Mega Man X DiVE! Run-and-gun co-op and more!!

Hello, friends and Hive Gamers! I'm back at you with more mobile game stuff. This time we're going to talk about Mega Man X DiVE, a new game in the Mega Man X series built for mobile that's coming out next month! I've had the chance to play the Japanese version of the game as well as participate in the beta test for the North American release, so I can let you know a little bit about what you'll be getting into.

Mega Man X DiVE is set in a world inside of video games where you, the player, get sucked into the very world of games yourself! The data of games is going maverick, and it's up to you to command hunters to correct the data.

This means you'll be seeing characters and stages from all your favorite Mega Man games! It doesn't stop at just Mega Man X, either, but you'll see characters from classic Mega Man, Mega Man Zero, Mega Man ZX, Mega Man Legends, and even Mega Man Battle Network!!

So we know it's a big crossover game, but what exactly is it like?

DiVE plays like a traditional Mega Man X game in that you walk, dash, jump, and shoot your way through small stages and sometimes fight bosses at the end of them. In fact, the game seems to use the same engine as Mega Man X8 and Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X, and features all the movement you'd expect from a Mega Man game like dash-jumping and wall-kicking. Being that it's on mobile, there is an X7-esque targeting system so your hands don't get too tied up trying to dash, jump, and shoot all at the same time while also trying to make sure you aim.

The controls are smooth even for touch-screen, you can tap any of the buttons to use the commands, but you can also slide between buttons to use them in combination. Want to dash jump? Just swipe your finger from dash to jump! Shooting in the air is easy when you slide from jump to shoot. And shooting will automatically rapidfire for you so you don't have to mash the button on the screen. Of course, the game supports controllers, as well. While I don't mind playing with the screen controls, it's much more comfortable playing with my M1 Wireless mobile gamepad.

While the exact characters and weapons you play with will come from gacha, this game is very heavily focused on skill and not pay-to-win mechanics. In fact, you could theoretically clear everything with just the starting equipment without upgrading at all. But of course, that'd be like doing a hardcore challenge -- at later levels, things will start one-shotting you and you'll have to attack enemies MANY times before they fall.

Character and weapon choices are more about fitting to your personal play style rather than making the game more winnable. No matter what you choose, you'll be able to upgrade it as you play through and make it better. In fact, I prefer using the Military Buster, a low-rank weapon that is given to you in the tutorial, as my main weapon! And the top PVP player in the beta uses the B-rank character Axl who is a common gacha drop as well as given to you early in the main campaign. You can really make use of whatever character and weapon combinations you want!

On my Japanese account, I used the starting hunters of X, Zero, and Axl, as well as the starting equipment only, just to see how far I could get with it alone, never doing a single gacha. I had no trouble progressing through the game. Skill and the amount of time you put into grinding out mats to upgrade your characters and equipment will be the biggest factors in your success. I've also fought players in the Arena with all kinds of different combinations. Go for your favorites!

And the customization doesn't stop at which character and weapon you want to equip. You can custom-build your equipment by upgrading it in different stats, unlocking different special abilities, and applying character cards that give you special abilities of various characters from the series.

You can really build the play style you want to play with, and then take it into a variety of game modes. In addition to the expected campaign where you play through memories of past Mega Man X games such as the highway stage from X or the air force stage from X4, there's also a slew of other fun modes.

In co-op mode you take on a large stage full of enemies with a random other player or someone from your friends list. In Arena, you play head-to-head against other players in a battle to the death, best of 3 lives. There's also ongoing events with special stages and bosses to fight, and a challenge mode to face off against pumped-up versions of the bosses. Later in the game, you'll unlock a speedrun challenge and more, too.

Overall, DiVE is a blast to play, and fans of the Mega Man X series will find themselves at home with the control of the characters and the familiar environments.

My only complaints would be the stamina system (I want to play as much as I want, not limited to waiting for stamina to regen, though the game is quite generous with stamina), and the huge variety of materials and items you can get for upgrading can be kind of overwhelming, especially when you're not entirely sure how to get the mats you need. Definitely be ready to look at a wiki or ask for help on forums if you want to get deep into the mechanics and squeeze out every bit of upgrading you can.

Besides those minor things, though, I'd have to say that DiVE is one of the best mobile games I've ever played, and I'm really excited for the official North American launch on August 16th!