Mega Man ZX Axel..err..sorry Advent allows fans of the series to do what we imagined doing for years: playing as bosses!
While the game does allow the player to do a lot of cool things, the difficulty level is significantly higher than its predessor. This isn't to say that ZX Advent is overwhelmingly difficult but anyone who may have gotten comfortable with the first games challenge level may be in for rude awakening. It gets about as difficult as your average Mega Man Zero game. The level design and environmental hazards are what pose the most danger in this game. The bosses may only seem harder at first because the Biometal A armor on its own, is not as powerful as the ZX armor. However, by the end of the game, you'll end up have all the other Biometal armors (including ZX but unfortunately not OX).
I only have a few criticizms of the game. For starters, you could do slightly more with the Biometals in the first ZX game than you could in this one. Basically, the half charged shots and fully charged shots have been divided up between the male and female character in the game. As Grey (male reploid) you have access to all the fully charged abilities of each Biometal and as Ashe (female human), you only have access to all the half charged abilities. Not to be sexist but I'd highly recommend playing the game as Grey and also his story is more interesting as well. Speaking of the story, the first game's seemed a tad bit better to me even though this one gave us a lot of fully translated voice acting. The bonus content didn't seem as rewarding in ZX Advent. There aren't any hidden bosses from previous games that'll give you any extra abilities. Nevertheless, the sidequests are still present and plenty of chips, upgrades, and sub-tanks can be found as a reward for completing them. Getting these are still pretty relevant since you'll be find yourself needing the chips, upgrades, and sub-tanks the further you advance in the game. There's a new checkpoint system...sort of. Like the first game, each level is divided in to 4 parts and towards the beginning of each part, their is a transfer point that you can activate for 100 Energy Crystals. These transfer points allow players to access that specific part of the level when using a transever (which is usually at the end of each level) to teleport to another location. The problem with this is, you can't use these transfer points to teleport back anywhere, meaning you'll have to run through the level all over again to save your data and teleport else where. This becomes very annoying when bosses begin to reappear or if you find what you were looking for in the first or second area on the more the more difficult levels. Its also kind of annoying that every time you talk to someone (in and out of missions), if you're not in Biometal A form, the game will automatically revert you back to it. This becomes annoying right before boss fights because it forces you to have to and transform into whatever form you wanted to start off the fight with. Finally, the open world exploration that was present in the first game seems to have been scaled down a bit. The mission request system and open world aspect seemed to have been combined...you no longer accept missions, but you just travel to certain parts of the map and the missions begin on their own.
My Breakdown:
What's Good:
- Getting to play as most bosses in the game
- Having access to almost every Biometal armor from the first game
- Has some great FMVs
- Includes plenty of voice acting (I love Siarnaq's voice!)
- New rehashed map
- Side Quests are still rewarding
- The bosses are tad bit more challenging since your initial armor isn't as as powerful as the first game's
What's Not-So-Good:
- The first game had a better plot
- Some of the voice acting can be a bit cheesy
- No Biometal OX :(
- The scaled down abilities and design of the Biometals
- The level designs and environmental hazards can get really frustrating at times
- The new checkpoint system is only convienent to any extent. The bad out weighs the good imo
What's Bad:
- No hidden bosses
- No interconnectivity to pass games
- NO QUICK CHARGE CHIP
- Having to retransform after every conversation on the game!
In all, the negative stuff just ends up being small annoyances which may lower the replay value at worst. However, none of it should really take away from the game's fun factor or your ability to finish the game. Its a good sequal and I highly recommend playing through it. Great stuff Capcom...its been nearly 4 years, GIVE US MORE!