Our round 2 opponents are Raoul and Thunderman, returning from Battle Network 2.
I really, really hate this scenario. Why will become obvious very quickly.
Raoul is at least decent enough to not harass Lan before the match like every other opponent we’ve encountered so far. Instead we’re accosted by some guy who’s advertising some sort of promotion at his café where the winner gets some free Netopian bread. Just bread? I mean, I like Italian bread and all, but that’s it? Regardless, food is involved, so Lan’s game. On his way out of the Coliseum he encounters an old man who wants to see the power of an Electopian Navi. On Normal Navi stomping later, the geezer utters the gibberish “gresply nekrom” and wanders off. Whatever, weirdo.
We learn at the market area on Netopia’s main street that the promotion is being held at the merchant shop in Netopia Area, and of course it consists of a virus battle or two. Everything goes okay, but after the battle Megaman suddenly starts losing strength and his HP begins to rapidly drain away. Lan jacks him out in a panic and hurries to find someone who can help. That someone turns out to be Raoul
◊, who’s hanging out by the charioteer statue. Lan tells him about the old man, and Raoul reveals that “gresply nekrom” means “Great Spirit, let the Trial of Doom begin.” In other words, Megaman’s been cursed. Yeah, that’s right. Megaman, a completely digital being, has been hit with a death curse, something completely out of place in a sci-fi game, and it’ll eventually kill him. Not delete, kill. The only way to lift the curse, Raoul explains, is to find a voodoo doll that’s on the Net, and in order to get it, we need to find four items called Bravery Mark, Strength Mark, Kindness Mark, and Wisdom Mark in Netopia and Yumland Area.
Here’s the thing, though. As Megaman’s cursed, his HP drops very rapidly – try roughly 10 HP a second, even during dialogue. Right now I only have just under 400 HP, so you can see why this is a major problem.
This is not the game providing the player a challenge to overcome. This is the game attempting to beat you down with a tire iron. This goes beyond bad game design, this is outright malevolent. You have to cover a ton of ground, and thus do a lot of jacking in and out to ensure that you don’t get a game over. Even by this game’s standards, the scenarios for the final tournament are terrible. We’re spinning around the drain by this point.
Anyway, once all four marks are collected we can use them to open a door in Netopia Area to get the doll, and then afterwards Raoul and Thunderman lift the curse. Then it’s off to the arena for the battle.
Thunderman
◊
HP: 800
Element: Elec
Attacks:
- Elec Beam – Thunderman fires a bolt of lightning down one row for 50 Elec damage.
- Thunderbolt – Thunderman calls down three bolts of lightning that track Megaman’s movements and deal 50 Elec damage per hit.
- Storm Cloud Thunder – The cloud that circles the field releases a ball of electricity whenever it aligns with Megaman, dealing 20 Elec damage and paralyzing him.
Thunderman’s been overhauled since Battle Network 2. He’s much less of a pain now, as he moves all around the field instead of staying in the back row and doesn’t have a bunch of clouds choking up the field. Another instance of Battle Network 4 watering something pre-established in the series down, but in this case I’m not complaining.
Our after-battle revelation is that that old man that cursed us is the elder of whatever tribe Raoul belongs to, and his motive for doing so was that he didn’t want to see the tribe’s number one son lose. So in other words he’s a petty asshole. And once again, Lan sticks up for the jackass, saying that he “fought with honor.” No he very well did not, dumbass! What he did was the exact opposite of honorable! The only good thing to come out of it is that the elder decides that he’ll step down soon, as the tribe needs a fresher, younger face. Oh yeah, I guess we also get Thunder Soul, but it’s…eh.
- Activated by sacrificing Elec chips
- Megaman becomes Elec element
- Charge Shot becomes a Zap Ring
- Normal chips gain a paralysis effect
Eh.
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