Protodroid DeLTA

Honest Opinion from a Mega Man Fan with Experience in the Franchise As someone who grew up playing various titles from the Mega Man series, I was excited to see the idea of a 3D game inspired by the franchise — especially one that aimed to capture the essence of a “Mega Man-like” experience. Unfortunately, the game fails in several crucial aspects, which is a shame, because there are some good ideas here. At first, I thought it would be influenced by Mega Man X and Legends, but later I found out the foundation was Mega Man X7 — which I believe was an unfortunate choice. Not only is X7 widely considered the weakest entry in the series, but Legends has mechanics that would have been much more suitable for a 3D title like this. Gameplay and Level Design The trailer caught my attention and looked promising, but actually playing the game was a different story. The stages are long, repetitive, and lacking in creativity. Gameplay doesn’t evolve over time, remaining the same from start to finish. The maps are poorly designed: obstacles that should pose a challenge can be easily skipped with dashing and jumping, platforms are mostly pointless, and the game rarely forces the player to follow the intended path. The lack of a manual aiming button is a major issue. The auto-aim system doesn’t move the camera, which often made me lose sight of enemies while trying to dodge — especially uncomfortable when playing with a controller. Mega Man Legends already showed how essential a manual aim button is for this kind of perspective. Games like Devil May Cry handle this far more effectively as well. Enemies only spawn when you enter a specific area, making it hard to prepare or plan ahead. Many have long-range, high-rate-of-fire attacks, and they often start firing the moment they appear. Some have unnecessary shields, and mechanics like black holes or sticky projectiles feel unbalanced or poorly explained — I often didn’t know what to do and just took the damage. Important items like upgrades and chips are easy to find and poorly hidden. Secret paths are almost obvious, and the game literally tells you where the portals are. Boss abilities are also disappointing: they look different visually but are mechanically identical — just different kinds of projectiles. The decision to make the charge shot dependent on energy is questionable. It’s much more powerful than regular shots, so I ended up relying on it exclusively. And since the enemies aren’t hard, just poorly designed, the game becomes easy — and at times annoying — as many challenges can simply be bypassed by running and dashing through them. Checkpoints were poorly implemented. After reaching one, a vague message suggests you can pause, but nothing clearly indicates that it's a save point you can return to later. The interface isn’t intuitive, and the shop system feels almost irrelevant — I was rarely motivated to return to the base. Bosses follow a repetitive pattern: dodge, shoot, repeat. Arenas are small, and the lack of variety in their attack patterns makes fights monotonous. The boss in the “rockstar” stage is especially poorly designed — it rushes in and shoots nonstop in a tiny space full of side traps. Secret stages feel unfinished, as if they were assembled with generic Unreal Engine assets. They can be easily skipped with a few jumps and dashes, with no need to follow the intended route. On top of that, they offer no meaningful rewards, and their entrances aren’t hidden at all. Art and Visual Direction Visually, the game looks like a prototype. Effects for shots, lasers, shields, and the maps overall feel raw and unpolished, like off-the-shelf assets that weren’t customized. Lighting could be better adjusted, and there's excessive visual clutter during certain attacks — especially with swords. The environments are overly vibrant, and background elements often blend with the main path, making navigation confusing. At times, I stood still not knowing where to go, waiting for invisible platforms to appear. Enemies are generic and visually repetitive, making them hard to distinguish. In Mega Man, each enemy has a distinct design that helps players anticipate their behavior — something that was ignored here. Traps feel disconnected from the environment, and the game’s UI is extremely simplistic. Acquired abilities are represented only by colored circles, with no icons or visual indicators. This also applies to menus, the shop, and the stage selection screen. Speaking of stage selection, it’s a single horizontal line showing all sections of each map — not practical at all. When revisiting levels to collect missed chips, I had to scroll through several options before finding the one I wanted. There’s not even an indicator of what’s already been collected in each stage, forcing players to manually check every one. This could easily be solved with a system similar to Mega Man X3 or even Gravity Circuit, which clearly shows which items have been obtained before entering a stage. Characters and Story Delta’s design is solid — though some elements could better align with the Mega Man style, which is more a matter of personal taste. I also liked Delta’s creator and her niece. However, AnnDroid and Vega feel like recolored versions of Delta, with little visual or mechanical identity. The characters’ weapons are basically the same. In Mega Man, characters like X, Axl, and Vile all use firearms, but each has a unique style. Here, all robots follow a generic pattern. As for the bosses: one clearly seems based on Kamina, and another on Majora’s Mask. Homages are fine, but this crosses the line from inspiration to imitation. If Mega Man were a Nintendo IP, this might already have led to legal issues. The characters’ personalities are also lacking. Delta stands out to a degree, but Vega comes off as a copy. The rest of the cast feels empty, showy, and lacking in charisma. The villain is evil just for the sake of it, and the "everyone deserves forgiveness" message feels forced, making an already weak story even less engaging. Conclusion Despite the criticisms, I genuinely hope this franchise continues. The idea has potential, and I believe that with more experience and resources, the studio could deliver something truly memorable. The cliffhanger ending suggests plans for a sequel — but honestly, I think a reboot would be more appropriate. With more polish and a clearer direction, this universe could really flourish. Verdict: If you’re a Mega Man fan looking for something casual to play and don’t mind weak story or presentation, it might be worth trying. But if you’re looking for a more complete experience, with solid gameplay and meaningful challenge, this game still has a long way to go.