the distinct renderings of the various areas within the net make surveying it for some kind of objective far less painful. The improved Battle System manifests in the form of many optimized small changes. Notably, the appearance of chip codes on the select menu itself, a permanent “Run” option from battle, a refined “Add” option which maintains the increased chip amount for the remainder of the battle, and small details such as enemy names being displayed at the start of combat now. Additionally, I felt an increased access to a variety of chips with similar codes being made available, making it easier for the player to optimize their folder and build more synchronous strategies to get through their folder faster in battle. I can’t be certain this is truly the case, but regardless, by the end I had a selection of chips I felt I could suit more to differing playstyles than I think anything in the first game ever managed to offer.
Another new feature which distinguishes the personalization of the combat in Battle Network 2 is the introduction of the Style Change function. Early on, Mega Man is given the ability to change his appearance and abilities based on the playstyle the player has prioritized up until that point. Each style comes with a random element attached which effects the performance of Mega Man’s buster attack. You’re able to collect multiple styles throughout the game, swapping around and leveling up which you enjoy best, or is most suited to your current situation. This is a really great new feature which incentivizes and rewards the player for engaging in combat in different ways, ensuring a unique experience tailored to the individual’s particularities and strengths. The only thing from the first game’s Battle System I could even possibly miss is the full healing you’d get after each encounter. It made slogging through that game’s horrendous dungeon designs less punishing at least. Luckily, they didn’t simply take it away and force you to stuff healing chips into your folder for 2. The addition of Sub Chips as an additional resource you can use outside of combat ensures you can always heal up if you ever get low on health, as well as allowing you to dispel enemy encounters for a while or repeat certain encounters if you’re searching for a particular enemy to fight. Both of these features were continued in the next game as well, proving their significance in further refining the Battle Network experience.
Narratively, Battle Network 2 expands on the scope of the first entry by spreading the conflict across a greater expanse of locales. The world of Battle Network opens up for the first time here, starting with the second dungeon, which takes you out of the familiar location of ACDC Town and Dencity and into the rural scenery of Okuden Valley. This varying of locations is an essential element of the series building upon the strong impressions of a lived-in world established by the first game. It’s important in helping us invest further in the denizens of this world, as we continue to familiarize ourselves not just with the recurring characters, but the places they inhabit and effect, too. It’s especially important for this entry, which aims to amp up the tension of the latest cyber threat by involving multiple other countries in the sweep of its effect. The increasing grandiosity of Battle Network’s story doesn’t necessarily register in full, especially as its central villain remains completely obscured until the game’s very final moments, dumping some hackneyed backstory after the final fight has concluded in order to drum up some kind of contrived purpose for the antagonistic force to perpetuate to begin with. They kind of did this in the first game as well with Dr. Wily’s backstory dump, but he was at least a constant presence in the game with intermittent cutscenes sprinkled throughout. Gospel is a far more nebulous threat, although the opponent Navis are generally superior in both design and combat to the first game’s cast of villains. The various dungeons, much like the vastly-improved net, are far more enjoyable here, with no particular puzzles proving intolerably frustrating. The final scenario before the endgame sees you going on a ludicrous fetch quest back and forth across the net, which alone tests the player’s remaining patience for the game by this point, but everything preceding it is totally reasonable, leaving this one untenable area mostly forgivable.
If the first Battle Network was a promising new IP that reinvented the philosophy of Mega Man, but suffered from poor design elements that constantly hindered the experience of the gameplay itself, then Battle Network 2 is the first complete realization of those innovative conceptions without insanely detrimental flaws. The expansion of the world in tandem with the refinement of the Battle Systems demonstrate incredible progress in the shaping of what elements made the first game so endearing, while the increased customization provided by the Style Change system and increased chip variety ensure a unique experience for every player, and every playthrough. The back half of the game is tainted slightly by an excruciatingly lengthy and tedious backtracking sequence, as well as an ending that narratively carries little weight. Some obtuse solutions persist throughout the early game as well (the invisible item fetch quest in the second scenario immediately springs to mind), as well as a bizarrely offensive depiction of international travel as instinctively predatory, also stand out as frustrating experiences, but by and large the game expands and improves upon the enticing groundwork of the first game. A robust amount of post-game content compels me to further explore the enthralling gameplay of Battle Network 2 now that the main game has reached its conclusion, which itself is all the indication needed to demonstrate how much of a drastic improvement this sequel is over its progenitor.
Another new feature which distinguishes the personalization of the combat in Battle Network 2 is the introduction of the Style Change function. Early on, Mega Man is given the ability to change his appearance and abilities based on the playstyle the player has prioritized up until that point. Each style comes with a random element attached which effects the performance of Mega Man’s buster attack. You’re able to collect multiple styles throughout the game, swapping around and leveling up which you enjoy best, or is most suited to your current situation. This is a really great new feature which incentivizes and rewards the player for engaging in combat in different ways, ensuring a unique experience tailored to the individual’s particularities and strengths. The only thing from the first game’s Battle System I could even possibly miss is the full healing you’d get after each encounter. It made slogging through that game’s horrendous dungeon designs less punishing at least. Luckily, they didn’t simply take it away and force you to stuff healing chips into your folder for 2. The addition of Sub Chips as an additional resource you can use outside of combat ensures you can always heal up if you ever get low on health, as well as allowing you to dispel enemy encounters for a while or repeat certain encounters if you’re searching for a particular enemy to fight. Both of these features were continued in the next game as well, proving their significance in further refining the Battle Network experience.
Narratively, Battle Network 2 expands on the scope of the first entry by spreading the conflict across a greater expanse of locales. The world of Battle Network opens up for the first time here, starting with the second dungeon, which takes you out of the familiar location of ACDC Town and Dencity and into the rural scenery of Okuden Valley. This varying of locations is an essential element of the series building upon the strong impressions of a lived-in world established by the first game. It’s important in helping us invest further in the denizens of this world, as we continue to familiarize ourselves not just with the recurring characters, but the places they inhabit and effect, too. It’s especially important for this entry, which aims to amp up the tension of the latest cyber threat by involving multiple other countries in the sweep of its effect. The increasing grandiosity of Battle Network’s story doesn’t necessarily register in full, especially as its central villain remains completely obscured until the game’s very final moments, dumping some hackneyed backstory after the final fight has concluded in order to drum up some kind of contrived purpose for the antagonistic force to perpetuate to begin with. They kind of did this in the first game as well with Dr. Wily’s backstory dump, but he was at least a constant presence in the game with intermittent cutscenes sprinkled throughout. Gospel is a far more nebulous threat, although the opponent Navis are generally superior in both design and combat to the first game’s cast of villains. The various dungeons, much like the vastly-improved net, are far more enjoyable here, with no particular puzzles proving intolerably frustrating. The final scenario before the endgame sees you going on a ludicrous fetch quest back and forth across the net, which alone tests the player’s remaining patience for the game by this point, but everything preceding it is totally reasonable, leaving this one untenable area mostly forgivable.
If the first Battle Network was a promising new IP that reinvented the philosophy of Mega Man, but suffered from poor design elements that constantly hindered the experience of the gameplay itself, then Battle Network 2 is the first complete realization of those innovative conceptions without insanely detrimental flaws. The expansion of the world in tandem with the refinement of the Battle Systems demonstrate incredible progress in the shaping of what elements made the first game so endearing, while the increased customization provided by the Style Change system and increased chip variety ensure a unique experience for every player, and every playthrough. The back half of the game is tainted slightly by an excruciatingly lengthy and tedious backtracking sequence, as well as an ending that narratively carries little weight. Some obtuse solutions persist throughout the early game as well (the invisible item fetch quest in the second scenario immediately springs to mind), as well as a bizarrely offensive depiction of international travel as instinctively predatory, also stand out as frustrating experiences, but by and large the game expands and improves upon the enticing groundwork of the first game. A robust amount of post-game content compels me to further explore the enthralling gameplay of Battle Network 2 now that the main game has reached its conclusion, which itself is all the indication needed to demonstrate how much of a drastic improvement this sequel is over its progenitor.