Megaman X Dive: A whole lot of Megaman that doesn’t feel like Megaman

Recently, on the Apple and Android stores we got access to Megaman X Dive. At the time of this writing, it’s in early access. Not sure if it means they’re genuinely still working on it (as it’s been out in Japan long enough for them to have had winter events) or if they’re just doing the thing everyone else is doing and hiding behind Early Access so they can hide their comments (looking at you Puzzle Quest 3). But never the less, it is there and I’ve played it so let’s get into this.

Take everything you love about Megaman games — the bizarre and weirdly dark stories, the over-the-top villains, the sense of discovery and progress — then scrap all of that and replace it with a tired gacha mechanic designed to really persuade you to spend more on microtransactions.

In Megaman X Dive, you take on the role of someone in the real world. While playing Mega Man X (for some reason), you get sucked into the internet for reasons that are impossible to fathom. While there you meet a character who explains to you that you’ve been transported to an informational realm storing all the info from the Megaman games called the “Deep Log” (tee-hee).

From there you find yourself controlling Megaman in a recreation of the first stage from Megaman X where you learn the controls for jumping, dashing and shooting. The shooting is weird because it autoaims so as long as you’re in your weapon’s range, shooting will go in the right direction. I kind of like this? I love Megaman but firing on an angle is kind of nice to be honest.

After what almost feels like a Megaman stage you fight a boss that, as pointed out, is the wrong boss and doesn’t belong in the game. This leads you to suspect that something is corrupting game data and changing things for some reason.

Then, they take you into the main menu screen where they can introduce you to the game’s literal moneymaker, the gacha mechanics. See, this game does not have the real Megaman or Zero or any of those. Instead, you name your character (only to have them all call you “Player”) and you can take the files of one of these characters as your own personal avatar. And the menu lets you know that there are a LOT of them you can win.

Here’s what gets me though. There are an absolute wealth of characters you can get. Every playable character from Megaman X to classic Megaman to Volmutt. Non-Megamen like Roll, Protoman and the ever-excellent Tron Bonne. And, if you’re the one person that wanted him, you also can get Axl pretty early in the game so enjoy that you monster.

But there’s also a weird amount of sexy costumes and I don’t know how I feel about this. You might say, “but Eric, these are robots” to which I say YOU ARE RIGHT. And yet, oof. Did you play Megaman X8? Do you remember Layer, the robot that would send you on missions? Well now she has a shirt that barely exists and underboob like she got implants on bulk. She also has alternate costumes where she’s either in a bathing suit or a scantly clad succubus because Capcom. In one of her costumes, during her intro pose, she’s literally using one hand to keep her breasts in her shirt while swinging her weapon around.

This bothers me for two reasons. One, it means that someone designed these artificial life forms to have these various bits that robots normally don’t need and maybe they all have various human junks in all forms. And two, it resurfaces the age-old question of “is it cheating if you catch Gemini Man with himself?”

But also, almost every female character has alternate costumes where they’re either in swimsuits or revealing outfits and…again…robots.

Anyhow, it doesn’t really matter because they’ve crammed every single equipable thing into the gacha so you’re probably not getting them anyways. Much like in games like Genshin Impact, you’ll go into a gacha hoping for a specific character only to get multiple of one you have and a TON of weapon items.

I managed to earn over 3000 gems which allowed me 30 goes at a gacha that said there was an increased chance of getting Roll. I got a ton of Megaman X, a bunch of weapons… and Vile.

The character you have really doesn’t make that big of a difference though because you can equip any weapon to any character. So I have Vile running around with Leviathan’s spear and a massive chain gun. Earlier I was playing as Massimo (from Megaman X Command Mission) and using a weapon that sprays poisonous gas and a wind cannon.

All of these things allow you to fully change the playstyle to match how you want to go about it. Slow sniper rifles that can hit enemies off the screen to medium range sprayers will also allow you to go online and get your butt absolutely destroyed by someone who clearly spent an obscene amount getting weapons that seemingly distort reality itself to assure you a passionate ass whooping.

Is the game fine? It’s okay. I’ve played better Megaman games on the PSP though. What really gets me is the bosses. When you think of Megaman games you probably think of the Robot Masters right? Guess who isn’t here. Well, there’s one. One Robot Master. It’s not Gutsman. It’s not Iceman. It’s not even Topman. It’s Drill Man.

Beyond Drill Man, all the other bosses you face off against were the forgettable giant bosses from the various games like this person here. And if you know the name of it, congratulations, you’re probably one of the best players at your bar’s trivia night.

Despite a game that has about 20 Megamen in it, this does not feel like a Megaman game all all. It just feels like a loosely inspired knockoff but if I was going to play that, I would honestly enjoy playing Mighty No. 9 more than this and that’s saying a LOT.