Reflecting on Mega Man Legends 2

Introduction:

It’s pretty clear how The Legend of Zelda was able to transition from 2D to 3D. Many people argue that Ocarina of Time is a sort of “spiritual remake” of A Link to the Past. The formula is the same, of course with an added dimension. Super Mario still kept its core platforming, but changed the definition of completing a level. Instead of simply reaching a flagpole or finish line at the end; players now had to find enough Power Stars in a level to progress to the next level.

And then you have Mega Man Legends. The classic series is an action-platformer with an emphasis on platforming. The X series is an action-platformer with an emphasis on action. Mega Man Legends is….uh…well it’s a lot of things. At its core, it’s an action-RPG with some light dungeon crawling aspects. Some even call Legends 1 a metroidvania for its interconnected map. If you asked Capcom back in the 90’s, they would describe it as a “Free-Running RPG” (whatever the heck that is).

Mega Man Legends had a more complicated goal than something like Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64, or even Sonic Adventure. Instead of translating a proven formula into 3D; Capcom decided to tackle a hodgepodge of genres the Blue Bomber had never seen before. By that very idea, Mega Man Legends being anything more than a messy first attempt was a miracle. I absolutely loved the first Legends game, and was eager to see where the series would go with its sequel.

A Fantastic Introduction:

In the first Legends game, we briefly hear that Roll Caskett is looking for her parents alongside the famous Mother Lode. Roll’s parents were famous Diggers who couldn’t resist the temptation of exploring the Forbidden Island, a dangerous land covered by cruel winds. Rumors have it that the Mother Lode is somewhere on the Forbidden Island. Remember, the Mother Lode is said to have enough energy to power the entire worlds technology.

The games emphasis on Roll’s parents feels more personal and somber than the first game. Roll Caskett is one of the most lovable characters in any Mega Man series ever, so of course we want her to be reunited with her parents! We get to see a brief moment of MegaMan Volnutt and Rolls daily life. MegaMan is wearing and apron and doing house chores, while Roll is watching TV all depressed over her parents.

As the story sets up, we land on Yosyonke Island. It is a snowy place home to amazing music. This is also when we first get to control MegaMan himself…and wow…eight directional movement and full camera control on the right stick!? This game feels like an absolute dream for the original PlayStation. And since it released in the twilight of the PS1 (a month after the PS2 released in Japan), this game is arguably the peak of what the PS1’s power could push out. While I grew accustomed to the controls of the original Legends game, I felt like the movement was a bit stiff. And there was an odd issue where if you swapped from horizontal movement to vertical movement while controlling the camera, MegaMan would stop moving all together for a split second. I genuinely don’t think I’ve experienced better three-dimensional movement on the PS1 than Legends 2. Games like the Final Fantasy PS1 trilogy present a 3D character on top of what is essentially a 2D background. Crash Bandicoot presents us hallway-style levels with no camera control. But the Legends games give us fully 3D environments to explore at our leisure. And in Legends 2’s case, it’s done extraordinarily well. MegaMan can now pick up and throw objects and certain enemies for puzzle solving or combat. The core combat and customization is essentially the same. You can customize your Mega Buster which I find much more fun and interesting than it probably actually is. There' are multiple armor upgrades as well. Some of these upgrades are extremely expensive which can lead to some tiresome grinding. Apparently in the PSP port, these prices were cut down massively.

The graphics also feel a tiny bit better as well. Legends 1 already looked stunning with its anime-inspired art style. But certain objects like Roll’s round hat or spiky hair look even better in this sequel.

A Lack of Heart?! :

Possibly the most praised aspect of Mega Man Legends 1 is the setting of Kattleox Island. It reminds me quite a bit of Inaba from Persona 4 or Clock Town from Majora’s Mask. Like any good “hub town”, you slowly start to learn every alleyway and NPC’s antics. And when it’s time to leave, you get quite sad.

Legends 2 swaps the hub idea for instead traveling to multiple islands. I enjoyed Yosyonke Island and I liked the idea of Saul Kada island. But none of them really felt like places. It reminded me a tiny bit of the first Kingdom Hearts game; where each “world” was represented by a handful of screens and characters. In Mega Man Legends 2 case, one could argue it makes more sense because the world is almost presented in a post-apocalyptic fashion. Much like in Wind Waker, this world is completely flooded when it once wasn’t, and there aren’t many people left. So it makes sense that we’re seeing the scraps of humanity. But it doesn’t necessarily make for compelling locations in a video game. These island have very simple and similar formats. Usually there’s a big field filled with enemies and singular optional ruin to explore. Then there’s the town area and the main ruin. If they just added 2-3 more memorable NPCs per island, I think that could’ve helped a lot.

Another beloved aspect of Legends 1 was the interconnected map both on the surface and in the ruins. By unlocking the drill item, MegaMan can blow up cracked walls which can connect different ruins together. This leads to an almost metroidvania style of map design. In Legends 2, such a style of design is out of the question due to its levels being segmented.

The Legend of MegaMan:

While yes, I do miss the map design of Kattleox Island, that’s not to say all of the level design has been downgraded. It genuinely feels like the team at Capcom took a few cues from The Legend of Zelda. There are five mandatory dungeons, and they follow the basic elemental themes of grass, water, fire, ice, and a more abstract gravity theme. The grass one was pretty simple yet enjoyable. The water one was painful due to its sluggish underwater controls. The fire and ice ones were pretty damn good. And I thoroughly enjoyed the gravity themed dungeon. Enjoying 4 out of the 5 dungeons is what I’d call a success, and it’s pretty impressive how quickly Capcom was able to design some decent 3D dungeons.

Majora’s Mask released one week after Legends 2, so if Capcom did take any cues from Zelda, they only had one game to learn from (Ocarina of Time). Are the dungeons in Legends 2 Ocarina of Time levels of good? No. But again, (and I can’t stress this enough), when the heck has the Mega Man series ever had dungeons?! Never. This was all still fairly new to the developers. And since they ditched the metroidvania style in Legends 1, you could argue that Legends 2 was their first real attempt at this style of level design.

A Lateral or a Step Forward?:

It’s hard to pinpoint which of the two Legends games I enjoyed more. Both have phenomenal music and graphics. Both have solid mechanics. Legends 1 feels cozier and more like an actual place with Kattleox Island. Legends 2 has far better 3D movement. The stakes of Legends 1 story are much smaller but self contained. The story of Legends 2 aims for great heights, but loses the personal feeling of Rolls quest for her parents pretty quickly (not to mention the cliffhanger ending).

Even if I do like Legends 1 a tiny bit more (which is where I’m leaning as of the time I’m writing this), I am pleased to say both games hold up in my eyes. I really love them both and find them fascinating time capsules. And it’s such a shame to see Legends 2 end on a cliffhanger because of how Capcom has treated this sub series.

Mega Man Legends 2 is a damn fine sequel and game.