Game:

Mega Man X4 (1997)

Duration: 3:13

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5

-Kirby run
-No damage
-Minimalist aside from weapons (duh) and Head part

A project I am unsure of actually pulling off, but I need some filler (MHX Sigma Palace 3 will take its time), and I still got a few things to say about the restrictions at hand.

X4...a solid entry in the X series which, despite its strong points, to me seems overrated by a good number of people. Sure, it has the classic fast-paced action going on players have come to love ever since the series' genesis, it adds Zero with his numerous brand new skills, and its graphics are pretty to look at. However, it also has some very short levels, the difficulty is seriously low (easier than the original X, imo), and it has an overall clunkier feeling to it control-wise than the SNES iterations. Nevertheless, I think the best part about X4 are the numerous ways in which one can experience the game and turn this otherwise easy entry into a damn challenging one. The fact that the upgrade for X's head part grants the player infinite boss weapon ammo allows for something I haven't come across online yet for X4: a Kirby challenge (a run where one is only allowed to use the weapon earned from the last defeated boss in the following level).

At first, I tried to restrict things further by not allowing myself to abuse the weakness system since bosses in this game become absolute jokes when hit with a weapon they are weak against. But a few aspects made me reconsider. For starters, most bosses take shit amounts of damage when hit by a weapon they are not weak against. At worst, they lose exactly one pellet of energy, which would drag the battles to annoying lengths. If I am extremely bored, I may record a vid of beating Cyber Peacock's stage with Rising Fire just to show one case why this restriction is not a good idea. Another thing is that all bosses are completely immune to some weapons, greatly limiting the orders in which they can be tackled. Aiming Laser even only does damage to the one boss it is strong against, so that already means at least one exception to the restriction. Furthermore, you do not want to use Lightning Web for any stage. While it is a cool weapon that can be used to maneuver around things cleverly, its damage output against some enemies is outrageously low. So low that those purple bat enemies which usually die to one uncharged X buster shot take more than one hit to take down...you can imagine how annoying things get with this. And all of the paths I came up with would actually require its use, so thanks, but no thanks. Therefore, should I actually start this project for real, I would make use of the weaknesses, but to at least create the illusion of a challenge, I will let all of the bosses use some of their attacks.

If you want more insights about which weapons damage which boss, I have prepped some charts for you. You will notice that the damage system in this game is pretty convoluted, with some bosses being immune to almost everything aside from their weakness, and others taking damage from almost everything:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/r6escum4if03oy5/X4%20Weapon%20Charts.png?dl=0

The point of a Kirby challenge of X4 would largely lie in beating the stages, and you'd be surprised how many iffy situations arise due to it. It is definitely possibly to no damage the 8 maverick stages btw, even if challenges pop up at the most unexpected points. Again, I don't know whether this will become a thing (especially with regards to the later stages where using only one weapon becomes impossible anyway - I'd probably just no damage them using the X buster or some shit), but it is a possibility.

Oh yeah, and there isn't much to say about the intro stage. Cake as expected, though the boss is a perfect example of the bullshit collision of X4...

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