It’s been just under or just over a year since I looked at the Battle Network series, and I confess I was dragging my ass with the franchise. Not because I hate it or anything, but just because I’ve been so slow with playing through the various releases! Well, for over the past month or two, I came back to number 3 in the series. Do I like it as much as the first two? Does it hold up when compared to what came before it? Well, sit back, relax, and enjoy my review for Battle Network 3. Let’s begin!
Story
Taken from the Megaman Wiki:
“Months after the Netmafia Gospel tried to take over the world in Mega Man Battle Network 2, Lan Hikari and friends return to their ordinary lives, until the crime organization WWW started surfacing again. At the same time, a NetBattle tournament called the N1 Grand Prix was being held, in an attempt to find the strongest NetBattler in the Electopia, attracting people from neighboring countries into entering. Lan and MegaMan manage to pass the preliminary rounds, only after numerous attacks by the WWW in an effort to get the TetraCodes. Once Lan and MegaMan get into the N1 Grand Prix, it was discovered that the tournament was a set-up created by WWW to announce their return to world.”
Battle Network 3 is something of a payoff story in my view. The world of the series was introduced in 1, and it was further expanded in 2 while adding some seeds of things to come. With the 3rd game, the past comes back in force, and those previously mentioned seeds bloom into some tasty nuggets of lore. Even if there weren’t any sneak peeks in the last release, Battle Network 3 always has a lot of surprises up it’s sleeve. Some twists, a few turns, and even a couple shocking revelations that show that there was a lot more going on than players suspected. Easily the biggest positive about the game!
Setting
Maybe it’s just me, but there aren’t as many areas in Battle Network 3. There’s still AC/DC Town & it’s school along with Sci-Lab, but you have the Zoo & Hot Springs hotel of Yoka (My personal favorite places), along with the Beachside and the city to explore. The internet comes back of course, as does the Undernet, which is the trippiest it’s ever been up to this point. There are some other areas that complement the others, but no spoilers. Regardless of that, every place is highly explorable, filled with a lot of details, and highly interactive as well (Depending on what quest you’re on). Certainly a highlight of Battle Network 3!
Characters
As usual, the characters of the Battle Network series are always a colorful cast. All of the returning cast continue to be their normal charming selves, save for the serious & edgy ones, and even then they still have my attention. In addition to that charm, everybody also grows up & improves their character and personality. Chaud, one of the previously mentioned edgy characters, actually is a little more likable this time around, and is kinda warming up to everybody in the group as opposed to his standoff nature from the prior 2 games. Definitely a plus in my book!
It’s not just the older characters that are great, but plenty of the side characters are fun too! Among both the good guys & the bad guys (Human or Navi), everybody you bump into is colorful in their own way. From the souvenir seller outside of the hot springs resort, to the zoo warden that ultimately turns out to be one of the bad guys, everybody has their own personality. Sure, some of them stand out more that others, but all of them leave an impression that sticks around for at least a little bit of time.
Perhaps one of the biggest upgrades in this game would be the return of WWW. In the first game they were a mix of serious & silly, and because of that you couldn’t take them completely seriously. This time around, they’re far more threatening & willing to do more evil things to accomplish their goals, but there’s still a hint of silly within the group to stay slightly true to their origins. This is evident in the return of Mr. Match & FlameMan.exe: more ruthless & manipulative, but there’s still that goofy streak that shows where he once came from. Even the island where you locate them is a bit more intimidating, and doesn’t have quite as many bright colors as before. Much like the story, the characters are another big positive to BN3!
Gameplay
For the most part Battle Network 3's gameplay isn’t that much different from BN2's. Wander around, do quests & sidequests, fights viruses & NAVIs, search for various chips & upgrades, etc. However, there have been some changes that definitely changes the way things work.
For starters, there’s not just one version of Battle Network 3. We have two versions to go through (Kinda like certain editions of the old-school Pokemon titles). White & Blue to be more specific. The fundamental core of both versions is the same, but it’s the little things that are different from one another. Quest rewards, placement of lootable items, certain placements of enemies in some encounters, and even some of the background imagery are all different from one another. On the one hand, this does allow for semi-different playthroughs for each game, as it makes things feel ever-so-slightly different. On the other hand, both games do take some time to go through, which in turn might make things mostly repetitive. Also, if you played through one, you might get confused if things weren’t the way you were used to before when it comes to placement. Thankfully, the story is the same on both versions, but there is 1 example of a point towards the end of the game where two completely different characters have the same spot that can impact achievement hunting.
Secondly, and perhaps the biggest thing added to this game, was the Navi Customizer. This was the thing that made my blood boil & a few hairs fall out! The customizer is essentially how you upgrade Megaman over the course of the game, as opposed to buying & finding the upgrades like you did in the last 2. You still buy & find them for sure, but now the upgrade system plays more like Tetris to a certain extent. All of the upgrades are shaped like Tetris pieces, and they also come in different colors, and some are also marked. There are also things you can pick up along the way like shrinking various “Pieces” & being able to adjust how they’re positioned, but this whole customizer is so fickle! You can’t place the same colored pieces next to each other, and the marked “Pieces” cannot be placed at a certain position in the customizer. If this happens, your basic attacks get borked at best, or you can have a full-blown error at worst. I wouldn’t have a problem with this if the space for all of this was larger, but it’s not! You’re really forced to pick and choose the upgrades you want, and all of this is annoying when you compare it to how simplistic BN 1 & 2's upgrade systems were.
Finally, we have the Friendly Viruses, and this in theory is cool....but it does stumble a little. Essentially, this is where more of the Pokemon vibes come in: basically, there are viruses you find, briefly fight, then catch them & use them later as chips in combat. On top of that, if you visit the Virus Breeder in the SciLabs, you can go jack into it, and essentially upgrade them so they’re better in combat (You use Bugfrags you find from enemies). I used a couple of them, and they’re certainly useful, but it feels like taking different Pokemon with you, and you have to upgrade them in the Breeder. It feels tedious at times, but it’s nowhere near as annoying as the Customizer.
Graphics & Sound
Graphically, the 3rd Battle Network doesn’t really differentiate itself from how the first two look in terms of feel (Outside of the new areas). Sound quality is still the same as well, again outside of the new sounds & music. It’s not bad, and the visuals & audio are still very charming in that early 2000s kind of way, but like the gameplay, it is on the repetitive side.
Overall Impression & Rating
Battle Network No. 3 isn’t as good as the 1st 2 games in my opinion. Make no mistake: there are nice things about it, and in plenty of places it’s still entertaining as BN1 & BN2. However, the changes that have been implemented are annoying at best, and hair-pullingly frustrating at worse. The 2 versions of the game and the Navi customizer are really the biggest culprits in this regard, and while you can work with them (The customizer especially), there are times where they can go against you. Playing both of these games is tedious, but playing either one of them is as nice as what you experienced in the previously mentioned titles. Certainly not as important gameplay wise, but for those who are story hounds, it’s definitely up there.
Battle Network No. 3 gets a 7.5 to 8 out of 10.
And that was my look at the 3rd Battle Network game. Not as likable to me as 1 or 2, but there’s still enjoyment in places if you know what to look for. I’ll get to Battle Network 4 in time, but for now I need a break. I’ll post up a seasonal list sooner than expected (Top 5 Games is gonna conclude this year), so see you all in a few days for that!
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