Mega Man Battle Network 6

Mega Man Battle Network 6, known as Rockman EXE 6 (ロックマンエグゼ6) in Japan, is a video game developed by Capcom for the Game Boy Advance (GBA) handheld game console. As with the previous three games, the Japanese edition was released in two separate versions: Cybeast Gregar (電脳獣グレイガ) and Cybeast Falzar (電脳獣ファルザー). Later, Japan re-released these games in combo packs with a special colored version of the "Battle Chip Gate", or "Beast Link Gate". This special combo pack was called the Rockman EXE 6 Beast Link Gate DX Edition and contained a special Blue "Netto" version of the Beast Link Gate and one of the games' two versions.

Battle Network 6 marks the end of the Game Boy Advance Battle Network series, as shown in the ending. Keiji Inafune has stated in an interview that EXE6 is indeed the final game in the series. It takes place months after Battle Network 5, and Lan's father has been moved to work in Cyber City, forcing Lan to move there as well. He learns of two ancient and dangerous Net creatures known as Cybeasts as well as the return of WWW who are trying to awaken the beasts. Lan must do whatever it takes to stop them and destroy the Cybeasts before they destroy the Net.

Story
Lan and his family have moved to Cyber City. However, WWW has returned and is causing trouble that not even the Official NetBattlers can control, so MegaMan decides to investigate. Here, MegaMan discovers that the Cybeasts Falzar and Gregar have something to do with a mysterious conspiracy.

When a WWW Navi, Circusman, captures one of the Cybeasts, MegaMan captures the other Cybeast into his body. Lan and MegaMan must fight WWW and stop whatever they're up to. At first it seems that Baryl and Colonel were the culprits of the conspiracy, but later in the end he admits that he was working for Dr. Wily himself.

Dr. Wily raised Baryl when his own father was off fighting in a war, and in his kindness for Baryl, he was distracted from his plans for revenge of the Net society. He also created Colonel, the "perfect navi" who had the ability to feel kindness and had powers of machine manipulation. However, once Baryl's father, his only true friend was killed in battle, Wily began to feel the past thoughts of revenge and modified Colonel to become a military grade Navi. The other programs were modified into a separate Navi named Iris. She was to be a military control Navi, until she met Lan, who showed her that humans were not bloodthirsty killers.

As a precaution, Wily planted a program forbidding these Navis to merge by having them explode if they were ever to do so. To hatch his latest scheme to destroy the Net and the world, he built 2 enormous Copybots and installed the Gregar and Falzar Cybeasts in it, until Baryl decided what was truly right and began to battle one of the Cybeasts. MegaMan also began to battle the other Cybeast, until in a twist, the Cybeast took over MegaMan's body once again. Colonel and Iris began the risky merging, and with their heightened powers they destroyed the Cybeast from MegaMan's body. However, instead of separating, they planned to sacrifice themselves to destroy the Cybeasts once and for all.

The future of the main characters are revealed: Chaud leads a group of worldwide officials, Mick became a teacher, Tab made his store a huge success, Dex became mayor of ACDC town, and Yai became president of her father's company. Also, Lan, now a scientist, is revealed to have married Mayl. They have a son named Patch. Finally, Megaman is revealed to be spending a lot of time in the real world via his copybot.

Megaman used Iris's never-ending battery copy-bot, henceforth he was able to stay in the real world all he wanted.

Gameplay
There are many changes in gameplay in Battle Network 6. One of which is the chip-limiting system. It limits how many of the same chips the player can keep in a folder depending on its MB. Another one is a slight change in the Navi Customizer. Parts can be placed off the map, allowing the player to install more programs, but at the risk of having a bug.

There are Link Navis can be controlled by the player, and have their own special chip, like MegaMan's allies in BN5. However, these Navis can go about the net freely like MegaMan, although their jack-in point is fixed. Link Navi Charged Shots and special chip damage can no longer upgrade themselves. Instead, they are buster-dependent, giving buster-improving chips some more use. Link Navis can also get rid of obstacles that obstruct MegaMan's path, allowing him to reap rewards like mystery data containing rare items, or allowing access to Net Navis with secret information. The Link Navis include HeatMan.EXE in the Gregar version, and AquaMan.EXE in the Falzar version. The main drawback to playing as another Navi however, is that they cannot use the Navi Customizer.

Another new introduction is the Tag Chip System, which allows players to "tag" 2 chips together as long as the combined MB of the chips is 60 or lower. These chips will appear side by side in the Custom Screen when either one of them is drawn. This system has allowed players to access low-MB chip combos or Program Advances with ease. Chips chosen as tag chips cannot be set as regular chips.

Cross System
Succeeding the Soul Unison system, the Cross System is introduced in Battle Network 6. Although similar to the preceding system in Battle Network 4 and 5, Crosses can last for the entire duration of a battle without utilizing the three-turn limit and can be activated without a sacrificial chip. Upon finishing an ally Navi's mission and battle, MegaMan will gain the Navi Link to that particular Navi, thus enabling a Cross between MegaMan and the corresponding Navi. There are 5 Crosses per game, and each has an element with attributes to the linking Navi. However, if MegaMan is hit by an element that he is weak against, he will instantly take double damage and revert to his normal state. While in a Cross, MegaMan cannot achieve Full Synchro.

Beast Out
Beast Out is an additional gameplay element after MegaMan encounters one of two Cybeasts. This feature can be activated by pressing the "Beast Button" in the Custom Screen. The Beast Button is equivalent to selecting a chip. Like Soul Unison, Beast Out lasts three consecutive turns and "Emotion Points" can be recovered by avoiding usage of the power in later battles. Upon expiration, MegaMan will be in an exhausted state but can still activate Crosses. However, as a consequence, he cannot achieve Full Synchro. You cannot beast out or beast over when you use the cross system or use five chips in one turn.

Beast Out also grants all neutral-element chips an additional 30 damage bonus. They can also be charged to launch a special attack against the nearest enemy. This attack is dependent on the form MegaMan has (i.e. the basic Gregar form is a slash where the Heat Beast is a flamethrower). Regardless of the cross, non-elemental (including sword, wind, etc.) chips are the only chips which can be charged. All chips, except those with no attack value or chips that cause the screen to dim, gain what has been called "Auto Target", where MegaMan attacks enemies at a very close range. He will move from his current location to the front of the targeted virus (the closest enemy) regardless of his location, and will initiate his attack. This effect lasts in all Beast Crosses, and will be removed when MegaMan becomes tired. Despite the similarities between the two Beast Outs, the two variations possess unique abilities and different buster attacks.

In the Japanese version, Beast Out can also be activated by using a Beast Link Gate (a Japanese GBA accessory).

When MegaMan's emotion points reach zero and the player Beasts Out, MegaMan will perform a desperation move called "Beast Over". He is placed into a berserked state but gains invincibility and uses chips automatically (similar to DarkInvis in the previous game). Once the Custom Gauge fills, Beast Over automatically ends. Upon expiration, MegaMan's Buster stats drop to one and his HP rapidly drains. He is also unable to utilize any remaining Crosses nor achieve Full Synchro.

A new element, called "Cross Beast", occurs when MegaMan activates Beast Out while in a Cross or vice versa. In this state, the Cross will take the appearance and abilities of the corresponding Beast Out, as well as the attributes of the activated Cross.

Cross Beast, much like a standard Beast Out, will deduct emotion points from MegaMan. It will also leave him exhausted, but will still allow him to activate other Crosses.

Others
Dark Chips have all but vanished, almost all of them having been destroyed in the ending of Battle Network 5. This means the previously "dark" chips returning in this game can be used with normal Megaman. However, owners of the Japanese version can still use Dark Chips via the Beast Link Gate accessory, and without the previous penalty of losing 1 Hit Point from their maximum Hit Points. In addition to this, you can link up to a player playing the opposite version of the game you have and compare megachip libraries. the opposite version navi megachips will appear as secret chips and upon obtaining all of the opposite version navi chips you will be awarded with the starred "s" icon on the title screen (note that this isn't necessary to fight your versions sp beast or affect game progress).

Content removal
Due to the low sales of the first two Boktai titles outside of Japan, Konami chose not to release Shin Bokura no Taiyō for English localization. References to the series (including the secret "Immortal Area") were removed for the international versions of Battle Network 6. Additionally, Beast Link Gate functionality was removed. However, the GunSol chips along with the poster of Django the Solar Boy in Lan's room were left in. In the Japanese versions, players can transfer characters - that they had trained and leveled up on a separate LiNK PET_EX system - into their game to replace Rockman. This system allowed for dynamic adjustment of character statistics, as well as the ability to use characters that were normally non-playable. As with previous games, compatibility with the e+ Reader was also removed.

Reception
Battle Network 6 received mixed reviews with an average score of 65% for the Gregar version, and 63% for the Falzar version.

Both versions of the game placed in the Media Create top ten best-selling games list in Japan during their release week. Cybeast Gregar placed at number three with 107,099 units sold, while Cybeast Falzar placed at number six with 65,560 units sold. The two versions of the game sold nearly half a million copies combined during its first month in the region and a total of 610,000 copies by the end of Capcom's 2005 fiscal year. The game achieved solid sales outside Japan.

Both editions of the game were released to mixed reviews. The Falzar version currently holds averages scores of 63% on GameRankings and 63 out of 100 on Metacritic. The Gregar version holds scores of 65% and 62 out of 100 respectively. It was commented by Frank Provo of GameSpot that "longtime fans may be disappointed to discover that there's really nothing in Mega Man Battle Network 6 that wasn't in the previous games, but they'll likely feel compelled to finish this one anyway, since the story provides the payoff for events that have been building since the first game". Michael Knutson of GameZone commented that "the new customization aspects of the game are a nice addition to the game, but it doesn’t save the game from the overall 'been there-done that a million times' feeling". As with other games in the series, reviewers often criticized Battle Network 6 for recycling material from the game's predecessors with little or no improvement such as graphics and gameplay.