Notations on the first hours of Megaman Legends
Dec 28, 2017 6:01:36 GMT -5
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Post by Loken on Dec 28, 2017 6:01:36 GMT -5
The following are some notes on everything I thought was significant or interesting in the First 2.5 hours of the game. These opening hours from start to the defeat of Bon are packed with concepts and world building.
1. Danger
The game instills a keen sense of danger from the start with the opening refractor trap, which is fantastically tense and cool. The ruins are desolate and the revers are uniquely creepy. The music sets a dark tone. Roll takes every reverbot seriously, and when communication breaks down before the boss it feels ominous. Hanmaru Doll is intimidating, especially as he backs you off a cliff. The tutorial then ends with a high intensity crash landing. Danger is one of the first ideas the game presents to you.
2. Tonal contrast.
The sight of bright sky and sea, the squawking of seagulls, and the jaunty escape from the Hanmaru Doll set a far lighter and more delightful tone than the Sea Tower Ruins. Roll's bright red clothes, blonde cartoony hair, and joyful expression set the tone for overworld of the game. Full of vivid colors and jolly-looking characters, Kattelox island is a very happy looking environment accompanied by fantastic upbeat tunes. This is contrasted with the dark, dangerous,scary, mysterious, underworld ruins. There is a sense of darkness that lies under the beauty of Megaman Legends. While the game has a consistent hopeful atmosphere, the plot of the game is dark, and so are many of the subtexts of the story.
3. Loss and motivation
The opening cinematic expounds on the possible motivation for diggers. It is clear by the possession of a flying machine, Barrels renown, his exquisite possessions in his room, and the quality of Megamans equipment that the Caskett family is not impoverished. They are pretty well put together. They are not digging for financial stability, nor do they ever seem overtly greedy. So what are their motivations? The rescue scene explains that they are looking for the Mother Lode and Roll's parents.
It is clear that Roll is most motivated by the search for her parents. She is motivated by loss and hope of its reversal. Barrel's motivation is not nearly as well explained in MML1. He is a professor and most likely is studying their findings.
Using context from MML2 we know that the loss of his daughter and son-in-law bares heavily on him, but that he is clearly not seeking them out. He knows where they went missing, and conceals that fact from Rock and Roll, most likely to protect them. Barrel seems to me to just be living out an active retirement, guiding his loved ones in their adventures, and conducting research.
Rock's motivation seems to be adventure, helping Roll find her parents, and being part of a family.
4. Death and Regulation
Once you crash land and explore to the East you will find a woman standing outside of a sealed ruin. She tells you the ruin is sealed because of accidents and that you need a class B diggers license to enter. This further establishes the danger of ruins and the world of Megaman Legends. People die for real.
It also establishes that there is government regulation of digging, on this island at least. Other conversations make it clear that very few individuals have diggers licenses and that most residents have little knowledge of ruins or reavers. There are some ruins however that are open to the public, even if most avoid or ignore them.
The Casketts are greeted by the island police (and their dashing inspector) who explain to them that since they would be on the island for an extensive period fixing their ship they would have to have Barrel sign immigration forms so they could get ID cards to enter the city. Fairly strict regulation of visitors since the only place non-residents can enter is Applemarket (you don't need an ID card to get in there!).
((To be continued later because I didn't realize how long it would take to expand on a page of notes))
1. Danger
The game instills a keen sense of danger from the start with the opening refractor trap, which is fantastically tense and cool. The ruins are desolate and the revers are uniquely creepy. The music sets a dark tone. Roll takes every reverbot seriously, and when communication breaks down before the boss it feels ominous. Hanmaru Doll is intimidating, especially as he backs you off a cliff. The tutorial then ends with a high intensity crash landing. Danger is one of the first ideas the game presents to you.
2. Tonal contrast.
The sight of bright sky and sea, the squawking of seagulls, and the jaunty escape from the Hanmaru Doll set a far lighter and more delightful tone than the Sea Tower Ruins. Roll's bright red clothes, blonde cartoony hair, and joyful expression set the tone for overworld of the game. Full of vivid colors and jolly-looking characters, Kattelox island is a very happy looking environment accompanied by fantastic upbeat tunes. This is contrasted with the dark, dangerous,scary, mysterious, underworld ruins. There is a sense of darkness that lies under the beauty of Megaman Legends. While the game has a consistent hopeful atmosphere, the plot of the game is dark, and so are many of the subtexts of the story.
3. Loss and motivation
The opening cinematic expounds on the possible motivation for diggers. It is clear by the possession of a flying machine, Barrels renown, his exquisite possessions in his room, and the quality of Megamans equipment that the Caskett family is not impoverished. They are pretty well put together. They are not digging for financial stability, nor do they ever seem overtly greedy. So what are their motivations? The rescue scene explains that they are looking for the Mother Lode and Roll's parents.
It is clear that Roll is most motivated by the search for her parents. She is motivated by loss and hope of its reversal. Barrel's motivation is not nearly as well explained in MML1. He is a professor and most likely is studying their findings.
Using context from MML2 we know that the loss of his daughter and son-in-law bares heavily on him, but that he is clearly not seeking them out. He knows where they went missing, and conceals that fact from Rock and Roll, most likely to protect them. Barrel seems to me to just be living out an active retirement, guiding his loved ones in their adventures, and conducting research.
Rock's motivation seems to be adventure, helping Roll find her parents, and being part of a family.
4. Death and Regulation
Once you crash land and explore to the East you will find a woman standing outside of a sealed ruin. She tells you the ruin is sealed because of accidents and that you need a class B diggers license to enter. This further establishes the danger of ruins and the world of Megaman Legends. People die for real.
It also establishes that there is government regulation of digging, on this island at least. Other conversations make it clear that very few individuals have diggers licenses and that most residents have little knowledge of ruins or reavers. There are some ruins however that are open to the public, even if most avoid or ignore them.
The Casketts are greeted by the island police (and their dashing inspector) who explain to them that since they would be on the island for an extensive period fixing their ship they would have to have Barrel sign immigration forms so they could get ID cards to enter the city. Fairly strict regulation of visitors since the only place non-residents can enter is Applemarket (you don't need an ID card to get in there!).
((To be continued later because I didn't realize how long it would take to expand on a page of notes))
