[Kiwami]

I'm weirdly addicted to the Battle Network series right now.

The games and the anime were I thing while I was still in school, and I vividly remember that my best friend was really into them, but I just watched the show from time to time, I didn’t play any of the games.

Mega Man itself was a foreign concept for me at the time; I only got into the classic games and some spin-offs later.

But when they announced the “Battle Network Legacy Collection” recently, I was like "Huh, yeah, that was a thing back then. Maybe I should check it out. “. But I didn’t want to buy the whole collection without having even tried a single one, so I asked my friend Emu if he could borrow me the first game.

And I finished that last week, great game. Interesting concept for a turn-based RPG, throwing grid-based movements with action cards into the mix, and the world it plays in is fantastic. Re-imagining the Robot Masters as digital programs that help navigate the web is genius. Especially as it clashes with the villain of the game, and how it gives way to amazing redesigns for classic characters. Plus, the setting with its high reliance on digital services has only become more relevant over time.

I definitely want to play the rest now. In fact, since the collection isn’t out until sometime next year, I asked Emu for maybe one or two more of these to bridge the time until release.