MEGA MAN X DiVE Offline (PC) Reviewed

I hate smartphone games…for the most part. It’s one of the reasons The Technovore doesn’t review them. There are exceptions, like the Kairosoft games (which are also on PC), and Marvel Puzzle Quest but for the most part, mobile games are anathema to me. That’s why I heard that MEGA MAN X DiVE is getting a paid version called MEGA MAN X DiVE Offline, it piqued my interest immediately!

The premium version of MEGA MAN X DiVE packs all the features of the free to play version, without annoying free to play gimmicks. Isn’t that simply divine?!

Does that mean the game is finally a solid Mega Man title?

Read on and find out!

What is MEGA MAN X DiVE Offline?

MEGA MAN X DiVE Offline is a premium version of the free-to-play mobile game MEGA MAN X DiVE. It’s an action platformer in the vein of the Mega Man games, with bite sized stages meant for on-the-go gaming.

It’s available on the PC and on mobile marketplaces and our copy of the PC version was awesomely provided by the super folks over at Capcom!

MEGA MAN X DiVE Offline packs most of the features found in the free game, except for a couple of multiplayer centric ones, hence the Offline in the title.

Free to play games rarely translate well to premium titles. Marvel Puzzle Quest on the consoles (which is a premium title), died a horrible death with none of the updates that came to the free mobile version.

Thankfully, MEGA MAN X DiVE Offline seems to steer clear of that, as it packs most of content found in the current free version.

Since this is a premium title, there’s no need for drip feeding resources. Money and items you need to level up are doled out in droves. The in-game shop offers a ton of unlockables that can be easily purchased with the money you earn from completing stages.

Sure, some of characters are locked behind progression, but that just requires you to play through the game.

Speaking of which, MEGA MAN X DiVE Offline is best described as Mega Man Lite. The traditional run and gun Mega Man gameplay is present, but in more forgiveable form.

Gone are the death pits or instant deaths from spikes. Fall in a pit and you respawn right where you dropped. Fall on spikes and it’s only your health that goes down, not Mega Man. Also, Mega Man nabbing powers from defeated bosses is gone. Now you can buy the weapons freely from the shop instead.

Other concessions to mobile gaming included a much more robust health bar for Mega Man (or any of the other playable characters) and the inclusion of auto aim that automatically targets the closest foe.

Stages too are…fun-sized.

Since it’s a mobile game, none of the stages are particularly long. In fact, if you take more than 5 minutes to clear one, you’re doing it wrong.

Hell, even the game thinks so, because one of three bonuses (which are sadly the same for all stages), is you clearing a stage under 300 seconds (the other two being completing it for the first time, and finishing it with more than 30% health remaining).

Stages are all ripped out of classic Mega Man games (most from the X series), with enemies from the various games populating them.

MEGA MAN X DiVE Offline delves into RPG territory, with stats and levels for its characters and weapons. It does mean some grinding can be required (to get materials, XP and money to level up) but nowhere near the obscene amounts you’d expect.

Can’t beat a stage?

Grind and then upgrade your gear or just outright buy another character (with different movesets) to try.

There’s a huge amount of customization present in the game. Playable characters run the gamut from the different versions of Mega Man (including X, CM, .EXE and more) and Zero and even some series bosses like Sigma and Proto Man. Even a Servbot is playable!

Unlocking new characters (which is a simple as progressing to a certain stage and then buying the required number of character medals from the shop) is fun and will probably be your main driving force to plow through the huge number of stages.

It’s certainly not for the plot, which is a rather derivative game gone bad due to some unknown corruption story. It doesn’t matter though, it’s just there to drive you forward.

In fact, despite the simplification of the Mega Man formula, MEGA MAN X DiVE Offline is rather fun. It’s just too bad that the UI needs work.

For one, there’s no way to navigate menus using the controller.

It’s all done via a virtual cursor. It makes navigating without a real mouse plugged in a real hassle, especially when you’re navigating one menu after another to upgrade and level up. It smacks of laziness to not incorporate controller navigation!

Once you get into the game, you realize that the laziness is present there too. Icons for moves dominate the lower right part of the screen, effectively blocking out nearly 1/3 of the viewable screen.

On mobile it’s unavoidable (as you’d need to tap those icons to do the moves) but playing with a controller, I don’t need them blocking the screen!

A more intuitive UI with skill cooldowns would’ve definitely been preferred to this.

MEGA MAN X DiVE Offline might have 3D visuals, but they’re undoubted on the plain jane side of things. Environments are rather bare, though character models are pretty decent. Gear you equip (such as the different buster types) show up on your character too, so there’s at least some effort made to doll up the visuals.

The game moves are a smooth clip, but considering this is a mobile port, I reckon it doesn’t take much achieve that. It’s not like there’s a ton of options to customize your visual experience too.

Despite the boneheaded (or just plain old laziness) in the port, the inherent gameplay strengths of the game shines through. The stages are fun, and gaining the money to buy character unlocks and upgrades keeps you grinding happily away, especially since resources aren’t that hard to come by.

The Bottom Line.

MEGA MAN X DiVE Offline is a fun game but it’s also a game with so many missteps.

Navigating menus via a virtual cursor is never fun and the in-game UI can block out so much of the screen that you miss out on important details. Clearly there wasn’t enough effort put into the premium version or Capcom surely would’ve done better.

In spite of that, MEGA MAN X DiVE Offline does have its upsides. Numerous upsides. Controls are tight, gameplay is fun and there’s a ton of stuff to unlock and upgrade. It’s a fun, if rather shallow and repetitive, Mega Man game, one that’s perfect for quickie gaming sessions.

TLDR:

A great version of free to play game that could be much better.