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Pretty Much as Expected

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 14, 2008
Author: Amazon User

It's hard to believe we're up to the 8th iteration of the Battle Network series going all the way back to 2001 and I've played them all. My general pattern in these reviews to list changes including positives and negatives, add them up and find out if the series is improving or not and BELIEVE ME it often doesn't improve.

My favorite new addition is Star Chips which increase the damage of other chips. For example if you have a GrndWave Star Chip in your folder all the GrndWave's will be upgraded based on the Star Chip's power level. Most Standard Chips have three corresponding Star Chip adding up to 360 to collect. Star Chips are gained by defeating larger than average foes found randomly during battles with their power level set by how fast you win the battle. This feature allows folders to become more specialized, something the series has desperately needed.

Star Force has also added rescues during battles. Every once in awhile there will be a navi in need of rescuing. If you can defeat the enemies without striking the navi you get an extra bonus. There may have been a feature like this in one of the previous version several years ago and it's a great addition.

Link abilities have changed a bit in that each ability has a point value. The total point value of all attached abilities must remain at or below Megaman's Link Power which is raised by creating brother bands. It all sounds very complicated and it can be but you get used to it after awhile. What's cool is that the exact same Link ability can be found with different point costs which means you may come across one with a lower point cost than one you have attached. I was surprised when I came across a flotShoe for just 20 points when the lowest I currently had was 50.

The last addition is blank chips. Players can input codes to get powerful chips from previous games. I only found around 10 blank chips but they can be written to multiple times if you prefer to input a different chip. These codes are found in player manuals but of course they can also be found free online which is how I got them.

Just like in the last game there are a ton of mostly short and easy side quests. My one issue is that the Battle Network series always forces players to complete the current side quest before they start another. The problem is that if you get stuck on one you can't do any more. I would suggest either allowing multiple side quests or let players cancel the current side quest.

On the downside the series is feeling increasingly dated. It only uses the DS stylus on rare occasions and has a pervasive been there done that feel to it. But what hurts it the most, and I've complained about this in previous reviews, is the lack of continuity with previous iterations of the series. Players should be able to trade chips from prior games. I wont stop complaining until this is addresses. Also, Many of the unlockables force players to create online brotherbands but I've found this task to be rather difficult. Another issue is the fact that the battle chip set is relatively static from game to game rather than an ever increasing library like Pokemon. In fact Megaman could learn a lot from Pokemon on how to keep player interest alive. Unfortunately the Battle Network sales have been dwindling badly and looking at online sites like GameFaqs it's pretty clear that StarForce 2 has the least interest of any Battle Network game thus far.

Star Force 2 isn't the revolution that the Battle Network series badly needs but most of the tweaks and adjustments have benefited the game and that usually isn't the case. The graphics are far from mind blowing but the different areas do seem larger than ever. I'm satisfied with the results but as I wrote in my review of Star Force 1 until the series allows retro chip trading or some kind of continuity I can't award it anything higher than 4 stars.

Even better than Megaman Battle Network

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 25, 2008
Author: Amazon User

If you liked the megaman battle network series and the first starforce game, you need to buy this game. The game play is awesome! And the online wifi makes it even better, giving you a chance to become brothers with 6 other people! The only small problem this game had was the characters dialogue, it gets alittle boring, so i sometimes just went to the fight scenes.

Great gift for that special young person

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This was purchased as a gift for my son. I guess he's really enjoying the game because that's all he plays.

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