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Wednesday, October 3, 2018

CAPCOM, Don't Keep The Superior Mega Man 11 Soundtrack Hostage

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - They're going to sell the pre-order bonus later, right?

Congratulations to Mega Man fans everywhere (unless you're just in it for Mega Man Legends). Mega Man 11 released yesterday, and the reviewer consensus is that it is... good!

“Good” might not sound like much, but it's a significant improvement from Mega Man 11's nearest comparison point, Mighty No. 9. At launch, that game was considered... awful. Mega Man has returned to form, in a game developed by CAPCOM. No complaints.

Well, one complaint. The game's techno soundtrack isn't very interesting or captivating. I remarked after playing the Block Man demo that Block Man's music isn't catchy. It's forgettable, really. In fact, the instrumentation used throughout the entire game does the composition a disservice. This is problematic, since Mega Man games are supposed to have amazing music, but many reviewers commonly cite the soundtrack for Mega Man 11 to be the weakest part of the game.

Remember how I wrote in an earlier article that Mega Man 11 had pre-order bonuses, and I praised that CAPCOM was putting enough effort into the game that pre-order bonuses existed, but I dismissed what the actual bonuses were? Well, guess what one of those bonuses was...

...That's right, an instrumental soundtrack. But we didn't know the quality of the instrumental soundtrack (or the lack of quality in the main soundtrack) until after the game released. Now we can do some comparisons, and the instrumental soundtrack that was the pre-order bonus is much, MUCH better. Compare these for Block Man:



(The instrumental is on the left/first video, and the main soundtrack is on the right/second.) 

Not that I want to do soundtrack spoilers for you, but the difference is even more stark for Fuse Man:



Yeah, it's entirely possible that the in-game gameplay and activities work a lot better with the techno instrumentation. It might fit the mood better. But it's not actually interesting to listen to, especially compared to the instrumental version.

Surely CAPCOM didn't work this hard on making those instrumental versions just as a pre-order bonus, right? It would make a lot of sense for them to later sell it as DLC. And I'm not going to buy Mega Man 11 until that happens.

To put that another way, I had too much faith for CAPCOM's main soundtrack and not enough faith in the instrumental soundtrack, so I didn't pre-order Mega Man 11 and I don't currently own it. Therefore, I have missed my chance for the pre-order bonus of the instrumental soundtrack, which no one has reported is accessible through normal gameplay. I will not buy the game until CAPCOM gives me the ability to pay them additional money to get access to what they were giving away as a free pre-release bonus. (...Or they could provide it for free.)

I think that's a perfectly reasonable request. Especially for CAPCOM.



Ludwig isn't experiencing a drought of games to play by any means, so he's in a pretty good negotiating position in that he doesn't need to play Mega Man 11 to be happy. He somehow never bought Mega Man 9 or Mega Man 10 but he doesn't have a good reason as to why not. What do you think of Mega Man 11's soundtrack? Is the pre-order bonus soundtrack actually a secret in-game unlockable already? If not, do you believe CAPCOM will later make it available?


Amazingly, the superior soundtrack is now available as free downloadable content!

6 comments :

  1. Good thing preordering the Mega Man 11 amiibo bundle from Gamestop also gives the instrumentals soundtrack.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. See, there's something I'm nervous about. How do you know when you pre-order it that the retailer isn't just screwing you and doesn't have a "slip-up" and you don't actually get the soundtrack?

      Delete
    2. They are distributed as codes to put in the e-shop, 1-2 days after the item is delivered or on the receipt if you pick up from the retail store. I got my code in a day. Hard to misplace a code if you can just contact customer service and explain the situation. Happened to me when I preordered Kid Icarus Uprising on Amazon and did not get the Kid Icarus 3D classics on the day I was supposed to get it. Showed customer service proof that I was supposed to get it and eventually I got it via Amazon chat.

      Delete
    3. I dunno, what if they later reveal, "Oh yeeah our local shop happens to not be a participating retailer sorry."

      <_<

      Delete
    4. The original Gamestop description for when the amiibo edition could be preordered said that it will come with the instrumental soundtrack as a bonus and will come within 2 days after it it is delivered to the recipient. That part of the description is no longer there because now it is released.

      If Gamestop said they could not participate anymore, they would have to send apology emails to everyone who preordered, preferably before the game is released to give people a chance to cancel to maintain good PR.

      Delete
    5. As for your bit about Amazon, that very situation scared some GameFAQs users who ordered off Amazon:
      https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/228477-mega-man-11/77063003
      They had to fight customer service to get the code like you said. I wonder, do the more shy pre-orderers end up with nothing?

      Delete

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